hawken owb

Welcome to the forum, but not sure you will get the kind of response you are looking for, as we generally try to talk people OUT of OWB's.....

You like the notion of burning 30-50% more wood than needed, while making tons of smoke????

I think the vast majority of folks on the site would answer "None of the above" to your question, and strongly suggest looking at the various gasification boilers that are available... We have a lot of members who have gone from a traditional OWB to a gasser, and every one has been happy with the results.... Can't think of any that have gone the other way.

Gooserider

I have a Crown Royal owb. Don't know about Hawken or Hardy. Many friends have Central Boilers and they love them.

The amount of smoke goes hand in hand with your burning technic. I cut my wood in the spring and burn in the winter. Would I burn this inside my house that quick, well that depends really on a lot of things. In my boiler, it burns fine and I get less smoke, most of the time hardly any.

I've said this before and will say it again, if you are smart enough not to burn garbage and use resonably dry wood, you won't smoke any more than any other stove. I know the gasifier guys will call me a liar, but they can stop by the house and see for themselves. As for the amount of wood, well that depends on setup, square footage, insulation and size of stove. I know people with gasifiers that burn less than me and some that burn more!!

Get what works for you, in your area, be responsible, and all will be fine.

There are a ton of OWB's around my area and no one complains at all.

Now I'm sure you will hear from all the "your gonna pollute the whole neighborhood" folks, but that just isn't so if you just use your head. Good Luck in what ever you do.

I will now duck and cover for the fall out that this post will bring! lol

If you are determined to put a unit outdoors, I would suggest the Econoburn outdoor model which is a gasifier or putting an indoor gasifier in a shed. Some here have also built attached boiler rooms or converted part of a garage into a boiler room for indoor gassers. You are not locked into just the dealers located near you because most retailers of boilers will ship them freight to a business address or a freight dock near you where you can pick it up. I would never recommend that anyone buy a traditional OWB as they waste wood becuase of their inefficiency and put large amounts of smoke and particulate matter out. (I also don't suggest traditional indoor wood boilers for similar reasons). You will find that indoor gassers are a similar price to a traditional OWB and if you can locate it in or attached to the house you will actually save money on not having to bury the lines to connect it to the house.

I too recommend that you consider a gasifier and either put in indoors or outside in an out building or a shed. I have had both and you will burn less wood and have less smoke. You have to understand how a traditional OWB burns to understand the savings. The things that are attractive in a OWB is that you can burn less than dry wood, throw huge amounts of wood in and not have to tend it for long periods of time, and they are easy to put any where. But these are the things that make them bad. To get the most heat out of wood means that you want DRY wood so you aren't having to boil the water out of it before you get any heat. If you put huge amounts of wood in you are then idling and when you are idling you are smoldering and the smoke and btu's are going out the chimney or making creosote. In a traditional OWB the fire is surrounded with water so the fire can't get hot enough even if you burn dry wood to get up to the magic 1100* temp that it takes to totally burn the gases so alot of the btu's go out into the air along with huge amounts of particulates.
In a gasifier you change the wood to gas and the gas is then burnt at 2000*. Then the hot exhaust goes thru the hx transferring the heat into the water. There is very little gases and particulates released into the air, no creosote or smoke.
If you try and burn a traditional OWB to burn clean you will HAVE to burn DRY wood, Put in small loads so that it burns up and doesn't idle, and thus load several times a day. The only way to burn larger loads would be to put in storage and burn like the gasifiers. You still won't be able to burn as clean because you will have the fire being cooled because it is surrounded with water and no ceramic to keep the heat up. there for you won't burn all the gases......... You can burn them cleaner but by doing so it takes away the reasons people have bought them for . With a pacifier with storage you get all the advantages except being able to burn wet wood (and that really isn't an advantage), burn less wood , have no creosote problem, no smoke, and not having the gov regulations that are coming or will be coming with the traditional OWB's
leaddog

Everyone I know that has a Central boiler likes them and they really don't smoke enough to matter, unless someone wants to complain noone would. I almost bought a CB 5036 for 5,800 dollars but went with an Eko 25 for 3500 dollars after the federal rebate. I like mine but the CB is a much different animal. My neighbor has one and burns 8 cords of oak a year. I will burn 4 cords of mixed wood at the most. My house is a new ranch 2200 sq. ft, his is a new half log design and 2 story and about 2200 sq ft. also. His wood isn't as dry as mine though but burns twice what I do. I load mine 3-4 times a day, he loads 2 times.

I have a central boiler 6048 and smoke is not a problem. Most of the time there is hardly any smoke. When I see it smoking, which is rare, the smoke dissipates before it would bother anyone. I've heard these things called smoke dragons but I just don't see it with my OWB. I've seen others smoking a lot.

I've been going out in the woods every couple of weekends and cutting standing dead wood. It falls into the snow and gets covered in snow. Then I bring it to the shed and throw it in the boiler...snow and all. The wood, full of snow, sits on top of other wood. By the time it starts to burn, its dried out quite a bit.

I get plenty of heat out of the wood. I don't burn hardly anything for wood if the temps are above zero. I go through a bit more when it gets 20 below. But all in all the stove has been surprisingly efficient.

I understand why guys like the gassifiers but I really like that I don't have to screw around with seasoning wood for several years. I couldn't be happier with my OWB.

I looked at the Hawken when reviewing boilers a few years ago and they seem to be a decent unit however for a lower price I purchased an EKO and installed it in an cheap metal shed in the back yard and it has worked out quite well. Along with the EKO I have room for a fair amout of wood and some tools inside the shed and I use less wood than I would with the Hawken. I know a guy with a CB and he loves it but it does kick out more smoke than my EKO and is really bad when starting or reloading , I just don't see how anyone could look at the gasifiers and traditional side by side and say the smoking is similar!
Take a look at all the type different units and decide whats right for you.
BTW my unit works fine with wood seasoned six months not several years unless it's oak Good luck

I had a Global Hydronics GH2000, which I believe is the same boiler as the Hawken. Sold it two years ago. I'm going to put some numbers together this spring to compare the GH boiler,gas boiler and my Seton boiler. Off the top of my head, I've cut my wood consumption from 60 face cord to less than 20. I'm going to post the numbers at the end of the season.

Had a Hardy. Would not suggest for burning in a northern climate. The stainless is a nice idea. I developed leaks on seams, now you need a welder that can do stainless. Out door wood stoves hog wood. Underground piping is expensive. You could buy a stainless chimney for the same amount. Unless your trying to heat a small load you may find that you need to run 1.25" not 1" which most dealers recommend when buying OWB's.
I have a Tarm now and burn 1/3 the wood per day as what my Hardy did. Heats whole house and DWH and not once has my cohabitants gone, in the middle of a shower. There's NO HOT WATER. ( just personal experience )
If you burn green wood, just because you can, it doesn't mean your burning efficiently. A certain % of unseasoned wood, that you put in any fire box, is a straight loss trying to burn off moisture. The only difference is that a Gassifier just won't work with high moisture content. Either way unless your in a jam there's no advantage to burning green wood.
If you want any more Hardy info PM me. If your set on OWB's Heatmore makes a nice unit.
Rob