Experience with, and opinions of, outdoor wood boilers.

[thoner7]

I’ve been researching HVAC options. I want to have radiant floor heating servicing the basement and 1st floor. I am thinking that an outdoor wood boiler, with a hot water tank as a backup (and providing DHW - http://www.radiantec.com/systems-sources/systems.php), is a viable option.
A friend of mine helped install an outdoor wood boiler and he swears by them. They cost 5 grand plus (a nat gas boiler is 7k plus though) but also advertise burn times of 48hrs in a well-insulated home.
I am also thinking I could add the wood boiler after the fact, and live simply on the H2O tank at first – to spread the costs out while building.

Thoughts?

[rckclmbr428]

I'm looking at the same thing for my permanent home

[rreidnauer]

I don't know if things improved in the last few years, but they were getting a bad reputation of being terribly inefficient.

[donjuedo]

I may well try combining the HAHSA (Mother Earth News, IIRC) with a masonry heater design (http://www.mha-net.org/) to maximize efficiency, and still keep flames outside the home.

In a nutshell, hot smoke zig zags back and forth in masonry (brick or stone), as it does a good masonry heater. But like a HAHSA, sand surrounds all the brick or stone, and coiled in the sand is copper tubing.

[thoner7]

Well a close friend of mine helped a friend of his install a wood boiler, and he seems to be totally sold on the idea. I am going to try and meet with the owner of the unit and pick his brain and see his setup.

He recommended using Central Boiler as the make as they are top quality.

[rckclmbr428]

For me the efficiency isn't the big selling point, it's not having to carry all the wood into the house before burning it. I live in the middle of the largest deciduous forest on earth, if I have to burn an extra cord a year it'll cost me an extra mornings worth of work to cut and split it. My friend has one that heats his house, his pool, and his garage as well as his hot water tank. He has a deal with a local tree company that they can dump wood on his land for free. He just splits it and puts it in

[panderson03]

... He has a deal with a local tree company that they can dump wood on his land for free. He just splits it and puts it in wow ! what a deal!!

[dazedandconfused]

and I have been told you can burn any type od wood green or not however like Ronnie stated, make sure you got the annual wood pile in check, it does take work, can't wait to see how many cords I can use to heat my place with the blaze king.

[rckclmbr428]

I've burned a whole deer carcass, minus the hams in his. It felt very gangster/mob like shoving it in.....

[rckclmbr428]

The smart guys around here put up a cheap carport with the stoves opening inside, then rig up a lights on the carport and stack all the wood inside the carport. Stay dry while loading and mostly out of the weather and the wood is never far from where it's being burned.

[thoner7]

I did some more research and I think what I was calling a wood boiler is actually a Dual-stage wood gasification boilers (http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/air/owb/purchase.htm)

I like the idea of adding a large water storage tank to hold heat but I am not sure if its needed or not.

[gepper]

I just bought a Central Boiler for my "under construction" pole barn and soon to start construction log home. I learned that there are two kinds...old school and new school (with gasification). The EPA is outlawing the old-school type as of April 2015 (Yes, that's why I bought one). Word is the new gasification units are more efficient meaning they burn more completely and give off less emissions. However, they are nearly twice as expensive and are quite finiky on the wood used, creosote buildup, etc. I don't even have it hooked up yet so I can't verify but that's what I was told when doing my research.

[Timberwolf]

Been there, done that, got the sooty t-shirt.

They have their merits, however you can pretty much count on.

The old style ones (had a central boiler) were horribly inefficient. If you need an extra hobby (a smoky smelly one), this could be for you. 24 hour burns are possible, in warmish weather (think around freezing) but not when it's -20c or lower. I used between 20-30 full cords of wood a year to heat a 1500 square foot bungalow (with basement) and DHW for a typical Ontario winter (did not use it in the summer).

Expect clouds of smoke during spring thaws when the boiler goes to standby then fires up for a heat load.
Expect to replace an older style unit in under 10 years when it rots out (the quality of your water will factor in here).
Expect to pay ALOT of money for the new gasifier version (last quote i got was 18K!!)
Expect a lot of maintenance.
Expect alot MORE maintenance for the newer gasifier models
Expect to burn out a couple of expensive pumps
Expect overboil during sudden temperature increases
Good luck finding someone to load the thing daily if you decided to go on a vaction in the winter if you don't want it to freeze (or get a dual fuel system for more $$).
If you have neighbours within 500ft downwind, expect complaints.

I love radiant heat, but there are better ways to get there (and a DHW tank won't likely get you there either).

[eduncan911]

What is a DHW tank?

[rreidnauer]

Domestic Hot Water (potable)

[thoner7]

So how should/would you do it?

Prices I was looking at for a gasified were 8k. Main reason for me wanting to use wood is it would be free and reliable.

[Timberwolf]

Propane (but I live in the sticks) with a good masonry heater (or similar high mass system) as my primary. I would likely only heat the basement with radiant, unless i poured a slab on my first floor or only areas with tile. I plan to be off grid next time, which is the primary reason. So far I'm digging the Geothermal, but i don't put a lot of faith into our grid.

One of the big things with the outdoor boiler is 50% of the time, you are burning wood to heat nothing. Huge overkill for the average LHBA home.

The other option i've looked at, am still interested in is an indoor wood boiler. Everything is within the heating envelope, and with a decent storage having the fire burn hot and clean and go out isn't a big deal.

[thoner7]

Yes, I was also thinking of using storage and havin the boiler indoors.

I should have the space in my basement.

[thoner7]

Also, a bat gas or propane boiler is like 7 grand. I don't want to spend seven grand for a backup heater

[oldtrapper]

Just for fun.

http://www.mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/wildac14i.htm

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/masonry-heaters.html

http://www.microcogen.info/index.php?topic=1555.0

http://www.firespeaking.com/media/articles/details-of-plumbing/

[Timberwolf]

There are indoor specific boilers, and outdoor specific.

Indoor boilers come in pressurized and non-pressurized.

Www.woodheat.org

[Tom Featherstone]

I agree with Timberwolf here on these outside boilers. Know many here that bought into them because of the unit being outside, no mess inside. They actually burn more wood because of their inefficiency. Everything TW has already stated has been true about the maintenance and the problems associated with them.

I never understood from a simple persons point of view how it was a good thing that the heat source is located away from where you want the heat. How much of that heat is just wasted heating the outside?

Firewood is not "Free" unless someone else handles every single piece. The most efficient is Masonry Heaters = less wood. Interior gasifacation boilers would be next. imho

[Little Eagle]

This may be a little of the topic here (and maybe not) but has anyone put in a true fireplace and how do they perform for the main source of heating? All the pictures i see people are using a small wood stove, so i am starting to question my choice of a stone fireplace.

[loghousenut]

Why commit to a fireplace. You can get the same effect by installing a wood stove and leaving a few windows wide open.





My Wife says I'm getting too old to split wood anyway, so don't listen to me.

[rreidnauer]

The reason you don't see them is because they are horribly inefficient. That is, they will draw more heat from the home to feed the flue draft, then they put out in heat. Sure they feel nice being in front of them soaking up radiant energy from the flames, but the rest of the house is getting colder from air leakage coming in from the negative pressure the draft creates.

[loghousenut]

The reason you don't see them is because they are horribly inefficient. That is, they will draw more heat from the home to feed the flue draft, then they put out in heat. Sure they feel nice being in front of them soaking up radiant energy from the flames, but the rest of the house is getting colder from air leakage coming in from the negative pressure the draft creates.

Must you continually reinterpret every essentially correct thing that I say?

[rreidnauer]

Only when you make a post.

[oldtrapper]

A masonry heater is a beautiful fireplace that WILL heat your house.

[eduncan911]

That's exactly right: typical fireplaces sucks the air out of the room, or house, to feed the fire.

But, I am not sure if I'd say all fireplaces are bad. There are direct-vent fireplaces that pipe outside air, aka "combustible air", into the fireplace to feed the fire so it doesn't use the room's air. It is code in some places because it helps to percent back drafts into the house with negative pressure, like a kitchen hood fan activated.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fireplace+combustion+air+intake

http://www.draftinducers.com/images/inforcer_image.jpg

^- an example I was thinking of.

They work on the same principal as direct-vent wood-stove heaters (hearths). The difference I believe is that a wood stove would radiate almost all their heat in the surrounding air, whereas a fireplace radiates heat out in front, but also into the walls.

I'd be willing to place a small bet that with enough river rock, slate, and large logs, the amount of thermal mass in a log home could soak up that heat into the logs and river rock where it would be released long after the fire dies out.

I've been on the fence about thus myself since my green building research where they go over the pros and cons of wood stoves and fireplaces like this. In short, a direct-vent wood stove is almost always more efficient, because you are radiating all heat into the room.

Then, I found out about circulating fireplaces. Think of a wood stove in a wall, with a fan that draws in cool air from the bottom and forces out warm, radiate-heated out the top of the fireplace like a forced-air system does. Something like this:

http://mendotahearth.com/images/TwoFlueCutaway2.gif

[rckclmbr428]

My scout troop has a small 18x24 hand hewn cabin from the 1840's that had a very large stone fireplace built into one end, about a 1/3rd of the end wall is stone. It takes a while to get it heated up but once the fireplace is hot it radiates heat for a looooong time back into the cabin.

[dakota.abe]

Oldtrapper:
As you know, we have a wide variety and plenty of rocks here in the southern Black Hills.
Would they be OK to use to build a masonry fireplace?
You know how to build them – any guess on how long it would take trained person and a novice to build a basic masonry fireplace?
And would you give any cost estimate for a 30 x 30 2 ½story?

[StressMan79]

Dakota, use an igneous rock. Stay away from limestone/sandstone. Use a granite or similar.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Forum Runner

[thoner7]

There are a few kits out there for Masonry heaters and an instructional video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPqDKpmcJUI

both could use local stones

[Little Eagle]

That's exactly right: typical fireplaces sucks the air out of the room, or house, to feed the fire.

But, I am not sure if I'd say all fireplaces are bad. There are direct-vent fireplaces that pipe outside air, aka "combustible air", into the fireplace to feed the fire so it doesn't use the room's air. It is code in some places because it helps to percent back drafts into the house with negative pressure, like a kitchen hood fan activated.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fireplace+combustion+air+intake

http://www.draftinducers.com/images/inforcer_image.jpg

^- an example I was thinking of.

They work on the same principal as direct-vent wood-stove heaters (hearths). The difference I believe is that a wood stove would radiate almost all their heat in the surrounding air, whereas a fireplace radiates heat out in front, but also into the walls.

I'd be willing to place a small bet that with enough river rock, slate, and large logs, the amount of thermal mass in a log home could soak up that heat into the logs and river rock where it would be released long after the fire dies out.

I've been on the fence about thus myself since my green building research where they go over the pros and cons of wood stoves and fireplaces like this. In short, a direct-vent wood stove is almost always more efficient, because you are radiating all heat into the room.

Then, I found out about circulating fireplaces. Think of a wood stove in a wall, with a fan that draws in cool air from the bottom and forces out warm, radiate-heated out the top of the fireplace like a forced-air system does. Something like this:

http://mendotahearth.com/images/TwoFlueCutaway2.gif

Thanks you very much for in the insight duncan, i did find this post about the outside air idea tell me what you think.

http://www.woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

And this one made me think that maybe a fireplace would be worth having as a main source of heating in the winter . . . .just maybe?

http://www.texasfireframe.com/

[Little Eagle]

My scout troop has a small 18x24 hand hewn cabin from the 1840's that had a very large stone fireplace built into one end, about a 1/3rd of the end wall is stone. It takes a while to get it heated up but once the fireplace is hot it radiates heat for a looooong time back into the cabin.

Wow bet is it a beauty too. I would like to look at wood heat for my main heat source in winter but at the same time if i cant really get efficient heat from a fireplace then why not just do a wood burning stove. I like to try and plan ahead at least if i can, and thank you to all who have chimed in on the topic.

[Little Eagle]

This is a site that keeps popping up in a lot of my search's might be good to check out.

http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/cls.html

[oldtrapper]

Oldtrapper:
As you know, we have a wide variety and plenty of rocks here in the southern Black Hills.
Would they be OK to use to build a masonry fireplace?
You know how to build them – any guess on how long it would take trained person and a novice to build a basic masonry fireplace?
And would you give any cost estimate for a 30 x 30 2 ½story?

I think Elpel said he spent about 6 wks. There used to be a blog by a guy named Jared Barnhart up by Mandan, ND who had never touched a masonry project before and built his own from a Marcus Flynn design and IMO, it turned out nice. Go to the masonry heater site and you will see them built from about everything, including stucco and adobe. The core is always fire brick and the outer jacket is there to store heat and make your esthetic presentation. As many stones as there are around here, I am certain there is something workable. Used brick is a real viable option. Take a look at the masonry heater assn. gallery and drool ;-{>8 Cost estimate is pretty tough, as it depends highly on the scrounge factor. :) Let's talk.

[oldtrapper]

I want to make a comment about chimneys. I strongly advise placing as much of the chimney as possible INSIDE of the house and at a place that allows maximum height inside the room. Chimneys built outside the house have real issues with draw because when the fire is started the chimney is very cold and the cold air want to move down the flue which causes the fireplace to smoke. Further, masonry is a POOR insulator and wicks heat directly outside when it is not enclosed in the house envelope. Heated masonry offers radiant heat and close to the center of the house is most ideal on all counts, except perhaps, access to the wood pile. :)

At the Masonry Heater Assn. there is a very real debate about the value of outside air being brought into the firebox. MY intuition is that it is a good thing, but there are some FAR more knowledgeable folks than I who strongly disagree and with evidence, so it might be worth looking in to the issue.

[stamic55]

Then, I found out about circulating fireplaces. Think of a wood stove in a wall, with a fan that draws in cool air from the bottom and forces out warm, radiate-heated out the top of the fireplace like a forced-air system does. Something like this:

http://mendotahearth.com/images/TwoFlueCutaway2.gif

Duncan, I grew up with a circulating fireplace. I don't like it. If you lose power you lose you heat source. Leave the door open for heat and you have the inefficient fireplace. Ours had the chimney on an outside wall so we'd need to stick an electric heater in it before starting to counteract downdraft. A woodstove in a properly sealed house is the way for me.

[Tom Featherstone]

"At the Masonry Heater Assn. there is a very real debate about the value of outside air being brought into the firebox. MY intuition is that it is a good thing, but there are some FAR more knowledgeable folks than I who strongly disagree and with evidence, so it might be worth looking in to the issue."

Oldtrapper, I happen to agree with you. Burning any fuel needs lots of O2. It will get it from wherever it can. It will draw it in from any weak points, i.e. windows, doors, any place where it can seep in bringing in more cold air with it. Our old house in town had an old boiler in it. When we switched to a new unit with "outside" air draw there was an immediate difference in the comfort in the house. No more drafts around any windows or doors. When we put a wood stove in our trailer it also has outside air feed. The 1st fall we didn't have it hooked up right away but after we did we had the same results as in town, no drafts and way more comfortable temp wise on the inside. You can do your own smoke test in an existing building that has inside air for combustion. Go around the windows & doors when the furnace/woodstove is running with a lit cigarette, you'll see how much air is being sucked in. Smoke bombs are way to messy.... but you would get a real good idea where cold air is leaking in. I also agree that your chimney should be located on the inside to facilitate it's draft/draw. A warm chimney draws better, thus why most older homes had it located on the interior, most of the time up through the center of the house.

[eduncan911]

Thanks you very much for in the insight duncan, i did find this post about the outside air idea tell me what you think.

http://www.woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

And this one made me think that maybe a fireplace would be worth having as a main source of heating in the winter . . . .just maybe?

http://www.texasfireframe.com/

I've read that page before. The "myths" they say don't hold up to scientific scrutiny are based on specific remote conditions. I've wondered what angle they are coming from with quotes like this in the header:

"The nation needs to return to the colonial way of life, when a wife was judged by the amount of wood she could split.” W.C.

One example is an outlet pipe not property shielded from cross winds may create a positive pressure on the fireplace and blow air out the inet. Of course it would! That's why they make wind guards (and carefully planning your stove pipe would be ideal as well). You'd have the same problem with a wood stove or any other outside-air fed heating source.

[eduncan911]

Duncan, I grew up with a circulating fireplace. I don't like it. If you lose power you lose you heat source. Leave the door open for heat and you have the inefficient fireplace. Ours had the chimney on an outside wall so we'd need to stick an electric heater in it before starting to counteract downdraft. A woodstove in a properly sealed house is the way for me.

I did too and didn't really like it as the main source of heat for the house - especially for how large our log homes are (Ronnie's small cabin example is a perfect example of big fireplace in small home = great). We had central heat for that on a great power grid. There are electric versions, and also their are "feed from the bottom" air vents (which is important to size property and keep the pipe in house as mentioned above).

How did you like it when you did have power?

Most insurance companies won't insure you unless you have a primary heating source anyways (not a fireplace). I'll be installing radiant heat in basement and in bathrooms to get the OK for my area of build. A large fireplace is just a nice to have to seal the deal.

Yes, ideally it is placed in the center of the home. I've been slowly planning a LHBA home with one in the middle, but it would require deviating from the blueprints I already have - which I'm not privy for at this time since I'll have radiant heat as the primary at this time. And to have a stove pipe all the way to the roof through 3.5 stories is HUGE (and might be cool)! I've seen one home that wrapped stairs around the center fireplace. That was a lot of $$$.

It should be noted I plan on building a few of these homes... All opinions above are subject to change for my final and "will retire in" home. :)

[Little Eagle]

I've read that page before. The "myths" they say don't hold up to scientific scrutiny are based on specific remote conditions. I've wondered what angle they are coming from with quotes like this in the header:

"The nation needs to return to the colonial way of life, when a wife was judged by the amount of wood she could split.” W.C.

One example is an outlet pipe not property shielded from cross winds may create a positive pressure on the fireplace and blow air out the inet. Of course it would! That's why they make wind guards (and carefully planning your stove pipe would be ideal as well). You'd have the same problem with a wood stove or any other outside-air fed heating source.

I actually didn't see the part about woman splinting wood.

[Little Eagle]

I am starting to think that i may go with a wood broiler and a wood heater (maybe a blaze king?) as a back up/pretty thing.

[loghousenut]

My Wife wouldn'ta been much in demand in Colonial times. She can't even get the splitter started half the time.


She is a pretty good Boss though.

[Tom Featherstone]

My Wife wouldn'ta been much in demand in Colonial times. She can't even get the splitter started half the time.


She is a pretty good Boss though.

She can't get the "splitter'er" started most of the time......

[loghousenut]

She can't get the "splitter'er" started most of the time......

Maybe I wouldn'ta been much in demand in Colonial times either.

[logguy]

Slightly off topic, in keeping with my passion for cheap azz tools because a. I'm a cheap skate, and b. Because I regularly lose tools before I ever get to use them, I purchased a "lil house" outdoor wood heater for my 2100 sq ft home. $1,600 bucks. This thing was easy to install and will easily heat a home this size. It sucks from wherever you run the 8" flex duct, as opposed to forcing/blowing heat into the house. The blower is a common item and costs about $100 if you ever have to replace it. You won't, but if you ever had a problem with a far room not sucking enough air to pull the heat to it, you can install a $25 inline duct blower/sucker fan. This baby paid for itself in. One winter. Went from $500 per month to $100 electricity bill. Holy crap! Only issue was that I burned about 3 times the wood I thought I'd need and was cutting wood all winter to stay warm.

[Axeman15]

For me the efficiency isn't the big selling point, it's not having to carry all the wood into the house before burning it. I live in the middle of the largest deciduous forest on earth, if I have to burn an extra cord a year it'll cost me an extra mornings worth of work to cut and split it. My friend has one that heats his house, his pool, and his garage as well as his hot water tank. He has a deal with a local tree company that they can dump wood on his land for free. He just splits it and puts it in

I am looking at the same type of system...several builders who all claim super efficiency and big burn barrels. Burns 99% efficient! or so the story goes. I have a friend who will deliver logs to my property. The barrel will hold over two foot logs and to stuff 3 or 4 in it should work well. I will heat my home, my shop and I have thought of running a station partially down my driveway, close to my garage entrance. I will weigh that line out. in the home, registers monitor the heat which I continually hear is different from convective heating systems. All this and I am still gathering as much info as I can to do the best job conceivable...one time.
I will continue to monitor conversations, attend classes and attain as much information as possible.

[keith]

I have an out door wood furnace and there is some things that arnt that good , they burn more wood than an indoor one and and the size of the wood makes it not very good for woman the cheap ones do smoke more than is really necessary, but saying that I love mine, all the wood is outside (no mess) they are big pieces so just throw in a few pieces and good for the day the extra wood is a bit more but you don't have to split and pile it saving a lot of time I use it to heat my hot water tank and my hot tub and I put in about 4 pieces a day ( over 30 inches long) but that is alot of wood but I live in Canada trees all around and snow coming down

[allen84]

I helped a guy I used to work for (also a good friend) build and operate a waste oil heater that also burned wood, to heat our shop. Waste oil is easy to come by, you just need storage and a way to transfer from containers. Mixed gas can be a concern. Our setup would get hot enough to melt the stove. I'll see if I can find a pic. A more efficient version of what we had would be "cool"... far away from the house.

I also assembled a manufactured waste oil heater for another employer. It was a complicated mess to put together. Needed fine tuning sometimes but was awesome when it was running right. I'll try to remember who made it.

I'd guess the manufactured heater was less efficient (more costly) than what we made due to the electrical cost. The one we made from scrap was gravity fed and no electricity other than a blower.

[Opie21]

I helped a guy I used to work for (also a good friend) build and operate a waste oil heater that also burned wood, to heat our shop. Waste oil is easy to come by, you just need storage and a way to transfer from containers. Mixed gas can be a concern. Our setup would get hot enough to melt the stove. I'll see if I can find a pic. A more efficient version of what we had would be "cool"... far away from the house.

I also assembled a manufactured waste oil heater for another employer. It was a complicated mess to put together. Needed fine tuning sometimes but was awesome when it was running right. I'll try to remember who made it.

I'd guess the manufactured heater was less efficient (more costly) than what we made due to the electrical cost. The one we made from scrap was gravity fed and no electricity other than a blower.
I would love to see what you had for waste oil heaters. I've been stockpiling oil and looking at options. Thanks.

Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk

[allen84]

Not the best pictures but you get the idea.... There was a 55 gallon drum of fuel off to the right that laid on it's side elevated off the ground. It had black iron pipe, with a valve to control the flow (maybe 2 valves), running very slightly downhill to the heater. The heater was an old sandblast pot with the bottom cut off to connect the stack going thru the roof. The blast pot sat inside an old steel job box. Inside the door of the pot, in the middle was an elevated shallow tray (smaller than a sheet of paper, maybe an inch or so deep). The black iron pipe fed fluid to the tray. To get it started we usually filled the tray with about a quart of paint thinner and threw in a lit rag before opening the valve for oil, atf and/or diesel to flow in. The shop had no insulation and no matter how cold it was, we could get it up to temps that you would sweat in t-shirt and shorts. Probably not the safest setup but it sure did work! I wish I could find the picture of the outside of the building. There would be a flame coming out the very top of the pipe outside when it really got going, about 20 feet or so above the heater. You can see the wrinkles on the side where it got so hot it slumped down a little. Once it got burning there was a big fan behind it that would get turned on.

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj546/wherethere42/Mobile%20Uploads/all%20073.jpg (http://s1267.photobucket.com/user/wherethere42/media/Mobile%20Uploads/all%20073.jpg.html)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj546/wherethere42/Mobile%20Uploads/all%20079.jpg (http://s1267.photobucket.com/user/wherethere42/media/Mobile%20Uploads/all%20079.jpg.html)

[allen84]

I can't remember which model but it was one of these that I assembled at the sign shop. http://www.energylogic.com/waste-oil-heaters/
LOT'S of assembly required, had to be dialed in just right or it would burn out, required regular cleaning/maintenance and seems like it wasn't nearly as efficient as claimed (burned a lot of oil, also may have been undersized for our situation).

I watched the video on their website, I think that may be the auto shop down the street from the shop I worked at. I don't believe for a second they had that thing up and running in "about half a day" or they're working some long days.

[allen84]

Cleaning out the homemade thing didn't need to happen often and the buildup didn't hurt the performance. Cleanup was simple but dirty. Used a needle scaler to loosen all the sludge and then shovel it out. I think I may be confused about feeding the thing wood too because we had a massive homemade wood stove in that corner before the oil burner.
Cleaning out the manufactured rig meant having to get everything dialed back in after. It was messy to clean and had to happen often or it flat out wouldn't run.

[smithme2]

I have an indoor 1980 era HS Tarm boiler that is in an adjacent building (no mess in cabin). It heats 1800 ft in cabin via underfloor radiant in first floor and radiator in second. Also heats adjacent 1100 ft house where it is located plus DHW. It is plumbed in series with propane boiler. I have 500 gallon hot water storage(old propane tank). I was going to put in wood stove but chose instead a harman propane stove and am so glad i did. Just a little while and it's too hot so we turn it off. Tough to do that with wood. I prefer the old style stoves. My Tarm is very easy on wood, burns through the night and cost me $300. I can't tell it's running except when first started or loaded- normally don't see smoke.

[smithme2]

Also, with the Tarm below grade, i could heat cabin even if no power since i have steady upward slope. Thermosiphon. Luckily I haven't lost power very long. It also serves as a big overheat loop.

[loghousenut]

I love that setup. The Boss says I am getting too old for firewood and She is adamant about no wood stove in the log home (dust). Maybe in a few years She will reconsider if I bring home a used remote heater like yours.

[rreidnauer]

I'll admit, if I could install a wood boiler that requires no power (or generates it's own i.e. Peltier modules) and can effectively heat my home, without massive energy loss/wood consumption, I think I'd take that over dragging wood into the house, and all the dirt and dust it brings from that and ash cleanouts.

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[thoner7]

I love the idea, obviously, I started this thread. I'd be curious to know how much propane people go through in a world ter, and what size cabin you have and where your cabin is located. Then we would know if it's "worth it"

[Plumb Level]

We have them all over south central Missouri. They have really grown in use over the past 12 - 15 years....people talk, people compare, and people keep buying them! So they must be working out.

As pointed out, many people I know don't split the wood and burn it very green. Flue fires are not a concern, and people usually just burn a really hot flaming fire once a month or so.....tap the flue to loosen any and it is cleaned and burned out.

They can also be fit or tied into an existing hot water system or furnace.

If I were building a new house to live in, I'd do radiant heat and hot water off of one of these furnaces. But for the cabin I'm building, I'm going with a Blaze King wood stove and a small electric hot water heater.

[thoner7]

That's exactly what I'm doing Plumb. Doing slab heat in the basement and want to do staple up or some kind of radiant heat on the first floor. I'm not sure I'll even need heat for the second floor.

We are installing a wood stove I got for free (the stove pipe, not so free) because you NEED a stove or fireplace in a log cabin!!! I'm not sure how much I'll use that stove for heat as much as ambiance.

I'm worried tho about my propane bill. I don't want to have it be hundreds per month, and I don't want to install the tubing if I use the wood stove 24/7. I have plenty of hardwoods on my.property to heat for many lifetimes. The wood boiler sounds like a great idea. But more and more $$$$$