Outdoor wood furnace

keep in mind, I live in Maine. we can only buy the new EPA compliant OWB's. in my area the E-Classic is a prominent brand. I got a quote(4yrs ago?) of $12,000.00+/-. i was told by the E-Classic dealer that figure for every 100gals of oil I was using will equal 1 cord of seasoned hardwood. With that in mind, and with the help of the Hearth crowd on this site, i went with an indoor gasser(Tarm Innova-30) with 820 gals of storage. Cost of these two items was about $11,000.00 plus cost of install. The E-Classic was a litte cheaper on install, but i went with my set up because i can burn less wood than an OWB. Wouldn't take many yrs to cover the cost of install, with figuring burning less wood.

E-Classic---for every 100 gals of oil your burning now= 1 cord of well seasoned wood.
Indoor gasser- 150 gals of oil, closer now to 175gals= 1 cord of seasoned wood.

Also, my gasser is in an out building,unattached garage, which i also store my wood in. Yes i have to go outside to fill the fire the boiler up. Only once a day in the deep of winter. Right now, about every 3 days. Fire wood boiler up and it basically runs wide open until wood is burned out. The 820 gals of storage is charged up and the house pulls off of that in between times. This also includes DHW. Family of 5.

this type of set up, i like it alot. But there are many variations of set ups on this site. Good bunch of people. You've come to the right site. But, got to warn you, generally the people here kinda shun OWB crowd, but in a friendly way

What do you use for heat now? Oil? Gas?

Whats the BTU rating on the boiler now?

How much do you avg in a yr?

and what is your delivery system in your house?

Welcome to hearth.

flyingcow said:

E-Classic---for every 100 gals of oil your burning now= 1 cord of well seasoned wood.
Indoor gasser- 150 gals of oil, closer now to 175gals= 1 cord of seasoned wood.

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Please explain how your indoor gasser's efficiency can be up to 75% higher than that of it's outdoor cousin. I'm not a huge CB fan, but their 3200 has to be very close to your Tarm 30 where efficiencies are concerned.

Thanks

corey,

Welcome to the forum!

Between the cost of my boiler and other incidentals, I have about $11,500.00 - $12,000.00 into my system.

martyinmi said:

Please explain how your indoor gasser's efficiency can be up to 75% higher than that of it's outdoor cousin. I'm not a huge CB fan, but their 3200 has to be very close to your Tarm 30 where efficiencies are concerned.

Thanks

corey,

Welcome to the forum!

Between the cost of my boiler and other incidentals, I have about $11,500.00 - $12,000.00 into my system.

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i can't explain. But you can't compare the E-Classic as a cousin to my, or any other good gasser. my fire box is about a 1/4 of a classic. And IMO opinion the classic is not a true gasser. Keep it simple....The E-classic dealer told me his figures on wood useage vs per 100 gals of oil. This site gave me figures per hundred gals of oil per cord, from their own use of gasers'. It's not even close.

I would hate to have Heaterman come in here and wipe the floor with you again....

flyingcow said:

i can't explain. But you can't compare the E-Classic as a cousin to my, or any other good gasser. my fire box is about a 1/4 of a classic. And IMO opinion the classic is not a true gasser. Keep it simple....The E-classic dealer told me his figures on wood useage vs per 100 gals of oil. This site gave me figures per hundred gals of oil per cord, from their own use of gasers'. It's not even close.

I would hate to have Heaterman come in here and wipe the floor with you again....

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You make a mess and and rely on others to clean it up for you? If my memory, as well as archived posts here are any indication of competent floor moppers, I firmly believe yourself and Heaterman were completely mopped and WAXED by Samuel.

I didn't make the above post to start any type of peeing match. I believe your statements are in error. Please explain how your gasification wood boiler is up to 75% more efficient than any other gasification wood boiler on the market,,,,,anywhere.

Pretty simple Marty. Paper numbers rating efficiency are worth just that. They are good for starting fires and not much else.

The combustion analyzer doesn't lie. I can't make it lie and when I sample different types of wood burners that are actually working under "field conditions" nearly every OWB gasser is 30-50% less than the factory rating. Couple that real world efficiency with far greater standby losses from a metal shed with a fire in it sitting outside and the actual performance is disappointing to say the least. Ever wonder why there are no OWB's of any kind in Europe where they take efficiency seriously?

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan "The problem with OWB manufacturers is that so much of what they say simply isn't true".

We could get into the physics of huge wide open firebox design vs smaller and tightly controlled as found in a typical indoor unit but I don't think it would make much difference. You just carry on in your direction and I'll do my thing and we'll be OK.

BTW..your P&M is one of the better ones as far as outdoor units go.

corey148 said:

If it is possible, what is the current cost of purchasing an outdoor wood furnace with everything included ballpark figure? Also, what is the average amount of cords of wood one would use during the winter months. I live in Western Maryland so I know depending on where you live and what wood your burning is going to make a difference. Just curious

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That will depend a great deal on your situation Corey., ie how far from house do you intend to place an outdoor unit?, is your house setup for hotwater heating or will that be an additional cost?, what local/state legislation is in place?, what size are buildings to be heated?, what are the R values of same? Will you be doing the total install yourself or hiring it out? As well as alot more, more info would help.

Standard OWB (if your state allows this) 10K or more.
Gasification OWB (few models to choose from) 15k or more.
Gasification IWB (many models/sizes) 7k - 20k or more.

Some on the board have done their own installs of IWB for less than the 7k, be careful with these estimates as they are only that. Like I said need more info.

Yikes, I think this thread may get a medal for the quickest to go off track.

The OP said outdoor "FURNACE". If that's what he's really inquring about he's not looking for boilers. This topic comes up every now and again. There are outdoor forced air units. We should ask the OP if that's what he really wants before we continue the frontal assault on efficiency ratings.

There would likely be frontal assaults on anything outdoors, hot air or hot water.

maple1 said:

There would likely be frontal assaults on anything outdoors, hot air or hot water.

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Yeah, but hot air deserves it more than hot water. I think we can all agree on at least that much!

corey148 said:

If it is possible, what is the current cost of purchasing an outdoor wood furnace with everything included ballpark figure? Also, what is the average amount of cords of wood one would use during the winter months. I live in Western Maryland so I know depending on where you live and what wood your burning is going to make a difference. Just curious

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Analyze your previous average yearly consumption(based on your previous fuel type) and calculate to the corresponding wood usage values, using the following link below...it should help you get a fairly accurate estimate of your requirements.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/fuel-value-calculator.pdf

Good luck.

Scott

Frozen Canuck said:

That will depend a great deal on your situation Corey., ie how far from house do you intend to place an outdoor unit?, is your house setup for hotwater heating or will that be an additional cost?, what local/state legislation is in place?, what size are buildings to be heated?, what are the R values of same? Will you be doing the total install yourself or hiring it out? As well as alot more, more info would help.

Standard OWB (if your state allows this) 10K or more.
Gasification OWB (few models to choose from) 15k or more.
Gasification IWB (many models/sizes) 7k - 20k or more.

Some on the board have done their own installs of IWB for less than the 7k, be careful with these estimates as they are only that. Like I said need more info.

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Some high prices on Gasification OWB, take a look at the Empyre Line - Empyre Elite XT 100 at $7,500.00 heating up to a 3,000 sq ft house. Using approx 4-5 cord for the winter. 15 k or more - I don't think so.