jfriesner
ArboristSite Lurker
My younger brother and myself both revamped our heating systems this year and upgraded. I choose the OWB route and located a used one and traded labor for payment. I had to replace move the parts on the boiler and also spend a good $1500 to get it all plumbed in, pumps, and exchangers. The younger brother mocked me for going the wood boiler route mostly based on all the work it was going to be to harvest enough wood to feed it. He boasted that his system would burn 1/4 the amount of wood mine will and be a breeze to heat his house. Despite all the mockery I continued with my system and did all the installation work myself and kept costs to a minimum. Once it was all installed, fired up, and working well I began skidding, cutting, splitting, and stacking a years worth of wood. My goal was 10 cord and it took me several days to get it but I was victorious. The process went really easy as I was able to skid the logs to within 15-20' of my boiler and then cut, split and stack right next to it.
The younger brother choose a US Ashley indoor furnace. He worked equally as hard and diligently to get his system installed and running. It required the removal of his current traditional wood stove and adding duct work to the new system located in the garage now instead of the house. His argument was his system would keep all the mess out in the garage and ambient heat would keep the garage warm as well. The plan was also to keep a years worth of wood, since it would only be about 2-3 cord tops, inside as well. His final cost was about $1000 less then mine.
3 months later we are sitting in two very different places. He has had lots of trouble with getting decent burn times out of the furnace, especially on those -25 nights. He also quickly learned that it required VERY seasoned wood to burn, which he had none of so had to go buy fire wood! Who does that? I am partially joking here because we both own enough property to harvest more wood then we'll ever be able to burn. Creosote in the chimney almost started a fire and caused smoke to backup out the flue some how. So now his garage smells like a cigarette butt. Turns out having the mess in the garage isn't that big of an upgrade form having it in the house. The mess/smell still finds its way in and the bugs are right at your door step. The stove has struggled to heat his 1200sqft house and can't really be trusted to be left for any length of time. So his backup electric has been kicking on much more then he had planned. He is also on track to burn more like 3-5 cord and not the 2-3 he was hoping for. He also is realizing how much work taking a 40' oak tree and cutting it into 16" lengths, splitting it 4-6 times to get small enough pieces, then transport it all into his garage and stack in a way it doesn't take up too much room.
Mean while at our farm the boiler is on track to stay at or below the guesstimated 10cord. We keep our house, 2600sqft, at whatever temp we want, normally 73F. We heat all our domestic water which has been such a blessing to kill power to our water heater! And we added a hot tub that has been a game changer for the kids to have something to do on those -25F days outside. I never worry about chimney fire, let it buck! I also wasn't able to get a years worth of seasoned wood but for this year green is working just fine. We can easily get 18hr burn times even at -25. All our mess is truly away from the house and if I don't tell you we have a wood boiler most don't even realize it. The kids and I already have 5 cord ready to go for next year. It goes so fast when your cutting 30" pieces and splitting once, if that. Plus since I don't have to transport inside I am able to use equipment to move it around so i'm not touching it so many times.
Long story short the younger bromanchew is wishing he had a boiler! I'm not bashing indoor burners, they have their place and they have their fan base. I couldn't care less what you use to heat your house. Only thing I would recommend is to do a lot of research before choosing any wood burning stove. But if your goal is to produce a lot of BTU's, handle wood fewer times, have longer burn times, and have the ability to move heat to outbuilding, spa's, driveway melt, etc...then a OWB is what you need!
The younger brother choose a US Ashley indoor furnace. He worked equally as hard and diligently to get his system installed and running. It required the removal of his current traditional wood stove and adding duct work to the new system located in the garage now instead of the house. His argument was his system would keep all the mess out in the garage and ambient heat would keep the garage warm as well. The plan was also to keep a years worth of wood, since it would only be about 2-3 cord tops, inside as well. His final cost was about $1000 less then mine.
3 months later we are sitting in two very different places. He has had lots of trouble with getting decent burn times out of the furnace, especially on those -25 nights. He also quickly learned that it required VERY seasoned wood to burn, which he had none of so had to go buy fire wood! Who does that? I am partially joking here because we both own enough property to harvest more wood then we'll ever be able to burn. Creosote in the chimney almost started a fire and caused smoke to backup out the flue some how. So now his garage smells like a cigarette butt. Turns out having the mess in the garage isn't that big of an upgrade form having it in the house. The mess/smell still finds its way in and the bugs are right at your door step. The stove has struggled to heat his 1200sqft house and can't really be trusted to be left for any length of time. So his backup electric has been kicking on much more then he had planned. He is also on track to burn more like 3-5 cord and not the 2-3 he was hoping for. He also is realizing how much work taking a 40' oak tree and cutting it into 16" lengths, splitting it 4-6 times to get small enough pieces, then transport it all into his garage and stack in a way it doesn't take up too much room.
Mean while at our farm the boiler is on track to stay at or below the guesstimated 10cord. We keep our house, 2600sqft, at whatever temp we want, normally 73F. We heat all our domestic water which has been such a blessing to kill power to our water heater! And we added a hot tub that has been a game changer for the kids to have something to do on those -25F days outside. I never worry about chimney fire, let it buck! I also wasn't able to get a years worth of seasoned wood but for this year green is working just fine. We can easily get 18hr burn times even at -25. All our mess is truly away from the house and if I don't tell you we have a wood boiler most don't even realize it. The kids and I already have 5 cord ready to go for next year. It goes so fast when your cutting 30" pieces and splitting once, if that. Plus since I don't have to transport inside I am able to use equipment to move it around so i'm not touching it so many times.
Long story short the younger bromanchew is wishing he had a boiler! I'm not bashing indoor burners, they have their place and they have their fan base. I couldn't care less what you use to heat your house. Only thing I would recommend is to do a lot of research before choosing any wood burning stove. But if your goal is to produce a lot of BTU's, handle wood fewer times, have longer burn times, and have the ability to move heat to outbuilding, spa's, driveway melt, etc...then a OWB is what you need!