Central Boiler 6048 (Classic) question

[3fordasho]

Looking at a place out of town with a few acres, location is Southern MN. Place comes with a CB 6048 of 2008 vintage that is supplying a HX in the propane FA furnace plenum, and another HX hanging in the 2 stall attached garage. Home was built in 2004, 3500 SQ FT and should be fairly well insulated but I don't know the exact details. Being a wood stove guy that averages 3 cords a season, I was concerned that this new place would need 12-20full cords that some report pushing thru a 6048 (60 CU FT firebox afterall) SO - I ask the seller what his wood usage is- "oh about a wheel barrow load every 3-4 days". He also has a wood shed that might hold 5-6 cords and mentioned he typically will not use all the wood in the wood shed during the season. So BS or possible ?

He also mentioned that he only fills the 500 gal propane tank every other year- that is feeding the water heater and a propane fireplace.

 

[cityboy172]

Anything's possible. Guy at work has a 5036? and claims 5 cord. Have no reason not to believe him. The dude selling the house's numbers sound awefully light to me though.

 

[flyingcow]

IMO. 3 cord is way low. With that kinda sq/ft.

 

[3fordasho]

IMO. 3 cord is way low. With that kinda sq/ft.

I only mentioned 3 cord because that's what I currently have to process to meet demand of my current 1600 sq ft house - alternating between a Woodstock Fireview or Progress Hybrid free standing wood stove.

Current owner of the 3500 sq ft house says a wheelbarrow load every 3-4 days in the CB 6048 does the trick.

 

[bags]

Tim,
I have a Woodmaster 5500 a few years older 2004-2005 that I believe is a size up from the Central Boiler unit you speak of. Very similar stoves. I am in Northern KY and it is definitely warmer here in the winter than MN. I average 7-10 cords per winter (depending on how long and cold) when I use only the 5500 the entire heating season. I am doing a similar size home etc;

I question the 3 cords and don't see how it is possible from my experience. It seems very light and sugar coated to me but that is my opinion. I would guess you would use at least what I use if not more given the colder temps up there. Hope this helps. In fact I just bought and installed a Pellet stove to cut down my wood use.

I average two wheel barrow loads a day. One in the morning before work and one in the evening whenever I feel like doing it. Also the 3-4 day burn times or loads can be done when it is warm like now but that is chock full. I have hardly ever seen the 3-4 day dream. Just being honest here with what I know to be true in my situation.

Another thing I'll point out is that I have a friend that bought a cheaper wood boiler and he uses a lot more wood than me. Central Boilers are good units. That is almost what I bought when I did mine and probably would have but the dealer was pretty far away.

My guess is you would be no less than 9 cords.

 

[flyingcow]

Thanks...someday maybe I'll pay it bit more attention.

 

[flyingcow]

Im in northern Maine.........that boys wheel barrow must be huge!! 6048's will incinerate large animals in 10 minutes.

 

[bags]

Yea, a wheel barrow about the size of a small contractors dump truck. Once I get mine rolling and full I get by on two barrow loads per day but it is a decent size. Typical taller sided wheel barrow like at Home Depot or Lowes. Can't remember how many cubic feet it is.

 

[stee6043]

I have a family member with the same boiler, smaller house (maybe 2600 +/- sq. ft.) who burns a minimum of 9 full cord per winter heating season. His home was also built in 2005/2006.

He fills his propane tank maybe once every 2-3 years and it's not even close to needing a fill. Based on the description above I'd bet the prior owner was using a fair amount of propane to supplement his heat. That and he's embellishing a bit (or a lot) on the 5-6 cord estimate if he's actually heating all winter.

 

[JustWood]

My dad has a 6048 and a wheelbarrow load of wood may cover the floor of the firebox.
His uses a lot of wood but wood supply is unlimited . He also has a bridge crane/hoist setup to load massive pieces in the "garage door" of the boiler so quantity and size is no issue.
We've never figured out how much it burns but its achit ton.

 

[bags]

JustWood,
Yea, these this will eat whatever you can lift and get into them. I have thrown in big stumps with root balls attached that still had some dirt clinging on. Didn't phase the Pig! I think it turned the dirt into ash also after it squeezed some BTU's from it. They will burn whatever you can pick up and get thru the big "garage door." If it doesn't fit then go in at an angle because it will then. Crane deal is a good idea. I can think of a few times I could have used one. My back and nut sack can probably think of a few more but they don't talk. LOL!

3fordasho,

You will use some wood but the heat is great. It really isn't that awfully bad honestly, but wood requires a little dedication. Don't let the crane thing scare you. I will shoot it straight at you now: 1). 3 cords is a good start. 2). 5-6 cords ain't gonna happen. 3). 8 cords you are in the park and won't freeze to death all winter. 4). 10 cords your in the bulls eye but might not be dead nuts. 5). Now add a little since you reside up in the frozen tundra of MN. I know because I dated a girlfriend from Still Water, MN for years and went up there every winter. It gets cold, cold so that is why I eventually had to fire her and kick her to the curb with her walking papers! The cold in KY is bad enough but not as bad up there, Eh? Too much snow on top of the ruffs for me. Beautiful state though.

Also to clarify, My 2 wheel barrow average a day is once the boiler has a nice established thick bed of coals or another words it was already filled (stuffed) and repeated to get that established. After that then it is cruise control. 1 barrow load AM and 1 barrow load PM. Done!

I have measured my wood use for right at 10 years. This is my tenth heating season since I installed mine. Keep in mind I just installed a Harman P68 Sat 10/18/14 to reduce my wood use. I don't need to throw a lot of wood at it at the beginning and end of the heating season only to climb a little on the thermostat inside. My opinion is that it is a waste of much needed wood when it is cold.

Another point I will share is that during the cold I average a rick (face cord) of wood per 7 day week. Usually slightly less but not much. With this fact to run my boiler it takes one and one third of a true cord 4'Wide x 4'Tall x 8'Long. So one row per week = 18"W x 4'H x 8'W. This does the trick without any problem here. So you could use this as a baseline or metric to figure out how many weeks you need to heat. Don't forget the add for your frozen tundra locale. This should give you a pretty realistic idea of how much wood you really will need. Now if the seller has some "special" type of wood that can cut this down to 5-6 cords I would like to buy some. I've never tried to burn sugar coated wood the truth stretcher tree grows. Again, this is my situation and experience and others may vary. Not saying anyone is fibbing, but fish sizes tend to grow after a few beers. Especially, if the dude who caught the fish (seller) is the one telling the story.

 

[bags]

He also has a wood shed that might hold 5-6 cords and mentioned he typically will not use all the wood in the wood shed during the season. So BS or possible ?

Here's some more info for you: He might be shooting you straight here. If the shed is still standing then he didn't burn the wooden shed at least, therefore not using every bit of the 5-6 cords. Shed and all!

Why doesn't he do the domestic hot water with the boiler when it's in season? You can always easily switch back to propane in warm months. Hell, half of the year you have semi-free hot water. I do!

Buying a place is a big investment so I am only trying to help you understand what the reality of these boilers is. I wish 5-6 cords did it. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Not a deal breaker though. Go back and talk to him with educated questions and facts. People are less likely to b.s. if they know that you know.

 

[maple1]

One face cord per week over 14 wheelbarrows full is only about 3.5 cubic feet per barrow load.

That's a pretty small barrow load.

I have a barrow, rated at 6 cu.ft., nothing extra huge, that I use in the summer when burning. I can load it up and get about 1.5 burns worth of wood in it, each burn is 2 fireboxes at 3 cu.ft. So maybe 8 cu.ft., stacked up pretty good.

Even at a typical wheel barrow rating of 6 cu.ft., two loads a day would be a cord of wood every 10 days, or 3 cords a month.

 

[bags]

Fireboxes and systems are completely different with what you have and what I have. We are comparing apples and oranges here. I am in KY and it is not nearly as cold as MN and I use more than 5-6 cords. Could even double that figure all said and done like last winter. I am talking simple averages. I know how much wood ( I ) use on average with (my) set up and conditions. I do get off pretty lightly comparatively speaking. We see days here in Jan-Feb sometimes in the 60's. We also see them in the single and negative digits.

Just ran out and measured my wheel barrow used for wood. It is approx. 3.5 - 4 cu ft. I have this one so the wife and or one of the kids can push it with a load. Other than that it is mostly useless to me being a contractor. It is a weekend warrior homeowners cart for people living on a 1/4 acre postage stamp lot. I rarely plant daisies. I also have some that are the next size up which is the 5.5 - 6 cu ft, I assume. Now do not misunderstand when it gets good and cold the bigger barrow might get used and/or it is not necessarily exactly 2 loads. It could be 4. I have loaded the front loader bucket on my 4x4x Kubota tractor numerous times but not every day on average. I am simply throwing out average figures for what I have so this fellow can get a understanding that 5-6 cords is a pipe dream. At least for me. I do use approx. 8-10 cords per season and I am not up north.

Bottom line is that what the seller is telling him the cord use is, is likely not accurate at all. I'll bet money on that. Any takers?

 

[maple1]

Bottom line is that what the seller is telling him the cord use is, is likely not accurate at all. I'll bet money on that. Any takers?

I think I would have to agree.

Would also like to see a picture of the wheelbarrow in question in the first post - must be a monster.

 

[flyingcow]

Ok.....my wheel barrow, not sure of the cubic feets of the wheel barrow. But I think, not sure, but think my firebox on the Innova is 4cu/ft. When I moderately round my whee; barrow up, it fills the fire box full.



I know I'll kind of poo poo on OWB's. Mainly the newbie's that are looking to buy OWB's, we've shown that the price of a gasser plus a shed is about the same money as alot of OWB's. But that being said, if the property already has an OWB, it's better than burning oil or propane. It's already installed, use it. But what I've seen of OWB's, whatever you throw in for wood at night, its gone in the am. Once someone uses one for a bit, they can judge roughly how much wood will get them thru the night. And if you use very well seasoned wood, throw it in and watch it launch itself right thru the stack.

 

[DaveBP]

Is that a 4WD wheelbarrow?

 

[bags]

I was a newbie back in 2004 when the OWB was slammed in here. I am trying to ease the pain and step it up into 2014 with a pellet stove. Those (pellet stoves) can be hammered as well for various reasons, but you have to make the best decision at the time. I'm warm and the world is beyond ...... so......

The OWB's were semi-new tech here and I wasn't the first, but I surely wasn't the last either, to get one. Not a lot of info then I had and I took a chance then that I do not regret. I had never heard of pellet stoves nor forward thinking gassifiers. I was all about Geo-Thermal but it was cost prohibitive for me at the time. I would have been very happy to have this Harman back then with the inefficient wood stove back ups. Better yet, Geo with the P68. Seriously! I can see that now. But, Damn..... the electric is produced by coal. Tell me how clean these electric cars really are????????

I do move a lot of wood around here with a 4WD dump truck. Not too fun at times. I will throw out some straight up horse sh!t from the horse capital of the world,,,, KY. 5-6 cords will take care of this with proPAIN and wood left over. Yup, looks like a donkey. Not horse.