Fisher Mama vs. Wood Boiler?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

TANG0!

Member
May 20, 2015
4
Connecticut
First of all, sorry if this is not the right forum section for this post! For any admin reading this, if it's not the proper place please move the thread to wherever it should be instead.

My wife and I recently purchased a house that has a wood-fired boiler installed in the basement. The house was built in 1979 and it is 1,600 square feet but that doesn't include the basement. The wood boiler is a Thermo-Control model 500, I am attaching pictures here. The house also has a very nice 2 years old fireplace insert up in the living room. After reading this forum for a while, it seems like the Thermo-Control boiler is not a very impressive unit, according to some forum members. It is also not currently connected to the baseboard system, which is heated by a nice modern oil furnace, but I imagine it would be possible to connect it using a switch to select oil or wood boiler.

We also own a Fisher Mama Bear that we have in the basement of the house we're currently moving out from. I love that Fisher Mama; it's super reliable, takes in 2 foot logs and you can cook on it very easily (I've made a few stews using a cast iron dutch oven, the stove is great for that). I am thinking about removing the Thermo Control boiler and putting the Fisher Mama in its place instead. Does that make sense? Is that a good course of action? We do have the EPA certified fireplace insert upstairs anyway, and this stove would be just a backup in case we lose power, or for extra heating from the Basement.

The Thermo Control boiler was never used by the previous owners of the house. The house is in pretty good shape and seems well insulated. Any word of advice and previous experience on the matter will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Gustavo IMG_20170616_103027.jpg IMG_20170616_103044.jpg IMG_20170616_103242.jpg IMG_20170616_103303.jpg
 
I've been off the forum for a few years, so I'm just now seeing this. As a current owner & user of a mama bear, I would sell the boiler and install the mama bear.

What did you decide on last fall?