New OWB questions?

[dixie]

I currently heat with a propane forced air furnace with eletric in floor in basement. With spike in fuel costs I am looking hard into OWB. Thinking a Central Boiler or Heatmor. Was just looking for any pros and cons of both. Another question I have is, would it be more efficient to add a heat exchanger to my furnace or to add the pex lines for infloor heat. would also be hooking wot water to boiler.
Thanks for any help or insite.

 

[maple1]

Can you put either a new furnace or boiler, inside?

 

[phantomblack]

I have a cental boiler. It's been a good unit. It uses the KISS strategy, and is a natural draft unit. A buddy had a heatmor, it has been good to him also, but it is forced draft and is a stainless unit. Personally I would stay away from a stainless unit, and get a steel unit and make sure your water quality is good. I have no regrets with my purchase. And it kept my insurance man happy.

Folks on here will try to push you into an indoor unit, and some of their points are very valid. I personally would rather has the fuss and mess outside and enjoy the heat, I spend less than 10 minutes a day firing the boiler. Just do us all a few favors, burn dry wood and burn responsibly.

 

[phantomblack]

Oh, I forgot. Take a look at natures comfort and portage and
Main. Each make a gasser model. The natures comfort has a nice price on it, another buddy picked one of those up for 7k and it's a gasser model. The portage and main is 12-13k.

 

[BoilerMan]

When you say electric infloor, how is it heated? Electric cable buried in concrete, or water circulated through an electric boiler/water heater?

TS

 

[lindnova]

I have a Heatmor 200 and am happy with it. I have friends who have the Central Classic and are very happy with theirs also.

Heamor has 10 ga stainless, blower, fiberglass insulation and ash auger.

Central boiler has heavy carbon steel, natural draft, foam insulation.

The ash auger is not really worth it. Foam insulation works better, but may loose heat value from high heat over time. I like the draft idea better than blower as it uses less electricity.

If I was going to buy one today I may buy a Central boiler as they have more dealers and are more common in my area. If you need parts it is important to be able to get them.

Installing a heat exchanger in your furnace plenum is simple and you can use a double or 2 stage thermostat. If you have water pipes in your basement floor you can install an exchanger with a mixing valve and use the same system you already have. Disregard if it is electric coils.

The only problem I have is the sidearm exchanger never thermo-siphoned because the water heater is too short. I hooked it up so incoming water runs thru it, but I only get about 60% as it doesn't heat up fast enough in the exchanger. I did all my own installation and did do some modifications for the first 2 years to get it right.

Get the best thermo pex underground lines you can get - groundwater is bad in the lines if you are in a wet area.

 

[dixie]

Thanks for the info guys. First of all I would perfer not to put new furnace in house, would like to keep mess outside and keep insurance company at bay. Second, the heat in basement floor is electric wire in a sand base under the cement slab. It is off peak but one of the two zones hasn't worked since we bought the house. Last owners said they had it checked out and the one side was burned out. The water heater is also off peak so it is quite large, 100 gallons if not larger, so it is about 6 ft tall. Forth, I haven't priced many yet but I think a gasser unit would be out of our price range. I want to do it right but I don't have close neighbors, no smoke worries, and have an endless supply of wood. Last, I was wondering if anyone has gone the closed cell sprat foam route in a trench with regular pex. It would be a way to save some money and do it myself but want to do it right the first time. Thanks

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/underground-lines-not-the-place-to-skimp.50506/

FYI

 

[maple1]

Folks on here will try to push you into an indoor unit, and some of their points are very valid. I personally would rather has the fuss and mess outside and enjoy the heat, I spend less than 10 minutes a day firing the boiler. Just do us all a few favors, burn dry wood and burn responsibly.

I don't think it's pushing to an indoor unit - or at least it isn't in my case. I just want people to be aware of the choices that are out there. Some go blindly to an OWB, then they realize later there might have been a better choice they could have made if they had known about it. I've read more than once on here 'I wish I hadda known...'. I also know lots of people who seem to be happy with their OWB.


Just make sure you fully evaluate the alternatives, and your preferences/priorities. And the amount of wood you realistically think you can supply each year.

 

[goosegunner]

Many people around me have those brands. Between those two I would buy a Heatmor. They seem to last longer and smoke less than the central boilers. I know people with Heatmors that are 13 years old and no problems other than 1 fan replacement. A few Centrals were done before 8 years.

The BL series Portage and Main has some nice features that in theory should make them burn less and reduce smoke, in theory though.

gg

 

[dixie]

I was also wondering, up here in Minnesota the frost line is at the 4 ft mark, is it nessasary to lay the pipe that deep to keep it below the frost? Or does that not matter as much being the pex will be insulated and running hot water? Also question about a side arm on water eater. Does the water keep running through it to keep it hot or is it just once than to the tank and the insulation keeps it hot?

 

[phantomblack]

I have my pipe down about 4 feet, not saying that its right, but it has been doing fine. I think that central boiler said 3-4 feet down. As far as the sidearm, boiler water is flowing through it all of the time. Once the hot water heater is up to temp, the the boiler will "maintain" temperature in the hot water heater. The sidearm works great, almost unlimited hot water for the house.

Like I said, if you want an economy outdoor gasser take a look at natures comfort. They are welded up in wisconsin, a friend has on and it looks like a nice product. However it is a little fussier on maintenance. He is having to clean his unit out weekly, while I can go for about 6 weeks without a complete cleaning with my central boiler.

 

[maple1]

If by water through the sidearm you meant the domestic side of it, it keeps circulating by convection. So it can get pretty darn hot if none is being used for a while.

 

[buddylee]

I have a Hardy. Only in my third year but know of several folks with 15-20 year old units with no major problems. Hardy's have a blower which gets the fire going in a hurry. I have a water coil in my supply duct.

 

[Hydronics]

I have a Central dealer 5 miles from my house. I almost bought one years ago, I knew someone who had one and was using 12 cords per year. Fortunately I learned from his lesson. I did more research and bought an eko 60 and put it in a shed because I wanted it out of the house. I am very happy with it and have never used more than 6 cords and I don't even have storage. With storage I could improve on this.
You can use a gasser like an OWB but have much greater efficiency, add storage and it gets better. One important issue, they need dry wood but you should never burn green wood in anything or you lose a third of the woods energy to make steam.
An eko is about the same price as a OWB but honestly is much more product for the money.
Be careful to do thorough research before you make the purchase. Good luck!