Newbie with question

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besjoux

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Jun 22, 2011
11
west Michigan
Do you recommend a gassifier? We live on 33 acres and won't be burdening our neighbors at all, however, I wondered if you had a choice would you spend the extra $? Is there a lot of additional maintenance? I guess our problem now is that with propane prices we are looking at replacing propane almost entirely. However, we would like a 7 year rate of return on the purchase and the gassifier's are very expensive. My husband knows a lot more about the technical specs so I'm just trying to learn more myself. Additionally, how much more efficient is this type of system?

Lastly, we are looking at Central Boiler and wanted to know how well they honor their warranty? Concerned about having a system that lasts a long time with minimal maintenance and repairs. Looking for reviews of the Central Boiler warranty and system.
 
Do you recommend a gassifier?

Absolutely "yes," if the decision is to burn wood, with a qualification. The gasifier heats the shop, with radiant floor. Couldn't be an easier or more comfortable wood burning solution. With 1000 gal of storage, I need to burn only once every other day.

But we heat the 1500 sq ft house with a wood stove in the living room. My wife loves it, as do I. So a wood stove is an alternative, but someone has to be available to fuel it as needed, and if burning 24/7 during the dead of winter (-20F and colder), that means several fuel loads during the day.
 
Welcome to the forum. About the only negative thing about Gasifiers you might read on this particular Hearth forum is the price. But, regarding payback, our (12K total) gaser will be fully paid back in 4 years. Others here have reported similar experiences. Payback time will be determined by a number of factors, but your cost of wood is one of the big ones. If you are prepared to commit to the time needed to process the wood (which can be substantial), then your 33 acres should be able to supply a lifetime of "free" wood (your labor is worthless ;-) ). A gasifier with storage can provide basically unattended, continuous heat, and DHW. A gasifier without storage can be run less attended (usually with an efficiency penalty due to more idling), or can be operated more like a wood stove using smaller, more frequent loads. And, as Jim said, a modern cat wood stove can also be a very good alternative to a boiler, if your house is suitable for one. We heated an old colonial 100% with a big pre-historic Ashley stove - the heat flowed nicely into all of the rooms. But our present house could never be heated well with single stove - much too spread out and partitioned. So, that's one big factor in making the choice between stove and boiler. There is a separate Hearth fourm where you can get all the info about wood stoves you could possibly want. If you are trying to get it done for this Winter, you need to split and stack wood asap. If you have ash on your property (probably in your case the dead trees without any leaves), it would likely be well-seasoned by Fall if you cut it now. Good luck with it!
 
Thank you for all of the information!

Yes, our house has too many rooms and 2 stories to use a wood stove. Plus, we just don't want the mess. We do use our fireplace (inefficient when not hot) and that helps some.

Just trying to figure out what is best now and how much we want to spend. We do get wood free which helps. What are the disadvantages of NOT getting a gasifier? Oh, what is DHW? I am acronym dumb at this point LOL

If we are heating a 2000 sq ft house how often would we fill a gassifier as compared to a regular wood boiler? We have 2x6 ext walls with good insulation but also have a lot of wind and live in Michigan (cold). Basically, looking for an estimate.

Also, what size is recommended? I know what the dealer says, however, they are also in sales....just not sure how much I want to believe 100%, I think they'd upsell us a bit.
 
DHW= Domestic hot water
What are your average propane usage numbers (gallons used each year)? There is a rough conversion factor for wood to fossil fuel that would give you an idea on wood consumption. A gasifier will release more usable btu's pound for pound then a conventional boiler. Its all about how much c,s,s (cutting and splitting and stacking) one wants to do.
Will
 
Q: Do you recommend a gasser? A: Yes, why burn dirty? Why burn far more wood than you need to to satisfy your needs? (I am talking multiples here, 2-4 X not a few %). Why take a chance on an OWB of any brand when they are either being outlawed or severely curtailed county by county, region by region, state by state, your investment could turn into a large paper weight overnight. Kinda like buying an Edsel & hoping things get better or at least not worse. (Good luck with that, OWB's have a very large & well deserved bullseye on them with plenty of municipalities just itching to pull the trigger = bang your banned).

Q: Is there a lot of extra maintenance? A: No as you will no doubt read in these forms many members who made the choice to buy a quality gassification boiler & have one day of maintenance per year, clean it & the chimney, inspect for obvious signs of wear, prep it for the next burn season = done. Any OWB will require far more hours just to remove & deal with all that ash from cold fires on all that wood than any quality gassers maint hours add up to.

Q: How much more efficient is this type of system? A: Many times more depending of course on units choosen. Safe to say you can count on at least 2X diff between OWB & gasser probably more. As an example their are many members here that have used both & have posted that their wood use with a gasser is far less than with their OWB.

AFA your Q's about central bolier I suggest you google central boiler warranty concerns/problems etc & find out what owners have to say about their units & how the company dealt with them etc.

If as you say you are concerned about having a system that has a long life & minimal repairs buy a quality gasser not an OWB. Most OWB's average 8-10 years & then they are scrap as they have rotted through & leak like a sieve. Plenty of quality gassers still going strong after 20 - 30 years. So if you have to buy, remove & replace 2 or 3 OWB's in the same lifespan as one gasser is an OWB really cheaper?
 
I've had both, based on my experience I would recommend a gasifier. As with most things there are good and bad points to both types, I strongly believe there are more good points for a gasifier. Keep in mind, this is the experience of one person, others may not agree.

Gasifier "good" points:
1) Much more efficient = less wood use
2) Most are closed system, should be better for corrosion. (I know Garn is open system, but don't have any experience with them)
3) From what I have seen the build quality is much better on gasifiers
4) Much cleaner operation. With storage I have no issue running my gasifier all summer to make DHW. I just burn ever 2 -3 days. There is a little start up smoke, but only for a short time. I can run the gasifier with the windows open in my house (it's in a building ~50 feet away) without any noticeable smell in the house

Gasifier "bad" points
1) Takes more time to prepare the wood, the pieces need to be split smaller. (note, do not mistake this for proper drying - neither will work well with wet fuel)
2) The quality of the wood needs to be better. I typically give the more pulpy wood I cut to my dad who still has an OWB. It will burn ok in the gasifer as long as its dry, but you need to use a lot more. Same type of problem exists with the OWB, but during times of lower demand (spring and fall) it's not too bad as the firebox is large.
3) I've found the wood needs to be much drier for the gasifier than for the OWB. I typically burn dead elm, with the OWB I would cut it late winter into early spring (2-3 years dead, no bark) split, stack and it would be acceptable by fall. With the gasifier I have to add an extra year onto the process. However with less wood use I still only have about the same amount stored over the summer.
4) Gasifiers are more expensive. I don't know the exact amounts as I have not priced either for a number of years. There are usually more bits and pieces required for a gasifier installation. Storage adds to the cost as well, but storage provides advantages that are not possible with an OWB (like summer DHW)

I'm sure ther is more to add to the list, but I'm running out of time.

The OWB I had lasted 5 years before it corroded through. This was with a SS firebox. Of course when I went to make good on the warranty, the company was no longer in business. Too bad for me, but the OWB had paid for itself by at least a factor of 2 in propane usage. I am coming to the end of my 3rd season with the gasifier. I can say my wood consumption is around 1/2 of what I had used with the OWB. The first winter was frustrating as I had almost no real dry wood, seems to be a common problems with 1st season gasifier operation. It is much better now. I have been burning wood for 8 full years now, before that I was buying 800 - 1000 gallons of LP per year. I just checked on LP as it's time to buy a few gallons for making DHW when I'm not around to fire the boiler. 3 years ago the tank was at 15%, now it's below 5%, I have not bough any LP in the past 3 years. I was quoted $1.99 per gallon, think I'll just keep burning wood until the price drops a bit.
 
Thank you all for the information. We still have a lot to think about. Air quality is another factor, however, I am very concerned about wood quality. Right now we get wood from a forest that is not hard to access and we are basically cutting green wood. We are cutting wood that was left by loggers. But that's only a 1 year concern. The cost of the gassifier is also a concern and being that it's a newer technology we are also concerned that it might not last as long. But maybe my perception is way off. Splitting smaller wood is also a very big concern. So, we have a lot to think about.

We burn 880 gallons a year (give or take).
 
If you are cutting green wood, you'll have a problem with either one. Lots of OWBs advertize the ability to burn green wood. I doubt it's practical and even if it was you will pay an efficiency penalty. Best plan would be to cut wood for next heating season now and take the additional time to select and install your system at your leisure. As for splitting smaller pieces, other than more time in front of the splitter, I don't notice a difference. I cut less wood overall, but spend more time splitting. Since I burn mostly elm, I have a hydraulic splitter and would not split by hand anyway.
 
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