# Outdoor wood boiler questions



## hawkeyeridgeoutfitters

I am heating a 4800 sq.ft log home. Also a 900 sq. ft. garage with a Munchkin boiler(propane). I have more than enough wood on my property to supply a exterior wood (boiler)furnace for 20 years or so. Does anyone have some do's or dont's? What brand to buy or stay away from? Set the boiler close or far from the house? Or anything else I may not think of before purchasing. Covered or uncovered? Log Size? Seasoned wood or green? Any help would be greatly appreciated . Thanks Mike Hawkeye Ridge Outfitters.


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## icecathound

my brother did a little research a couple of years ago and found the heatmore to be the best ( thats just his opinion. i usually trust his opinion) you can research them yourself and see wich one offers the features you like. none of them have the burn time they claim most people ive talked to say you need to load them in the morning and again at night which still isnt bad. as far as how far to set from your house i think most insurance companies require at least 100 feet it would be best to check wit yours.as for wood seasoned hardwood is always best. hope this little bit of info is a start.


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## barry county jim

My mom and dad are Heatmore dealers. Let me know if you want to talk to them.


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## Chromedoggy

I have a Central Boiler and love it. Less distance in underground piping, the less heat loss. Spend the extra money to get the most insulated and water sealed underground piping you can get. Make the pump connections as easy as possible for pump replacement. Stock a spare pump and basic parts, they always go in the coldest, nasty weather.


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## Rooster Cogburn

Like Chromedoggy, I have a Central Boiler. Its my second year with the system. I bought a Central Boiler because the dealer is nearby and parts are readily available. They, too have a good reputation. As Chromedoggy noted, well insulated underground piping is important. Central boiler sells insulated piping...looks like a 4 inch black plastic culvert and containes 2-3/4 inch plastic line (delivery & return) encased in foam insulation. It cost me $10.50 a foot, likely more now. Mine is buried 2 feet below ground and that's deep enough.

For power outages my system is rigged to operate both the blower and the water circulating pump. Just have a small generator...1725 Watt and it works just fine. Run Direct TV on it at the same time during outages.

I use about the same amount of wood as my old Ashley wood heater used prior to putting in the outdoor boiler.

I have the smallest Central Boiler made...in weather over 20 degrees its real easy on the woodpile. Not too bad at zero, but you will need to fill once about every 12 hours.


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## Backwoods-Savage

hawkeyeridgeoutfitters said:


> I am heating a 4800 sq.ft log home. Also a 900 sq. ft. garage with a Munchkin boiler(propane). I have more than enough wood on my property to supply a exterior wood (boiler)furnace for 20 years or so. Does anyone have some do's or dont's? What brand to buy or stay away from? Set the boiler close or far from the house? Or anything else I may not think of before purchasing. Covered or uncovered? Log Size? Seasoned wood or green? Any help would be greatly appreciated . Thanks Mike Hawkeye Ridge Outfitters.


Good info from others. I might add is concerning your last question on seasoned or green. They say you can burn green wood in them and they are right. I can light a fire out in the woods using green wood and can get that fire pretty darned hot. When I worked in a sawmill, we used to burn the slab wood and it was all green...including cottonwood which makes a hot fire once it is going (but difficult to light).

If you burn green wood, most of the energy in the stove is used in evaporating the moisture from the wood...and it just goes up the stack while you get very little heat from it. If you season your wood, that means cutting, splitting and stacking the wood for at least a summer, but better for a year or two, you will get much more heat from a lot less wood. Why give yourself extra work? Burn green wood, put more wood into the stove and more often. You'll get the longest and hottest burn from seasoned wood.

Seasoned wood:

1. Cut to length. and split. (You may not want to split if cutting in 4' log length. If so, give it an extra year at least to season properly.)

2. Stack the wood. Preferably in the open where air can go through the pile. Preferably where the sun hits the wood pile most of the day or at least during the heat of the day. 

2a. Leave the wood pile uncovered during the summer. This will allow for evaporation. Those who cover the wood pile as soon as it is stacked will lose this evaporation and it will take longer to properly season.

2b. Cover the wood pile as soon as the fall rains hit.

3. Sit back and admire that wood pile as it represents your own work and will keep your butt warm next winter.

4. Enjoy.


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## Rooster Cogburn

Backwoods-savage, you're obviously an experienced wood burner! This is the first year I have used all seasoned wood and there is a measureable difference.

Regarding splitting wood...even with my small Central Boiler I can use stuff up to about 18 inches in diameter without needing to split it. They do advertise using wood in lengths of 36 inches or much more in the larger outdoor boilers. Although, I opted to go with 16 to 18 inch length firewood so I can easily pack more wood in the firebox.

Anyone thinking about using antifreeze instead of water in their boiler...technically, automotive antifreeze is not as good a heat conductor in boilers as boiler antifreeze. And the good stuf costs over $7.00 a gallon. 

If you're going to be away from home for a few days you'll need someone to keep the boiler fired up, use antifreeze, or go with the propane add on as a back-up. Last time I checked the propane back-up unit cost about $1,500.


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## hawkeyeridgeoutfitters

Thanks to all! i did find a website called"how to buy a woodburner" Same info as you guys have. Any more suggestions would be great. How about rust any one have a leantoo covering their stove?


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## Rooster Cogburn

Can't imagine why you would want a structure covering an outdoor woodboiler. It's just not necessary. Just ask the technical support guy's where ever you end up buying your unit from. I'm confident they'll tell you the same thing.

I did build a wood storage woodshed beside my woodboiler using treated 4X4's and covered with metal roofing. Walls are fairly open allowing for plenty of air circulating so wood continues to season.


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## 22 Chuck

18" diameter and 36" long-must be a big dude to handle big logs.


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## BFTrout

we own a 7 yr old central boiler. other than water changes and one pump it's pretty easy. we have the 2nd smallest model. it heats a 2400sq/ft house and 1200sq/ft barn. 
don't worry about a structure over the thing. i'd build a crib for the wood before the burner. if you build a crib, figure out what you burn in an average year and build a crib that can hold two years of wood. just alternate the sides that you burn from, giving the other side a year to dry out. 
i don't split my wood. . .unless it's too big to fit through the door, or I can't lift it. .. . nice feature of these stoves. 
i strongly advise avoiding hardy stoves. F.I.L. has had nothing but problems, and the door is way too small. 
the way things are going, wood is about the cheapest way to heat.


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## Tracker83

There was a good discussion here about a year ago:
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170936


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## Tracker83

Below is a reply I posted on another forum when the topic of OWBs arose:


Tracker83 said:


> Complicated? Not at all. In fact, I was surprised at how simple of a system it is. The stove heats the water; the circulator pump distributes the hot water to the house; and heat exchangers in the house extract the heat from the water. Installation was a breeze. You'll have more work into burying the pipes than anything else.
> 
> The brand is Pacific Western made by Innotech Developments. Here is their homepage: http://www.outdoorfurnaces.com
> I did not do any comparison shopping when I bought. A family member was a dealer at the time, so I went with him. I have the model 2 which is much bigger than what I need, but the advantage is that I can go every other day between fill-ups (this time of year), and once-a-day fill-ups when it gets colder (highs in the low 20's).
> 
> I am heating my house (1800 sq. ft), an attached 900 sq. ft. garage, and our domestic hot water. However, I have a family member with the exact same stove and he is heating a 2000 sq. ft. house, his domestic hot water, his driveway (only when he needs to melt snow/ice), and a 60x40 pole barn. He has to fill his once a day now and twice a day when it gets colder.
> 
> Other things to think about:
> 
> 1. You really need to do financial analysis on how much you will be saving by buying an OWB. Factor in how much it would cost you to heat with conventional sources. In my opinion you need to save $2,000 a year for it to make sense. The initial investment is high, and it just doesn't make sense otherwise. Also determine how long you will be living at the house. You will want to stay there long enough to payback the investment plus enjoy a few years of "free heat".
> 
> 2. Wood. Lots of wood. I burned 12 cords last winter. That's a lot of cutting, splitting, transporting, and stacking. You need to be healthy enough to process that much wood every year. You also need good equipment. A good saw (or 2), a good splitter, and something to transport the wood to the house. If you do not have the equipment now you will have to factor their purchase into the financial analysis.
> 
> 3. Smoke. If you research on the web you will find both sides of this story. You will hear from one side that they never smoke, and the other side will say that they are nasty smoke-beltching hogs. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Obviously they don't smoke when the blower is off (or the damper is closed in the case of a Central Boiler) which is 90% of the time. However, mine does smoke pretty good for the first few cycles after a fill-up. After that the wood in stove is good and dried out, and a good layer of coals has formed. At that point you will see almost no smoke when it runs. If you have close neighbors you need to consider that because at times it will smoke.
> 
> For me it made sense. I have access to free wood. I plan on staying at the house for 10+ years. I already owned all the wood processing equipment. I estimated that I would save $2500 over heating with LP (which was my only other option). And I am in a rural setting with no neighbors close by. But when asked I am very honest that they are not for everyone.


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## mortan

While burning a wood stove indoors can mean many problems, there is an alternative... The Classic outdoor wood furnace from Central Boiler. Also known as an outdoor wood boiler, this Outdoor Wood-fired Hydronic Heater eliminates the problems associated with indoor burning and allows you to get even more benefits from wood heat. This outdoor wood furnace can actually improve the indoor environment in your home or business, while eliminating the time-consuming chore of tending a traditional wood stove.


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## boogemaster

I have one also (Central Boiler) and absolutely love it. I enjoy cutting and splitting wood and still fairly young to do it. Plus my boys will be old enough in a few years to start helping. They already do at 2 and 5, but the quantity of wood they can carry is fairly low. 

I agree with all other previous posts, Have a 2 year supply by the time you fire it up so it can season for a year and also by the best insulated piping you can get.


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