new gasser owb install

First thing I would check is how much heat you are losing to the ground. That could cause excessive wood usage. What brand boiler did you go with ? Storage will help to keep it from ideling but then you will probably need Glycol in the boiler with a heat exchanger at the storage so that the storage can be water. Cost usually is to much to make the storage glycol. once the storage is charged you would have to let the fire go out to keep it from ideling. Storage may help some with consumption but probably not enough to justify cost. Sounds like the boiler may be a little big for the demand.

Hi Rancherburn
I also installed a gt-220 last fall, I am heating about 4500 sq ft in two buildings and my dhw. I used the same pipe you did, I didn't notice much if any heat loss from the underground pipe. Mine used about 3 face cords a month on average, all dry seasoned about 2 yrs. I'm just running straight water with boiler treatment. Overall I was very happy with the amount of heat you can get out of just a little wood with hardly any smoke. If you burn dry seasoned wood I think you will see a big difference in the performance of the stove. What do you keep your temps set at on the ranco controller ?

Ideally shouldn't be a degree or two in those runs. Any chance the ground stayed thawed over the winter? What did you use for a heat source before the OWB? If it was oil or gas, how many gallons?

I use a cheapy from harbor freight. Got it online. Works for me.

I don't think 14 cord is out of normal for an OWB. I have 2200 sq. ft. ranch, insulated to the tilt and used 4 cord this winter. Ya can figure a gasser uses half what an OWB does. If I was heating 4400 sq.ft. I'd use 8 cord, so double 8 cord and 14 cords is right in there.

Your first season experience and square footage sounds exactly like our first season. I invested in (2) AZEL temp sensors. Worth every penny. One in the boiler room on the last black iron fitting where water enters pex and first fitting for return to boiler. The other AZEL similarly has the sensors attached to get HX water in and out temps. Our second season after yanking up my underground disaster I was seeing far less than .5 deg F from the boiler room to HX entrance at a distance of about 220'. I've estimated my round trip at approaching 450'. During extended periods when the house blower did not come on, I saw less than 1 deg F for a 450' return trip. The AZELs let me observe and document this. So, like you, my first season wood was not well seasoned, but in my case the energy loss to the ground was even greater. I had the boiler upper chamber fan blowing like crazy that first year just trying to convince myself and my wife the boiler wasn't a collossal screw up. Didn't have the AZEL data the first season but did have round trip thermometers to let me know the round trip was loosing sometimes as much as 20 deg F. In summary, sounds like you got energy loss issues in both places like I did. If it was me I'd be tempted to measure my underground losses even now to see how bad it is. Then you can decide if you want to fix it before the coming season. At a minimum, I'd highly recommend biting the bullet for the AZELs. The AZEL in the house I have the sensors down in the root cellar on the HX and the display upstairs where I can check it every time I walk by it.

If your casing is 6" and your runs are not too long here is a link for some insulation that you might be able to "pull through" without digging up your current lines. (ie pull your lins and insulation and install you lines in the new insulation and pull back through). Not a bad price for insulation.