Central Boiler Classic Edge Input

[sawjunky23]

Looking for any input from someone who has a similar gasification setup. I heated with indoor furnaces and stoves in the past. I have been kicking around the idea of going with a Central Boiler Classic Edge OWB to heat my house, outbuilding and domestic hot water. In talking with the dealer, he estimated that I should plan on having 7ish cord of wood on hand. Obviously with a gasification unit well seasoned wood is necessary.
I was wondering if people actually using gasification units can attest to a substantial reduction in the amount of wood used....or if it’s equivalent to a sales gimmic.

I don’t really have storage area to store three years ahead if it’s going to take 10 plus cords every year.

My other problem is that I don’t really have a substantial amount of wood on hand to start with this fall, I was thinking about trying to buy a big load of sawmill slab wood to start off with and then I would have a year to get some wood processed and seasoned.

Thanks for your input

 

[NSMaple1]

Not exactly the same. But I switched from an indoor combo oil/wood boiler, to an indoor gasifier with electric boiler for backup.

I think I went from something like 8 cords of wood and a tank of oil per year (200gal.) for heat & DHW, to between 5 & 6 cords of wood (closer to 5) and no oil plus $25+/- of electricity per month for summer DHW (backup electric boiler gets used only maybe 2 days a year - last winter it was zero). And the house is warmer now than before. Not sure how that equates to a % reduction in wood use, lots of variables.

If you are moving from an indoor burner, to an OWB, you will lose some of the gain because all your heat loss will be to the outdoors rather than inside the building envelope.

Also, sawmill slab wood might still be pretty soggy, unless it has been laying around piled loose for a while somewhere the sun & wind can get at it. If you can find it around here, it basically comes to you straight off a green log at the mill. And if it is piled how it naturally wants to lay, air can't get at it very good.

 

[panolo]

I never had the smoke dragon type of boiler but I have an edge 550. I burn 40% less than my buddy who has a heatmor. I have a larger house and we both run our thermostats in the lower 70's. You can tell the difference between dryer wood and wetter wood. But honestly wood around 25% doesn't burn bad. You just use a tich more. If you are going to burn 35% wood your basically consuming almost as much as the non gasification boilers. I really like my 550 and am 95% sure I will upgrade to a 750 next year. Love my dealer Class Act Outdoor Furnaces in Montrose. Duane is a great guy and more than helpful. There are some better units than CB out there but to have great support within 15 minutes was the tipping point for me. I clean my stove every other week and I get about 3 gallons of ash. It takes me about 15 minutes to clean it and do a good job. My year end clean takes about 3-4 hours and that is taking it all apart and vacuuming it out, scraping the sides, and I coat my inside with a gun oil rust preventer.

My first year I had some struggles and learned a bunch from some guys on here. With a couple of tweaks it fixed my problems and I had it dialed well. One of the big things is not to let your coals and ash get too high in the box. You want to get your fills set so you just have a couple inches of coals and ash.

I burnt about 10 bundles of slab wood last year. It was pretty dry. It burns great but you don't get the time out of it you get with splits. But honestly if the slab wood was one cut instead of two I would burn much more of it. There is allot of dry slab wood north of st cloud if you want to acquire some. There is a guy up there that makes whisky and bourbon barrels. It's all white oak and he has some smaller sizes that I may try and get a bunch from. Problem is that right there is so much free hardwood to cut and grab that it is hard to find the time to get there and grab bundles. There is a guy in Pierz who delivers bundles by the semi load, Jeremy Lucking ( you can find him on face book under Lucking Logging), that usually has dry bundles. That is who my buddy gets his from. I don't know if there is a ton of difference between oak and ash in burn time so if you need to get a supply built quickly you could look for a faster drying wood supply like ash, birch, and elm.

If there are any other questions I can answer don't hesitate to holler.

 

[Iaff113]

Ive been heating with a hotblast and an insert for years. I just got my classic edge 350 on my pad. Hopefully this week i will get the pex buried and then i can hook it up. Im looking forward to this heat season.

 

[sawjunky23]

I never had the smoke dragon type of boiler but I have an edge 550. I burn 40% less than my buddy who has a heatmor. I have a larger house and we both run our thermostats in the lower 70's. You can tell the difference between dryer wood and wetter wood. But honestly wood around 25% doesn't burn bad. You just use a tich more. If you are going to burn 35% wood your basically consuming almost as much as the non gasification boilers. I really like my 550 and am 95% sure I will upgrade to a 750 next year. Love my dealer Class Act Outdoor Furnaces in Montrose. Duane is a great guy and more than helpful. There are some better units than CB out there but to have great support within 15 minutes was the tipping point for me. I clean my stove every other week and I get about 3 gallons of ash. It takes me about 15 minutes to clean it and do a good job. My year end clean takes about 3-4 hours and that is taking it all apart and vacuuming it out, scraping the sides, and I coat my inside with a gun oil rust preventer.

My first year I had some struggles and learned a bunch from some guys on here. With a couple of tweaks it fixed my problems and I had it dialed well. One of the big things is not to let your coals and ash get too high in the box. You want to get your fills set so you just have a couple inches of coals and ash.

I burnt about 10 bundles of slab wood last year. It was pretty dry. It burns great but you don't get the time out of it you get with splits. But honestly if the slab wood was one cut instead of two I would burn much more of it. There is allot of dry slab wood north of st cloud if you want to acquire some. There is a guy up there that makes whisky and bourbon barrels. It's all white oak and he has some smaller sizes that I may try and get a bunch from. Problem is that right there is so much free hardwood to cut and grab that it is hard to find the time to get there and grab bundles. There is a guy in Pierz who delivers bundles by the semi load, Jeremy Lucking ( you can find him on face book under Lucking Logging), that usually has dry bundles. That is who my buddy gets his from. I don't know if there is a ton of difference between oak and ash in burn time so if you need to get a supply built quickly you could look for a faster drying wood supply like ash, birch, and elm.

If there are any other questions I can answer don't hesitate to holler.

I’m the same as you, I have a CB dealer very close to home. Main reason I am looking at them. Thanks for the info.

 

[sawjunky23]

Not exactly the same. But I switched from an indoor combo oil/wood boiler, to an indoor gasifier with electric boiler for backup.

I think I went from something like 8 cords of wood and a tank of oil per year (200gal.) for heat & DHW, to between 5 & 6 cords of wood (closer to 5) and no oil plus $25+/- of electricity per month for summer DHW (backup electric boiler gets used only maybe 2 days a year - last winter it was zero). And the house is warmer now than before. Not sure how that equates to a % reduction in wood use, lots of variables.

If you are moving from an indoor burner, to an OWB, you will lose some of the gain because all your heat loss will be to the outdoors rather than inside the building envelope.

Also, sawmill slab wood might still be pretty soggy, unless it has been laying around piled loose for a while somewhere the sun & wind can get at it. If you can find it around here, it basically comes to you straight off a green log at the mill. And if it is piled how it naturally wants to lay, air can't get at it very good.

I should clarify, I have not burned a furnace or stove in my current house. I burned wood various ways in a different house.

 

[300 utility]

We installed a Garn 1500 in 2010 and it used 6 cord less wood than the Heatmor that we had. Well worth the extra expense I think. A lot less maintaince too.