Outdoor Wood Burner Advice

[Dolmar Fan]

Thinking about getting a outdoor wood boiler. I currently have a wood stove in the basement and a forced air furnace i would like to be able to heat my hot water as well which I think most will do .How well does the heat exchanger system work and what are the reputable brands ? I hear some horror stories about these thaings and alot of good

 

[Kemper]

I've only had mine installed for a week now but i love it, It's a Natures Comfort NC250, not sure who makes their heat exchangers but it is the way to go if your burning wood! The hot water is very nice too.

I can have the house at virtually any temp i want, and I get 12 to 15 hours burn time before i have to add wood.

 

[Encore]

Most of the horror stories you hear are from people who aren't experienced enough or don't know how the system works well enough to be running one.

I installed our Hardy H4 this summer and it's the best decision I've ever made. 24-36hr burn times before adding wood (depending on the type of wood and how cold it is) and did most all of the install myself.

Just make sure you have the ability to cut more wood. With our indoor stove we used to go through about 3-5 cords a year. I expect to go through about twice that this year. Unless it doesn't get cold for a long snap lol.

 

[Uncle John]

The only advantage to an outdoor furnace that I can see is you keep the wood and the mess outside. If you are already burning inside, consider an efficient wood furnace at less initial cost. And you will burn much less wood than you would with an owb.

 

[bowtechmadman]

I love my OWB, just like anything else it requires maint. pumps, fans, water treatement. I like not having the mess from bringing the wood inside. I keep 4k sq feet at 73 no matter what the temperature is outside. Better like to cut wood because an OWB definately will eat it. I will burn from 8-12 full cords a winter depending on the length and harshness of the winter. Most people don't realize I have one since it's 150 feet from my house. Heating my water is also a nice plus especially now that I have two girls that enjoy long hot showers.
Any specific advice your seeking? I've burnt wood inside, and now outside and I wouldn't go back to burning inside. Burning w/ a Woodmaster 5500, I think there are several brands that are just as good if not better. Most important part of the install in my eyes is in the quality of the PEX pipe and how well insulated it is, this is one place I wouldn't go cheap.

 

[brenndatomu]

Just put a hot water coil in your existing wood furnace. Here is a link to one called the Hot Rod. You can see the install directions there too. Hot Rod Water Probe for Wood Burning Furnaces

 

[stltreedr]

I installed an aquatherm 250 gal stainless steel about 3 years ago. Very happy with the results after I got everything right. I put it in place of where the previous owner had a hardy heater. Found out the the pex lines were uninsulated and I was losing a ton of heat to the ground. insulated the PEX and now burn 1/2 what I was before. The heat exchanger was too small for my ductwork, so i cut a piece of sheet metal and filled the gaps. It is much more efficient now in keeping the house warm.

Plusses to the Aquatherm IMO:

huge door for loading wood
closed system, never needs water to be added
ash removal is easy, with a corkscrew/crank thing.

 

[Encore]

Most OWB systems will get longer burn cycles than indoor furnaces and you'll have a more exact temp control which is what sold me on the OWB over the indoor furnace.

Most of the furnaces I looked at were still 8hr or so burn times and I'd have to carry the wood downstairs vs. just leaving it outside where the burner is now.

Our OWB is about 65' from the house and most of our neighbors never even knew we had one

 

[jrider]

The only advantage to an outdoor furnace that I can see is you keep the wood and the mess outside. If you are already burning inside, consider an efficient wood furnace at less initial cost. And you will burn much less wood than you would with an owb.

Not to mention, no worry about chimney fires in your house, less time splitting because if you can get it in the large door you can burn it, thermostat controlled so all rooms are the same temperature, only having to load it once a day, oh and here in the east where most people are affraid to burn pine - once people know you have it they will bring you all the pine you could ever want.

I weighed all the options last fall and went with the OWB and know I will never go any other route the rest of my days.

 

[Dolmar Fan]

thanks for all the good info. I see some of these burners are closed systems and other are not which is better and how are water levels maintained in these open systems

 

[bowtechmadman]

Open system I have an inline fill valve that I open once a week for a few minutes. Boiler has a warning light when water level is low. Don't know about all but I could also just stick a garden hose in the fill hole at the boiler.

 

[Dolmar Fan]

I curently burn 6 cord a season from oct to april how much more do you think i would burn with a owb and i would be heating my dhw for free

 

[Uncle John]

I curently burn 6 cord a season from oct to april how much more do you think i would burn with a owb and i would be heating my dhw for free

Hard to say how much more. Too many variables. But I think quite a bit more.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Central Boiler 6048 here. I installed it all myself. Like said above, go with a high quality underground PEX like the ThermoPEX available through Central Boiler. I have a foot of it exposed to the elements where it goes into the house. Snow lays on top of it and does not melt with 190* water flowing through it. It's good stuff but I paid $11.45 per foot of it. I laid 80' of it, 18" down in the ground.

24-36 hours burn times is not a problem at all, and I only load it half full. I let it go for 4 days without adding wood when it was in the high 50's, low 60's and there were still plenty of red hot coals left I just added wood and it took off again.

I've been running it for nearly 2 months now and have not had to add any water.

Another plus is you can cut your wood in longer lengths. I don't split anything under about 8" diameter, and I leave it about 36" long. People claim burning green wood produces a lot of smoke but I have not found that to be true. I can throw a full load of green wood in and it doesn't smoke any more than with seasoned dry wood.

This is when it's idleing. Nearly zero smoke coming from the chimney. I need to take a pic of it when it's firing. Smoke trails about 20' then dissipates.

 

[Penguins87]

An OWB plumbed into your heating system will heat your "entire" home as good or in our case better than a oil burner. Friends of ours have indoor stoves which heat only about half their houses'. They use electric baseboard in the cold rooms. We have a forced hot air system in our house. The water to air heat exchanger keeps the air in the ducts warm at all times. When the blower turns on there is hot air coming out of the ducts instantly. The blower only runs at most 5 to 6 minutes till the thermostat is satisfied. The whole house is 73*. We haven't had the dry static air as bad since installation of the OWB either. Plus all the hot domestic water. OWb, more of an investment but worth it I feel. I second, don't skimp on the underground pex. Logster is another good one. I used Rehau. Very similar to Thermopex and Logster and about the same cost.

 

[deutzman]

From 1984 to 2009 I heated with a pretty large indoor wood stove covered and tied into the duct work. Just blew hot air/not heating water. It served me well and a friend has it in use today. When I pulled it out I put in a used 4436 Central Boiler. House was built in 1917/2 story/no basement/ walls are insulated well and attic too. I use a water to air exchanger and a 20 plate exchanger for my hot water. When it got cold here and windy I'd have to reload that old stove about every 4 hours. That got old as the years went by.

Mild weather like yesterday and last night here the CB went for 28 hours and it wasn't fully loaded with wood yesterday. When it gets cold I fill every 12 hours. I heat hot water year round and go sometimes 5 days on a fill and that's lower quality wood in the summer. I really like not having to get up in the night adding wood to the fire. I did that so many years I just got tired and wore out as I got older. Old stove I had maybe 3 chimney fires over the years I used it. CB is 100 ft. from the house and a few times a year I see it light up with a pink glow out the pipe and I think it's pretty and have no worry with it. No wood trash to bother about in the house plus the dust from indoor wood heating.

Over the past 2 years I made some changes in equipment and now I don't stack wood. I never put my hands on the wood till it goes in the CB. So heating with wood is a joy again in my older years.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Over the past 2 years I made some changes in equipment and now I don't stack wood. I never put my hands on the wood till it goes in the CB. So heating with wood is a joy again in my older years.

I've found that I've been handling my wood too much now that I've got my OWB. I've got so many irons in the fire right now I can't really set things up the way I want, but eventually I will have a hoist that will place heavy rounds into the firebox of my 6048 so I won't have to split the medium rounds anymore.

 

[deutzman]

I've found that I've been handling my wood too much now that I've got my OWB. I've got so many irons in the fire right now I can't really set things up the way I want, but eventually I will have a hoist that will place heavy rounds into the firebox of my 6048 so I won't have to split the medium rounds anymore.

I think back to when I use to cut wood for my Dad &Mom and myself and it all was split by hand (me). After about 10 years of that I got a splitter on the tractor but I still had to load it after splitting, haul it to a shed and stack it there for the summer, then take it out and in to a basement at one house and a block building at the other and restack again. It's amazing how much work time can be cut when you get an idea and follow through on it once you change to OWB. And yes I burn more wood now but I stay warmer and get a heck of a lot more sleep too. When you get that hoist going I'd sure like to see a picture of it even if it's years down the road. I spent the better part of a year working out a trade for a tractor I had for equipment to help me gather wood faster and easier and bought a dump trailer too. I've got it all set up now so it works for my needs. I still enjoy working on firewood. I just don't have to work as hard now and gather more wood than when I was younger.

 

[Yomax4]

OWB's

I was lucky enough to do business with 4 major OWB companies. I am pretty handy so I took the best ideas from each and built my own. It's is a Wood Consumer but I heat a 4000sq ft home, Floor heat in the basement and an exchanger in the furnace. I also have in floor heat in my shop.1200SqFt. I used to try to off set the heat bill by using my fireplace but I think more heat went up the pipe than in the house. Now I have the mess outside, Burn big wood and enjoy chimney fires in the OWB. ( keeps the Chimney cleaned out ) A large water jacket and a ton of insulation make these things enjoyable to own. good luck !

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

yomax, not trying hijack the thread but I haven't seen you post any pics of your home made owb. Want to start a thread with pics? I love seeing home made owbs.