Outdoor woodfired boilers?

[Roger2561]

Hi all, Looking for someone who uses one of those outside woodfired boilers to heat their house. I used to use fuel oil with baseboard heat, but the cost of oil is such that I had to fire up the old wood stove in the main living area. From I understand the woodfired boiler can coupled into the existing baseboard system to heat the house. But, I do not know anything about them or know anyone who uses one. So, if you have used or are using one, please, offer your opinions on them. Presently, I'm using a bit over 5 cord of 20" length wood to heat my house that dates back pre-civil war; I do not know the exact age. Thanks for your time. Roger

 

[waynokakid]

I know where you are coming from, my house is not as old as yours. But it was built around the turn of the century. So it is most difficult to heat. Big wood furnance in the garage is what I use for heat. I have already gone through 4 cords of firewood. And the woodpile is disappearing fast. A lot of my neighbors have the outside wood furnaces. The ones I have talked to about it said they would go with woodfired boilers. Much easier to regulate than the hot air type.

 

[towmotor]

I don't heat with one of those, but I know several people who do.
Like anything else, outdoor wood boilers have their advantages and disadvantages.

Do you have an abundant, free wood supply?
Everyone I know who heats with these has a large supply of free wood to burn.

Do you have neighbors close by?
A common complaint about these boilers is that they're smoky and annoying to neighbors.

I've always noticed that these boilers will heat way more space than the average house.
That may sound great, but realize that the only way that this can be true is that they burn more wood than what would be needed for your house.

If you have a chimney with a thimble in your basement, I would seriously consider one of the cleaner burning wood boilers available for inside the house use, especially if you don't have a free wood supply, you do have close neighbors and your house isn't a huge ark.
They use less wood, they will burn cleaner, they impart ambient residual heat to the basement and you don't have to suit up to go feed the fire.

 

[Roger2561]

Guys, Thanks for the information. I suspected they would use more wood than what I have available. I do not have an abundant supply of free firewood, I have to buy mine and at $280/cord for dry stuff kinda hurts the wallet a bit. I may just stick with what I have and have log length wood delivered to my house where I can buck it up, split it and stack it to dry. My younger bro gets a log truck and an attached trailer full and he said it delievered nearly 14 cord of logs at $1,200.00. Granted he has to buck it up and split and stack it but thats not even a hundred buck a cord. Perhaps this is the lesser of all evils...

 

[JB4310]

Better be careful, aren't they trying to out right ban these things, due to their emissions, and not just the populated states, I thought even some of the more "rural" states were looking at strictly regulating them.

MY BIL has one in up state NY they are awesome but alot of people are throwing what ever they can find in there, including all kinds of garbage.

jb

 

[sxs191]

One thing some people have to consider with those outside burners is that when they get up there in age it might not be so easy to fetch, split and load wood. Since your currently heating with wood it doesn't make much of a difference for you..

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Better be careful, aren't they trying to out right ban these things, due to their emissions, and not just the populated states, I thought even some of the more "rural" states were looking at strictly regulating them.

MY BIL has one in up state NY they are awesome but alot of people are throwing what ever they can find in there, including all kinds of garbage.

jb

I know the township where my parents live are working on limiting the number of units that will be allowed. Some of the ones in town smoke like crazy but I have no clue what they are burning in them. I have read where some of the newer models burn cleaner than the older ones, don't know how true that is however...

 

[JB4310]

I know the township where my parents live are working on limiting the number of units that will be allowed. Some of the ones in town smoke like crazy but I have no clue what they are burning in them. I have read where some of the newer models burn cleaner than the older ones, don't know how true that is however...

Yup, I think the manufacturers are trying to put catalytics in them, just like all the wood stoves, to stave off the EPA, as kind of a compromise.

JB.

 

[Ductape]

Roger, hopefully i won't get in trouble for this, but i'm going to refer you to a couple other forums that are greater sources of info on OWBs. If its a problem naming them, the mods can edit my post and i can PM you the info.

Do some reading on Hearth.com, and ArboristSite.com

Both have alot of info on the wood boilers. My personal advice is..... choose another option. Our state has passed regulations making it very difficult to install an OWB now. Set backs, stack heights, etc. I would consider installing an indoor wood boiler, either as an add on, or a multi-fuel unit. You will still be able to use your baseboard heat, and won't be subject to the foolish OWB regulations. I know people who burn well over ten cord of wood to feed their OWBs...... so if you don't have a large supply of free firewood, you are in trouble. I heat with a woodstove myself, and i can certainly understand why you'd desire the even heat of a central wood heating system.

 

[Kubota 2350]

Government is always trying to ban something, I have an outdoor wood stove and it works great, sure it smokes a little but so do fireplaces in peoples homes.

The nice thing about outdoor wood stoves is that you can heat mutable buildings with one stove.

It also heats my domestic hot water.