Hot air wood Furnace

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Arrow,

I'll try to get some pics this week and post. My house is new construction and seems to be fairly tight, with the exception of the door leading to the garage...I need to work on that.

The first fire I built with kindling and paper wasnot too good. I had a lot of smoke comming out around the door and stove pipe but within a couple of minutes it was drafting good. Now when I start a fire in a cold stove I put in one of those fire starter sticks and let it burn a few minutes to heat the box up before putting in kindling and get no smoke. I also open the man door beside the stove to help.

The amount of wood I burn is hard to say at this point. I only fire the stove in the late evening and burn it till morning, also burn day and night on the weekends. I have a trans mule and extend the bed, load with wood a few inches over the side boards and that last one week. I burn only red and white oak.

Temps this week have been 15-20 degrees at night but the stove keeps it very warm.
David

Dave, That amount would last me about 2.5 days that your mule carries. I am burning for 24 hours however. I need to look at an alternative wood heat source as my acreage is about to give up the ghost after 35 years of burning wood. I do not feel like skidding 1/2 mile or more to get any remaining wood with a compact tractor. If I had a skidder as I used to operate, it would be a different matter. If you are getting to 15-20 at night that is certainly commensurate with my night time temps. With the wood stove in the cellar, My house will maintain 60* in that weather so I have to turn on the oil for a bit. I have an 1800 sq. ft. log home so it is not the tightest abode one can live in. I used to have the stove in the living room but it was a royal mess. Are you only burning for as long as you are because your house is staying warm or do you supplement during the day with another heat source? Thanks

Lou

 

[SpringHollow]

Quote:....If we wait a couple days things may change with just about any technology but it seems that fires get too cool in order to heat the heat exchanger loops within the fire box. A real long , hot burn would have to be sustained to effectively heat hot water that is looping within a house. ....... Right now I'd be leary about trusting a wood fired boiler to provide enough hot water for both heating and dhw usage. .[/QUOTE]

I have used an outdoor wood boiler for years to heat my house and domestic water and now my 24 x 32 barn addition. If you size things properly, there is no problem. The aquastat maintains the water temperature between 160 - 180 (it is adjustable) by turning the blower on and off. Works great and no fire or mess in the house.

Also someone talked about heat loss through the heat exchanger - there is no heat loss. Any heat not used is returned to the boiler to be recirculated again.

A properly installed quality outdoor wood boiler does not lose much heat. And being able to burn 4' long pieces of wood and poorer quality wood and keeping everything outside more than makes up for the small loss. The only real negative to a good outdoor wood boiler (and there are some bad ones out there) is the cost.

Ken

 

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Actually, you do not lose too much heat during the loop at all. Its the transition from heat from fire warming a hot water loop. This is where you lose energy. The large mass inherit to most of this type of heater does benefit heat retention and If you are using it to heat several buildings, this kind of system is hard to beat but they do use a lot of wood. It is my wood production I'm trying to curtail. I think a hot water wood boiler although certainly functional, would make me only achieve the opposite of what I'm after.

 

[SpringHollow]

I had a high efficiency indoor wood stove before the boiler. Hard to compare from one to the other because the heating season and wood is different but i use 10-15% more cords of wood than when i used the stove. But then i get all of my domestic hot water for that 10-15%. And i do 5-10% daily water changes on 150 aquariums so that is a lot of hot water. And the heat is evenly distributed in the house (downstairs via heat in the floor). This year, i am sure i will use more wood given the 24' x 32' x 13.5' barn is now heated. It just depends upon what your needs are and what you are looking for. I like going out and putting wood in the boiler, enjoying the peaceful winter nights but some people would hate this. I also like not having to cut and split as much. I use smaller diameter wood when it can be 4' long. When it had to be 16", it was not worth the effort of cutting it. I also like that i can burn any wood that i remove when cleaning up my trails etc. The fire burns so hot that i can burn pine when i need to cut up some rather than leaving it. It is nice to be able to at least get some heat out of any wood i have to handle any ways. Add to that the safety and cleanliness and it was an easy decision for me. But it might be a terrible decision for someone else, just like burning wood at all is not a good decision for everyone.

Ken

 

[knute_m]

For quite a few years we've been using a dual-fuel gas/wood furnace by Yukon-Eagle ( Wood Burning Furnace, Wood Oil Furnace, Wood Gas Furnace, Wood Furnace, Furnaces, Outdoor Furnaces ). Our Husky model is now about 15 years old, and I can only believe that the newer models are even more efficient and cleaner. Ours is a year-around system that also includes air conditioning.

We have a triple thermostat, that controls the gas heat, the air conditioning, and the wood furnace. We load the burn chamber with wood. The gas starts the fire. The automatic thermostats take over from there.

We burn 3-5 cords per year, and I clean the chimney early each summer. I have very little creosote buildup, so I can only assume that the furnace is fairly efficient.

When the outdoor temperatures are in the 30-40s, we typically heat with a hearth-mounted Quadra-Fire Yosemite wood stove ( Wood Stoves.).

We installed it about two years ago. They are incredible. There is virtually no smoke from them, and the chimney stays extremely clean.

 

[atgreene]

My father bought a Central Outdoor Wood Boiler 3 years ago (4036 model?) my brother has the 4048, another good friend has the 4048 and another has the 4036. All use way more wood than they used to. My father sold his, went back to a Kerr indoor wood furnace and his wood useage has dropped over 50%. (12 cord last year)

In his case, he had a heat exchanger (radiator type that sat on the plunum of his old furnace) that wouldn't heat for nothing. Central reps sized everything and told us how to hook it up. Even adding hot water radiators to the house he had trouble heating and it ate wood. Granted, he has a 1837 farm house, but the Kerr works much better.

Everyone I know that has bought OWB say they burn more wood than they used to, but the convience and ability to burn any wood is what keeps them hooked. I don't mind, as I sell them tree length wood, so it's great for me, but in reality OWB efficency is pathetic. Ask for independant efficency ratings on anything you look at.

The Tarm and a couple others that are indoor are over 80%, but require dry wood and a 1000 gallon storage system. Great if you have the space.

I have an indoor Jensen HWB with 2 small storage tanks. It is not very efficient, I burn a lot of wood to keep the water up to temp, especially when we're below zero for extended times (like weeks).

There is pro's and cons to everything.

 

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When the outdoor temperatures are in the 30-40s, we typically heat with a hearth-mounted Quadra-Fire Yosemite wood stove ( Wood Stoves.).

We installed it about two years ago. They are incredible. There is virtually no smoke from them, and the chimney stays extremely clean.[/QUOTE]

That's what I have in the cellar only its a QF 5700. I know if I brought this thing back in the parlor where I once had a wood stove in the 70's, I would probably cut my wood use in half. 2 hunks of wood would heat my house for 8-10 hours this stove extracts so much energy. Being in the cellar is a whole nuther story. I have to fill it every 8-10 hrs in order to get mid to upper 60's in the house. Once the temp dips in the 20's, it has to be supplemented. This stove is heating 3 floors totaling 2700 sq ft which is not a huge space but I see now that if I wanted a wood burner in the cellar, I bought the wrong system 3 years ago. It is going to come down to 3 things as to where I go. 1. Put it in the living room and deal with the mess and inconvenience but probably use half the wood. 2. keep it in the cellar and use the oil to supplement and keep using the 4-5 cords of wood I burn now from Oct-Apr. ( at that rate I'll be purchasing stem truck loads @ a $1000 per load in 3 years as my wood lot is about done) 3. Sell the stove and purchase a wood fired furnace and duct the puppy.

Lou

 

[SpringHollow]

I did say a good wood boiler!!!

Some are terribly inefficient. Some of the more popular (because inexpensive) do use significantly more wood as you have experienced - 50% more wood being quite typical. If you are seeing lots of smoke, they are not efficient and you are burning more wood than you need to.

Ken

 

[RayMunising]

Many communities have banned outdoor wood boilers. When I was researching a wood heat source for our next house I was considering an OWB but was concerned by many of the comments I'd read ... 10-12 cords of wood a year (I currently burn 3 with my woodstove) and excessive smoke. I liked the idea of it being outside (next to the wood pile) and since I was leaning towards a gas boiler as a backup heat source an OWB was starting to make a lot of sense for me. Then I read in the paper they passed an ordinance where we're moving banning them because they cause so many complaints from neighbors.

The Tarm is an impressive unit but you can figure $12-15000.00 installed! Also it's fairly complicated (meaning more things to go wrong) and there's only one dealer in this country!

I've decided to go with a wood furnace in the basement and the EPA US Stove should be fairly efficient, only costs $3000 and is not complicated. I like to keep things simple.

Picture this ... if you burn 12 cords per year at the start of every season you should have 24 cords ready to go. One for the current season and one for the next season. That's a pile 4 foot wide, 4 foot high and 192 feet long! That's a lot of wood!!! In my woodstove @ 3 cords per year that would be enough for 8 years instead of just 2 with an OWB!

 

[SpringHollow]

Picture this ... if you burn 12 cords per year at the start of every season you should have 24 cords ready to go. One for the current season and one for the next season. That's a pile 4 foot wide, 4 foot high and 192 feet long! That's a lot of wood!!! In my woodstove @ 3 cords per year that would be enough for 8 years instead of just 2 with an OWB!

12 cord = 36 face cord - that is a lot of wood. More typical usage in cold climates is 12 - 24 face cord depending upon size of house, quality of wood, climate etc.

Ken