OT wood heat

[B Bair]

See a lot of guys on here cut , split or haul wood with thir tractors. Do any of you use an outdoor wood furnace (boiler) to heat house,water and shop? I use a wood burner in the shop but electric in the house (Ouch). How well does the outdoor wood burner work? How much wood have you used this winter? Appreciate the responces.

 

[old-9]

I don't have a wood fired boiler, however my best buddy does and he loves it. Heats house, shop and water. He stokes it 2 times a day, but in very cold 3 times. I envy his shop staying around 50 degrees and warmer when he is working. He does go through a lot of wood. I also have a friend that heats with a corn fired boiler, no wood to cut and has relatives that farm so can buy a couple of wagon loads a year. Also sometimes can get old molded corn for next to nothing. joe

 

[wallytoo]

there is a really good forum dedicated to that subject. hearth.com go to the "wood boilers" sub-forum.

there's a wealth of information from a range of folks with great ideas and experiences.

 

[Jimmyjack]

I installed a wood fired boiler in the basement 25 years ago made by Prairie Farm. Dont know if they are around any more. I use 12 to 14 face cords per winter in Wis. plus about 50 gallons of backup fuel oil. My cousin did too, but removed his 2 years ago and put an outside unit in. He tripled his wood use, but it works well. He did develope a leak in the fire box after only 2 years use. Research the materials of construction and thickness, it is important.

 

[wallytoo]

one reason some folks end up burning more wood with the outdoor furnace vs an indoor wood furnace is the tendency to burn green wood rather than dry wood.

 

[Ron-MO]

I put in an outdoor wood furnace (boiler) about 3 years ago now. Heats my 3600 sq ft house, and hot water. I run two heat exchangers on my hot water heater, and in winter shut off gas to water heater. I have an endless supply of 150 degree hot water (have to barely crack the hot water in shower). If you have a good supply of wood, and can cut your own it is cost effective, but if you had to buy wood you would not come out ahead. I have a small 5x8 utility traler and I typically burn a small load per week in average January weather in MO. I burn mostly green wood (a lot of green locust as it is plentiful here). I paid someone to install, however if I were doing it again I could have done it all myself after seeing how simple it was. Works much like the heater core does in your car....just a small circulating pump with a 18x18 (in my case) water to air heat exchanger in the top of my gas furnace. I run two thermostats - one controls my gas furnace (usually off and used as backup source), and second is set at 70 degrees and kicks on furnace blower to circulate over the exchanger in furnace when heat is needed. Unlike some wood heat temperature in house never fluctuates more than one degree, and stays at constant 70 degrees. Hope this helps. I love it except of course for the work cutting and hauling in the wood. I have the model MF 5000 in the link below.
Wood Boiler

 

[stewartr]

These stoves seem a little goofy, but have some die-hard followers.

They're called rocket mass heaters, and I've been tempted to build one in my tool shed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uh2VExcdbY&feature=related

I know they're not outdoor wood furnaces, but they're interesting.

Here's some more info:

http://www.rocketstoves.com/

 

[Kirk-NJ]

I have a central boiler outdoor wood burn. I use about 6 cords a year. This year might be more because it's been so cold. I ran the pipes into the garage but haven't insulated yet so I never hooked it up. It's like any other trade off. It's hard work cutting, skidding, splitting timber. I have to harvest wood for part of my farm assesment anyway so it's no big deal. The price of wood is going up but the price of oil is going up faster. I put it in 3 years ago and haven't bought oil since.
If you're thinking about getting one you better check your local codes. If your neigbors are too close they might complain. When wood is added they do smoke a bit.

Kirk

 

[Ron-MO]

Actually I often find that to be the opposite on mine. Burning green in one of these seems to slow the burning process. I know if I throw in a load of very dry wood before going to bed it is gone before the night is over with the draft inducer blowing. Load with a mix of dry and green (a little more green than dead), and it will dry the green in the process and last through the night. I have litterally thrown in green locust when it is calling for heat, and the draft inducer is blowing, and gone back in 5 minutes and the green locust is already starting to burn. These things burn hot, and many times on a cold night I have witnessed a foot long flame out the stack when it is calling for heat. And I burn almost anything.....including trash (within reason...no tin cans, highly flammables etc....common sense comes into play).

 

[wallytoo]

of course burning green "seems to slow the burning process". in order to burn the wood, the water in it first has to be vaporized. that's less efficient, as energy that could be heating your "boiler water" is instead used to dry the wood.

 

[Woodchuck]

Last year my brother put in a woood gasification indoor boiler.It's hooked up in tandem with the oil fired boiler. As long as the wood is keeping the water jacket in the oil burner hot the oil burner doesn't start. Heats all his hot water and heats 2500 sqft house. If the wood fire burns to low to maintain the heat the oil burner starts.

 

[jon]

just a small circulating pump with a 18x18 (in my case) water to air heat exchanger in the top of my gas furnace.

I always thought the hot water circulated itself. How do these do if the power goes out? Didn't realize they had a circulating pump.

 

[Ron-MO]

Nope, they will not work when power is out. They have to have power for control unit which regulates blower, and damper by water temp. Also pump which circulates water. Very low volume/pressure pump. All of them may be alike, but most use that same principle. But it would not take a very large generator to power it. Probably takes equivalent of a couple hundred watt bulbs to power it. I have mine set to kick on blower/damper at 165, and off at 155. I am getting about 150 degree water temp in the house.

 

[Woodchuck]

I have a 1250 what generator I use for the camper in the summer and my brother keeps for backup for the boiler. We use a suicide lead plugged into an outlet in the cellar. Main and all breakers except the one with the suicide lead and the boiler turned OFF before the genny is hooked up.

 

[jon]

Probably takes equivalent of a couple hundred watt bulbs to power it.

You could get by with one of those little $89 generators from Harbor Freight then. They'll run quite a while on a tank full.

The reason I was curious about the circulation, years ago I met a guy who had a woodstove in his basement & had a 1/2" steel water line running through some type of coil system in it to heat his water. He said that the constant hot water rising over the cold kept the tank upstairs full of hot water. I guess being that far below the tank made that possible.
Anyways, thanks. I've learned something today.

 

[Ron-MO]

I have a side arm heat exchanger on my hot water heater, which works on simliar principle. In addition I have a brazed plate heat exchanger that preheats the water as it enters the heater tank. The side arm exchanger works by convection keep it hot when there is no flow of hot out of the tank. The combination of the two works very well, and I simply shut down the gas valve on the water heater during the winter.