wood boiler for newly constructed cabin

[paddler]

Hey folks, i havent posted on this site in a lot of years. thanks for any help!

i am just finishing up building my new home. i have been heating my old home very adequately with a wood stove but i am looking into having a wood boiler in my new home. its a 720 sq ft, solid log built on an insulated slab. i installed radiant heat tubing in the slab as one zone.

I was planning on getting an outdoor wood boiler such as a Central Boiler or a Heater Master but just yesterday, a buddy of mine asked if i wanted a Furnace Works SFB-3. He'll give it to me if i want it. Its old school! it sat in a barn for the past 20+ years and has never been filled up or fired. It looks brand new. He also has an water-air heat exchanger for a forced air heater, and the electronic controls that go with it. ive done a bit of research on it, the only info i could find was on this site actually.

So, i have a handful of questions about this. Would it be a useful heater in my situation? Could i install it in a shed thats about 20 ft from the back of my house? could i install it in my house? what are the draw backs (other than ineffeciency- I assume) to a system thats so low tech?

If its not practical in my home, would it be a good option for my work shop? I currently use a wood stove but its not ideal because it takes so long to heat the slab and all the mass inside. Could i use this boiler and the forced air heater in the shop instead of the house? If i used antifreeze, could i shut it down for extended periods of time between using it for several days at a time?

I hope thats not too many questions, i appreciate any help i can get. thanks.

 

[brenndatomu]

(broken link removed to https://www.heatmasterss.com/g-series-outdoor-wood-furnace/)

 

[E Yoder]

If you go the outdoor gasification boiler route the Heatmaster GS100 has a lot of bang for the buck.
But I've never heard of the Furnace Works model you mentioned. I guess it might depend on how much time you have to figure it out.

 

[NateB]

"If its not practical in my home, would it be a good option for my work shop? I currently use a wood stove but its not ideal because it takes so long to heat the slab and all the mass inside. Could i use this boiler and the forced air heater in the shop instead of the house? If i used antifreeze, could i shut it down for extended periods of time between using it for several days at a time? "

If it takes a long time for a wood stove to heat your shop. Adding more mass in the form of a boiler and antifreeze, will only make that time longer.

If you really want to use the free boiler, spend the money you save on a storage system. That will help with efficiency, which will reduce wood consumption, and save you work cutting firewood. Also start cutting or collecting firewood now, so you have nice dry firewood when the boiler is hooked up.