First I want to thank all of you here for all the help that you have already given me even though this is my first post. Although things might have been easier if I never found this site, because my plan was to get an OWB like most people in my area do. Now I'm learning about boilers I never knew existed.
Second my house is 2700 sq ft, was built in 2001, and is well insulated albeit with a quite a few good windows. It's a split level with vaulted ceilings and a loft, so quite a bit of open space too. We just moved here in Feb of this year, but the lady we bought if from said she averaged between 1200 and 1500 gallons of propane a year. I figured that $3k a year would be better spent on a boiler. My in-laws live a few miles away and have 180 acres of mostly hardwoods, and said we can cut all the wood we want from there. Obviously that won't do for this year, so I'm hoping to find some seasoned wood to buy.
Anyway I'm now leaning toward an indoor gasser installed in my detached insulated garage. Already talked to the insurance agent and he said he would be fine with my plan to enclose a corner in there to install it. My main question revolves around storage, which it seems is true for most people new to this type of system. I would like to start with no storage but plan to add it in the future. Will I still be able to load the boiler in the morning and again in the evening, or is it going to function more like a wood stove and I'm going to be putting wood in it every few hours. The brands I am thinking are Eko, Empyre, and Tarm. It seems that the Empyre Elite was designed without storage in mind even though I'm sure it would be better with. I talked to a dealer in Minnesota who was using the Elite 100 to heat his hardware store, he knew it probably wouldn't keep up but tried it anyway and was impressed, but he is now switching to one of Empyre's larger outdoor gassers. He told me the elite would work great for me, but suggested thinking about the Energy King indoor wood boiler (non-gasser) because it is close to $3,000 less than the Elite.
My reasons for thinking gasification are the usual, less wood, less smoke, but I would still like the convenience of two loads a day like I would have with an OWB. Is that possible without storage? I know I need good insulated underground lines too, I learned that from reading here.
Sorry for the super long post, but thanks for all the help.
Second my house is 2700 sq ft, was built in 2001, and is well insulated albeit with a quite a few good windows. It's a split level with vaulted ceilings and a loft, so quite a bit of open space too. We just moved here in Feb of this year, but the lady we bought if from said she averaged between 1200 and 1500 gallons of propane a year. I figured that $3k a year would be better spent on a boiler. My in-laws live a few miles away and have 180 acres of mostly hardwoods, and said we can cut all the wood we want from there. Obviously that won't do for this year, so I'm hoping to find some seasoned wood to buy.
Anyway I'm now leaning toward an indoor gasser installed in my detached insulated garage. Already talked to the insurance agent and he said he would be fine with my plan to enclose a corner in there to install it. My main question revolves around storage, which it seems is true for most people new to this type of system. I would like to start with no storage but plan to add it in the future. Will I still be able to load the boiler in the morning and again in the evening, or is it going to function more like a wood stove and I'm going to be putting wood in it every few hours. The brands I am thinking are Eko, Empyre, and Tarm. It seems that the Empyre Elite was designed without storage in mind even though I'm sure it would be better with. I talked to a dealer in Minnesota who was using the Elite 100 to heat his hardware store, he knew it probably wouldn't keep up but tried it anyway and was impressed, but he is now switching to one of Empyre's larger outdoor gassers. He told me the elite would work great for me, but suggested thinking about the Energy King indoor wood boiler (non-gasser) because it is close to $3,000 less than the Elite.
My reasons for thinking gasification are the usual, less wood, less smoke, but I would still like the convenience of two loads a day like I would have with an OWB. Is that possible without storage? I know I need good insulated underground lines too, I learned that from reading here.
Sorry for the super long post, but thanks for all the help.
