outdoor furnaces the good the bad?

[Diesel-ME]

Some states, Maine included, have strict definitions - scroll down to the Firewood Section on this page. It's pretty well written.

In my experience, all bets are off when you buy tree length wood. You pay for lots more air than you would if you were buying processed firewood. So, for example, a 12 cord truck load of trees may yield 8-10 cords of stacked 3-4' sticks (sorry I don't cut smaller than that for my boiler so I don't know what the stove length yield would be). Having said that, this past winters price on tree length in my neck of the woods was $95 per cord of freshly harvested maple/oak/birch/ect mixed.

~paul

 

[MuncyBob]

I'm also giving some serious thought to a wood boiler and get off the oil dependancy. While I don't mind the work to cut wood and feed the boiler twice a day I don;t rank those activities as in my top 10 of things to do. With that in mind I'm thinking about a gasification boiler about 150' from the house in a small insulated shed of some sort. I'm told these units are much more efficient than your "standard" outside wood boiler/burner and give off almost no smoke(not an issue for me...no neighbors). I was told that I could expect to go through 4 to 5 cords of wood per year including domestic hot water. There seems to be a lot of activity in this industry right now and the science seems to be ever improving. Here is a link to a site that has a lot of information on wood boilers/burners/stoves.
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[RayMunising]

When I was looking into wood boilers a year ago the TARM was considered the best. Things may have changed since then. There were a couple of things that turned me off though ...

1) $12000 - $15000 installed (includes a heat storage tank which they highly recommend)
2) There is only one dealer in this country
3) They are complicated. Especially when you have the highly recommended heat storage tank. Complicated things have a tendency to break. I like simple things. They don't break as often and when they do I can generally fix it.

The positives ...
1) Extremely well built.
2) Burns clean and doesn't use much wood.
3) Could be installed in the basement.

 

[scesnick]

I'm also giving some serious thought to a wood boiler and get off the oil dependancy. While I don't mind the work to cut wood and feed the boiler twice a day I don;t rank those activities as in my top 10 of things to do. With that in mind I'm thinking about a gasification boiler about 150' from the house in a small insulated shed of some sort. I'm told these units are much more efficient than your "standard" outside wood boiler/burner and give off almost no smoke(not an issue for me...no neighbors). I was told that I could expect to go through 4 to 5 cords of wood per year including domestic hot water. There seems to be a lot of activity in this industry right now and the science seems to be ever improving. Here is a link to a site that has a lot of information on wood boilers/burners/stoves.
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My co worker bought an AHS gasifier the same time I bought my AHS multi fuel boiler. The only reason i didn't go with the gasifier also was that I want to burn coal since it is REALLY cheap in my area.

He loves his gasifier and he claims to have only burned right at 4 cords this past winter.. He has his hooked to a large radiant floor system and it seems to work well for him...

 

[ihookem]

I think outdoor burners are too expensive. 13k for my neighbors. When I built 4 yrs ago we went with a Quadrafire 7100 fireplace. We like the flames at night that look like northern lights. It's hot and we sit next to it after we are outside. We used 9 face cords this year, some popple, some oak. Our highest gas bill was 72$ with a gas water heater and 2200 sq.ft. ranch. It is very efficient. The down side is extra dust in the house and wood is dirty. I wanted a free standing wood stove, my wife wanted a fireplace. We ended up with a fireplace but I'm very happy with it. Cost was 4k intalled plus time to build the stone fireplace, hearth was 300 dollars. Stone was free but time consuming. At -10 and no wind it will keep up fairly well. The family room is toasty, the bedrooms are around 60 degrees. Electric blankets 10 min. before bed takes out the cold. To each his own i guess. Later ihookem.

 

[SpringHollow]

$13K for a wood boiler! Seems insane to me, even for a complete installation (although they are pretty easy to put in yourself if you are comfortable doing simple plumbing). If i had spent that, i would never have done it. There are good ones out there for much less. There are real bad ones out there as well.

I always recommend to my friends to cut a years firewood and see if they enjoy it and if they have the time. If not, do not buy the boiler, sell the wood and make a little money. If they like it, buy the boiler and your first year's wood is already done.

ken

 

[scesnick]

$13K for a wood boiler! Seems insane to me, even for a complete installation

I paid $3,800 for my multi fuel indoor boiler.

 

[MuncyBob]

My co worker bought an AHS gasifier the same time I bought my AHS multi fuel boiler. The only reason i didn't go with the gasifier also was that I want to burn coal since it is REALLY cheap in my area.

He loves his gasifier and he claims to have only burned right at 4 cords this past winter.. He has his hooked to a large radiant floor system and it seems to work well for him...

AHS is not that far from here so I think a day trip is in order soon! There are some others that look good to me too but a company nearby appeals to me!
I want to remove my oil boiler from the basement and replace it with a multi fuel boiler(wood/pellet/coal?). Wife is concerned over safety..me not so much since floor is concrete.....but I'm concerned about my insurance rates once I tell the man I have a wood unit in my basement?

 

[MACDABS]

AHS is not that far from here so I think a day trip is in order soon! There are some others that look good to me too but a company nearby appeals to me!
I want to remove my oil boiler from the basement and replace it with a multi fuel boiler(wood/pellet/coal?). Wife is concerned over safety..me not so much since floor is concrete.....but I'm concerned about my insurance rates once I tell the man I have a wood unit in my basement?

I was thinking the same thing that a trip is inorder , I am about 60 miles from the plant. A AHS boiler might be better than a outdoor furnace.

Macdabs

 

[MuncyBob]

I was thinking the same thing that a trip is inorder , I am about 60 miles from the plant. A AHS boiler might be better than a outdoor furnace.

Macdabs

Let me know what you think if you do make the visit. I have emailed them a few times and they are responsive so I think a trip probably is worthwhile. I also have contacted a European company that plan to come to the USA this summer. Good looking/modern units but I wonder where they will locate....From what I have read Europe is way far ahead of us in this field.