Outdoor Wood Boiler

[The Green Goat]

Anyone run one or have experience with these? If I move forward with this land purchase and subsequent shop and house, I think I'd like to implement an OWB into the equation since I will have an almost endless supply of wood to burn. In-Floor radiant heating in a big shop sounds nice. Daily feeding of a firebox might get old but winters here usually aren't too bad and I'd bet I'll adapt.

Thoughts?

 

[Admin]

 

[lee]

I've been dealing with 5 acres of basically corn field.
Not too many trees to deal with, I only mow 1 acre and I think the winters are brutal (has to do with being a refugee from Kalifornia).
A condo in Florida is sounding really good right about now.

 

[dweber23tr]

I have one and have had it since 2008. I have the non-titanium version of this Classic CL 6048 Titanium Series | Central Boiler . It does suck to fill it every day, especially when it is -20 out with wind, but it has paid for itself several times over, so I get over it. In 2008 I had an initial investment of $10,000 for it for everything including the boiler, insulated underground pipes, new chainsaws etc. The initial investment paid for itself within 3 years vs buying propane. I cut and haul almost all of my wood on my own. I go through 12-15 cord of wood a winter on average. I heat my house, garage(in floor) basement(in floor), hot water and also have a water coil in my forced air furnace(propane backup). I now buy 250 gallons of propane about every 1.5-2 years, instead of 3-4 500 gal tank fills a year. All that good being said, they are a ton of work and are not the kind of thing you want to be starting and stopping throughout the winter-i.e. travel or trips or you risk freezing up. Cutting and hauling wood is a lot of work. I did it all for years with just my 450 foreman and small trailer and gradually worked my way into bigger equipment like tractors, skidsteers and now the pioneer to move the wood around so that there is less physical handling of it I have to do.

 

[JenElio]

I've been dealing with 5 acres of basically corn field.
Not too many trees to deal with, I only mow 1 acre and I think the winters are brutal (has to do with being a refugee from Kalifornia).
A condo in Florida is sounding really good right about now.

We're full......try Texas


Sincerely,

Florida.


😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[The Green Goat]

I have one and have had it since 2008. I have the non-titanium version of this Classic CL 6048 Titanium Series | Central Boiler . It does suck to fill it every day, especially when it is -20 out with wind, but it has paid for itself several times over, so I get over it. In 2008 I had an initial investment of $10,000 for it for everything including the boiler, insulated underground pipes, new chainsaws etc. The initial investment paid for itself within 3 years vs buying propane. I cut and haul almost all of my wood on my own. I go through 12-15 cord of wood a winter on average. I heat my house, garage(in floor) basement(in floor), hot water and also have a water coil in my forced air furnace(propane backup). I now buy 250 gallons of propane about every 1.5-2 years, instead of 3-4 500 gal tank fills a year. All that good being said, they are a ton of work and are not the kind of thing you want to be starting and stopping throughout the winter-i.e. travel or trips or you risk freezing up. Cutting and hauling wood is a lot of work. I did it all for years with just my 450 foreman and small trailer and gradually worked my way into bigger equipment like tractors, skidsteers and now the pioneer to move the wood around so that there is less physical handling of it I have to do.

I'm no HVAC guy but did you have to buy a special dual fuel furnace that was compatible with your setup or is it as simple as adding an additional coil to an existing furnace? I'd like to run the same setup as you; primary=OWB, secondary= propane.

 

[dweber23tr]

I'm no HVAC guy but did you have to buy a special dual fuel furnace that was compatible with your setup or is it as simple as adding an additional coil to an existing furnace? I'd like to run the same setup as you; primary=OWB, secondary= propane.

No it can be done to almost any furnace. But It is best to do it with a furnace and thermostat that supports multiple stages. Stage 1 is boiler stage 2 is propane. But it can be retro-ed into older single stage furnaces using a second thermostat and some relays to activate just the fan portion of the furnace. They also make water coils with a stand alone blower in them and you just add it to the ductwork of your existing furnace. Lot of ways to make it work!

 

[The Green Goat]

No it can be done to almost any furnace. But It is best to do it with a furnace and thermostat that supports multiple stages. Stage 1 is boiler stage 2 is propane. But it can be retro-ed into older single stage furnaces using a second thermostat and some relays to activate just the fan portion of the furnace. They also make water coils with a stand alone blower in them and you just add it to the ductwork of your existing furnace. Lot of ways to make it work!

Thanks!

 

[Vondy]

My answer would be hell no, I had one at our old place for about 8 years. Great for a while but got old fast. Burnt around 10 cords a year. Old farm house but we put new windows and blown in insulation. It was ok for a couple years but then my back decided it was done. Between being nearly crippled at times and spending more money at the chiropractor than it saved me, I went to buying wood split and deliver that last couple years there.

Other downfalls is that if you want to leave you have to find someone else to do it. Still have plenty of cost in chainsaw blades, sharpening, fuel, splitter and other upkeep. Then take into account all the time you spend cutting, moving, splitting, stacking, loading morning and night, then cleaning out ashes It just wasnt worth it. Oh, and you also get to smell like smoke unless you shower or change after loading. Id rather have that time doing what I want in the shop and going where i want when I want.

Our new place I we went geothermal for house and in shop I put radiant tubes in but haven hooked it up. I just use a small propane fireplace to heat it. Costs me a tank a propane a year for a 32x48 with 15" ceilings. Has a 22x12 garage door that gets opened for vehicles at least 4 times a day. I heat garage all the time in the mid 60s.

My advice is spend the wood boiler money on upgrading windows and insulation. Put you in a wood fireplace or buck stove to supplement with wood when you want to, not when you have to. Geothermal for the day to day heating and cooling.

 

[Tramguage1]

We're full......try Texas


Sincerely,

Florida.


😂😂😂😂😂😂

Nope Texas is full also! Try New Mexico. 😆

 

[JMynes]

I just replaced my wood stove with a pellet stove. Instead of shoving firewood into the stove frequently throughout the day, I dump a bag of pellets in every other day. When the temps really drop here (Maine) I’ll likely use a bag every day.
A ton of pellets is roughly equivalent to a cord of wood, but costs about 30% more. It comes pre stacked on a pallet, the delivery driver puts it in my shed. Infinitely easier, and no bugs carried in on the firewood.
Back to your query, my sister had an outside wood boiler at her house, tied in with their residential oil fired boiler. It had antifreeze in the OWB loop, and a heat exchanger in the house. Her husband fed that thing for a few years, then got rid of it. I don’t know why or when, I just noticed it was gone one day.

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

I have 2 friends who had wood fired boilers for 2-3 years.

Both abandoned them in place.

Just way more time and work involved than is practical for anyone who wants to have a life.

Oil drip heaters FTW. (Toyostove or monitor)

Oil boiler ended up being the redundant backup. (80% efficient)

 

[trigger]

Burned a woodstove for yrs growing up and into young adulthood. No backup heat so rule of thumb was you needed 40 cord stacked and ready. If you had more than that you could sell some off for high dollar in the colder months. Knew guys that cut for a living, we called them wood ticks. It's a young man's game for sure.

 

[dweber23tr]

They are very popular around here. From what I have seen the brand boiler you get, as with most things in life, makes a huge difference. Such as the Pioneer vs Firetrap Polaris...

My boiler has a capacity of 400k BTU and I fill it usually 1/2 to 3/4 full once per day. My well insulated home and garage are about ~4100 sq ft. When did it tonight, took me all of 5 minutes to do. The door on mine is big enough so that I can get a piece through it larger than I can physically pick up myself. I do not split, I cut mostly 12" diameter and smaller stuff to 2-3 ft length depending on the tree species. As I get older I keep thinking I am going to make a splitter. My BIL has one but a different unknown brand that came with the house they bought. It is about 1/2 of the size of mine and they have to fill it 3-4 times a day when it is below zero.

They definitely are not for everybody and are a lot of work. As noted its tough to go anywhere during the heating season without having someone else available or around to fill it for you. I am fortunate, my neighbor next to me has done it for me anytime I have left overnight somewhere and he actually counts it as a personal challenge to see just how much he can stuff in the firebox. On more than one occasion I have come back and not had to put any wood in for a couple of days-only rake the coals around a bit to let it burn down because he got too carried away playing Tetris in there 😁

 

[The Green Goat]

My answer would be hell no, I had one at our old place for about 8 years. Great for a while but got old fast. Burnt around 10 cords a year. Old farm house but we put new windows and blown in insulation. It was ok for a couple years but then my back decided it was done. Between being nearly crippled at times and spending more money at the chiropractor than it saved me, I went to buying wood split and deliver that last couple years there.

This was a concern of mine. It seems like I could make it work now, but one good back injury and there goes that idea. I mostly liked it from the standpoint of radiant floor heating in the shop. Something where if I decided to let it burn out, the propane secondary would kick on in the house and I wouldn't have to worry about anything. I also planned on having a wood stove in the shop and another one in the house when it eventually gets built. More as a supplemental heat source if I would want to use it. I don't use but one 500gal tank of propane per year to heat my 20yo house now, and it seems like OWB systems are pricey up front, it it would probably take me quite a few years to earn back that money.

Other downfalls is that if you want to leave you have to find someone else to do it. Still have plenty of cost in chainsaw blades, sharpening, fuel, splitter and other upkeep. Then take into account all the time you spend cutting, moving, splitting, stacking, loading morning and night, then cleaning out ashes It just wasnt worth it. Oh, and you also get to smell like smoke unless you shower or change after loading. Id rather have that time doing what I want in the shop and going where i want when I want.

Our new place I we went geothermal for house and in shop I put radiant tubes in but haven hooked it up. I just use a small propane fireplace to heat it. Costs me a tank a propane a year for a 32x48 with 15" ceilings. Has a 22x12 garage door that gets opened for vehicles at least 4 times a day. I heat garage all the time in the mid 60s.

My advice is spend the wood boiler money on upgrading windows and insulation. Put you in a wood fireplace or buck stove to supplement with wood when you want to, not when you have to. Geothermal for the day to day heating and cooling.

 

[Vondy]

This was a concern of mine. It seems like I could make it work now, but one good back injury and there goes that idea. I mostly liked it from the standpoint of radiant floor heating in the shop. Something where if I decided to let it burn out, the propane secondary would kick on in the house and I wouldn't have to worry about anything. I also planned on having a wood stove in the shop and another one in the house when it eventually gets built. More as a supplemental heat source if I would want to use it. I don't use but one 500gal tank of propane per year to heat my 20yo house now, and it seems like OWB systems are pricey up front, it it would probably take me quite a few years to earn back that money.

You can still do radiant in floor. It’s not cheap either though I’d put the tubing in the floor so you can add at later time if you don’t heat that way to start with.

I used to waste several full weekends cutting and splitting. Time to do what you enjoy means a lot, especially as you get older.

 

[Vikes79]

Honestly if I had an outdoor wood boiler…I wouldn’t be jacking around with the hand cutting and splitting….ESPECIALLY if you have or are getting a skid steer.

Streamline Production With the HWP-140B Firewood Processor

The HWP-140 is a midsized, hydraulic-powered firewood processor attachment for skid steers. Hook it up and bring the processor to the woods.

www.halversonwoodproducts.com

The other option would be to get a small engine type processor and feed it with a skidsteer or mini ex.

You could sell the extra wood to offset the costs…

Another option would be to rent the processor or skid attachment

 

[dweber23tr]

Those are sweet, but about $30k to get into + the cost of the skidsteer. The smallest firewood processors start at ~$15k, so neither are small investments. I would love to have one though 😁

 

[Vikes79]

Those are sweet, but about $30k to get into + the cost of the skidsteer. The smallest firewood processors start at ~$15k, so neither are small investments. I would love to have one though 😁

You can find used American made units on FB for 9500 in my area, and if your not afraid to buy China made processors, you can buy them all day long on Amazon using Stihl bars and chains for $7k.

YIHUITONG 25inch Chain Saw 30T Remote Control Skidsteer Firewood Processor Log Splitter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGPP5VT?tag=sxsweb24-20

Plenty of good used skid steers out there that just need some TLC (tires, maybe hose or two, some electrical, etc) for 15k.

But…at the end of the day…IMO the economics of the outside boiler….just don’t work out imo. As said before it’s better to insulate the house better etc.

If you’re going to get a skid steers anyway or own it already, and want to use a boiler anyway, 7 to 15 k is cheap way into a small side hustle or to reduce the physical labor.

 

[906UP]

We looked at an OWB years ago but decided to go the pellet stove route instead. We've had one in every house we've owned since 2002. We have 2 now, one in the house and one in the shop and go thru 3-4 tons per yr depending on how cold it gets, have a propane furnace also and go thru 1 tank/yr usually.