Anyone heard of a Heiss Masonary Heater/Boiler?

My unit will smoke at first when its first started up and cold but when its hot inside the firebox the secondary burn will kick in very fast and just have heat waves coming out. I dont get much creosote because the firebox gets so hot which helps with getting the heat out of it. The exhaust goes through a baffled system that pulls the heat off. I know they insulate them now but mine was bought when they didnt offer it so i used double foil fire resistant foam and use half the wood.

To those of you that are using this for a few years. How is it now that you have had it a few seasons? Are there any major concerns? I saw this and am considering one as my first outdoor boiler.
Thanks

I do not have any experience directly with these boilers but I would strongly recommend anyone do a bit of reading on available wood heating appliances before making a purchase as big as this one. I personally am learly of the claims made on their website and don't see how they can be even remotely efficient. If you'd like a quick barometer of the company I'd suggest you call them and ask for details on their "guarantee" regarding being the lowest maintanance boiler on the market. And compare their warranty to others. That's where I would start if I were in the market and considering this unit.

I recently bought the standard model 5000 (Fall of 2012). It has updated most of the features that many of you complained about. It now has a honeywell digital aquastat. It now has a flow meter to turn off the blower in case the pump stops working. The door is very solid and INSULATED on the inside. The insulation on the outside of the entire unit I assume is equivalent to putting it in a shed. There is a small release valve at the top of the unit for any trapped bubbles in the internal coils, but concerns about high pressure really don't apply to an open system like this, since the water returning from the heat exchanger runs into the indoor storage tank, releasing any bubbles and preventing any pressure build up. At the end of each cycle the bubbles are released and a new cycle starts by sucking up the less turbulent water at the bottom of the tank. The blue pex hose removes water with the aid of a pump that runs continuously pushing it thru the flow-meter (which keeps the power switch to the blower activated), and runs into the heater thru the copper coils. It gets very hot fast since it only has to heat the hot water running thru the coils rather than a 200 gallon storage tank. The negative side is that without a huge supply of hot water, it (the water) cools down quickly once the coals get low.
Northstorm

Hey everyone out there wondering about heiss heaters, do your research and choose another company I have owned a 2010,2011 and now a 2012 model 3000 unit. I replaced first two units because of failures with the products heiss sells you, such as pump failures and them using me the customer as a guinea pig to improve their product. I have had to do more research to educate myself along with Heiss on why I had my numerous issues. My 2010 model was the first one they actual insulated on the exterior and the copper pipes inside were all soidered, well I had a circulating pump failure(which creates diesater for the boiler) and the boiler overheated resaulting in the soidered joints to come apart and crack the boiler, which released all the water and delaminated all the insulation. Boiler now destoyed in 3 months of ownership they tell me they will be releasing a new boiler for 2011 called the elite series but I will have to pay for the upgrades( which I thought was complete BS) so I agree just so I would have a boiler again. Well I waited 3 monthes for the new boiler, now it is middle of July and I finally get the new boiler and was so upset about their comnication and ignoring my calls. Found out they were filling other new customer orders before getting mine!! I start new season with new unit again and 2 months in the season my heat exchangers plug up with scale out of my lines from sitting over the summer. This resulted in another over heat of the boiler,this time the lines inside stayed togather because they said they braised in the new units, but the exterior insulation exploded off it. the unit was fuctional but not hold heat as well. Being only the second year with a boiler I asked Hiess what would cause this scale build-up in my system. They had now idea and told me they had never seen this before, but they would have a water test done for me to figure it out. NEVER HAPPENED!! So I do my own research and find out that most boiler companies have water testing to know if you need any type of chemical assistance. Come to find out my hard water was what caused the scale to build-up over the summer and eventually pluged my heat exchangers. I call them about the flow control switch that was suppose to come with the Elite series, but mine didn't??? They told me I would have to purchase it from them. Again complete BS in my mind With many phone calls about my destroyed unit and telling them I was going to take action against them if they did not resolve my problems we finally came to a conclusion. Another new unit went into the works, this time I waited another month for the new one and still had to pay for an upgrade again!! Now with a 2012 unit I just had my whole front door and door insert laying on the ground. To make a very long and aggrivating story short.....THREE STRIKES AND THEY ARE OUT I am done with this company

Just shut our model 3000 down for the year! Worked great! Ash is a chore to clean but only had to do twice last winter. Not looking forward to whats in it but was told it won't hurt it.

Sounds like Heiss Heaters was more then fair with you. Its your responsibility to test your water. We did andand found we had hard water. We used a family members water to fill it.
Did they fix your door right away? Is the unit working good now?
Thats amazing that you plugged it up and over heated it and it still worked.

looks like this design is a large greenwood

Thats what I was thinking. Only with a cast in HX.
We all know what the GW/Seatons do with no provision for secondary air..........
TS