OWB Overkill??

[akpilot]

Hello all,

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska and need to purchase an outdoor wood boiler. Have narrowed it down to a Central Boiler 5036 or the new E-classic 2300 due to concerns about future air quality restrictions in Fairbanks. My problem is, my house is only 1500 sq ft, with a single 400 sq ft garage. 5 star energy rated with radiant heat downstairs and baseboard heat upstairs. Used 1100 gal of #2 heating oil last year which included an indirect fired hot water heater. House was at 55F from 7 AM to 7 PM while I am at work M-F. And with heating oil still $4.40 gal here, need to do something! Have read many threads about the inefficiencies if the boiler is not burning at peak, which would be my main concern with the E-classic. Also, have plenty of seasoned wood to burn so that wouldn't be an issue. Do I "need" something as large as an E-classic or would the 5036 be the perfect fit? If there was a smaller E-classic that would be ideal, but....... Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Nofossil]

Do you have to ahve an OWB? A smaller gasifier in an outbuilding or in your basement sounds like it would be a better fit for your needs.

 

[webbie]

I'm with NF.......a big firebox usually means burning lots of wood - either that or a lower efficiency of some sort. Based on your oil use, you could probably heat with 5-7 cords of wood per year (plus a little oil).....which easily could be burned in a regular boiler.

Interesting that we have gotten a whole lot of Alaskans on the board lately......more than in all the years past.

 

[akwood]

akpilot, am also here in fbks. abs battery soon to be selling econoburn boilers . would be worth checking out for sure. been burning owb over 5 years now and thinking about upgading myself.

 

[akpilot]

No basement to put in a gasifier, and not enough clearance for fire codes to put one in the garage. With the smaller firebox the gasifiers have, not sure it would keep a fire when I am at work for 12+ hrs a day. Kinda my understanding from reading posts here, the indoor gasifiers need a water storage tank, definitely not an option for me. 5-7 cords is about what I would expect to burn, think alot of interior Alaskans are in panic mode with the cost of fuel oil. Only option other than alternative to heat with outside the city limits of Fairbanks. THANKS for the replies!

 

[akpilot]

House not set up for an indoor wood stove, and I would like something that heats the domestic water too. Am I way off base? Don't want to tear up floors, roof, etc to put in a 2nd chimney in the garage, which is below the 2 upstairs bedrooms. This is why the OWB makes the most sense to me.

 

[kenkressin]

Greenwood Aspen is apparently coming out in a lower BTU model (70,000-120,000 BTU/hr), but looks like it won't be out til 2009. The Aspen looks similar to the eClassic (175,000 BTU/hr), but not much technical info on the Aspen series I could find yet...

 

[Eric Johnson]

I think 5-7 cords is pretty optimistic, especially in Alaska and especially with an OWB, not to mention that you probably won't be burning dense northern hardwoods. Anybody in your area using an OWB that you can ask about wood consumption?

 

[DenaliChuck]

I'm in Healy and used 800 gallons and 4 cords of birch in a woodstove to heat a 2,000 sf, 5 star plus house. Based on the BTU's used, I'm estimating 8-cord of birch year round, in a Tarm gasifier with 1,000 gallons of storage (to be installed by Oct) and my temps are not as extreme as yours. I'm suspicious of 5-7 cords getting you through especially in an OWB that needs to hold a fire all day long.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

A friend is buying a Hardy OWB, made in Alabama, all stainless, rated at 120K BTU...haven't heard of them, or seen it. I'm in the process of finishing the install of my CB5036, house 1200 s.f, shop 800 s.f., total load of around 100K.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I have never used an OWB, but I am with Eric on this . . . What makes you think 5 [I assume full] cord are going to heat your place?

You have radiant heat and you raise/lower temps twice a day?? I am surprised that works efficiently. I have one zone (576 [/]) which I will turn up when we use that room, but it takes a couple of hours to come up, and I only consider it efficient because it typically spends >3 days at the lower temp. My opinion is that you won't save fuel by fluctuating temps with radiant heat.

But to answer your question . . . .

Do you know why you get longer burn times with the CB's? Mainly because you will be loading it with a lot more wood. Secondly because it has on-board storage. If you're away from home 12 hours a day 5 days a week, you are not going to feel like cutting enough wood on the weekends to supply the CB's habit.

To cut to the chase, you need to find a way to get a small, efficient gassifier. You'll be much happier in the end.

Jimbo