outside wood boilers

Thinking about putting a oudside wood boiler to heat my home (1800 sq.ft) I now use oil (1000gals.) I have it narrow down
too two models #Central Boiler or Heatmor. would like your thoughts? Also the boilers are EPA rated.

Outdoor wood boilers consume A LOT of wood. The new ones don't smoke as bad, but they still eat wood. Be prepared to cut & split an entire tractor-trailer worth of logs, possibly more.

Advise from a soon to be former wood burner-
I used 1000+ gallons a fuel oil in my house the last time I burned oil. When oil went over $1.00 per gallon, the handwriting was on the wall that I had no control over my wallet. I installed a used indoor wood boiler, an HS tarm model 502 with oil backup. I have done some energy improvements since. I cut 20 face cords but burned about 15 face cords a year except last year I burned all 20 due to extended cold weather. I am switching to coal for convienence and due to the of firewood in my area has driven up the price to where trucking in coal is competitive. Same cost, less work, why not?, Wood boiler is due for replacement (built in 1983).

The guy that supplied my logs stated that his best customers are the ones with outdoor wood furnaces.

A guy down the road heats a single wide trailer with an outdoor wood furnace and burns about twice the wood I do. I drive by him every day and shake my head.

I know another guy that heats his house and business with one and he goes through an absolutly huge pile of firewood.

The biggest advantage of them is that they are economical to install compared to a conventional system but you don't get what you don't pay for. Outdoor burners built to compete in a very competitive market place. The are a non-pressurize vessel that requires chemical treatment and monitoring of water level. Hooking them into a standard house pressurized system requires a plate heat exchanger. They do not last as long as indoor models of wood or coal boilers.

If you have an economical source of wood, then wood may be a good option. I would think twice about an OWB, even a EPA compliant one.

Also factor in the cost of a chainsaw, woodsplitter, and the time it takes to mess with it.

Look at this site if you want to burn wood.

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.ph ... ategory/1/

I have had an OWB for 4 years now, a Shaver. I burn 8-10 full cords per year, which includes keeping enough fire going through the warmer months to heat our domestic hot water. I have turned the electric water heater off, which has resulted in significantly lower electric bills. For an OWB to make sense, you have to like cutting wood and be able to get it cheap or free, both of which apply for me. Last winter I mixed bit coal and wood, which worked pretty well and cut down on wood usage. If you get one, you might look at one that is set up to burn coal and wood. If you haven't already, check out http://www.arboristsite.com Lots of dedicated OWB users there.

Some of the outdoor models are not a pressurized vessel, that would let in oxygen and rust to start, and , I assume them it needs to be as high as the upper floor radiators. Some municipalities are imposing restrictions on the chimney height, distance from neighbor and time of year they can be used.

I will say if you live in MA you can pretty much fuggetaboudit ......

Every pampered poodle within a mile of your house will be calling the EPA on you the first time you fire it. Then, if you meet all the laws requirements (read: have enough money for the 100 permits & inspections), then be prepared for fame. You'll be front page news for months. Neighbors will claim you paid off the town, & that their family has been traumatized by the black smoke belching from your boiler 24/7. Little Johnny has nightmares about black smoke now, and his grades have dropped. You'll now be sued.

Don't laugh ....

New York DEC rammed through some regulations that have made new OWB's about impossible to install. 100 feet from property line and 18 foot minimum stack height for new installations.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/71368.html


You won't be seeing to many more OWB's in NYS.

My FIL has one of the beasts (and he has one of the better ones)--uses 2 1/2 Triaxle loads of wood per year. I had a logging company, and I burned coal. Need to know anything else about them?

leward wrote: I had a logging company, and I burned coal. Need to know anything else about them?

ROFL... that's not a very good endorsement.

Seriously 2.5 triaxle loads? Is that like max weight or just how much they fill them up?

2.5 triaxle loads of coal is about 50+ tons of coal, figuring about 5 tons per year for a 2000 sq foot home that is enough for ten years.

His house is a 8 year old Log home--pretty energy efficient, 28x36 +-, garage is an insulated steel 28x36 --heated to 50 degrees.
The triaxle loads are 24 tons +, hardwood~oak,maple,locust. I wanted him to put in an EFM,Keystoker or A-A. I have a similiar setup, and use anywhere from 7-9 tons rice in a EFM. Used to have a hand fired American Boiler and used 10 tons Bituminous a year. My son is in the process of buying a house, if somebody gave him an OWB I would put a stop to it. There are lots of them in central PA, and I haven't seen one yet that doesn't go thru more than 25 tons of wood (primary heat source). I have a couple buddies that have them as well. If you need a hobby, and you like cutting wood --OK I guess. Like I said though, when I had my logging company, the wood was the cost of the fuel in my equipment to get (not quite free but close)--I used coal!

leward wrote:I had a logging company, and I burned coal. Need to know anything else about them?

That's all anyone needs to know right there!

When Spitzer wasn't busy screwing around, he commissioned a report on OWB's call " Smoke gets in your lungs".

Appendix "B" listed some "unofficial" test data on OWB's. Average efficiency was 43%. More heat goes out the stack than to your house. See attached PDF.

Ive never known anyone to have one, but being a truck driver, my travels included northern VT, right across the lake from you. They seem to be very popular up there. Lots of people using them and every time you come thru a small town or pass a farm, there was this haze of wood smoke lingering in the air. I saw one off in the distance from the road, and the thing was just billowing out smoke for a good 5 or 10 acres across. If you have neighbors anywhere near you, I would highly advise against it unless you really want problems. You would really need to live on a farm and have a lot of land if you dont want to piss anyone off.
The other thing is, everyone is right, I've heard it uses a massive amount of wood. Someone who had one told me they were using a pickup truck full every few days. Storing that wood around your property is also going to attract all kinds of bugs, rodents and snakes. Nothing eats coal, so you'd be fine with that. You'd be much better off going with a coal boiler instead and storing your coal outside, which by the way, would be much less than the amount of wood you'd have to store. And burning anthracite produces no smoke = no PO'd neighbors! Yet another advantage. Around here, the garbage company takes my ash along with the trash, so it's a no brainer for me. You'd have to check with your garbage company on that. If not, I know a lot of guys have a pile in the woods. Then they bury it in the summer. Even if you can't get coal any cheaper than wood, it would still be worth it just for all the other advantages it gives you, like the ones I just mentioned.

Good luck!

My buddy has a OWB and he uses more than 32 full sized heaping pickup loads of wood each winter. His house is much smaller than ours, but not well insulated. We heat a 2400 Sq.Ft. victorian with 10' ceilings and a 1200 Sq.Ft. with a EPA certified indoor wood furnace. Last year we burned 6.5 cords, which it was colder than the prior year. If I had 1800 sq.ft, I would consider a EPA certified wood stove indoors or an efficient add-on wood furnace. Theres many options out there, but I wouldn't choose a OWB for many reasons. If I had to go the boiler route, I would choose a gasification boiler with storage. The only issue would be cost, but the systems seem to work well for many people.