Woodgun E140?

[Matt9904]

I'm considering a woodgun E140 to heat a 5000 sq ft shop (infloor) and help to heat a 4000 sq ft home (infloor and air handlers). The shop only needs to be close to 60 degrees (well insulated) and the house just needs some extra help (the GEO system doesn't keep up when it's below zero (Iowa).

Is a woodgun built pretty well?

 

[NateB]

I'm considering a woodgun E140 to heat a 5000 sq ft shop (infloor) and help to heat a 4000 sq ft home (infloor and air handlers). The shop only needs to be close to 60 degrees (well insulated) and the house just needs some extra help (the GEO system doesn't keep up when it's below zero (Iowa).

Is a woodgun built pretty well?

I am not an expert, but my guess is the 140 maybe a bit to small for that size demand. Also think about getting storage. I have and eko 40 which is about the same size, and I have under 3000sq ft.

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[Fred61]

I'm considering a woodgun E140 to heat a 5000 sq ft shop (infloor) and help to heat a 4000 sq ft home (infloor and air handlers). The shop only needs to be close to 60 degrees (well insulated) and the house just needs some extra help (the GEO system doesn't keep up when it's below zero (Iowa).

Is a woodgun built pretty well?

I would look elsewhere. Like many products that came early to the party, technology has passed them by. Although appearing to be built like a tank, it is too much hardware to accomplish the desired result which is heating your space. The Euro boilers tend to accomplish the same result with less hardware and more up to date technology. There have been some recent improvements but they are hobbled by an old design that doesn't allow the amenities that the newer designs enjoy. Any new design to bring the unit into the 21st century would be so drastic that it would not look anything like the present unit.

I heated a 3000 sq, ft well insulated house with mine and it just barely kept up on 10 below nights. The 140 seems a little small to me.

Most Wood Gun owners that have posted here like them but in most cases it's the only gasification unit they have ever operated.

 

[maple1]

Only heresay from me - but here is some.

To the question, yes I think they are well built - if that means a rugged unit. Refractories will need attention from time to time, they can take quite a beating from the big forced draft effect. Not sure how long you could expect between replacements, but that is a lot of space to heat so it will need to be running pretty well wide open all winter. I have a friend who has one, not sure if it's a 100 or 140. He still likes it after somewhere between 5 & 10 years with it, but he's only heating a typical bugalow. Pretty low heat demand, relatively speaking. And he has had to replace refractories, maybe a couple of times.

Hopefully you get more feedback from WG owners, but they seem to make infrequent stops these years for some reason. Maybe Fred scared them away - lol.

 

[Fred61]

Hopefully you get more feedback from WG owners, but they seem to make infrequent stops these years for some reason. Maybe Fred scared them away - lol.

Can't blame them for being P O at me. They felt they had made the right decision and plunked down a pile of cash only to have me poo poo their decision. It's like telling them their daughter is ugly. The problem is that I get this sinking feeling when an unsuspecting newbee is steered toward a boiler that was a nightmare to me and it concerns me that they may experience what I lived with.

 

[Matt9904]

Can't blame them for being P O at me. They felt they had made the right decision and plunked down a pile of cash only to have me poo poo their decision. It's like telling them their daughter is ugly. The problem is that I get this sinking feeling when an unsuspecting newbee is steered toward a boiler that was a nightmare to me and it concerns me that they may experience what I lived with.

I would look elsewhere. Like many products that came early to the party, technology has passed them by. Although appearing to be built like a tank, it is too much hardware to accomplish the desired result which is heating your space. The Euro boilers tend to accomplish the same result with less hardware and more up to date technology. There have been some recent improvements but they are hobbled by an old design that doesn't allow the amenities that the newer designs enjoy. Any new design to bring the unit into the 21st century would be so drastic that it would not look anything like the present unit.

I heated a 3000 sq, ft well insulated house with mine and it just barely kept up on 10 below nights. The 140 seems a little small to me.

Most Wood Gun owners that have posted here like them but in most cases it's the only gasification unit they have ever operated.

Fred, what size did you have that barely kept up with the 10 below?

 

[Matt9904]

Only heresay from me - but here is some.

To the question, yes I think they are well built - if that means a rugged unit. Refractories will need attention from time to time, they can take quite a beating from the big forced draft effect. Not sure how long you could expect between replacements, but that is a lot of space to heat so it will need to be running pretty well wide open all winter. I have a friend who has one, not sure if it's a 100 or 140. He still likes it after somewhere between 5 & 10 years with it, but he's only heating a typical bugalow. Pretty low heat demand, relatively speaking. And he has had to replace refractories, maybe a couple of times.

Hopefully you get more feedback from WG owners, but they seem to make infrequent stops these years for some reason. Maybe Fred scared them away - lol.

I see that your UB 40 has 660 gallons of storage. is stage a requirement with most gasifiers?

 

[maple1]

It is a strict requirement for some. Others can 'get by' without it. All would benefit from it.

 

[Fred61]

Fred, what size did you have that barely kept up with the 10 below?

I had the 140.

 

[muncybob]

I have the 100 heating apprx 2000 sf of a house that is half well insulated the other half not so much. We don't get many nights that cold but of the few that we have had we have not had a problem. With that said, unless you are running storage it requires a lot of attention. My wife works 3rd shift so feeding the unit in the day once is not a problem. On a really cold day we throw wood in it up to 4 times...storage would take care of some of those trips.

My biggest beef with it is if it short cycles(within 10 minutes of last fire) it can backfire resulting in some smoke smell. This normally happens when the cycle timer kicks it on again too soon. We don't use the cycle timer in really cold weather(not needed)...again, something storage should take care of. I have no experience with the 140 and don't know what(if any) updates have been made in the last few years. I replace the nozzle e/o year(not a big job) and still using the original large refractory in the firebox.

I don't doubt that there are probably better options out there that utilize storage possibly more efficiently. We were very limited in the boilers to choose from due to size of bulkhead into our basement and no room for storage. Overall I'm not regretting it..only going through 4 cords a year for heat/hot water has saved us $$ for sure.

 

[Gasifier]

If you decide to buy a Wood Gun, or any Wood Burning boiler for that matter, I would strongly encourage you to have a well insulated water storage tank(s) with it.

I have a S.S, E100 with 400 gallons of storage. I am enjoying the savings this wood burning system is delivering while heating my large house. I wish I had two or three times the storage.


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[krinkov]

I am heating 4200 sq.ft. with a Woodgun 140 in a commercial building with 12ft walls.0 outside i can keep the building at 73 degrees and there is no storage.very happy with this unit.i would recommend the Woodgun boilers to anybody. i bought the Woodgun in2015.

 

[NateB]

Cool, or should I say hot. What kind of radiators do you use?

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[krinkov]

I use base board hot water.the name sun temp and overhead radiators with fans.it work very well.i found the overhead radiators on craigslist.i buy them when i see them.it is nice to have parts around.

 

[samrona]

I'm considering a woodgun E140 to heat a 5000 sq ft shop (infloor) and help to heat a 4000 sq ft home (infloor and air handlers). The shop only needs to be close to 60 degrees (well insulated) and the house just needs some extra help (the GEO system doesn't keep up when it's below zero (Iowa).

Is a woodgun built pretty well?

I would go with an E180 and 500 gal. storage , you will have more fire box room, about 4 cubic feet more, and the 500 gal. storage will give you a longer and hotter burn time, and you can heat shop and house, and you wont have to look at it for at least 12 hours in below zero weather

 

[maple1]

If I was going with a boiler that big (my firebox is only 3 cu.ft. to start with), and storage - I think I would go bigger than 500 gallons. Not less than 1000, likely.