Outdoor Wood Furnace

[Squeak n Itch]

I have had a Classic from Central since 2002.
Pluses: Wood dirt and ashes stay outside; Chimney fires totally eliminated; burns brush and an occasional stump; great proximity to woodpile; no smoke inside.

Minuses: Burns more wood that my Conestoga in the house (perhaps not to such a great extent as I tend to use the Outdoor more than the inside woodboiler); when overfed and fired from cold it can smoke like crazy; requires trips outside to fuel (not really a minus for me but may be for some); needs planning when we go away for more than a day in the dead of Winter; it needs a source of heat to keep from freezing solid.

On the last point we have it tied in to our existing hot water propane boiler through a heat exchanger. But the outdoor boiler provides about 90% of our winter heat here in Michigan's thumb.

Looking for a way to use a catalytic or some other means to capture the heat that goes up in smoke.

 

[dtd24]

Nice, so it is true you can burn anything in there. Thats the thing I am looking for. I have alot of pine that needs to come down because they are directly over my house and they are huge!! I know pine will not give up as much heat as hardwood, but I figure I will have enough for the next couple of years. There is a fair next weekend and heatmore will be there. I have sent for some central boiler info already.

 

[goldwing28]

I have a HeatMasterSS outdoor wood furnace. I have had it for 4yrs its big enough to heat 10000sqft it is a MF10000. Awesome stove best water capacity which is where you get the heat from. I love every feature about them. Check around alot. I shopped around 3yrs before finally buying this one. Beware of spray foam insulation. I heat aprox 5000sqft and with the bad winter we had in wisconsin last yr and how long it was I went only thru 5 to 6 full cord. And I buy 12 full cord for 650.00 delieverd to my house. There website is Outdoor Furnace | Heatmaster SS - Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces| Home Page or email me at jeremyk@apollo-tool.com for more info.

 

[Squeak n Itch]

You can burn any type of wood. While not quite overgrown with pine we had some major limbs fall last winter. It is definitely not as high in quality as our ash and maple but if you have the time the cost is next to nothing for the fuel.

One more thing. The burn times may or may not be accurate. There are so many variables: floor space, efficiency of insulation, south facing windows, clear versus cloudy, outdoor temp, desired indoor temp (we now shoot for 71 degrees).

I personally like to go out several times a day to throw in a couple of logs. Keeps me away from the TV and fridge just that much more.

In a couple of years I would like to upgrade if the right system comes along with higher efficiencies.

 

[SpringHollow]

I got a Wood Doctor Boiler after researching boilers for 5 years. Much better than even the pretty good boiler i had in the past. Very little smoke and much more efficient. Never had to clean it all season. I liked it so much I became a dealer. My brother loves his as well.

In my opinion stay away from boilers that do not have forced air combustion - they do not burn hot enough and so smoke more and need a lot more wood.

Ken

 

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dtd

That is exactly where I saw the 1070. I had to look at the hour meter twice to see if I was seeing it right. Its a small forum afterall. All I meet in Putnam is aggravation as I visit the Putnum CC.

As I use most of my oil keeping hot water. I also looked to alternative dhw heating sources. Most stated that to keep hw hot, much heating energy is used if you are burning wood. I installed a indirect hw tank and burn oil every other day. (boiler runs for 40 minutes) The 40 gal. tank is enough for 3 showers and 2 loads of wash before it has to be refired. I also switched to a front loader washer as they use way less water and clothes are just as clean. My 275 gal oil tank has to be filled once per year doing it this way. Last year cost me $560 to fill. This year I'm looking at closer to $1000.
The guys at Quadrafire did not recommend a heat exchanger to be placed on thier stove to heat hw. I've been burning wood for 35 years and have come to several conclusions. 1. A wood stove in the cellar does not heat the house as well as a wood stove in the living space. If you are going to "remote " the stove, including placing one in the cellar, one should have some type of induction system the most efficient being vented hot air. Placing the stove outside the home needs another kind of system where the ball game is efficiency in the heat exchange and delivery systems. Buy an outdoor furnace based on insulation properties and combustion efficiency which includes one of the above already mentioned items. Also, you cannot insulate the water pipes too much coming from outside into the house.

 

[scesnick]

I didn't read this whole post but I had an OWB ( wood only) for 3 years and I was a slave to it. I hated it and so did my wife. I could only get an 8 hour burn time. Bear in mind that I live at 3,000ft on a VERY cold and snowy mountain. But, I finally found a guy to buy the OWB and then I went and bought an INDOOR boiler from AHS and put it inside my 30x40 garage.
It is SO, SO much nicer not freezing to death while tending to the boiler. I Also get burn times of atleast double and sometimes 20 hours ( depending on the temps and wind) Not to mention The indoor boiler is about $2,000 cheaper and is ASME stamped. I burn 90% coal now and love it. Since the OP is in NY I would highly recommend a coal boiler.
Here is a site dedicated to nothing but using coal for home heating...
Anthracite Coal Forum
One last thought, have you ever seen an old OWB? me neither, I don't think they last anywhere near as long as a good indoor coal/wood boiler. I have a buddy with a coal boiler from the 40's he still uses to heat his house. I would also look into the OWB bans that are becoming all to popular....

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi scesnick,

If you were not getting long burn times (certainly 20 hours or more), either it was not a good boiler, it was too small, or it was not installed properly.

I burned coal for 5 years and liked it. The main negative was the dirt from the coal and from the light ash.

The main reasons for an outside combustion device is to keep the fire and dirt out of the house and to have the boiler/furnace close to the source of fuel. If those are not issues, then better to have it inside. However in many circumstances with an indoor boiler/furnace, it is best if you duct the burner with an outside air intake so you are not using conditioned (heated) air for combustion and so you do not depressurize your house.

Ken

 

[scesnick]

Hi scesnick,

If you were not getting long burn times (certainly 20 hours or more), either it was not a good boiler, it was too small, or it was not installed properly.

I burned coal for 5 years and liked it. The main negative was the dirt from the coal and from the light ash.

The main reasons for an outside combustion device is to keep the fire and dirt out of the house and to have the boiler/furnace close to the source of fuel. If those are not issues, then better to have it inside. However in many circumstances with an indoor boiler/furnace, it is best if you duct the burner with an outside air intake so you are not using conditioned (heated) air for combustion and so you do not depressurize your house.

Ken

Installation was not the issue. I used the exact same lines ( didn't unearth them ) when I put in the indoor unit. And when I say indoor I mean inside my garage not inside the house. I even fired my boiler in the summer to check the burn times. I got 15 hours of burn time in 70+ degree weather. No, it was not just my boiler. I have a few friends that have them and they also get crappy burn times and they are also installed correctly. One even had the dealer come and re install his just to be sure.. One has had to have his welded twice and it isn't even 10 yrs. old yet.

My boiler was designed to heat 6,000sq. ft and my house is 3,500 sq ft. so it was sized properly also.

I can not describe in words how "Fun" it was standing outside at -10 degrees checking on the boiler every single night. My wife liked it even more than i did ( yeah right)
I know have an AHS multifuel boiler INSIDE my heated garage and can check the boiler in my boxer shorts. I paid about $2,000 less than a new OWB would have cost me and it has an oil backup burner on it, is ASME stamped and can almost get triple the burn times.

I do now some people are satisfied with their OWB's but I sure wasn't

 

[SpringHollow]

The last thing you want to use is a manufacturer's sq ft or btu ratings. These are based for warmer areas, who knows what levels of insulation, glass, wind, etc.. Sizing is somewhat an art. Where I am, we typically use an "8000 sqft" model for 2400 sq ft. of standard existing house. From what you were describing (size of house, etc), we would have been recommending the next larger size. But one does need to discuss the house insulation, windows, etc.

That was definitely not the correct boiler for your house given the burn times you mentioned. Hard to say if it is the boiler design, size, or what. This past winter, I personally burned rotted dead wood that was on the ground from the 1991 (yes, 1991) ice storm. I could stick my fingers several inches into the wood. Even with that extremely poor quality of wood, it burned clean and I got 18 hour burn times. Towards the end of winter i burned some pine that only gave about 12-16 hours and had a few loads of good oak, maple, and ash (dead less than 2 years) where i got 20 - 24 hour burns.

Ken