lil'house wood burner

[scaczac]

hey guys just wondering if anybody has a lil house outside wood furnace.i got one this summer and am anxious to try it out.just curious to see how it works this winter. thanks alot.






husky 350
northstar 30 ton splitter
96 chevy 4x4
polaris sportsman 500

 

[mschoff]

lil

My freind has one and he loves it . said it got so hot in the house one time he's wife when he came home from work she had open some windows. he said it was 87 deg ?

 

[mga]

their web site:


http://www.outsidewoodheater.com/id1.html

not a bad little unit.

 

[AOD]

I dunno, I would not exactly call a 16 gauge steel drum "heavy", and a 465 CFM blower is not very big, you need at least 1,000 CFM's to effectively heat any decent sized structure.

 

[laynes69]

Junk, I wouldn't bother buying one.

 

[JeffHK454]

The 16 gauge steel drum is less than impressive..

16 gauge = .062 or 1/16"

Also seems like a bunch of exposed surfaces to dissipate that precious heat.

 

[AOD]

Apparently there is high temp insulation between the drum and the outer cabinet of the unit. 11 gauge steel would be more like something I would want. I know lawn tractor decks made with 16 gauge steel flex and twist when you engage the mower drive belt, the 13 gauge on my Toro doesn't even notice.

And as I had said before 465 CFM is NOT impressive. I think a good rule of thumb for any forced air wood furnace is 1 CFM per square foot you want it to heat. The formula for heat transfer to air is BTU's = CFM x Temp Rise x 1.08. A wood furnace should have at least 60 degrees of temp rise to keep the flue gases from getting too cool. Say you have 1200 sq ft. to heat, meaning you want to move 1200 CFM;s and have a 60 degree temp rise, meaning your 65 degree air is coming back at 125, you'll need OUTPUT of 77,800 BTU's. Now plug in the numbers from his site, claiming to have 100.000 BTU's of output at 465 CFM and 120 degree outlet air temp. Assume the same 65 degree return air temp, do the math and I only get 27,621 BTU's. Something does not add up here, okay math lesson over.

 

[ericjeeper]

I keep seeing these post popping up on various sites

To me they look like a hokey piece of junk..Let alone what they would do to your property values of your home. Sorry just my opinion.

 

[hickslawns]

Laugh all you want. I dropped my natural gas bill from $200 to $20 last year. Doesn't totally eliminate, but did drop it majorly. I am heating an 1800 sq ft 2 story with it. Cheaper than putting in a wood burner, chimney, etc, and way cheaper than a 100% outdoor whole house unit. In regards to the cfm, I am going to do some experimenting this winter. My uncle is in the htg/ac business for about 30 yrs. Suggested a larger than 8" return. Didn't think you could physically push that much cfm with only an 8" return. I will keep you informed.

laynes69- Do you own one or is this an opinion with nothing to base it on?

ericjeeper- Not the prettiest, but neither is a metal outhouse in your backyard.

AOD- Based on my uncle's math you are right, it is about half the rated output

All I know is if you have a smaller ranch, modular, house trailer, or smaller house they are a great alternative. It won't heat a mega-house or old farmhouse that has been added onto 6 times very well, but it does pretty good in certain applications. I refer to something like this as "a honey for the money"! Will have paid for itself by the end of the winter. I would be looking at 5 more years to have paid for a true whole house OWB plus last year. 6 year return on investment was too long to wait for me. I didn't get mine installed until mid-January last year. Roughly 1.5 year return.

 

[bearsfeat]

here's another opinion with a question.

Greetings,

I read the site that was posted (thanks mga). I think the concept of an air-to-air system does have some advantages. It would be an ideal system for my house, since we already ave forced hot air.

But, I agree with the posters whose opinions are that the product is fairly low quality. 16 gage FIREBOX? 5 year warranty? I cannot justify buying such an important piece of equipment and going the cheap-o route. Now, my saw is a MuckLuck eager beaver... but it was free. Next year when I BUY a saw, you can be sure it will be Stihl or Husky or another QUALITY brand. There is a reason that the saying "you get what you pay for" is so often heard.

Now for my question. Anybody heard of a similar system (air-to-air) that does have a heavier construction (and a reasonable warranty)? I can easily imagine adding $500 - $1000 to that retail price and getting a LOT more for the money...

-bearsfeat

 

[ericjeeper]

ericjeeper- Not the prettiest, but neither is a metal outhouse in your backyard.

.

Get it right.. The outhouse in my backyard is made from wood.

 

[woodcutter69]

I have a lil house heater and love it. ya I am not in favor of the steel drum for a fire box but it is the cheapest one out there where you can also install it in one afternoon. There is also a bryan wood furnace, they have 3 diff size models but they are alot more expensive.

 

[jdboy9]

What about just getting a woodfurnace from tsc or northern they are about the same price or less depending on what you buy. Just build a little shed to put it under and pipe the duct into the house. I was going to do this with a barn I have because of lack of space inside. I can't say its a good idea yet but just a thought.

 

[woodcutter69]

the wood furnaces from tsc is not insulated, I dont think they would put out much heat when sitting outside. they are made for inside so not insulated.

 

[jdboy9]

Ahh yeah I guess then you wouldn't want to heat the outside with it. I wasn't sure if they were insulated or not.

 

[Ozzie]

Here is a link to an air-to air unit, built right here in the Hoosier State:
www.egolfenterprises.com Should be more to your liking.

 

[hickslawns]

ericjeeper- Not starting anything with you and I didn't think you were too upset given your reply. My point is simply this: In my opinion whether you have one of these or an outdoor unit they aren't pretty to look at. Doesn't matter how many colors they offer, they are simply not much to look at. Functionality is all I am worried about though. I am starting my brick paver patio out back tomorrow and plan to build a multi-level patio with some walls and fire pit built it. Won't hide it, but will take away from my own eyesore. lol

As far as my backyard outhouse, location depends on which neighbors are out. This dictates which truck to stand behind. lol

Bearsfeat- For what it is worth, they sell a "rebuild kit" which is a few hundred bucks. The Ohio distributor lives about 1-2 miles from me and said he hasn't sold one yet. The insulation is good too because you can see snow accumulate on top of the heater in the winter.