UK Off-Grid basics 3: Heat and Hot Water

It's a long one but stuffed full of info! Here I discuss and show several different wood burners, two types of central heating (one pumped, one worked by gravity) two types of solar thermal systems and more!
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[@sandieblack4860]

You are such a thoughtful person, not only for your own safety and comfort but you are always speaking about children's safety and well being also. You think things through from start to finish. I am impressed.

[@terrybullock3140]

Wow, you just explained what seemed like a really complex system in a way anyone could understand and put into practise. You actually answered quite a few questions I've had for a long time on water and heating systems. One of the main reasons your videos are so watchable (for me) are that you come across as one of us - just an ordinary bloke, living on very little money, solving problems instead of letting them hold you back. Pretty damn inspirational, actually :)

[@maximusironthumper]

Thanks, that's mainly why I make these videos - to try and nudge others into having a go at doing / making things!

[@johnlester2152]

I was going to say something . I keep watching your videos all time.

[@ykdickybill]

You'd make a bloody good college teacher you know.........excellent easy to understand explanations of the finer details. 5 stars young man !

[@nially85]

however as a plumber i would suggest he doesnt because he has made some fundimental mistakes with a gravity system

[@HiggsyAndGinge]

seems to work fine so not really an issue

[@brogle8593]

@@nially85 It would be beneficial to share your knowledge and give advice on how to correct the errors you've seen. It's an educational channel, I'm sure your contribution would be appreciated.

[@nially85]

@@brogle8593 all the answers are online and in text books.

[@brogle8593]

@@nially85 you could save him the trouble by telling him directly. A little payback for his generosity with his knowledge and experience :)

[@edward_grabczewski]

Absolutely agree with you about keeping warm. After spending my childhood in a cold Victorian house I vowed to keep my children warm in what turns out to be yet another Victorian house!

[@sophiechandler955]

Love your clip board sketches and they are great! You are clever, knowledgeable, well spoken and kind. Thank you so much for eplaining this, i never really knew how this all worked and your extra tips are really useful too!!

[@epiphgd4302]

I’d love to see you do a rocket stove mass heater. Your vids are class, you’re an excellent teacher.

[@MOOSEDOWNUNDER]

Fascinating. The diagrams really help hey. Warmth makes the difference for sure, nothing worse than a freezing cold house and having to slog every morning to warm one room. Miserable.

[@highdownmartin]

A few points in a mega waffley comment. 1. love your vids, discovered via series 2 restoration which I devoured, then been busy hoovering up loads more: that Zil is a beast. If it back fired it'd break your nose! 2 I met Felix and Karen living in their Bristol Lodekka and was sold on a cup of tea off the stove in your teashirt with the windows open! A few years later I was living in a yeates bodied Bedford 45 seater enjoying a comfortable 80degrees in winter. Then a showmans wagon fitted with" the Beetonette" coal range 30 years on I love my woodwarm 6kw woodstove. They're brilliant 3 firelight and therefore candlelight I feel are hard wired into us. The colour temperature is replicated by low wattage tungsten light and even warm white leds. How people can light their houses with cold blue white LEDs/ tubes I just can't fathom. I would rather sit in the dark! A love of the fireside(and fire tending/ making) is something I feel grateful for. People who don't have it are really missing out. 4. Shame you don't have any sponsors, Max. But I'd certainly buy you pint sometime. Keep up the very good work. Many thanks.

[@maximusironthumper]

Thanks very much and yes totally agree on point no. 3!

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

The ability to keep warm is key. It's the main reason I started with the off grid cabin idea. My sister has a huge old manse house in Scotland and we share a piece of woodland that was left to us. I couldn't cope with the hassle of having to get that place heated and having lived in the Highlands for a good part of my life I would much prefer a small, well insulated and easy to heat cabin than go through all the hassle of feeding her wood stove and coal fires to keep warm. It's lovely in the summer but it's hard going in other seasons and if it means that I do away with tons of space in my living space, then so be it. I have a wood burning cookstove which does everything I need as well as a propane heater and two burner camping stove. I also have the use of a diesel generator but don't as a rule. I am installing a wind solar hybrid system when I finally move up permanently. I have tons of firewood and there's a log splitter which I can use so we do have a lot of wood so it makes sense to use it to heat a manageable space for myself. Mine is on a similar budget. That trolly is a good idea. Really well explained!

[@mattd23]

Get a large wood burner with a wrap around back boiler rather than a clip in boiler. That way you'll be able to run more rads. I'd use modern rads rather than what he suggests.

[@jamiecleeves7921]

Incredibly watchable guy so easy to understand and no dreded music impressive

[@kristiankristiansen133]

That old Morsø 1125 is a beautifull piece. Not the easiest one one to fire, but once you get to know it it’s a beast. Like your self circulating system. It’s a forgotten art.

[@leighwalton8190]

Really impressed - especially with the tiny squirrel. I've got a slimline Stovax and I mostly heat the sky above my house... btw I wish my daughter could find a bloke like you instead of someone who has to work himself up to washing a plate! :-)

[@SapioiT]

Just a thought, you might want to look into how a rocket mass stove works. There's not much change between one tailored for wood and one tailored for (char)coal. The big difference is that the stove burns off fuel more efficiently, and that a mass is used to retain more of the heat. People say it uses 10% of the fuel of a normal stove, to give off the same amount of heat, but even if it used 50% of the fuel, it would still be a great improvement.

[@dayrider]

We have a multi fuel stove that runs 8 radiators all around the house , we got it for just over £300 and it's been in about 23 year ago & we use smokeless eggs they are an oval coal hence eggs , we get one bag a week all year round so by the time winter comes we don't need extra , we can use of course wood or rubbish as well ..lol wouldn't change it for anything we love it

[@squiresquiffy3728]

You explain things really nicely and show really well what is possible. Also useful is when you tell us about your mistakes. Thanks a million!

[@philipjohnson5732]

This has become one of my favourite channels on KZbin, can't get enough.

[@descoladorez]

You are one of the most clever men I've ever watched on youtube! Wow!

[@GetSettled]

oh max you absolute ledgend, if you're up north ever we go fer a pint

[@1967Rev]

you really should be teaching people,on paid courses,i'm pretty sure you'd have a very comfortable income,although i guess that defeats the object,paying feckin taxes etc,but you really do have a gift for getting potentially mind boggling stuff across in a very down to earth understandable manner,as soon as i work out the toilet and heating i'm leaving the wife,grabbing my mastiff and going to live in the shed!!!!,many thanks for great vids.

[@handlebullshit]

Very good. The one thing i would change is to put in mixing taps if you can find some for cheap.

[@abuubaydullah1]

Very much like a back bolier with the coal fire watch i had grown up with, a friend of mine when we were kid his grandad and grandma had the more or less what you've got can't beat the old ways nice to see old and new working together thank you for sharing .

[@peterfitzpatrick7032]

I like that you have painted the cast iron rads black, better radiation... 😎👍☘️ Delighted to see u have the CO / smoke detectors...as a woodstove owner, I agree they are obligatory... ☺️

[@roderickjones7479]

Great info well done

[@Dominic.Minischetti]

Wow a lot of thought went into that. Amazing!

[@szolanek]

I truly enjoyed all little details. Questions........ about your intentions. * Did you want a system, using the minimum firewood and get the most out of it? - For if wood is not an issue, it is rather over done. * Did you consider that you don't want non stop feeding fire? - For it drains a person out, I know. * Do I see right? You go to the kitchen in the morning. Thanks to the radiators, temperatures are not too low. Starting up your oven, gets warm quickly, running it until some 2 PM, warms up your water, radiators and you can do cooking. Than you can forget about heating. Only for the evening you might start (might not) you living room fire place. Is that it? .... If had a large fire place running whole day and separate water boiler, I might would end up feeding fires whole day and using 3-4 times more wood.

[@maximusironthumper]

Yes, that's correct even in the middle of winter the kitchen fire does most of the work and the big one is just for evenings.

[@szolanek]

@@maximusironthumper Wow, I feel privileged for you taking time out to answer me! Probably people would like to have a full answer. (offer your little finger and they want your hand) What care needs the kitchen fire? Ex: 12 hrs, every 20 minutes, 60-80 pounds of wood. Close enough? (My grandparents had to use coal in order to get some brake).

[@maximusironthumper]

@@szolanek There is no exact answer. It depends on may things - if I want to cook on it or just keep the radiators warm, what type of wood, how cold outside etc. I can get the range to burn for 10 hours on wood at most if I really try, but I'm not above using some coal to keep it in overnight!

[@domedweller4202]

Thank you for all your great information

[@tupelomiss8315]

Very informative & well explained on every level. Thank you so much for sharing this posting Maximus.have a great weekend.from Somerset 🍁🍂🦃🌈

[@davidbutler4363]

Fantastic,well done.joy to watch👍😁

[@dgt3800]

another excellent video! thank you

[@jamesgraeme3657]

I'm building a gravity fed wood burning central heating system and your video was extremely helpful, there is surprisingly little information about how do this,.

[@edgeeffect]

Woah... I've just been watching your video from the start of the COVID crisis... seeing how you've come along with camerawork and video quality.

[@maximusironthumper]

Thanks, there's still a long way to go with it but yep, those early videos are tough to watch now!

[@edgeeffect]

I liked how they both start with you sat next to the fire.... it looks like some kind of off grid non fiction Jackanory.

[@oakashthorn5714]

Well that was bloody champion

[@markc1234golf]

Greetings from the West of Ireland again.... yet again we seem to have a similar outlook on life. 10 years ago I put in our HW/CH system by myself having read a few books. Multifuel cast iron fire (burning peat) with back boiler and steel rads. All gravity fed connected through a scavenged indirect feed emersion heater. Then about 4 years ago I had a rush of blood and paid someone from the UK to take out the emersion and put in an air source heat pump with heat exchanger on the roof---- cost 3k Euro and its rubbish. 2 years after the sacrificial anode decayed so bad the hot water smelled of rotten eggs, then 2 weeks ago the compressor failed and now we have no hot water and nobody here can fix it! The copper emersion tank is still on my scrap pile Lesson is Keep It Simple!!!

[@maximusironthumper]

Yes keep it simple is an excellent motto! I don't like using anything that isn't simple enough for me to fix myself when it goes wrong. Although it does mean my car is 50 years old and my tractor even older!

[@alexlintern9779]

If it ain't bust don't fix it kinda thang

[@garrigproductions]

Oh dear, was that rush of blood brought about by a session of Poitin ?

[@johnkilgallon207]

Really clear explanation! Thank you so much for this.

[@CallysRainbow4]

I've been looking into doing this for a few years now and have been totally overwhelmed by the books advice videos etc all telling you different things! I have some of my own 'food sources' so to speak but I'm limited to what I can grow etc. I try and recycle water and everything else I use and try to buy as little as possible from shops and places. Then I found this guy! And in the UK!! I am now so very optimistic and enthusiastic again! I'm now looking for some land where I can start with my 'shed' and gradually turn my life around and live the life I've wanted to for so many years! To be as self sufficient as possible.....a lot of hard work ahead I think but I have the passion and determination which I hope will help me get there!! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!! 👩‍🌾🐔 P.S. My husband likes to do the same!! Red hot room with the doors open out onto the garden!! Infuriating and frustrating for me!! 😤

[@harrylawrence5300]

Really helpful. Brilliant channel. Keep up the good work!

[@lordbelcheriv6115]

Great videos, and love your enthusiasm! Keep on living the dream!

[@richardbest6588]

Great overview, thanks very much for putting out these videos!

[@offgridhelp]

Brilliant video that was really enjoyable to watch. Thank you for taking the time to explain your system in such detail.

[@robbed_copy]

Love all your videos max. Keep up the great work

[@themours3158]

these are fantastic informative videos. thank you, well done.

[@willmcmanus1413]

Hi Max, I've just discovered your channel and I really love it. Many thanks for taking the time to explain things so well!

[@theseabeangallery5374]

Just wanted to say thanks for this and all your other videos. Really enjoying them all and the diagram was especially useful!

[@690Lighthouse]

Lots of good advice, many thanks.

[@wx4newengland]

Cool off-grid house. Looks nice and cozy.

[@sunnylandcamper]

been enjoying your vids these last few days....thanks and hope all is well

[@jhermjgs5715]

Thanks for being alive , great videos keep it up !

[@AdianGess]

Great info, love the stove cheers

[@fleabag72]

Awesome off grid advice , your learning and sharing,I’m sure will of saved me some serious head scratching , great channel Atb Lee

[@davidcoleman6032]

Brilliant video Max! A real eye opener.

[@richardsandwell2285]

Excellent work, your channel is fascinating.

[@waynemorris6907]

Subscribed, simply because you're awesome! Thanks for the info here. One day I want to live this way.

[@alzdeane]

Another excellent, informative video Max, keep it up :)

[@LAHegarty]

Another great video!

[@12201185234]

That is a beautifully designed system, my friend. You have a real genius for this kind of stuff.

[@bigunone]

Thank you for wearing clothes for filming this! LOL. Love underfloor heating. Makes me sad to think of all the cast iron radiators I've seen hauled off as junk.

[@brogle8593]

No thanks from me but I confess my viewing intentions aren't limited to educational purposes .. ahem .. Sorry Max but I cant help noticing you're a handsome swine, in addition to being talented :)

[@lazylad9064]

You seem a very switched on type of guy, also you understand the physics of general plumbing. Good set up you have there good luck.

[@jigsey.]

Just discovered your channel... Brilliant very informative and entertaining

[@heathersanborn4914]

Great explanation ,wonderfully simple setup and beautiful cabin especially that spiral staircase, sure rite about safety with Co2

[@naturesmoments1297]

Brilliant video, new to off grid since last year, answered so many questions !

[@Useaname]

Just discovered your channel. I've subbed. Great videos. Very helpful to the common man. Or woman. Keep up the good work.

[@ben2e0omr]

A Double Like. Thank you Maximus.

[@marcuscopley131]

Fantastic Vid Max..

[@kratomseeker5258]

this is a great video i get something new out of it each time i watch it. i hope to start my dream of no bills asap lol

[@esvarwyn]

Bloody love your house m8

[@propergander1162]

Such a simple explanation 👍 I will be utilising all your info on a eco build next year ...

[@buffplums]

Fascinating Maximus lol 😂

[@rosalyn5024]

Excellent, i made my wood/coal burner fom a gas bottle, i love it

[@simonmills9427]

Very good video and good advice you cant beat a log burner in winter and yes there is a magic about fire which is engraved in to our DNA

[@TheoriginalANGEK439]

Great stuff...

[@christianvanderstap6257]

Very well explained, I love your redundant setup. In case you are looking for a project related to burning wood HOT you could check out rocket stove mass heaters. They can be made fully diy.

[@garybrown5500]

Thanks great video. Very informative. Recently discovered channel (Zill) and love what your doing!

[@tomscholes11]

I all ways enjoy your videos

[@jdjeep46]

Oops sorry, my old tractors don’t have a water pump, but the water circulates using the theory you describe. Nice heating system you have.

[@grprudhoe6801]

Enjoying the channel - lots of great information and unique and valuable perspective. One comment - referencing anti-freeze around water. Important to use the proper type in contact with anything that might be consumed.

[@russsherwood5978]

im a hands on type to under stand how that would work,, it sounds like it would heat you comfortably well,, thanks for the video

[@scopex2749]

Superb video as usual, i never realised you had an ‘upstairs’!

[@racheltomlinson2257]

Hi, I have just ordered a little mini multifuel log burner for my kitchen to heat up the water for washing dishes and hand washing clothes. I was fascinated in your teaching about how the heating system works, you have finally made me understand how it all works and therefore I emailed your clip to myself so that I can go over it a few times as it sounds the perfect solution to sorting out the hot water needed for the other side of my old bungalow in the bathroom. I do have an electric water tank in the loft but it's huge and therefore I have never turned it on, pointless for an electric shower or the kitchen sink for myself and my teenage daughter. But your heating system from the wood burner is the solution to our problem in obtaining hot water for the bathroom. I am so glad to have come across your clips, they are a huge wealth of valuable information. Take care see you in the next clips

[@davidbutler4363]

Second time of watching,still brilliant 😁👍👏👏👏

[@888johnmac]

found your channel a few days ago.. your ideas & ability to adapt ' junk ' are amazing

[@chrisfryer3118]

milk churn! a metal bucket is the level i'm at

[@Johnkels100]

Great stuff. Make up tank higher then cylinder high as poss vent on the primary flow large bore. seen a house demolised by centrel heating having to small a vent. Feed on primary return to bottom of boiler vent over make up tank, I still think these gravity systems are by far the best although materiel costs are high.

[@paulrobinson3528]

2:47 I have an open fire. I always burn Homefire smokeless on it. I cover it over with paper or card board last thing at night before bed. In the morning i clean all the ash out and its still hot enough to put some more Homefire on & off it goes. Its a really hot coal.

[@almath9987]

Lots of use in this video, got to say you make very intresting videos, would love a video on how you changed the use of your land to allow you to stay there.

[@VAX1970]

That chair has seen better days :)

[@vicj3343]

That was excellent mate, thanks. Please do remember to touch on the amount of land you have available for gathering wood though mate. Seeing as how important it is for your energy needs I imagine it's a fairly critical factor in your ability to remain off grid. Have a good one!

[@installtekzdotcom9777]

better heating setup than the council houses

[@captainaleouse]

would love to have a set up like that, don't know where i'd even begin to think about starting!

[@aaronlewis848]

legend

[@haremmember1179]

I only just found you and love everything I have seen so far. I wanted to ask though, is there a video giving a tour of the barn house?

[@jimdavis8391]

With antifreeze the primary circuit can also run at a higher temperature without boiling. The primary circuit could also be slightly pressurised so an even higher temperature could be attained, although a more sophisticated overflow with pressure valve and diaphragm would be needed.

[@kilm2232]

Maximus: "These would be expensive but ehm... I think I found them or was given them or somesuch....anyway..." Neighbour: "Anyone seen where my valves have gone?!?!"

[@diddles23]

Agreed that you are an excellent teacher. Would love to see a tour of your house and property, especially like to know more about your amazing staircase, did you make it yourself?

[@leerolfe5332]

Loving the vids man! I'm a British heating engineer of 20 years plus and must say your set up is well commendable! One thing tho, that hot water outlet on top of the cylinder needs venting over the feed tank. I wouldn't rely on the cold feed for expansion. Unless you missed that off your sketch ;)

[@leerolfe5332]

Blockage being the main risk. That's the reason the correct term is not a "header" tank but a "feed and expansion" tank. I'm usually working in your neck of the woods if you need any pointers. Especially now the bridge toll is gone! yay. :)

[@rayblade6383]

This is just brilliant... The way you explain things is amazing, have you ever considered teaching?

[@AndyJarman]

In Australia we have flueless, mobile indoor gas heaters that attach to the wall with a baynet hose. Regulations require we have ventilation grilles to the outside close to the floor. I think this is to vent carbon dioxide (heavier than air). If the heater is stifled by CO2 it can either be extinguished and leak natural gas OR worse start producing carbon monoxide due to a lack of available oxygen. Perhaps ventilation grilles in you door will reduce the likelihood of partial combustion in your stove creating carbon monoxide? Just a thought.

[@cbishop41483]

I love passive solar gain heaters like the one created by Edward Sylvester Morse in 1881. Just as simple as can be, look it up and thank me later!!

[@eivis75]

Thank you for your very informative and easy to understand videos. I thought I lacked knowledge about living off grid, but after watching your videos I feel much more confident. Also, what are your thoughts about rocket mass heaters? I have seen many off griders using it, why didnt you choose it? Maybe there are some fire hazards, maintenance problems or something? Thank you

[@maximusironthumper]

I just didn't know about them at the time of building! I was given the wood-burning range for nothing which kind of made my mind up for me. Then I was lucky enough to get the other stove very cheaply too (it was broken!). If I did it again I'd like to build an end wall of stone and incorporate into it a masonry heater in the Russian / Finnish style.

[@dcawkwell]

Carbon monoxide is unlikely to be a problem with wood and oil fired boilers as if these are producing carbon monoxide they produces lots of smoke with it, not the case with gas appliances so you can rest easy when it comes to wood and oil fired burners.