Ideas for replacement of my Outdoor Wood boiler.

[dlabrie]

I have a 10+ yr old CB outdoor wood boiler that I want/need to replace. I burn anywhere from 9-12 full cords of hardwood a year to heat my 2700sq house (FHW) and DHW. I have been cutting the hardwood from my property for the last 30 years and it is getting thin and I am getting old

I have been researching and have been impressed by the new wood gasification units out there but the prices are high. A garn is 10-12K and an Econoburn around 10K, and then there is the thermal storage tank to consider. I have all of the plumbing in place and am wondering what other options I may have to replace the boiler. I have seen some other units, like the EKO and Biomas, that were more in my price range, 5-7K, but they look like indoor units.

My OWB is about 80’ from the house and sits about 5’ from a garage. There is an insulated loop from my system to the garage where I had wanted to install a Modine heater but never got around to it.

I have also been looking at pellet boilers, but with the price of oil so low, that is a hard sell.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,

David

 

[leon]

I have a 10+ yr old CB outdoor wood boiler that I want/need to replace. I burn anywhere from 9-12 full cords of hardwood a year to heat my 2700sq house (FHW) and DHW. I have been cutting the hardwood from my property for the last 30 years and it is getting thin and I am getting old

I have been researching and have been impressed by the new wood gasification units out there but the prices are high. A garn is 10-12K and an Econoburn around 10K, and then there is the thermal storage tank to consider. I have all of the plumbing in place and am wondering what other options I may have to replace the boiler. I have seen some other units, like the EKO and Biomas, that were more in my price range, 5-7K, but they look like indoor units.

My OWB is about 80’ from the house and sits about 5’ from a garage. There is an insulated loop from my system to the garage where I had wanted to install a Modine heater but never got around to it.

I have also been looking at pellet boilers, but with the price of oil so low, that is a hard sell.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,

David

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I realize this is a wood burning forum but you can purchase a coal stoker boiler
for about half that amount of money and put it in the garage if there is room.

The Leisure Line folks have been trying to sell an outdoor coal boiler for hydronic heating
and have been looking to find a willing customer to run one for them.

Your reasoning is 99 percent of why I have a coal stoker boiler now.

The Portage and Main folks have an outdoor coal stoker but it has a very small hopper and the
last time I checked which was several years ago it was 17K Plus

 

[Karl_northwind]

If you still want to burn wood, Econoburn and others make decent outdoor gasifiers. they're not cheap, but you will truly get what you pay for.
I sell and have been happy with the Heatmaster G-series. I'm sure there is a dealer not too far from you.

 

[dlabrie]

============================================================================================


I realize this is a wood burning forum but you can purchase a coal stoker boiler
for about half that amount of money and put it in the garage if there is room.

The Leisure Line folks have been trying to sell an outdoor coal boiler for hydronic heating
and have been looking to find a willing customer to run one for them.

Your reasoning is 99 percent of why I have a coal stoker boiler now.

The Portage and Main folks have an outdoor coal stoker but it has a very small hopper and the
last time I checked which was several years ago it was 17K Plus

I don't even know if you can buy coal in NH. I'll have to look into that. Thanks

 

[dlabrie]

If you still want to burn wood, Econoburn and others make decent outdoor gasifiers. they're not cheap, but you will truly get what you pay for.
I sell and have been happy with the Heatmaster G-series. I'm sure there is a dealer not too far from you.

I contacted Econoburn and they sent this quote for a unit, EBW200-170 $10,995 - $500 Instant Rebate = $10,495.00
10K is too much for me, especially when you have to figure in fittings, shipping and a water storage system.

 

[maple1]

I don't think that Econoburn 'needs' storage?

 

[adkhunter]

Coal is awesome if you have it locally available cheaply and if your tired of dealing with wood. Coal boilers have been around a long time and are very simple in design and reliable. I heated a 2000sq ft house with just a small Alaska coal stove. No duct work or any other heat source and that little stove with its little blower heated the entire downstairs and upstairs. Used about 3 tons from October to April in upstate NY winters.

Coal storage is also much easier. It can sit outside in a big pile in all weather conditions and still burn. It is best to keep it in a bin of some sort and to keep it dry only to keep it from freezing together in clumps. Not a big deal as it breaks apart pretty easy but it's still something note worthy.

I just bought a new house that has a old oil boiler that's sucking down fuel oil like crazy. Even with this very warm winter we are having. So I too am am looking into a new boiler system for next winter. Trying to decide between coal again or a corn boiler. Coal I'm familiar with and I know it's ups and downs. Corn will be a new adventure but I have access to unlimited amounts of dry corn from work so they availability of free fuel is beyond tempting.

Hope I helped in some way!

 

[dlabrie]

I don't think that Econoburn 'needs' storage?

I think you are right. But from what I've read a heat storage tank is recommended to get the highest efficiency.

 

[dlabrie]

Coal is awesome if you have it locally available cheaply and if your tired of dealing with wood. Coal boilers have been around a long time and are very simple in design and reliable. I heated a 2000sq ft house with just a small Alaska coal stove. No duct work or any other heat source and that little stove with its little blower heated the entire downstairs and upstairs. Used about 3 tons from October to April in upstate NY winters.

Coal storage is also much easier. It can sit outside in a big pile in all weather conditions and still burn. It is best to keep it in a bin of some sort and to keep it dry only to keep it from freezing together in clumps. Not a big deal as it breaks apart pretty easy but it's still something note worthy.

I just bought a new house that has a old oil boiler that's sucking down fuel oil like crazy. Even with this very warm winter we are having. So I too am am looking into a new boiler system for next winter. Trying to decide between coal again or a corn boiler. Coal I'm familiar with and I know it's ups and downs. Corn will be a new adventure but I have access to unlimited amounts of dry corn from work so they availability of free fuel is beyond tempting.

Hope I helped in some way!

Thanks, I will look into it. I had never considered it before; food for thought...

 

[goosegunner]

Not really sure how well storage would work with a Outside gasifier. Seems to me you would be starting with a very cold boiler after being off for 24hrs or so. Plus you will be starting fires outside instead of in a building.

I start 1 to 2 fires per day depending on outside temp. It is very simple but my boiler is in a 12'X16' insulated building with fluorescent lights. Might not be too much fun outside in the wind and snow.

gg

 

[Fred61]

How much coal does your woodlot produce?

 

[Karl_northwind]

the G-series doesn't need storage, but can be used with it. It would be just about a drop in replacement for your current boiler. one of the reasons I really like them.

 

[hondaracer2oo4]

I have a g200 heatmaster. I went from a hardy h4. Huge difference in wood usage. Very easy to use. I would have a efm or keystoker coal boiler if I didn't get such a good deal on my hardy years ago. I too live in nh, coal is readily available. Best option is bulk delivery straight from Pennsylvania. 22 tons for around 200 per ton I believe. It doesn't take up as much room as it sounds. 30 million btus per ton, never goes bad. My buddy has a keystoker kaa4. Loads the hopper once every few days, dumps ashes every other day. Works flawless. He goes through about 5 tons per year heating a 3000 sqft old home.

 

[maple1]

Just from feedback I have read of others with them - I would definitely at least check out a G-series in this situation.

Another option to consider would be an indoor gasifier/boiler, in an outbuilding. That would most likely need storage, or at least it would be highly recommended, depending on the particular boiler. If you have an outbuilding now that could use standby heat and is big enough, or could make use of or justify a new one (maybe a nice new heated shop?), that could be the way to go. Storage could go in there too (along with the winters wood), or in the house/basement.

So mostly comes down to your particular situation & preferences.

 

[dlabrie]

How much coal does your woodlot produce?

Quite a lot with my old CB boiler

 

[dlabrie]

Just from feedback I have read of others with them - I would definitely at least check out a G-series in this situation.

Another option to consider would be an indoor gasifier/boiler, in an outbuilding. That would most likely need storage, or at least it would be highly recommended, depending on the particular boiler. If you have an outbuilding now that could use standby heat and is big enough, or could make use of or justify a new one (maybe a nice new heated shop?), that could be the way to go. Storage could go in there too (along with the winters wood), or in the house/basement.

So mostly comes down to your particular situation & preferences.

Here is a picture of my current CB boiler setup. There is a 9 cord lean-to off the back of the garage. Maybe I could use a corner of the garage to house an indoor boiler.

Central Boiler and wood shed

• dlabrie
• Feb 24, 2016

Central Boiler by garage

• dlabrie
• Feb 24, 2016

Central Boiler by garage 2

• dlabrie
• Feb 24, 2016

 

[StihlKicking]

Look at the Hardy KB units. They run 7-8k.

 

[dlabrie]

The lines running to and from my OWB are 1" PEX. Looking at the EKO and the Biomass, the feed and return outlets are 2" . Would that be an issue?

 

[goosegunner]

The lines running to and from my OWB are 1" PEX. Looking at the EKO and the Biomass, the feed and return outlets are 2" . Would that be an issue?

Most use large piping at boiler to storage to move the output of the boiler to storage. Use the 1" to your loads from storage and it will function as it has up to this point.

 

[dlabrie]

What if I built an insulated room the back corner of my garage and put in something like an EKO or Biomass with 500 gallons of insulated storage then ran my existing PEX lines to the storage? I could have a door in back right into my wood shed.

 

[JohnDolz]

What if I built an insulated room the back corner of my garage and put in something like an EKO or Biomass with 500 gallons of insulated storage then ran my existing PEX lines to the storage? I could have a door in back right into my wood shed.

As long as you understood what you were getting into you will be extremely happy with a good indoor boiler tied to storage. I am no expert but my understanding is that the new Outdoor boilers are a lot fussier than the old ones. Not suggesting that is bad, just that my understanding is that they are quite different (i.e. can't throw just anything in there, moisture content, size, etc.). I could be wrong on this, I never did research it much as my property and the EPA regs didn't allow for OWB so I went indoor.

 

[jrod770]

As long as you understood what you were getting into you will be extremely happy with a good indoor boiler tied to storage. I am no expert but my understanding is that the new Outdoor boilers are a lot fussier than the old ones. Not suggesting that is bad, just that my understanding is that they are quite different (i.e. can't throw just anything in there, moisture content, size, etc.). I could be wrong on this, I never did research it much as my property and the EPA regs didn't allow for OWB so I went indoor.

Nothing fussy about the new units. I installed a Hardy KB 125 outdoor gassifier last summer, no problems at all. The key, as with any gasser, is dry wood. It's pretty simple load and go. Clean ashes every couple of days and clean tubes once every other week. Much better than the indoor wood burning furnace I previously had, and MUCH less wood.

 

[JohnDolz]

Nothing fussy about the new units. I installed a Hardy KB 125 outdoor gassifier last summer, no problems at all. The key, as with any gasser, is dry wood. It's pretty simple load and go. Clean ashes every couple of days and clean tubes once every other week. Much better than the indoor wood burning furnace I previously had, and MUCH less wood.

I guess I was thinking fussy in regards to what you can put in. My buddy loves his current OWB because he can basically cut down a tree and start shoving it in. If you were to tell him that he needed to split wood so it could dry, he would consider that a fussy boiler. Matter of perspective, I have an Inddor gasser so splitting and dry wood is the norm and I have no issue.

 

[Fred61]

userdk, perhaps you should consider purchasing some advertising space here.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Have you considered a regular EPA certified indoor wood stove, (not a boiler)you would probably get away with half the wood your now burning. And they are by nature gassifiers.