Looking down the road old boiler in new to me house

[Normande]

Hi, everyone I'm looking at buying a house with and 80,000 btu oil boiler thats about 15yrs old and been checked in good shape, but the property and my job makes wood redily avalible and I have all the tools to cut wood already. the wife doesn't want the "dust" in the house, so I have been looking at various pellet and Small wood gasifacation boilers, Tarm, Empyre, Orlan, frolin. to name a few, just looking for everyone's thoughts remember I have to do ALL the work,wife hate "visable"fire(school accident)

 

[bpirger]

Sounds like you fit right in with a gasifier sitting outside in an outbuilding. Very often done. All the mess, and the fire, is outside. Buried well insulated lines carry hot water inside. Easy enough to integrate into your existing system. Storage is a 1000 gallon (or so) tank of water that you heat up with the boiler, then suck the hot water out of that tank as you need. That way the boiler can run full tilt, which is most efficient, cleanest, and can be creosote free! Dry wood is the key....start cutting, splitting, and stacking now! Ideally dried for two years...though many species are fine after 1.

Welcome! You will find an extreme amount of knowledge here, and even better, folks who are willing to help you spend your money.

Just about every system is represented here, one way or another.....Read, read, read.

 

[Tennman]

Many here are advocates for placing the boiler in the home for valid convenience and efficiency reasons. I put my "indoor" boiler in an outbuilding and would never have it any other way. I don't have energy storage yet which means I open my boiler often before the burn is complete to add wood which releases smoke and dust. I think all the guys that like having their boiler in the basement have storage, which dramatically reduces when and how you open the boiler up. I split, stack, burn, collect ashes, and do the filthy task of disassembly for cleaning outside my home. Only hot water enters my home. I'm only a 3 year user, but every time this question comes up (which is often) I chime in because my family, which includes a daughter with respiratory allergies, could not coexist with my BioMass in the house. Or, the effort I'd have to take to operate smoke free and clean would kill the self reliant joy of heating with wood from our property. I've said it before; 2 camps on this topic and BOTH are correct.

 

[stee6043]

I'm one of the guys with my boiler in the basement. It's cleaner to operate indoors than a 2003 model year Labrador Retriever, this I can promise you. My wife would take ten more boilers downstairs before she'll let me get another lab.

I think Tennman is spot-on, both the indoor and outdoor users are right. We all have our own use cases. To each their own...

For what it's worth I am a strong proponent of the Orlan EKO boilers for obvious reasons. They have a large installed base, particularly here on hearth.com. If I were going to put a boiler in a shed or polebarn I'd make it a Garn for the simplicity and the "all in one" factor...