Pacific Western?

[fourustircom]

Hi, Folks!

My wife got the oil bill the other day and thinks it's time to look into an OWB. I've been watching the pro's and con's of inside vs outside and we have to go outside. It'll be a short run though, so low heat loss. We have a neighbor's woods that needs cleaning, so we should be good for a while. We'll be trying to heat a 2400 sq.ft. ranch with good windows, recently calked and good insulation.

A friend and her brother both have Woodmasters and love them. My brother in law loves his Pacific Western, but it seems like they are out of business. I can't get in touch with anyone there to locate a dealer in SE Michigan ( Swartz Creek, near Flint. The Woodmaster guys have called me right back, so that's what we'll probably go with, the 4400.

Thanks for any input pro or con!

 

[fourustircom]

OWB inside?

Still waiting on info about Pacific Western. Looks like we'll be getting a Woodmaster since it has more insulation than others. What do you all think about installing an OWB in the unattached woodshed? I'm thinking that much more insulation from wind for not only myself when loading the thing, but for the furnace also would be a good thing. The shed will be of a pole design with metal roof and siding with a hole through the roof for an extended chimney.

Thanks!

 

[upandcommer]

My cutting buddy uses the 4400 from my perspective pros are as follows
1. less cutting (most of his stuff we cut to 32-34 inches)
2. It is outside no bugs ashes etc.. in the house
3. low heat loss if installed properly

cons
1. they need fed (10-12 cords an counting so far this season)
2. If installed even a little wrong even hungrier
3. no power =no heat
take all that for what it is worth

 

[timbrjackrussel]

Clean Burning

Check out this link
http://www.greenwoodfurnace.com/Manufacturers.htm
look at the EPA approved units.

 

[iCreek]

Search result

Here is a search result on Woodmaster.... Seems like some others here are using that brand, or considering them.

http://www.arboristsite.com/search.php?searchid=1592223

I really like the forced air on my Hardy.... Seems like if I did not have that, on warm days when the house does not require heat, (50 - 60), I might have to re-light the fire. Mine's been running 4 weeks with no problems, burns about anything and fire stays lite, but without that blower might be a different story. So forced air and ash door would be a must for me.

 

[kamhillbilly]

pacific western are made here in Thunder Bay try this phone # (807) 475-3004 there were lots of stoves in the yard earlier this year haven't been past lately

 

[fourustircom]

Interesting!

Thanks for the update on Pacific Western, kamhillbilly. Must be they moved and are not checking the old phones.

 

[fourustircom]

Pacific Western

That is the same number I've been calling, no answer, leave a message and no one calls back. Oh, well, I don't think I want stainless anyway.

Thanks again for checking!

 

[MS-310]

Do a search on those stoves on this fourm....You mite want to do that, you wont like what you see.

 

[Dirttracker]

I would not advise getting a Pacific Western. IMO they are not very good quality. I've had one for 5 years now and of course it seems to have developed a leak I can't find. When I first installed the stove and filled it with water there was a leaky weld inside the firebox. Of course the dealer would pay to get it fixed, but I had to do all of the legwork to find a welder and get the job done. The leak should have been caught if the factory had bothered to test the stove before they sent it out. In the end I got the dealer to buy me a spool of stainless wire and fixed it with my MIG. It looks like that wire was the way to go as I'll be fixing it again this summer once I find the leak. Any suggestions for finding the leak once I shut the thing down?

The other issue I have had is with the wiring. it was poorly routed and poorly done in most repects. The wires for the draft blower were routed over the damper pull rod. The pull rod entry into the firebox is not sealed and the escaping heat caused the wire insulation to melt and short out. I almost lost the stove when the breaker tripped, shutting off the pump shut and the stove began to slowly overheat. Fortunately I was able to catch it in time. To finally fix the probelm I rewired the entire stove over the summer.

I will say I like the forced draft design over better than the natural draft Centeral Boiler my father has. It seems to recover quicker (less water in the stove) and it is more forgiving when the fire gets low/goes out. Overall I like the OWB, even if I have to put a bunch of work into it this summer, I'm still ahead in terms of $$ compared to ~1000 gallons of propane per year over the last 5 years. I burn mostly elm and I have a considerable amount on my property that is already standing dead. I figure I go through about 8 - 9 full cords per year.

 

[dutch]

check out the wood doctor owb , they are the same thing

 

[fourustircom]

Pacific Western

Thanks for sharing your experience, Dirttracker! Sounds like my B-I-L got lucky with his. As far as I know he has had none of those problems. That's one of the reasons I'm going with mild steel. I can weld that with no problem, but hopefully I won't need to. One dealer told me that some of the stainless furnaces were welded with meld steel, I didn't know you could do that. So, the weld rusts out.

As far as the leak goes, I wonder if you could add a dye like they use to find an A/C leak? Is the leak into the firebox? Maybe you could pressureize it someway and use some soap to find bubbles since you will probably have to take the exterior covering and insulation off anyway.

 

[fourustircom]

Wood Shed Size?

How big a shed might I need to store 10-12 full cords? That sounds like what we'll need to make it through a typical SE Michigan winter. We are considering a 12x24x9(wall height) for the furnace and wood. Big enough?

 

[kamhillbilly]

That is the same number I've been calling, no answer, leave a message and no one calls back. Oh, well, I don't think I want stainless anyway.

Thanks again for checking!

I drove buy there today lots of stoves in the back yard gates open ,I have an empyre 450 seems to be good

 

[HUSKYMAN]

How big a shed might I need to store 10-12 full cords? That sounds like what we'll need to make it through a typical SE Michigan winter. We are considering a 12x24x9(wall height) for the furnace and wood. Big enough?

Not big enough, not with the furnace in there too. There is no need to put a roof over the boiler. Place your boiler at the edge of your storage building and off to the side a little so it is well out of the way when filling your shed.

I only like my wood stacked to about six foot high, cant reach any higher than that. I have a 13x24 lean to and its not big enough to go from October to April.

 

[HardyOWB]

The Greenwood looks like a really good unit. Does anyone have one and if so any feedback?

I have the Hardy and as iCreek says I also like the benefits of the forced air blower and the ash door.

 

[fourustircom]

Shed

Thanks, Huskyman! We found woodheat.org that gives all the cord measurments. It looks like a full cord is 128cu.ft. and I'll probably need 12 of those. Our shed should hold 11.25 cords at 1440cu.ft. and that's only stacked 6' high and only using 20' of the space. It'll be close.

I'm not as worried about the burner being out in the weather as about us having to go out and service the thing. And they always breakdown at the height of a snowstorm with a -50 windchill. I'm hoping that keeping the wind off the machine will cause it to use less wood. Either that or we'll have a warm wood shed! My wife also thinks OWB's are ugly and a friend of mine mentioned something about looking like an outhouse.

I cut about a cord over the weekend, only 11 more to go till heating season! Nice weekend for wood gathering.

 

[ghitch75]

I would not advise getting a . IMO they are not very good quality. I've had one for 5 years now and of course it seems to have developed a leak I can't find. When I first installed the stove and filled it with water there was a leaky weld inside the firebox. Of course the dealer would pay to get it fixed, but I had to do all of the legwork to find a welder and get the job done. The leak should have been caught if the factory had bothered to test the stove before they sent it out. In the end I got the dealer to buy me a spool of stainless wire and fixed it with my MIG. It looks like that wire was the way to go as I'll be fixing it again this summer once I find the leak. Any suggestions for finding the leak once I shut the thing down?

The other issue I have had is with the wiring. it was poorly routed and poorly done in most repects. The wires for the draft blower were routed over the damper pull rod. The pull rod entry into the firebox is not sealed and the escaping heat caused the wire insulation to melt and short out. I almost lost the stove when the breaker tripped, shutting off the pump shut and the stove began to slowly overheat. Fortunately I was able to catch it in time. To finally fix the probelm I rewired the entire stove over the summer.

I will say I like the forced draft design over better than the natural draft Centeral Boiler my father has. It seems to recover quicker (less water in the stove) and it is more forgiving when the fire gets low/goes out. Overall I like the OWB, even if I have to put a bunch of work into it this summer, I'm still ahead in terms of $$ compared to ~1000 gallons of propane per year over the last 5 years. I burn mostly elm and I have a considerable amount on my property that is already standing dead. I figure I go through about 8 - 9 full cords per year.

as far as your leak goes...does it have a rolled welded flue?....if so i bet it's leakin' in the seam and it burns the water up before you can see it....we have had a bunch of them do that(not Pacific Western another brand)...