New OWB questions and guidance

EFR · Jan 21, 2018

Greetings folks, first post here. I have been reading a lot on this site and am looking for a little guidance on a new boiler purchase.

I've been heating with wood for about 40 years. I have had a Mahoning (225,000 BTU) outdoor wood boiler for the last 10+ years that recently failed. I heat a 3100 sq foot house that is well insulated (energy star compliant). For several reasons, I have had the Mahoning burning year round the last few years (heat a 20x40' pool and significant excess wood).

I have access to plenty of hard wood (105 acres) and the means to process it (skidder, tractor, backhoe, splitter, etc). Smoke has never been a problem with the Mahoning. Yes, it does smoke a little, but if the wood is dry, or mixed with dry, and I don't burn red cedar, it is fine. Closest neighbor is probably 750' away (can't see the house), and he has a boiler anyway.

My questions to those in the know: I've narrowed my search to the Heatmaster G200s and the Portage and Main 2840, and am leaning toward the Heatmaster

After the Mahoning failing, I'm not a fan of carbon steel, yet I'm nervous about 10ga stainless steel in the Heatmaster. Further, I have plenty of wood. I don't mind cutting it and hauling it home. Smoke is not an issue. What I don't like is the splitting and stacking. I also like the ability to burn green, or relatively green wood in the P&M. In the past, when I bring home a twitch, I pull up in front of the stove, and cut everything from 2"-4" diameter and drop it in front of the stove. That is burned immediately to 2-4 days.

My current stove is 66' from the house, next to a large (15 cord) wood shed. With either stove, I will be replacing the Pex with one of the premium insulated systems. Run is about 75'.

My questions for the forum;

For those with the Heatmaster, how small does the wood have to be processed to? I understand it has to be dry.

Can the Heatmaster be run during the summer?

Can I burn any paper or cardboard in the Heatmaster? (currently we separate trash into trash, recycles, and non shiny paper which ends up in the Mahoning)

For those that have compared the two, how is the build quality? There is a local Heatmaster dealer, but I can't seem to find any P&M nearby.

Thanks for your help and time.

3fordasho · Jan 22, 2018

EFR said:
Greetings folks, first post here. I have been reading a lot on this site and am looking for a little guidance on a new boiler purchase.

I've been heating with wood for about 40 years. I have had a Mahoning (225,000 BTU) outdoor wood boiler for the last 10+ years that recently failed. I heat a 3100 sq foot house that is well insulated (energy star compliant). For several reasons, I have had the Mahoning burning year round the last few years (heat a 20x40' pool and significant excess wood).

I have access to plenty of hard wood (105 acres) and the means to process it (skidder, tractor, backhoe, splitter, etc). Smoke has never been a problem with the Mahoning. Yes, it does smoke a little, but if the wood is dry, or mixed with dry, and I don't burn red cedar, it is fine. Closest neighbor is probably 750' away (can't see the house), and he has a boiler anyway.

My questions to those in the know: I've narrowed my search to the Heatmaster G200s and the Portage and Main 2840, and am leaning toward the Heatmaster

After the Mahoning failing, I'm not a fan of carbon steel, yet I'm nervous about 10ga stainless steel in the Heatmaster. Further, I have plenty of wood. I don't mind cutting it and hauling it home. Smoke is not an issue. What I don't like is the splitting and stacking. I also like the ability to burn green, or relatively green wood in the P&M. In the past, when I bring home a twitch, I pull up in front of the stove, and cut everything from 2"-4" diameter and drop it in front of the stove. That is burned immediately to 2-4 days.

My current stove is 66' from the house, next to a large (15 cord) wood shed. With either stove, I will be replacing the Pex with one of the premium insulated systems. Run is about 75'.

My questions for the forum;

For those with the Heatmaster, how small does the wood have to be processed to? I understand it has to be dry.

Can the Heatmaster be run during the summer?

Can I burn any paper or cardboard in the Heatmaster? (currently we separate trash into trash, recycles, and non shiny paper which ends up in the Mahoning)

For those that have compared the two, how is the build quality? There is a local Heatmaster dealer, but I can't seem to find any P&M nearby.

Thanks for your help and time.

Hi EFR, welcome to the forum. I don't have an OWB, and most folks here trend towards inside wood gasification type boilers, though many are installed in out buildings. I have not heard of the Heatmoore G200- perhaps you mean Heatmaster? In that case I've heard several good reviews of that model. In fact I'm sure @hondaracer2oo4 will be along to talk about it.

maple1 · Jan 22, 2018

Size of splits needed usually comes down to how long it has to dry. Smaller splits = quicker drying.

salecker · Jan 22, 2018

EFR said:
. Smoke is not an issue. What I don't like is the splitting and stacking. I also like the ability to burn green, or relatively green wood in the P&M. In the past, when I bring home a twitch, I pull up in front of the stove, and cut everything from 2"-4" diameter and drop it in front of the stove. That is burned immediately to 2-4 days.

Hi
You do know that green wood is full of water...
Firefighters use water to put out fires.
Your use of green wood is what took out your old water heater,smoldering fires and the creosote that they produce eat up steel.By seasoning your wood with splitting and stacking and a real boiler you would probably come out even in the labor department.Seasoned wood and a boiler will cut down the amount you need to use.And the boiler will last for years,mine has a 25 yr warranty on the carbon steel.
Thomas

hondaracer2oo4 · Jan 22, 2018

Heatmaster g200 here. I went from a hardy h4 conventional owb burning 12-13 cords per year to either side of 7 cords.

Split sizes? Anything over 4 inches in diameter gets split in half atleast once. Gassers operate by the wood load having good contact with the coal bed so they can break the wood load down to wood gas and replenish the coal bed. Rounds don’t have good surface area on a coal bed and tend to not break down fast enough to keep the whole process going. As far as sizes I have found a good mix of 4-8 inch pieces is best. If the coal bed starts to get over 4 inches deep I load more big pieces than small. If the coal bed gets to be less than 2 inches I put in more small pieces.

Moisture content sweet spot seems to be 25 percent. Lower than 25 the wood seems to flash to quickly and above 30 seems to slow the burn down. Many including my self have expieremented with burning 40 plus percent mc content with good results other than higher wood use. With higher mc wood you will need to be running a 4 inch or more coal bed. I have found that in my location it takes 1 year of drying to get my wood in the 25-30 mc range. The extra time I spent cutting up 7 more cords of wood I spend splitting instead so that’s a wash.

You could run it in the summer but for what purpose? Dhw? I have found that it costs me $50 in electricity to heat my dhw with electricity during the summer. No point of burning wood all summer for $50 per month saving.

I don’t burn any trash, it smells even just burning paper, my recycling center takes recyclables for free and what’s the point of having a 10k heating appliance thst I save $5 a year in gas not driving to the dump to get rid of and cover my heat exchanger tubes in ash from th trash?

I have no smoke 95% of the time.

The boiler is well built and a workhorse.

EFR · Jan 22, 2018

Gentlemen: Thanks for all the responses and help, especially Hondaracer. I guess I could manage 4-8" splitting, that isn't terrible. Burning paper, well that has much more to do with getting rid of personal information (think, identity fraud) than saving a trip to the recycle bin. My wood is cut November to February, split, and then sits for +/- one year. Tough choices, but I am still leaning toward the G200s.

hondaracer2oo4 · Jan 22, 2018

Just buy a shredder and be done with the paper problem. I love my g200.

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New OWB questions and guidance

EFR

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3fordasho

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salecker

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hondaracer2oo4

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EFR

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