Outdoor Wood Boilers/Hydronic Heating

[larry4406]

For those of you that actually have and use one, what have been your pro's and con's and what brand do you have? Do they use a lot of wood? My wife and I are considering purchasing and installing one to heat our house and detached garage in Northern VA rather than use our propane furnances. Interior wood stove not an option. I am sure some will chime in about the smoke from smoldering flames, banning in certain locals, etc. Lets try to keep this objective from actual first hand experience.

 

[adamm]

Hello Larry,

I don't have an outdoor wood boiler, but I am looking into one and some of my family members have them. I frequent a forum where there are quite a few people who are knowledgeable about wood boilers: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/21

Their leanings tend to be towards gasifying wood boilers that are more efficient than your typical outdoor boiler, and smoke much less when used correctly.

Adam

 

[Junkman]

First hand experiance... A neighbor bought one, and after one year, had to sell it, because everyone in the neighborhood was complaining about the smoke. More than once the fire department was called out because the smoke resembled a house on fire, and people that were not familiar with it being there would call and report the smoke. Once the fire department gets a call about smoke, they have to respond, even if they know that there is a wood stove that is causing the smoke. The only people that I know that still have them in use, are those that use only seasoned hardwood, and never choke the flame down which results in excessive smoke. They are not particularly energy efficient, since they require a lot of wood to keep them burning properly.

 

[adamm]

They are not particularly energy efficient, since they require a lot of wood to keep them burning properly.

Which is the advantage of the gasifier style boilers as opposed to the old style smoke dragons. With most of the gasifier boilers used with dry wood, there is only a bit of smoke at start up, and no visible smoke during the burn.

Adam

 

[kbs2244]

Still the nearness of neighbors is a possible problem.
Until the 1950's people were used to the smell of wood or coal smoke.
Since the common switch to NG or propane that isn’t true anymore and some one will panic.
If you are in an area where wood burning is common, go for it.
Otherwise, think about it.

 

[farmerjohn]

I have a Hardy wood boiler and we love it, we live in the country on a farm and wood is plentiful. We plan on building a new 30x50 shop by the end of the year and will be heating the floor in the shop with pex piping. This hardy paid for itself in 4 years time by not buying propane.

 

[200horse]

how much wood does it use in a day?

 

[rickairmedic]

I have a customer that has one and he loves it . He has it piped into a radiator in the return air duct of his AC and Gas furnace . I set up a relay system that runs the blower motor whenever the boiler is running and a call for heat is made in the house . I will add though that he has a custom cabinet company and he burns his scraps in it so he isnt spending money on wood to keep it burning all he is burning is wood he would have otherwise thrown away.

Rick

 

[200horse]

I have a customer that has one and he loves it . He has it piped into a radiator in the return air duct of his AC and Gas furnace . I set up a relay system that runs the blower motor whenever the boiler is running and a call for heat is made in the house . I will add though that he has a custom cabinet company and he burns his scraps in it so he isnt spending money on wood to keep it burning all he is burning is wood he would have otherwise thrown away.

Rick

goes the guy live in henryville??

 

[rickairmedic]

200Horse I think his actual zipcode puts him in Shelbyville .


Rick

 

[rufcar]

Be carfull with those boilers as we just banned them in 4 communities here in Central PA. We didnt actually BAN them but the new code reads " All boilers must be at least 200 ft from the nearest dwelling and the the exhaust pipes must be 3' taller than the tallest building within 200ft! They must have scrubbers installed in the stacks" These are but a few of the specifics in the 5 page ordinance! Like some above said the neighbors cannnot open there windows due to excess smoke.
I use forced hot air propane and keep it set at 55 all winter and only turn it up more when I am working in there. Easy to install not expensive to buy and operate! Good luck Jim F

 

[larry4406]

I have propane heat for the house and the garage. Was looking to try to reduce the awful propane bill by using wood heat, especially for the house, not so much the garage.

I am thinking about a gasifier type unit, inside the house in my storage room, adding a metal pre-fab chimney to the house for the flue, etc. Shall see how it goes. I need to check into the local ordinances.

 

[rufcar]

Re: What about COAL!!!

I have a large old (1901)17 room 3.5 bath Colonial Revivial home with steam heat. About 25 yrs ago I installed a 600,000BTU Coal stoker. Coal is now $180 a ton delivered and I burn 20 tons and it also makes my domestic hot water. Thats $3,600 a yr it takes about 180 gal of oil to equal 1 ton of anthracite coal so 20 tons X 180 gal is 3600 gal X $3.25 (todays price) Thats $11,700! less the $3,600 coal bill i save over $8,100 a yr! Thats about a 1 yr pay back! You can do the same math for your garage. I used to use a "Heatrola"in my garage and the place was toasty but only held the heat about 12 hrs before needing coal.
Harmon stoves makes a coal stove/stoker that works the same as a wood burner and pellet stove except it has an automatic coal feeder. Jim F

 

[farmerjohn]

Anything a guy can do to save money on heating a large home now a days you have to do it. My hardy burns a heaping truck load in 15 days if its really cold and windy, i added more ceiling insulation with my tax rebate so wood might last a little longer this year. cutting wood here on my farm and heating with it just makes more economical sense to me instead of donating to big oil

 

[Fireman39]

If your going to use a wood boiler,look at ones with the an epa rating.You can google "epa wood boiler" and find out which has the least amount of smoke.I'll be buying one in the next six months.

 

[mrhaney]

i have a coalman outdoor coal stoker boiler 400,000 btu that burns bit soft coal and i get no smoke at full burn and just a little bit of white smoke at idle,i load my stove 2 times per week, i live in a nice subdivision and i put my boiler 275 feet away from the house and 100 ft from shop in a shed i heat 3000 sq ft house,2000 sq ft shop,and all domestic hot water ,nobody would know,that im even burning anything unless i told them, burning 13,900 btu east ky stoker coal ( black gold )about 10 tons per year at 100.00 per ton and we stay warm 73 degrees and run around barefoot and underware,life dont get no better,ky has more coal and the best coal in the nation

mrhaney