Terrible idea?

[sysc]

First of all great site! Lots of really good information. My question is probably really stupid and I apologize in advance.

I made a mistake, I purchased a house 6 1/2 acres of land and thought it would be really cool to pick up an outdoor wood boiler. I didn't even consider the fact that our local township might have an ordinance on it. Long story short the requirements to put it in just no longer make it cost effective. Which leads to my question....



What are peoples thoughts on converting an outdoor wood burning boiler to an indoor unit, and piping the smoke through an existing chimney? There are no ordinances on indoor wood burning furnaces/boilers.

Am I crazy for even considering such a thing? I already have a wood burning fire place for anyone questioning insurance.

 

[JP11]

Sell it, take you're lumps. Buy an indoor unit. They are huge, and inefficient. just my .02

JP

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah never tested for clearances for indoors. I can't imagine you being able to getting local approval for it no matter where you put it. Their issue is emissions, and the first thing they will look for is the manual and clearance to combustibles.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Dangerous.

 

[bholler]

Yes terrible idea.

 

[jb6l6gc]

what are the requirements that are making install so costly?

 

[maple1]

Run it by your insurance person & see what they say. I suspect about the same as said above.

 

[Karl_northwind]

Ditto on the above. gasifiers are the way to go, indoors.

karl

 

[Tennman]

If that's your biggest financial screw up you're way ahead of me. Sell it and buy your wife something nice for her kitchen. That will reduce the number of "remember whens" by 62%. Welcome.

 

[jb6l6gc]

If that's your biggest financial screw up you're way ahead of me. Sell it and buy your wife something nice for her kitchen. That will reduce the number of "remember whens" by 62%. Welcome.

Ya I once bought a chevy colorado with a 5 cylinder, that was my big costly mistake. Still not understanding what would make it so costly to install though.

 

[sysc]

So, the distance to run the pex outdoors would be 650ft from my home to meet the neighbor parcel / requirements for the the township. That run would be costly, and heat loss on top of the amount of work to load the burner just makes it not worth it for me.

I understand that gasifiers are more efficient, but what makes converting the outdoor any more dangerous than a standard wood burner / wood fire place in your home?


Note: Just trying to learn not trying to argue, I am really interested in switching to wood for my fuel source.

 

[Jags]

I understand that gasifiers are more efficient, but what makes converting the outdoor any more dangerous than a standard wood burner / wood fire place in your home?

The unit has never been tested for this application. There is simply no "accepted" way for it to be done.
Besides that, an OWB is vastly different in design than a standard wood burner. The burn chamber of an OWB was/is not designed to run dry - it was designed to heat water, not air.

 

[bholler]

I understand that gasifiers are more efficient, but what makes converting the outdoor any more dangerous than a standard wood burner / wood fire place in your home?

Because they are designed to be burnt outside not in a structure they are designed to be run on a short stack not a full chimney they are not tested for clearances to combustibles so there would be no standard to follow for a proper install. many have chimney fires regularly most burn very dirty ect ect ect.

 

[flyingcow]

Plus when you open the door to fill, tons of smoke and sometimes flames blow back. I've been around a couple installed in an outdoor lean to structure. Can drive you out of structure for a minute. You don't want that inside the house.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

I have an outdoor boiler. It works fine for me (BOO/HISS from the Hearth Bleachers), outdoors. I wouldn't dream of moving that thing inside. A small awning over the loading area, yes. Inside a structure, no. When those things are running hard, your stack temps are crazy hot, unless you have something other than a conventional.

PS - Check the classified section for a nice wood forced air furnace

 

[JP11]

And to just to confirm.. stack temps 'crazy hot' means efficiency is out the window.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

And to just to confirm.. stack temps 'crazy hot' means efficiency is out the window

Ha!! You are correct JP11!! There's a gasser in the future..........

 

[Fred61]

Open the loading door, take a good look at the construction, pick up a palm sized stone and tap the walls. Now ask yourself if you want to be sleeping above the beast when it is being fired. I think you will answer your own question.

 

[velvetfoot]

How about the Econoburn? It has a good rep, and the outdoor version looks a lot like the indoor version, sans covering.
I don't think the OP ever noted his boiler's name.
(broken link removed to http://www.econoburn.com/index.php/products.html)

 

[bholler]

How about the Econoburn? It has a good rep, and the outdoor version looks a lot like the indoor version, sans covering.
I don't think the OP ever noted his boiler's name.

even if it is the exact same unit without the tag saying it is ok to use indoors you cant do it

 

[velvetfoot]

I wasn't suggesting it should, but suggest that painting all outdoor boilers with a negative brush might be unfair.

 

[bholler]

I wasn't suggesting it should, but suggest that painting all outdoor boilers with a negative brush might be unfair.

I know there are some good ones and that is why i did not say all in my post i said many have fires often and many burn very dirty. I think there may be some that would be safe to put inside but without the testing it would be a bad idea and wouls not meet any code requirements. I did not mean to imply that all outdoor burners are bad but from what i have seen the majority are not very efficient or clean burning. Honestly i think many indoor furnaces and boilers are designed pretty poorly as well and i would not put most in my house. But again there are some very good indoor ones out there as well.

 

[Karl_northwind]

The HeatmasterSS G series boilers are true gassifiers and listed for indoor installation.

 

[heaterman]

So, the distance to run the pex outdoors would be 650ft from my home to meet the neighbor parcel / requirements for the the township. That run would be costly, and heat loss on top of the amount of work to load the burner just makes it not worth it for me.

I understand that gasifiers are more efficient, but what makes converting the outdoor any more dangerous than a standard wood burner / wood fire place in your home?


Note: Just trying to learn not trying to argue, I am really interested in switching to wood for my fuel source.

Bummer about the set back requirement. A lot of people are running into this type of thing with outdoor units though.

So why not?...........
If the OWB you purchased is from a reputable company it will be UL listed. Undoubtedly this will be for outdoor use. If it is modified in any way or used in a location other than what it is approved for you will be violating the manufacturers recommendations for the install and at the minimum voiding any warranty they publish.
The second factor would be home owners insurance. Installing pretty much anything in a manner contrary or different from the manufacturers recommendation is a sure fire way to get your policy dropped. They may miss it at first or a time or two but eventually an inspector or policy writer will catch it and you won't be able to buy insurance from them.
The third and most important thing to consider is the design of the unit itself. They are most definitely not made to vent into a normal chimney. Venting it in that manner would virtually guarantee a chimney fire at minimum or burning down your house in a worst case scenario. You will wind up with volcanic amounts of smoke in your house every time the door is opened.

I realize it's a tough situation for you having already shelled out the dough for the wood burner. Just don't compound the problem by doing something stupid. DO. NOT. DO. THIS.

 

[Buzz Saw]

So I've been thinking about this for the last day. Total devil's advocate thought here.

What if he put the OWB in a non insulated all metal building? The building could be one of those steel carports with the some sheet metal on the walls to make it a "building." The walls could even be big doors. The smoke stack could be a normal ish height. The stack wouldn't even have to go through the roof. When it's time to load up open the big doors (or leave them open all the time) to get as much smoke out as possible.

So I guess what I'm saying is make it look like the OWB is in a building to satisfy the local zoning laws, but make the building in a manner that the OWB would still be functioning in its intended environment.

I'm not saying this is the answer, or even an answer, but it could maybe possibly be a safe alternative to selling his OWB and using what he has for the time being. I don't know if I would do this but if I was in his situation I would investigate all options.

Let the debate continue [emoji2] [emoji14]