Help Choosing Outdoor Wood Furnace

[intc97]

I plan on installing an outdoor wood furnace this summer. I have several dealers in the area ( Central Boiler, Wood Doctor, Wood Master ) and I'm wondering what kind of luck other people have had with their outside boilers. I don't intend on getting a newer gasification( downdraft) type as I live in a rural area, would prefer to use larger,green,unsplit wood and don't like the added expence. I have a large woodlot that contains alot of good hardwood but also alot of popple and hemlock which I would like to burn. I also plan on using a tarm storage tank in my basement to get a more efficient use from my furnace. I have a large house to heat and would also eventually like to heat a small greenhouse. Any information on size, make and experinece would be helpfull as this is a major expence and would like to do it correctly.
Thanks

 

[Eric Johnson]

Welcome to the Boiler Room, NBH. Churubusco is a new one on me.

You might want to check the new NYS regs on outdoor boilers. I don't have a link handy, but from what I recall, they're pretty restrictive.

About all I can say about OWBs is that they use A LOT OF WOOD, especially if you're trying to burn it green. I don't care what the dealers say, you're probably looking at 20 full cords per heating season, and more than that if you heat the greenhouse. The extra you spend on a gasifier will be made up over time with a lot less work processing wood and feeding the stove.

If you're serious about an OWB, try to find someone who has one in your area with similar heating needs and ask them how it's working out.

 

[WRVERMONT]

Northborder, please do yourself a favor and dry that wood before you burn it. Dry wood is so much more effective, even in your typical OWB. Good Luck in your search.

 

[antos_ketcham]

Ditto - you really don't want to burn green wood.

Also - check out Central Boiler and Heatmor's new EPA approved OWB units. The new E-Classic is a much better design than the traditional Classic. I haven't seen the new Heatmor yet.

Pete

 

[sparke]

Don't forget non-EPA rated OWB's are being banned in some places even rural areas.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I have no experiance USING OWB's, but have observed hundreds and talked with many owner/operators. I am a firm believer that the emmisions are very closely tied to the operation, not the unit itself.

I know burning junk wood sounds enticing, but the reality is, with dry hardwood you will get more heat, faster response times, and use less wood. If you got 40 cord the first year, then 20 cord each year after that, you would only have to burn green wood the first year.

I have a gassifier, and I CAN burn junk wood, and I CAN smoke like a freight train. I can also - and generally do - burn hardwood that has been down for a few years, producing no visinble smoke and not going through 20 cord of wood a year. I guess at my age, my back would rather get the least amout of wood possible.

Like Eric, I've never heard of that town . . . and I thought I'd been everywhere in NY . . . I guess I still have more to go.

BTW, anyone that has time to get 40 full cord of wood a year and yet has the finacial resources to buy a new hydronic unit. . . that's some gig!!

 

[Eric Johnson]

Ever been to Java Center, Jimbo? Arcade? I always miss the turn in Horseheads and wind up in the cemetery.

 

[smangold]

Search this forum for Switzer. Its worth checking out

 

[Chris S]

Jim, Eric
How about Edenville, Bellvale, or Sugar Loaf ever been there?

Chris

 

[jebatty]

I've used both the tradition OWB which is now replaced by the Tarm. I burned dry wood, not junk, in the OWB. There is only one time that the OWB would not smoke obnoxiously - when it was in full burn with hot water. Start-up to that point and it would spew smoke; after shut down and re-start, it would spew smoke. There was so much smoke that people driving by on the hwy would stop and see if the place was on fire.

To be as fair and objective as possible, I will get smoke from the Tarm - just a little on start-up and a little on re-starts. I will get more smoke on some of the occasions when bridging occurs. Generally it is smoke free. But even when there is smoke, it is nothing, repeat nothing, like the smoke belching OWB. Good riddance.

 

[jebatty]

addendum on wood usage: Tarm uses about 1/4 the wood that I put through the OWB, and I get more consistent heat with longer periods between burns. The OWB I had to fire with 2 - wheel barrow loads of wood twice a day to maintain temp, that's 4 wheel barrow loads per day. The Tarm takes usually 1 and sometimes 1-1/2 wheel barrow loads per day.

Many times I have to fire the Tarm only every other day during winter, and much less in spring and fall. And with storage I still get heat on the between days. The OWB had to get fired every day during winter, and in spring and fall if I didn't fire it, there was no heat. Good riddance.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Well, I'm not here to defend CB - which I ALMOST bought but they lost my name on their list until the heating season was almost over - but I see MANY of them every day. Many people are successful burning with very little smoke, even as the outside temps warm up. I can make my GW smoke like a groan if I want to, and I'd be willing to bet I could make a Tarm and an EKO do likewise.

As far as I am concerned though, smoke means poor efficiency, which means wasting wood, which means extra trips to get wood, more flys to swat, more hours sweating instead of throwing back something cold. For me, the choice not to smoke is 95% selfish.