[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.

[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.