[dmorg1]

I am looking to install an outdoor wood boiler for the upcoming heating season and would like to get an assessment from members that are heating with an OWB or have experience with them.

Just started doing research on them and there sure are plenty of manufactures and models to choose from.


I am favoring a gasification closed system unit.

Will be heating a Raised Ranch just under 3000 sf and a Pole Building just under 1500 sf.


Thanks,

Dave

[Brewster]

Love my Heatmore unit that we installed over 15 years ago. Stainless Steel with sand for 2/3 the base as refractory. It has a blower system for recovery and I have only replaced each fan once. There are two one in front and one in the rear of the firer box.
If you have help to deal with the wood cutting, stack, stoking (when your out of town) its the cats meow.

[dmorg1]

Brewster,

Thanks for the input.

I checked the Heatmore website and it looks like they are currently only manufacturing coal fired boilers for sale in the US. Must have something to do with EPA restrictions.

How did those Certanium 889SP welding rods work out for you?


Dave

[Brewster]

Ive never burned coal in mine since wood is so plentiful. The company and product are great and recommend them.

I weld but I had my retired (Miller Road Show) welding friend handled those manifolds. He was aware of those rods but wanted to use another method. It was something similar but I dont remember what he did? Wasnt brass because there is no return from that stuff.
I still have them wrapped up in case I need them in the future. Thanks again I still owe you a few cold beverages.

[Bob Dillon]

[QUOTE=dmorg1;6258027]


What is that rate? Just curious.

[dmorg1]

Bob,

That’s an AS rating (Aviation Support Equipment Technician)

Repaired and maintained aircraft ground support equipment aka Yellow Gear.

[foxgapLeMans]

I have a Central Boiler wood furnace that is about 17 years old, love it. I heat my house and workshop with no problems at all. About 2 years ago I did switch the system from a direct to the inside boiler to a system that uses a heat exchanger instead. This also has worked great .
My cousin next door has the early Central Boiler gasification stove, it is a huge one because he heats almost 5000 square feet between house, workshop and his pool. He has had some problems with it, if the wood is too wet or not stacked right it will bridge the wood and the fire will go out. This year he had the interior replated when he got a pin hole in the fire box. The guy that did the welding said this was not the only one he has welded, there is a point inside that has a poor design where ash will build up and unless you let the thing go completely out and cool you can't get to clear it.
I have talked to local dealer and Central Boiler has now come out with the new generation of gasification stoves called the Titanium Series that has supposed to address all the problems of the early stoves. It senses wood that is not dry and will keep the fire lit. A nice addition would be a small propane igniter that would come on to restart the fire if the water temp got below a certain temp, it was an option on my stove back when I got mine.
In our small township in Northeast PA there are probably at least 150 outdoor wood stoves being used, some with more issues than others. The biggest complaint is when the owner does not install a tall enough stack to get the steam and smoke out of their neighbors house.

Hope this helps, Mark

[sdbob]

A friend heats exclusively with wood, had to reweld then replace exterior boiler. Leaking. I mention stainless but I have no experience. I do have an interior boiler that burns wood that was attached to our old houses heating system. A welder made it for me, worked well,very heavy.Ill ck what he had problems with when I talk to him in next couple days.

[dmorg1]

Mark,

Thanks for the insight. The Central Boiler appears to be a popular choice.

During the heating season do you guys batch burn or do you pretty much keep a continuous burn?

Brewster, I am currently burning coal with stoker stove in the house and it works good even with a very poor distribution system. Coal does heat provide a nice heat.

I had the floor poured with pex inslab in the pole building this past November so now I need a heat source for it and that’s why thinking an OWB for both the pole building and the house.


Dave

[foxgapLeMans]

I light the furnace on November 1 and it keeps burning till it gets warm enough in the spring. The first year I had it I let it burn right thru summer and into the next spring just to see how it would work in the warm weather. It just burned right along, no problems. There is a guy in my area that lit his stove 15 years ago and has not let it go out once. He has a farm and plenty of firewood on his stone rows. The house is an 1800's stone farmhouse with not very much insulation, but he also does not burn oil for this hot water either.

Hope this helps, Mark

[mrennie]

Originally Posted by foxgapLeMans

The biggest complaint is when the owner does not install a tall enough stack to get the steam and smoke out of their neighbors house.

x1,000,000,000,000,000

My neighbor has an outdoor wood boiler at least 150' from my house, and insists on running it all year because he is too cheap to heat his hot water with electricity in the summer.

The chimney is only a few feet high and the prevailing winds bring his smoke directly into my bedroom windows at least 3 days a week ALL YEAR LONG.

Imagine being sound asleep and being woke up thinking your house is on fire...I am not kidding. Sometimes it is so bad when the fire is choked off that I can't even see across the road for 3-5 minutes.

Neighbor feels this is OK and not his problem, once the smoke leaves his yard he isn't responsible. I can't express how much this pi$$es me off...my only recourse is to make a complaint to the city but this will certainly cause a rift between us which could cause more problems.

Wish at least a 15' high chimney was mandatory for wood boilers.

[foxgapLeMans]

mrennie has a very good point. According to the permitting process in our township the stack MUST be at least 15 feet or if the stove is being used in town the stack must clear the roof line. But we still have problems with people that don't care and insist that the smoke is not their problem which gives us all that are responsible a bad name.
Another thing I should mention, installing one of these stoves can be done by a person that is somewhat mechanically inclined. Heck, I did mine and my cousin's next door. The insulated pipe that is buried in your yard is pretty expensive but it is the best product available for this application.

Mark

[dmorg1]

Michael,

That is a terrible annoyance and it sucks that some people have no consideration for others. I guess that’s one of the reasons many folks recommend batch burning, no smoldering.

Mark,

I will be doing the install myself and yes I am seeing that the insulated pipe can get expensive.


Dave

[foxgapLeMans]

Dave, my neighbor went the cheap route, he dug the trench, lined it with plastic, laid out 1" heat pex made for the boiler and had a guy come and foam it. As soon as it snows you can see his ditch line it is losing so much heat. No frost around that thing. He also burns a ton more wood that I do. My pipe is buried 2 feet down and no problems with it at all.

Mark