a little different take on outside wood heat

[user 19670]

The old farm house I just purchased had a set up in the well house at one time. There are two pvc pipes running just under the surface of the ground between the well house to the basement window(20ft). From what I can tell they heated the well house (approx 8x10) then ran a line to the cold air return on forced air furnace not sure what they did with cold air reurn from well house. I was actually considering trying a system like this for this winter but didnt know if it would work. Anyone ever done this? Could I heat the well house then hook a squirrel cage fan to the pvc heat pipe to blow air into furnace? Than just leave cold air return to the well open? Just curious.

What I think I understand, from what you describe, the cold air return is what goes to the cold air plenum of the furnace. Whatever is sucked from that line is replenished with warm room air through the other PVC pipe. Should be enough to keep the well from freezing I guess.
I like the fan idea and would tend to have more faith in it. Duct fans work similarly so there might not be any problem.

 

[scottbradley]

howdy all

Glad to see discussion about the Lil house heater. I wanted to answer some questions you guys are asking on here about the heater. And give you my view of using a Lil House for 20 years. First yes it is a 55 gallon 16 gauge drum in an insulated box. The drum will last anywhere from 4-5 yrs to 7-8-9-10 years. It depends on how you take care of your heater. Kinda like buying a new car.....not everyone is going to get 150K miles out of it.....some more some less. Water is the enemy of these...as water and ashes make lye. That will eat the drum up. It costs approx 200 dollars for a rebuild kit.

This is not something that is super fancy , but it is simple and it does work. I don't think it is for everyone as some people want fancy. We use materials that can be found locally for hooking up the heater, that way you don't have to buy stuff just from me for setting it up and the cold air return. What is does and does well is heat a home, shop or mobile home. Up to 2400 sq ft. It is rated at 100,000 btu the test results can be seen at the factory. Sometimes simple is good and this is one time it is. I understand wondering how a small blower and one heatduct can heat a house.......it was a mystery to me till I got one. The key is the cold air return...... if your heat comes in on the south, you need the cold air return on the north......same idea as a whole house attic fan.......The room the heat comes into is not hotter than the rest of the house because the heat is moving on......to the cold air returns. The air flow doesn't have to be real fast, the 465 cfm is plenty since once you get your home warm your only replacing the cold creeping in.

This is a working mans heater......not fancy not expensive but it works. I made the website from a farmers perspective....not a salesmans perspective......Does it work for everyone? No! Did anyone notice you cannot order from the website? That helps keep people from ordering one and it not be what they need. If I was just selling these to sell them I would let anyone order from the website.......but I like to talk to people to make sure it will work for them. I don't know many businesses that try that hard to be honest........I know I have more business because I am honest and try to do the best I can for people. I just treat them the way I would want to be treated.

I am proud of my website (you can tell I did it) even though it is not professional. I am proud of my layout, pictures and my references to God that are on it also. If your turned off by my layout well that is ok, I didn't make it to please everyone. I made it from the perspective of what I would want to know about a Lil House Heater if I was buying one or talking to a neighbor or friend that hand one.......That was my objective. Any questions you have about this and its operation I will be glad to answer just email me from the website or call me.

I am not writing this to pick a fight with anyone on here nor will I argue.....I just wanted to give you more information about the heater. Go to the website and read the FAQ's that always help if you want more information
www.outsidewoodheater.com

Have a great day!
Scott Bradley

 

[Mkarlson]

guess i wasnt clear...was little foggy up stairs this morning. My question would be can a person heat a small outside building (8x10) and blow heat from building to house furnace and be very efficient? Looks like someone had done this at the house I just purchased. They had two pipes running underground into basement. They left one hole open in the cold air return box on furnace. I assume its where they pumped the hot air to. Not sure what they did with the second pipe unless it was somekind of return for the outside building to equalize the pressure?

 

[AngelofDarkness]

As I had already stated earlier in this thread, I think this heater would perform much better with a larger blower capable of building enough static pressure to push the warm air through a real supply and return air duct system. Even with the return air system that is recommended, I cannot see how anyone sitting so close to the supply would not get roasted out with 100,000 BTU's going past them.

 

[wdchuck]

You could make or buy one and share your results.

 

[chowdozer]

Scott, kudo's to you! Thanks for taking the time to join and write about your product.
I hope business is good for you.

 

[Redwood123]

I would be concerned that any violation of the fire box could send sparks directly to your living space through the duct.
An ODWB only circulates water which heat is extracted through a heat exchanger.
The heat is distributed throughout the house evenly and comfortably.
People that come to our home don't even know that we have a out door wood boiler.
I also control the temp with a thermostat which controls the fan in my central heating system so the temp is very constant in our house.
I don't see this with using a system you have.
Also I wonder what the insurance companies would have to say about potential for a house fire.

 

[Mike Van]

A big drawback I see with any setup like this [not just your's Scott] is as soon as the power goes out, so does your heat. Without that fan to push hot air into the house, you're pretty much screwed. You can have the biggest woodpile in town, and no way to heat your home with it. All the radiant heat from this type stove is just wasted, heating the great outdoors. The last thing does concern yours Scott, and it's been mentioned already. I just couldn't rely on a std. 55 gal drum to keep my family safe from wood gas, carbon monoxide, & all the other crap thats going to get blown into the house when that barrel fails. Make a better heat exchanger, you'll have a safer unit.

 

[leon]

outdoor heater

I think I would run the supply into the existing house duct system. And use an appropriately sized fan. One supply duct through a window doesn't do it for me. But I do like the concept.

The biggest problem is simply that the register passes through the window and It would not be up to fire code and if a fire happened so you would be collectively "manure out of luck" as far an insurance claim goes as it is not properly connected to a fresh air plenum.

 

[ericjeeper]

My guess on your well house

guess i wasnt clear...was little foggy up stairs this morning. My question would be can a person heat a small outside building (8x10) and blow heat from building to house furnace and be very efficient? Looks like someone had done this at the house I just purchased. They had two pipes running underground into basement. They left one hole open in the cold air return box on furnace. I assume its where they pumped the hot air to. Not sure what they did with the second pipe unless it was somekind of return for the outside building to equalize the pressure?

They were pulling cool air out of there in the summer to help cool the house.

 

[Mkarlson]

I dont even want to think about trying to cool this beast in the summer......I hope I can convince the wife we dont need it but somehow I think she will make me see things her way.

 

[AngelofDarkness]

I dont even want to think about trying to cool this beast in the summer......I hope I can convince the wife we dont need it but somehow I think she will make me see things her way.

You get your woodheat, she gets her A/C, it's kind of the way things go.

I have both woodheat and central A/C and no wife, I am ahead of the game!