Recommendations for OWB

[CG Racing]

Oh, and it sounds to me that these newer high efficiency boilers are much more temperamental on what kind of wood they like, so of you're like me and burn dead trees that are laying on the ground, mine handles everything I put in it.

 

[chaikwa]

Why not sst? You being a fabricater know their is no camparison of sst. to crs.

You're right! I also know that stainless steel doesn't do well when constantly heated and cooled and doesn't have the ability to expand and contract without cracking like mild steel. I also know stainless steel isn't as stainless as people think. Most grades will still corrode even tho they won't rust. And it will also lose it's stainless properties if over-heated. Stainless also becomes brittle when heated, to what extent depends on its' grade. Most of these OWB companies don't have a clue as to what they're doing with stainless. Global Hydronics was a good example; they used 409 stainless to see what would happen and used their customers as their R&D department. I want NO part of stainless!

 

[mbergeon]

I had issues with a local dealer for P & M, I ended up driving to Brown City to Ben's Super Store. Ben's Supercenter

They had about ten P & M stoves on the lot and let me look them all over. They also had several other brands.

They were great to deal with and had a lot of accessories on the shelf.

 

[CG Racing]

Not sure where you're located, but there is an excellent central dealer in Ann Arbor, A&D sales. He's the most knowledgable central dealer I've found.

 

[chaikwa]

Thanks mbergeon for the heads-up about Ben's!

Not sure where you're located, but there is an excellent central dealer in Ann Arbor, A&D sales. He's the most knowledgable central dealer I've found.

I'm in K'zoo but we have a decent dealer here. I'm not overly excited about CB with their square fire box. I know several people close to me that have had them for a LOT of years with no problems and they all love them. I'm just the kinda guy that would prove all the metallurgical theories about square fireboxes!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

An alternative to the CB Thermopex is spray foam. I dug my trench 30 inches down(by hand), layed in my 1 inch Pex and had the local closed cell spray foam guy come out and we sprayed about 4 inches on the bottom of the trench, dropped the Pex into it and he did another 4 inches on top so basically it is in a 8x8 block of spray foam. Cost me $600 to have him spray 80 Feet in the ground and I had him spray my whole boiler while he was at it. I don't melt any snow.

So you have zero barrier between the soil and the spray foam? Is the foam closed cell and waterproof?

The biggest concern with underground PEX is making sure the insulation around it stays dry or else the water will negatively effect the insulating effect of the insulation. That's the reason CB's ThermoPEX is fully incased in plastic tubing and the ends need to be terminated with rubber end caps.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Thanks mbergeon for the heads-up about Ben's!



I'm in K'zoo but we have a decent dealer here. I'm not overly excited about CB with their square fire box. I know several people close to me that have had them for a LOT of years with no problems and they all love them. I'm just the kinda guy that would prove all the metallurgical theories about square fireboxes!

I honestly wasn't sure about the square box either, but I like the ridged ceiling for extra heat transfer area. I looked at Woodmasters 5500 unit and was not impressed with the weld seam of the round fire chamber being at the very bottom of the chamber where the wood will be thrown in and bounced off the weld seam. Plus the fire chamber seemed MUCH larger in the Woodmaster than the comparable BTU-output Central Boiler unit which was the 6048.

I ended up going with a CB 6048 and have been extremely pleased with the quality and efficiency of the unit.

Another plus when going with Central Boiler is all the parts for install like PEX fittings, heat exchangers, air handler boxes and blowers, and fan control center relay assemblies were cheaper than what I could source them myself through either box stores or other local suppliers. The only thing I found cheaper elsewhere was the PEX tubing itself. I found it for 50% less at a Home Depot than the CB dealer had it.

 

[wat648]

I have had my Shaver 250 for about 4 years now. Run it almost year round, minus times for doing renovations to the house. I have had very good luck with mine. I had a really good salesman from my local area and really took care of me getting it set and hooked up. With a few minor mods, I can not complain, especiallly for the price. I figure in the 4 years that I have used it, it has probably paid for itself, heating domestic water and my house.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

oh_vrmntr

Yes It is closed cell spray foam, no barrier between it and the soil. Closed cell foam is impervious to water. I lose around 1 Degree from the boiler to the HX in the house which is 75 feet underground and 25 feet running through the basement with just regular pipe insulation on the pipes in the basement. Cost me $500 bucks for the 75 feet underground and for him to spray the water jacket of the boiler. WAY cheaper than the thermopex CB stuff and I would say better because I ran two 1 inch lines into the house and two 1 inch return lines. You would have to double the price of the CB stuff to do that.