OWB shopping (kind of)

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Wesspur
shop deals on amazon
Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

Mnwoodman

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Messages
13
Reaction score
3
Looking for a little help from all of you guys.

After my last LP bill and a healthy conversation with the Mrs. We are beginning the search for a OWB.

Brands, features, ease of use? I am just starting my search so any info would really help.

Background on what it's going to heat, house is two story, unheated crawl space 3500 square feet. Built in the early 90's so fairly well insulated. It may also run something to the attached garage but doubtfully at the beginning.

Wood will be heavily weighted to ash, mulberry, and silver maple. My dads farm groves should keep me stocked for quite some time. (Grove might be an understatement).

Any advice is welcomed
 
Find a dealer that is close to you and is willing to talk to you. I debated on a hardy and central boiler, I called them both and the central boiler dealer wouldn't call me back. So guess what I bought a hardy and love it. The best thing about the hardy h2 and h4 is that the domestic hot water is heated without a pump. This means the stoves only run a pump when the house is calling for heat rather than 24/7. Keep it basic and make sure the manufacture has been in business for years.
 
I have a central boiler dealer about 25 miles from me. I am leaning that direction. Has anyone had a bad experience with them? They look like a good unit.
 
Oh by the way.....make sure you enjoy cutting wood. Or you will hate your stove. All owb's burn alot of wood (go ahead indoor stove guys an say what you want).
 
Not sure which is most important, but a good dealer and a company that's been around for a long time will both give peace of mind. I have a Portage & Main and really like it. I researched OWBs for a couple years, talked to many owners of different brands and narrowed it down to P&M or Central Boiler. Here are some good and bad features that I was told. Bad stuff included stainless steel, unit up on legs, chimney through roof, lightweight models, fiberglass mat insulation, water filled doors, complicated electronics, ash augers... The good stuff included round fireboxes, blown insulation, baffle to hold smoke in burn chamber longer, chimney out the back, easy to get parts, simple design, ease of use/maintenance, forced air draft only if it blows on top and under the fire, easy ash clean out... not that I agree or disagree with these but it's what I was told. P&M dealer took us to meet 3 of his customers and see the stoves in action and encouraged us to ask them questions. He knows his stuff, returns calls promptly, and takes pride in the product. CB dealer treated us like he didn't care if I bought one from him or not, his loss.
 
I looked at Hardy , natures comfort , woodmaster ,and central boiler, talking to the installers as well as spent many hours on here searching reviews. The natures comfort dealer was a hack after seeing his install and talking to him so he was out of the running. It was real close between the other three with not much difference in pricing. The central boiler dealer had a small showing where he explained everything to us and had a company rep there also answering any questions . After that my mind was made up I went with the CB . Best part is he is close and is there if i need his help . Good luck
 
Mnwoodman said:
Looking for a little help from all of you guys.

After my last LP bill and a healthy conversation with the Mrs. We are beginning the search for a OWB.

Brands, features, ease of use? I am just starting my search so any info would really help.

Background on what it's going to heat, house is two story, unheated crawl space 3500 square feet. Built in the early 90's so fairly well insulated. It may also run something to the attached garage but doubtfully at the beginning.

Wood will be heavily weighted to ash, mulberry, and silver maple. My dads farm groves should keep me stocked for quite some time. (Grove might be an understatement).

Any advice is welcomed
Click to expand...

A lot of good comments posted so far. My story: In 2003, I started looking around and reading up on OWB's as I really wanted to get off of propane. Also wanted to heat the workshop, and really wanted one unit to heat both house and shop, so was either multiple indoor units or one outdoor unit. If I stayed off the big road on the way to work and take the country roads I began to notice quite a few homes with an OWB; I stopped at every place and asked the owners to share their experiences; heck, there are four homes within a mile of me that are running one; based on that knowledge and the reading I'd done, I was leaning towards the central boiler, so called the nearest dealer; he showed up once, had a good conversation and when I was ready to bite I couldn't get him to give me the time of day. Not wanting to give up on the brand, I contacted another CB dealer, but over an hour away, absolutely customer focused so I bought a 5648 from him in summer of '04; being frugal, I wanted to do the install, but he provided stellar service on materials and advice all the way. Fired it up in Nov. '04, shut it down in May of '05 but went through withdrawals not smelling the aroma of a wood fire so lit it back up one month later (heating domestic hot water year 'round); so it's been in operation ever since ; gets shut down once a year in late summer for a good cleaning of fire box and detailed inspection of same and chimney system, etc. for any signs of corrosion or other problems and so far it all looks fabulous. Overall problems? one door solenoid in 10+ years. Would I purchase this brand again? Yes. Tomorrow. I know many are very happy with other brands, and ya can turn it into comparisons like husyky vs stihl, ford vs chevy, blonde vs brunette. And, anyone can get a lemon (I'm NOT referring to the ladies here, just to be clear), but as with most any type of equipment or machinery, chances are if you exercise some TLC and put forth the proper attention and maintenance, you should expect great service in return.

Coincidentally, I just came in from loading up with ash and silver maple, and in honor of forecasting to be above zero tomorrow morning for the first time all week, I also tossed in a few ceremonial chunks of basswood.
 
Reading the Internet about OWBs ( or anything else for that matter) will drive you nuts, no matter what brand you think you want and no matter what type of steel or insulation you can punch it up and read horror stories about rust out failures after 3 1/4 days of operation or stainless steel that cracks like a windshield hit by a rock. Others claim that after switching to brand "B" they heat their home, shop and melt the ice of the drive while burning two sticks of kindling a day and previously they burned 14 pick up loads a week in P.O.S. brand "B" Same with the pumps, my supposedly P.O.S. Taco pumps are in year 7,,, the spares I bought may rust out in the boxes.
I have 4 pretty close friends with OWBs and they are all different brands and to tell you the truth the practical differences are few. DO read up about what brands have been around a while and which ones change names and ownership every 3-4 years to avoid warranty claims and DO purchase from a local dealer that has been in business a while. I have a Woodmaster 4400 because our local CB dealer at the time was a ass. I am in heating season number 7 with it. Up to this year our total repair bill was one 50 cent light bulb. Back in December it developed a short in the wiring somewhere between the ETC unit and the blower motor. In the spring we will have to remove the siding and part of the blanket to find it but for now it is running fine on an external by-pass wire. I am well pleased with my purchase.

To the important decisions for you, more important than which brand, which steel, which insulated pipe and which pumps are;
If cutting wood is a chore you hate then stay away from an OWB. If saving money is the one and only motivation then stay away from an OWB. If you are the type that cant stay home and want to gallivant around the country or world whenever it strikes you then stay away from an OWB. Outdoor wood boilers are universally HATED by these types because owning, operating and feeding one becomes an integral part of your life. You don't light it and then let it go out when you are not at home or just dont feel like fooling with it. Its like having a herd of dairy cows, there aint no holidays nor days off. Central Boiler more than any other Mfg has promoted this and it is true. I tell every non-wood burning person that looks mine over to NOT buy one and go buy a wood stove. They are much cheaper to walk away from after year two than any OWB. Then after a few years they can make a smart decision about an OWB.
 
^^ YEP ^^, what the last two guys said,,,
NOT starting a war of words here,,BUT,
I passed on the Hardy, not necessarily because of the stainless, (that was part of it) but because the two guys I know running them have had problems with the damper, under the grates?, sticking open and over firing the stove, boiling the water off. Not a feature I cared for,,and the small door, didn't like the small door. "Crooked Charlies'" Hardy is hooked to his well pump and this over fire condition ran his well dry during an over fire..The other guy I referenced had this problem and claims since he cleans his ashes out more often he has had no problems, so the stuck damper/over fire may have been attributed to lack of maintenance??
As mentioned in earlier post, they all need some tending to and this kind of discussion can turn into a chevy, ford, blonde, brunette kind of discussion.
They are hungry for firewood, sure, so ya' better like the great outdoors and cutting firewood, but when it's 5 degrees outside and EVERY room in your house is 70 degrees,,you'll be glad to be feeding one.
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. I am still researching and finding out a lot of good info as I go. I have used our fireplace almost continually since we moved in and all B.S. aside, I love cutting and splitting wood. To me it's exercise and a chance to be outside. Having a family farm that owns a payloader and a three point splitter and large trailers to haul wood makes things a little easier too.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I'm very interested.
Saving money isn't my only motivation, I am the type who tries to be as self sufficient as possible. I don't mind the work side of this, if anything it makes it more enticing.
 
I installed a CB Classic 5036 last year (Fall of 2012) and haven't been unhappy with it at all. The dealer is 15 miles away but I haven't required any service or support. Did the installation myself, except needed a new furnace plenum to fit the heat exchanger below the AC coil. I can shut off the garage or the furnace and garage to just heat water during warmer weather.

I burn a bunch of wood! The OWB heats our water, the house and attached 30x24 garage. The way things are going this winter, the expectation is that we'll use 13-15 cords of mixed hardwood. Last year was around 11-12.

One thing I wish was better about the CB is the ash collection. I have to dig the ash out of the active firebox but it's mixed with a great big bunch of live coals. It would be nice to have a grate for the fire and an ash-pan below. It's a once-a-month thing but still... The EPA models have a forced draft and better ash collection, I think.

The 5036 holds around 200 gallons of water. I left the temp at the default 185F setting, and it works very well for us. I can load it in the late evening (9pm) and it'll still have some wood remaining at 8am, even when it was -20somethingF earlier this week. A few chunks during the day (my wife stays home) and all is well. We were gone overnight for Christmas and it was still at 172 degrees the next day.

Jon
 
Really nothing to add...everything that's been said I would have to agree with. A good dealer just like with saws etc is probably the most important, that is what sold me on buying a woodmaster over Taylor and CB. Maintenance is imperative like most things in life.
 
Johnny Yooper said:
A lot of good comments posted so far. My story: In 2003, I started looking around and reading up on OWB's as I really wanted to get off of propane. Also wanted to heat the workshop, and really wanted one unit to heat both house and shop, so was either multiple indoor units or one outdoor unit. If I stayed off the big road on the way to work and take the country roads I began to notice quite a few homes with an OWB; I stopped at every place and asked the owners to share their experiences; heck, there are four homes within a mile of me that are running one; based on that knowledge and the reading I'd done, I was leaning towards the central boiler, so called the nearest dealer; he showed up once, had a good conversation and when I was ready to bite I couldn't get him to give me the time of day. Not wanting to give up on the brand, I contacted another CB dealer, but over an hour away, absolutely customer focused so I bought a 5648 from him in summer of '04; being frugal, I wanted to do the install, but he provided stellar service on materials and advice all the way. Fired it up in Nov. '04, shut it down in May of '05 but went through withdrawals not smelling the aroma of a wood fire so lit it back up one month later (heating domestic hot water year 'round); so it's been in operation ever since ; gets shut down once a year in late summer for a good cleaning of fire box and detailed inspection of same and chimney system, etc. for any signs of corrosion or other problems and so far it all looks fabulous. Overall problems? one door solenoid in 10+ years. Would I purchase this brand again? Yes. Tomorrow. I know many are very happy with other brands, and ya can turn it into comparisons like husyky vs stihl, ford vs chevy, blonde vs brunette. And, anyone can get a lemon (I'm NOT referring to the ladies here, just to be clear), but as with most any type of equipment or machinery, chances are if you exercise some TLC and put forth the proper attention and maintenance, you should expect great service in return.

Coincidentally, I just came in from loading up with ash and silver maple, and in honor of forecasting to be above zero tomorrow morning for the first time all week, I also tossed in a few ceremonial chunks of basswood.
Click to expand...

goodpost.gif


But what's wrong with redheads?
baffled.gif
 
X2 on the comment if you want it soley for the purpose of saving money dont get one. Like said earlier they are alot of work. I dont know if I would own one if i didn't have a skid loader and dump trailer. Plus I have a tree service. I like my owb for the money savings is about it. It all depends on how much time and effort you have to devote to gathering or obtaining wood. Its alot better now that I just finished building my skid steer wood splitter. Now I can take a 36" diameter round and split it up into good sized pieces with ease. I guess I get my wood cutting joys out of the way in the tree season. Dont get me wrong I do like not having to pay for propane for my 80+ year old house and shop.
 
The one thing I wish I could figure is roughly how much wood I would go through. I know it's highly variable. But assuming an average winter and the fact that my house is well insulated there should be some kind of calculator to help me figure it out. I know it will be a fair amount of wood which I expect, I just want a ballpark figure.
 
I live in east central Minnesota and I put in a portage and main unit the summer before last and I like it. I did a lot of research and it was gonna be either p&m or cb. I liked the ash pan and the top heat exchanger on the p&m so that's what I got. Probably about 15 cords last winter. I heat a 2 bedroom home and 30x40 shop with it and my hot water. Dealer I got it from is in trego, wisconsin. Where in Minnesota are you?
 

Similar threads

M
Chop Down ~80 Year Old Male Ginkgo
Replies
19
Views
2K
bucketofguts
bucketofguts
J
Husqvarna 545 mark ii autotune issues
2
Replies
39
Views
15K
etothef
etothef
G
OWB Help
Replies
11
Views
717
jrider
J
Timber MacFallen
Husqvarna 550XP Mk 2 vs Stihl MS 261 C-M Review
Replies
15
Views
34K
Rickochet
Rickochet
Jere39
Log Arch Build
2
Replies
21
Views
5K
Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane

Latest posts

Back
Top