is anybody unhappy with their boiler?

[warno]

I have been watching a bunch of YouTube videos on outdoor wood boilers and came across a few people that were very unhappy with their boilers.

I'm just wondering if anybody is unhappy with their boiler?

If so, please explain why.

 

[maple1]

Happy as a pig in poop with mine.

Er, I guess maybe that's not what you were looking for. I do see the odd posting scattered around once in a while, maybe you'll get some chiming in here.

 

[ewdudley]

(Pigs hate poop, but may enjoy frolicking in mud. And they do quite well at keeping the two separate.)

 

[timberr]

The only person happier with my boiler than me is my wife! Heck I have gone in the basement and found her hugging it (ok she is just soaking up some warmth).

I think you are going to have a hard time finding someone who is seriously unhappy with their boiler.Some may want a more advanced boiler then what they have but but that us human nature.

 

[maple1]

OK, I stand corrected.

(We never had any pigs around when I was growing up....)

 

[ewdudley]

OK, I stand corrected.

(We never had any pigs around when I was growing up....)

Porcine correctness?

 

[woodsmaster]

I have an indoor gasser and I'm pretty happy with it. so far maintenance items have averaged $100.00 per year. Just had to replace the controller and door seals, so that made the average go up to $100. I dont foresee having to spend any thing on maintenance for a couple years tho... I believe it's mostly conventional outdoor units people arn't happy with, but have heard complaints towards the Greenwood and profab units.

 

[GENECOP]

Happy as hell with my Greenwood.....the thing with wood boilers is this.....most people hear that heating there homes with wood is an option...they run out, buy a unit, install it, don't think about all technical pieces, including wood dryness and quality....screw up some aspect of the install, including venting, piping, storage etc....then go crazy when they need to spend more money and time to get it setup properly, or just give up and rip the unit out.....Kind of like a PitBulls, great dogs, but in the hands of idiots, not so great......Not to many bad boilers out there, but many bad owners....LOL.

 

[Hydronics]

Note that these responses are for indoor gasification boilers which use much less wood than outdoor boilers.

 

[Love the Heat]

Note that these responses are for indoor gasification boilers which use much less wood than outdoor boilers.

Hydronics...you have EKO 60, when it says 'in out-building" do you mean into a building other than the house and heating the house
with it ????
regards

 

[Hydronics]

Hydronics...you have EKO 60, when it says 'in out-building" do you mean into a building other than the house and heating the house
with it ????
regards

Yes, it's in a 12x20 building 150' from the house.

 

[warno]

The poor reviews I was talking about on YouTube were from outdoor boiler owners. Sorry I didn't specify.

Anyone with an outdoor boiler unhappy?

 

[cityboy172]

The poor reviews I was talking about on YouTube were from outdoor boiler owners. Sorry I didn't specify.

Anyone with an outdoor boiler unhappy?

I was. Had a central boiler 6048. Hadn't really done me wrong, just got tired of feeding it 10-14 cords a year. Switched to an eko60 with 2000 gallons of storage this year. Pretty happy so far. Should be a lot happier next year when the moisture level of my wood is lower. Still a fine unit, just not operating as well as it is capable of.

 

[rkusek]

I was. Had a central boiler 6048. Hadn't really done me wrong, just got tired of feeding it 10-14 cords a year. Switched to an eko60 with 2000 gallons of storage this year. Pretty happy so far. Should be a lot happier next year when the moisture level of my wood is lower. Still a fine unit, just not operating as well as it is capable of.

Your wood consumption should drop quite a bit. How long can you heat on that 2000 gals?

 

[heaterman]

Let's just say that in all my travels I run into very very few repeat buyers of OWB's regardless of brand.
I'll leave it at that.

 

[cityboy172]

Your wood consumption should drop quite a bit. How long can you heat on that 2000 gals?

Not 100% sure yet. I got a late start this winter, and only have about 30 day operational.

 

[Countryboy1966]

I have an old 1980 fireking boiler that I had in a shed. I was not happy the first year after feeding it 15 cords, but then realized on the second year that I didn't do enough homework on the install. 175' from the house with 1" lines with my circ pump was not good.

Over time I learned more and changed things.

I ended up moving but I took my boiler with me. It heats my shop now and I'm working on adding storage to it etc. I'm building the new system around my next unit (gassifier) new 8" flue 2" manifolds 1000 gal storage.

In the end I've spent maybe $2000 on the system total for 5 years and it is still working. I don't plan to change to the gassifier for another few years at least because I want to get more value out of it. Its a trade off with the extra wood consumption.

I can see if you don't do your homework on these units it can be torture.

 

[flyingcow]

Look over Craig's list. You'll see a lot of old indoor boilers for $800 or so dollars. Age of these units is at least 20 yrs old.

You might find a couple of 5 or 6 yr old gassification boilers. Sometimes at a good price. But remember, not easy to move.

What you will find is a fair number of OWB's. Some not very old. At least half price of new. When these guys figured the amount of wood they were going thru, pellet boilers or heat pumps were a better option.

Once early summer hits you should see quite a few boilers listed. Its worth your time to look over the classifieds.

 

[flyingcow]

I have an old 1980 fireking boiler that I had in a shed. I was not happy the first year after feeding it 15 cords, but then realized on the second year that I didn't do enough homework on the install. 175' from the house with 1" lines with my circ pump was not good.

Over time I learned more and changed things.

I ended up moving but I took my boiler with me. It heats my shop now and I'm working on adding storage to it etc. I'm building the new system around my next unit (gassifier) new 8" flue 2" manifolds 1000 gal storage.

In the end I've spent maybe $2000 on the system total for 5 years and it is still working. I don't plan to change to the gassifier for another few years at least because I want to get more value out of it. Its a trade off with the extra wood consumption.

I can see if you don't do your homework on these units it can be torture.

Good post.