OWB which is best choice for elderly?

[TIMberbear]

Hello eveyone. I have been looking and searching but havent found a suitable answer for my question. Mostly been getting upgrade ideas. Now my situation, My parents are in their 70s and still want to burn wood. Been burning for the past 50yrs. They have now decided to get an OWB to be closer to the woodpile and to cut down on the handling. Maybe some of u have come across the same situation in your own families and maybe you could share some insight in the ones you have chosen and why. The house is 2 story and adds up to 1300 sqft. They already have an IWS that sits out in the floor. Any clarity on dependability,ease of use,models, and sizes would be greatly appreciated. Ive done an online search and everyone is better than everyone else and nothing makes anyone seem to stand out. My humble thanks in advance

 

[iCreek]

I know a few elderly people with Hardy outdoor stoves. I would think anything with a forced draft would be better than a natural draft model. Other than a good door height for loading wood, and a ash door for ease of emptying, not sure what else you would want... I would think most are going to require loading wood or at least a stir every 12-14 hours.

You might look around your rural neighboorhoods and see what others are using, and see what dealers are close, might be good to have close support if they need it.

 

[projectsho89]

I know a few elderly people with Hardy outdoor stoves. I would think anything with a forced draft would be better than a natural draft model. Other than a good door height for loading wood, and a ash door for ease of emptying, not sure what else you would want... I would think most are going to require loading wood or at least a stir every 12-14 hours.

You might look around your rural neighboorhoods and see what others are using, and see what dealers are close, might be good to have close support if they need it.

You might also look into one of the log loaders for an older OWB owner. I've seen them for sale on ebay.

Steve

 

[urhstry]

Is there a way that something could be bought to move the wood closer to the house so they can use the Indoor unit? Maybe an ATV with a cart? One of those Kubotas? Just a thought.

 

[bore_pig]

Is there a way that something could be bought to move the wood closer to the house so they can use the Indoor unit? Maybe an ATV with a cart? One of those Kubotas? Just a thought.

They would still have to handle the wood twice with an ATV. Once into the cart, and again to get it into the house.

 

[porta mill]

owb for the elderly

I would rethink the idea of an owb for your parents . unless someone can stop by and load it for them , I am in my 30's and it is alot of work things to think of where are they going to get the amount of wood needed for a full heating season ?who is going to split stack ?load the owb depending on the size of the boiler some units need to be fed multiple times a day , and the smaller the wood is split the shorter burn time you will have . I throw in 40- 50 lb + logs .know knowing the health of your dad do you think he will be able to do this for an amount of time to make the owb worth wile (ie price for unit instillation all other associated costs for the amount of time he will be able to do all the work) compared to a conventional heating system . don't mean to discourage you but I just moved my dad on to my property and hooked his double wide to my owb and he tries to help cut wood and load the stove but he could not do it on a daily basis. just trying to give you some things to think about and to consider with you parents . hope this helps

 

[ms310]

I would rethink the idea of an owb for your parents . unless someone can stop by and load it for them , I am in my 30's and it is alot of work things to think of where are they going to get the amount of wood needed for a full heating season ?who is going to split stack ?load the owb depending on the size of the boiler some units need to be fed multiple times a day , and the smaller the wood is split the shorter burn time you will have . I throw in 40- 50 lb + logs .know knowing the health of your dad do you think he will be able to do this for an amount of time to make the owb worth wile (ie price for unit instillation all other associated costs for the amount of time he will be able to do all the work) compared to a conventional heating system . don't mean to discourage you but I just moved my dad on to my property and hooked his double wide to my owb and he tries to help cut wood and load the stove but he could not do it on a daily basis. just trying to give you some things to think about and to consider with you parents . hope this helps

+1

 

[23putts]

I would rethink the idea of an owb for your parents . unless someone can stop by and load it for them , I am in my 30's and it is alot of work things to think of where are they going to get the amount of wood needed for a full heating season ?who is going to split stack ?load the owb depending on the size of the boiler some units need to be fed multiple times a day , and the smaller the wood is split the shorter burn time you will have . I throw in 40- 50 lb + logs .know knowing the health of your dad do you think he will be able to do this for an amount of time to make the owb worth wile (ie price for unit instillation all other associated costs for the amount of time he will be able to do all the work) compared to a conventional heating system . don't mean to discourage you but I just moved my dad on to my property and hooked his double wide to my owb and he tries to help cut wood and load the stove but he could not do it on a daily basis. just trying to give you some things to think about and to consider with you parents . hope this helps

+2

 

[Gooserider]

There is a ton of discussion about this on one of the other boards that I'm on (where they specialize in burning wood, instead of cutting it up...) and the whole question of OWB's is a bit of a sore point...

1. "Standard" OWB designs tend to be very inefficient, meaning that you both go through a LOT more wood, and make a great deal more smoke pollution.

2. There are a lot of people that burn green wood and some that burn trash, old tires, and other garbage that makes the pollution problem even worse. Unfortunately there are some OWB manufacturers that aggravate this by implying or even advertising that it's OK to do this.

3. Because of this pollution, there are a lot of complaints from neighbors, especially when an OWB gets put in a more crowded area, leading to the governments at different levels trying to "solve" the problems via regulation, and making life difficult for the people that are trying to operate responsibly, or use wood stoves, etc.

4. As mentioned, a standard OWB tends to need more fuel than an EPA woodstove, and generally bigger peices, if you are worried about the ability of your elders to handle the wood, this is NOT a direction you want to go...

What I would suggest is that you should avoid "standard" OWB designs - which are essentially a firebox surrounded by a tank of water.

What I would look for is a "Gasification" wood boiler - A couple of brands I see advertised heavily on ********** are EKO and Econoburn, there are others, many of them from Europe where pollution is a big deal, and they are concerned about getting as many BTU's out of a chunk of wood as possible.

Many of them are designed as boilers for use inside a building, but this is no big deal, it just means you need to supply a shed to put around them (and many folks use this as an excuse to build a larger building that combines the boiler space with wood storage and / or workshop space, etc...) or put them in an existing outbuilding.

A gasification unit will burn much cleaner and more efficiently by virtue of it's design, and most use stove wood size splits (which do need to be properly seasoned) You can get even more efficiency and cleaner burning by incorporating a thermal storage tank into the system - this way the burner runs flat out (it's most efficient mode) as much as possible while dumping any extra heat into the storage tank, and then you heat off the tank for a while before needing to build the next fire. (Lots of details on how to do all this in the "Boiler Room" on **********)

I think you and your parents would be much happier with a gasification unit, as it would better fit their needs - burning efficiently takes less wood, and you can still put it out where it will be easier to load.

Gooserider

 

[TIMberbear]

For everyone that responded, thank you so much for your input. For getting it to the porch they have 2 options, they use the Kubota tractor with a front end loader that has manual gears and they have to climb up on or their newest toy which is a Yanmar/Cub sub compact with a front end loader with a hydrostat trans. My wife and I cut/split/stack for them and load the porch when we are able (weekends bcause we live 10mi away and i go to work and come home in the dark which sucks). They live in a rural area so neighbor complaints are nonexistant. Its their idea for the owb just to put the heat source closer to the wood source. Right now my mother loads from the stack into the tractor, from the tractor to the porch, from the porch to inside or heater. My Dad cant do much bcause of health issues but my moms a go getter. I hate that We cant do more but the porch is only so big. Once again thanks to all.

 

[1982Husqvarna]

I have a hardy and love it. My dad just bought one and he is 65. all the mess is outside. yeah you have to go out to fill it maybe twice a day but it isn't that big a deal

 

[sdt7618]

Tim, how rural is rural,

Might be an idea to see if there is a young fit local school kid who would be able to load the boiler( on the way to school/ and coming home) or indeed porch once a week at night if they wanted to keep the exisitng for a small sum every week. I mean how long would it take to stack a weeks wood?

I wheel barrow 2 weeks worth in about 1 -1.5 hours with about 200m walk to the wood pile. then back to the house to be stacked under our carport

Just a thought.

 

[biggenius29]

A OWB as stated earlyer is less efficient than a stove in the house. So they will be having to handle a larger quantity of wood with a OWB, but being that they burn in the house now and they have to handle the wood more often if could be a trade off.

 

[cleanburn]

My Mom has a Heatmor size 100. She can load it herself, the firebox is easy to load for her and the wood size is fairly small for her to be able to handle it. That size should be good for your parent's square footage as well. If you make the slab a little higher they are easier to load, think about the loading height before you install one....

My two cents on gasifiers is that they are harder to run correctly. If you can piddle with them they are great, but for someone who just wants to throw wood in and not mess with anything else I would suggest not getting a gasifier.

 

[ms310]

A OWB as stated earlyer is less efficient than a stove in the house. So they will be having to handle a larger quantity of wood with a OWB, but being that they burn in the house now and they have to handle the wood more often if could be a trade off.

I would have to disagree with the people who think that outdoor is less efficent! I run a heatmor heating a 2400 square foot home and 2400 square foot basement, including hot water. I know for a fact that i DO NOT go threw 1 face cord a week like most of my indoor buyers do, and i burn the crap wood i wont sell such as poplar. And i know for a fact that my heatmor outperforms other out door wood burners. I will say that my brother has an indoor burner with a catylist in it and that thing is even more efficent than my OWB. He burns about 5 pieces a day. One thing to consider is if the parents have a big enough garage put an add on furnace in there for them and put the wood in there, i think that wood be the ideal situation for them.

 

[biggenius29]

I would have to disagree with the people who think that outdoor is less efficent! I run a heatmor heating a 2400 square foot home and 2400 square foot basement, including hot water. I know for a fact that i DO NOT go threw 1 face cord a week like most of my indoor buyers do, and i burn the crap wood i wont sell such as poplar. And i know for a fact that my heatmor outperforms other out door wood burners. I will say that my brother has an indoor burner with a catylist in it and that thing is even more efficent than my OWB. He burns about 5 pieces a day. One thing to consider is if the parents have a big enough garage put an add on furnace in there for them and put the wood in there, i think that wood be the ideal situation for them.

Interesting, I will take your word for it, right now I do not burn wood, but I was told that indoor furnaces are more efficiant than a OWB. I have a few know a few guys that burn wood in there house and they say they go through 2-3 cords a year, and I have friends who have OWB's and depending on who I talk to they say they go through 5-9 cords a year.

1 face cord a week seems like alot of wood to burn period.

 

[TIMberbear]

Thanks to all once again.Sorry Ive been away for so long to reply. My parents are about 6mi from any town and not restrained by any ordinances. They also have no garage.

 

[rx7145]

I would get a larger OWB so they could go longer between loading. As far as brand you should look at all of them and read on here about them and see what one works best for you.

 

[Gooserider]

My Mom has a Heatmor size 100. She can load it herself, the firebox is easy to load for her and the wood size is fairly small for her to be able to handle it. That size should be good for your parent's square footage as well. If you make the slab a little higher they are easier to load, think about the loading height before you install one....

My two cents on gasifiers is that they are harder to run correctly. If you can piddle with them they are great, but for someone who just wants to throw wood in and not mess with anything else I would suggest not getting a gasifier.

Have to admit I haven't tried either a conventional OWB or a gasifier, but all the threads I've seen on gasifiers over on the hearth suggest that they aren't as much "harder" to run as they are "different" and possibly a bit fussier about how they must be run - they have a definite learning curve in terms of seeing how they need to be loaded, and how to get them fired up properly and efficiently - I've seen several people go through the curve where they start saying it's a bear to use them, then after a few weeks report that it's no problem now that they know what the unit wants....

Probably the biggest issue is that they must be run using properly dried wood - they can't be run on green wood, or even stuff that's been on the ground for a few weeks. They want wood that has seasoned down to 15-25% moisture, or they will give some problems.

(This isn't all that different from an EPA woodstove vs. an old smoke dragon... EPA stoves want better wood, and have to be run properly to get the most out of them...)

Gooserider

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Well, fellas, I am going to jump in here on this topic even though I know nothing about OWB's except that a friend of ours has one. I do know we can't run OWB's in the city we live in.

My hubby is disabled. I am closer to 60 yrs. old then I ever have been before. Right now, we just have a fireplace. I want a wood stove installed in the fireplace to supplement or get rid of oil heat. From some of the posting on another website (**********) I understand you can get decent 8 hour heat from as little as 6-8 splits of wood. I think (but again I don't know OWB's) that this is a lot less wood than an OWB.

This fall we bought an electric log splitter. It is REALLY nice splitting wood in the attached garage. Our wood is seasoned and split but some of the splits are a little large which is why we are splitting them a little smaller.

As I said, I want a hearth mounted wood stove. Hubby is fine with this. Our sons are not for it saying this is too much work for us (meaning me). I know I am health wise up to maintaining it, feeding it, splitting the wood for it and even cutting the logs for it. Hubby, on the other hand, couldn't do it on his own.

With kind apology to the original poster, look to the health of your parents to see what you think they can or can not do for their foreseeable future before you make a final decision on their behalf.

Shari