pay for themselves in one year
They smoke a lot.
They need a draft fan.
They burn tons of wood.
They will not burn green wood.
They will not burn wet wood.
They rust out fast.
They take a long time to pay themselves off.
But myths be daaaayyyummed.
Factoids:
1) Our OWB WILL pay for itself in less than 5 years, with install, shipping, plumbing, and electricity to run it, as well as pay for the gas and price of the chainsaws to cut wood for it... and probably even sooner as they are raising rates on electricity here at a fast pace.
2) Our OWB hardly smokes at all. Yah yah... its true. There are a lot of other threads on AS with photos of my unit in operation, and the "smoke" produced.
3) Our OWB heats this house and hot water in it just fine and could heat another one like it. This house was designed with lofted ceilings and a lot of windows, and is really EXPENSIVE to heat with an electric boiler. It has a hydronic heat floor loop, and the electric boiler was turned off he day that the OWB was turned on.
4) We have all the free wood we could burn, with or without an OWB. So efficiency is not an issue for us. Actually, we would just burn it in slash piles, or have to dispose of it some other way. No dent in the carbon footprint.
5) I fill it half full 2x a day with light wood (grand fir, willow, pine) during warmer periods (like now) with 50 degree days and 35 degree nights. That keeps it from producing charcoal and letting all the gas escape unburned. More efficient that way. When it gets colder (30s during the day and teens at night) I fill it with oak or madrone and it keeps the house nice and warm.
6) Most days the fire burns down to coals by morning, and I toss in some more wood to get it back up to temp.
7) We burn 7-8 cords of mixed wood a year in it. We could go with 6 if it was all oak and madrone, maybe 10 if it was grand fir, willow and cottonwood.
8) They do burn green wood. I cut some doug fir here yesterday and tossed some into the boiler. All gone now. It also burns wet wood. 2 years ago we got a really cold spell and were low on wood, and I cut up some soaking wet alder that was in the creekbed area. It burned great and kept the house nice and warm. Yes, it is not as efficient to burn wet or green wood. But so what?
9) They burn trash wood, rotted wood, bug infested wood (termites pop just like popcorn), bark, scrap lumber, paper, cardboard, junk mail, and wood that one would otherwise throw away. Pretty much all but treated wood and garbage.
10) Maintenance is a no-brainer. I have VERY litte superficial rust in the unit after 2+ years in use. Keep the anti-corrosion of the water at the right level, and it will be fine. Keep the ashes stirred up and water pockets from forming in the firebox, and that is about it. Creosote does not cause any corrosion. This is a mild steel unit too, not SS.
11) This is a natrural draft system. I have not seen any need for a fan draft at all. I did add a rain cap last year for it though. Doubles as a spark arrester.
12) We keep the house at 70 degrees, no matter what the weather is like outside. We also have all the hot water that we can use.
"they will burn green wood no problem"
"only smoke when they start up"
"get free heat!!"
"never need to stoke the fire at 2am"
I'm thinking of an OWB for when I buy a house this coming summer. I live in Maine and will be burning a ton of pine. I don't care if I need to cut 10-15 cords a year for it, doesn't bother me. I am curious though, how far away from the house should the boiler be? Also, isn't it much more expensive to buy an OWB as opposed to one you might put in your basement?
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