new heat source advice

[samtmc]

Ok so I am really torn hear and starting to second guess myself.
We recently had a chimney fire (only chimmney is wrecked) we've got a pretty good payout from our Ins company for this.As a result we are looking for something a little different than what we have. We have an old add-a-furnice. that is very ineficiant (I was filling it every 3-4 hrs and went thru alot of wood last year, 11 cord approx full cord not face cord)
So two of the options I was looking at are
1) Garn boiler--- I really like this alot but the cost is stagering, about 16,000.00 with me doing the install. Very nice but very expensive. My wife is actualy on board with this and likes the saftey of having it outdoors.We would need to finance a large portion of this.
Now after thining before taking the leap I found this furnace (fire chief)
Heating System Fire Chief Wood FC700 Indoor Wood or Coal Burning Furnace
It looks like a quality furnace and I could install the whole thing with new class A pipe with the ins money and nothing out of pocket.
- what kind of burn times do they get?(how long does a load of wood go for)
- does the hot water attachment work well.
- is it a pretty safe device over all?

any advice would be apriecated.

 

[randy41]

i have a wood furnace. I live in an area that is subject to power outages and my furnace would be unusable without power. so i use a regular wood stove now.

 

[MikeInEburg]

Wood fired located within the house is slightly more efficient, since any heat produced that doesn't go up the chimney stays in the house.

Wood fired outside is safer and cleaner. This is the route went - wood fired boiler that is located in the wood shed. No drips or critters carried in with the firewood. But it was certainly more expensive to install and probably uses more wood per BTU actually delivered to the house. I feed it twice a day in the coldest part of winter - temps generally get into the teens.
Mike

 

[hr3]

Looks like a nice unit,, I have much the same but without the forced induction part,,.. How is this safer than what you had tough??

 

[SpringHollow]

A standard outside wood boiler is a reasonable compromise with respect to the Garn. Just make sure to get a good one. We are really happy with what we have now. The previous brand we personally used required frequent cleanings and got a leak at 4 or 5 years. Because of the added cost, I would not put one in a shed but i like being outside in the winter, especially at night plus you are only out there for a few minutes.

Ken

 

[JRobyn]

My B-I-L has the FC700 and likes it pretty well, but it is the only wood furnace he has any experience with. He has had pretty bad issues with creosote. I think it's mostly because he has a huge outside wall masonry (cold) chimney, so any and all creosote quickly condenses in it. His house is also pretty tight, and I don't think he is getting enough combustion air for a good draft.

I looked at the FC 500, the Charmaster Chalet, US Stove Hotblast 1400, Yukon-Eagle SuperJack, and Valley Comfort VC-120. I am going with the Charmaster even though it is the most expensive for three main reasons; apparent excellent company reputation/customer service, 20 year firebox warranty, and a secondary heat exchanger bypass damper that will serve to keep flue temps up (and creosote down) when using only a small fire.

- Jay

 

[samtmc]

What kind of burn times does he get out of it

 

[dooleysm]

Sounds like a good opportunity to look into geothermal. I believe there are many new government incentives that may make the cost more bearable.

And no more cutting firewood.

 

[samtmc]

We have a rural electric company that is very expensive. above the cost of the install and unit (about 11,000 with a friend helping me) even with off peak (my neighbor has geo thermal) he says his bill is about $400.00 per month (with heated detqached garage).
I am hoping to put the fire chief into my garage and run the duct work thru the wall. kind of unsightly but keeps the smoke and mess outside in the garage. This "fire Chief" company claims that I will get 7-12 hr burn time depending on my house and wood used. (I called about three diferent dealers and this is and avarage of what they had to say) I hope it works out I just ordered it today and will hopefully have it in and running this weekend.
I will post an update.
thanks all for the input

 

[Pilot]

Probably not helpful for you, but maybe someone else:

We had a heat pump installed last year after propane prices went thru the roof. Man, I wish I had done that when we built the house (didn't because everyone I knew with a heat pump had had expensive repairs).

We now spend about $50 per month for maybe 8 months to heat the house, 1700 sq. ft. in NW Oregon, about 5700 heating degree days. (To compare your heating degree days go to World Climate: Weather rainfall and temperature data) On propane, we spent about twice that before the prices spiked. And that was with using a lot of wood; now I can be lazy about the wood.

Heat pump cost was just $3,600, but I shopped around a lot--had quotes up to $12K. Still have the propane for backup. If power fails, I fire up the generator & run the propane furnace.

Go to www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls to compare heating costs for various fuels.

Think about: What happens if you get disabled for a couple months in the winter? What's your time worth? Is your wood supply dependable? And you already know about the fire risk, but ask your insurance company if the wood furnace runs up the insurance cost.