Author Topic: Outdoor Boiler (Read 3017 times)

Steve_M · « **on:** September 04, 2003, 10:38:00 pm »

I am thinking about getting an outside wood boiler to heat the house, shop, ect. I would be interested in hearing pros and cons on the different modles.

Steve

IndyIan · « **Reply #1 on:** September 05, 2003, 08:48:16 am »

Hi Steve,
I'm thinking of getting one too.
From my research the best one seems to be the central boiler or empyre boiler.
http://outdoorboilers.com/features.htm
Central boiler has a dual fuel option so you can burn propane or oil in the furnace if you can't load wood in it for some reason.

No boilers are very efficient compared to airtight indoor stoves but you have burn wood that you never would in your house/shop.

A good site to find out the cons of boilers in to learn about wood burning in general is here:
http://www.woodheat.org/technology/outboiler.htm

Frank_Pender · « **Reply #2 on:** September 05, 2003, 06:01:40 pm »

Gee I thought that I had responded on this earlier this morning. I must have been dreaming at 4:30 a.m.. I have tow Taylor hot water furnaces, one for the kiln and one for the house. They each are the smaller type units with a firebox that is two foot square and thirty six inches deep. I have had them about 6 or 7 years without any problems other than what I create for myself.

Tobacco Plug · « **Reply #3 on:** September 06, 2003, 07:39:38 am »

I have a Taylor. Bought it second hand from my father in law so it has had about 6 years of use now. I heat my home and supply my hot water with it. Been using slabs, cut firewood, and trimmings from the ends of crossties from the tie yard nearby as fuel. I have also burned trash in it, and leaves. The leaves would heat up the water to use for hot water in the summer. I don't really have any complaints. Taylor Manufacturing is located about 50 miles from here and I can pick up supplies (water jacket cleaning solution and some kind of magical metal rod that inhibits rust) when I am in the area. The folks at Taylor have also delivered supplies to me when they came to work on my Taylor tobacco barns.
The stove does a fine job.

ohsoloco · « **Reply #4 on:** September 07, 2003, 12:31:45 pm »

For those of you that have responded (and those of you who haven't, for that matter)...do you have stainless steel units? Either way, how are they holding up? I may be buying a house with no heat system in it in the near future, and I would like to put one of these units in.

Steve_M · « **Reply #5 on:** September 07, 2003, 07:48:19 pm »

Ohsoloco,

Have you been out to the Centrail Boiler site and read all there info? They are saying that there are different grades of stainless steel used by different manufactures and that some of them are inferior materials(of course there Titamium inhanced stainless steel is the best).

It seams in my area all the outside stoves have always been Taylor's---I think that is all that has been available through the local dealers untill very recently. There is now a Central Boiler dealer and an Empyre dealer within 40 miles so maybe I will start to see some variety out there.

Maybe they are a little like sawmills---most of them are pretty good, and the owners are loyal, but the operator usually makes the difference.

For what I am looking for effiencey is not that important(I will either burn the slabs in the stove or in a pile out back). I just want it to last and put out enough heat.

Be good to here from owners of some of the other stoves.

Steve M

Chet · « **Reply #6 on:** September 07, 2003, 08:00:35 pm »

The Lake States Logging congress had a very large selection of outdoor furnaces. Many new ones that I had never heard of. I didn't pay that much attention to them as my Central Boiler is serving me well. But one thing I did see is many of them are now offering a 20 year warrentee. So shop around!

Minnesota_boy · « **Reply #7 on:** September 07, 2003, 08:24:29 pm »

When I mention the use of Stainless steel in these stoves to my son, he looks at me and laughs. He's a metalurgist and to him you have to specify the type of stainless as that is a whole class of metals that have iron and chromium in them. The different ratios and the other metals added to the mix make a huge difference in their properties. Some will rust, others will not. They're still considered to be stainless steel.

blue_eyed_devil · « **Reply #8 on:** September 07, 2003, 11:25:40 pm »

Indylan
I don't know of any site more biased than woodheat/org
I've read woodheat org/ take on wood boilers and I don't agree with the smoke issue.They are completly biases against outdoor boilers. The unit my friend installed does'nt bother the neighbours anymore than a conventional wood stove .I will post what unit he installed when I get a chance.
They are also completly against outside chimneys.I've seen many that worked just fine.

ElectricAl · « **Reply #9 on:** September 08, 2003, 06:36:15 am »

Steve,

We have two Heatmor Outdoor wood burners. Had them for 7 years. One is an 800 and the other is 400

Heatmor.com

The smaller one is for the kiln and has been going nearly every day for the 7 years.

Both are stainless (304 I think) no porblems yet.

The trade off with stainless is the BTU conductivity, about 25% less efficient than steel. Now, I think you can get a 10 yr warranty on a steel unit now.

The central boiler dealer said he could sell our smaller Heatmor for $4000 (we paid $3800) so we could buy a bigger Central Boiler. We are kicking the idea around. We have been too busy to make the switch.

ohsoloco · « **Reply #10 on:** September 08, 2003, 09:38:56 am »

I've been thinking about a central boiler unit, but I also ran across this other place that is in PA. The units aren't stainless steel, but they back it with a 12 year warranty...

http://www.wesstauffer.com/johnson.html

ElectricAl · « **Reply #11 on:** September 08, 2003, 10:55:11 am »

The one big advantage Heatmor has over a bunch of the other brands is the water filled door.

2 big reasons for a water filled door:

Door won't warp from the heat
Water is heated by the door.

On Central and some other brands you loose a lot of heat off the door.

Now Central does have a warrenty on their door against warping, but you still loose the heat

I'm not saying I would not buy a Central Boiler, but the heat loss from the door seems to be an issue to me.

Lewis,

What's the door like on your Tayler?

ohsoloco · « **Reply #12 on:** September 08, 2003, 12:03:13 pm »

How does installation work with these things? The house I'm buying already had one out back, so the lines are all run, and the slab is there. I'm assuming the companies offer installation/setup...how much does this typically run?

OneWithWood · « **Reply #13 on:** September 09, 2003, 07:29:33 am »

The cost of installation is dependant on a number of variables.
What are you using for piping? We used Pex - I don't remember what the per foot proce was. How far from the house is the pad? Ours ran 150 feet, one way. If the pipes are already in place and are well insulated then your set up will be minimal. Is there electric run to the pad? If the unit has a pump and/or blower you will need at least a 15amp service.

ohsoloco · « **Reply #14 on:** September 09, 2003, 08:21:07 am »

I just talked to a guy that deals with central boilers this morning. Of course, he called while I was still sleeping (I work 3-11), and it took me a while to realize why he was calling me

He told me they charge $25 an hour for installation, and also said they don't install very many of them...most people either do it themselves, or get someone local to do it.

To get a stainless steel model, I'd have to go with a bigger unit, the 5636, rather than the 4436. Both have the 10 year corrosion warranty, and he said the treatment will run somewhere around $40 per year (if my groggy head remembers correctly), so I'd probably stick with the smaller unit.

Mark M · « **Reply #15 on:** September 09, 2003, 10:33:27 am »

Steve

I have an AquaTherm boiler at my place in Minnesota and it has been running well since 1992. I run antifreeze in the system at about 40%. This is a low-pressure system (10psi) as opposed to 0 pressure that many systems run. This requires an air-scoop (not the right term) and small expansion tank, but since the oxygen is removed after the system is used a short time there is little or no corrosion. Also since it is sealed you do not have to keep adding water which reduces the chance for scale buildup. I have never added any anti-corrosion additives to the system and the last time I had it open there was no sign of rust, corrosion, or scale buildup. I did have to replace the expansion tank because the rubber bladder developed a leak.

If you use a pressurized system make sure you use the correct relief valve that works by both temperature and pressure. My neighbor used one off an old water-heater (which I think worked from temperature only) and had a rather spectacular explosion when the water level got low and pressure built up. The water was no longer reaching the sensor portion of the valve so it didn't work properly.

For da turdy-room house I decided to go with an AHS Wood Gasification boiler (http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/wg_fs.htm). These are supposed to be very clean burning and use about half the wood as other boilers. Mine is the E180 model and the price was $7000 - a little more than the mid-sized Dual-Fuel Central boiler which was my second choice. I went with this unit mainly because of the low emissions since I am in town and don't want trouble from the neighbors.

Mark

cut2size · « **Reply #16 on:** September 09, 2003, 09:21:53 pm »

I have a hardy stainless steel outdoor woodstove, installed it myself in 91. The only problems that I have encountered are replacing the blower for the firebox,($70) and a new solenoid for the water infill($45). It also had a water leak that I repaired with eagle brand milk. It heats my house and 1600 sq ft shop/garage. It has grates that allow me to burn coal as well as wood, but I have never taken advantage of that option. The two best points of my stove other than being stainless steel are the ash door(the ash falls through the grates and is easily scooped out) and the creasote burns with the wood instead of dripping in a bucket unlike several other brands that I have seen. A friend of mine has a taylor and his brick home is stained black with creasote.
HTH,
David

Steve_M · « **Reply #17 on:** September 09, 2003, 11:46:44 pm »

Thanks for all the good responses.

I am going to be going to the Midwest Forestry Show in St. Charles, MO in a couple of weeks. I will see what dealers show up there and gather some more info.

Righe now I would be leaning towards a Central Boiler. But I have a cousin here in town that is a dealer for Taylor, might be a little pressure or incentive to go that way :-/

No big hurry I guess, I have this winters propane contracted at at 89.9

, but if the price falls I get the better price.

Steve

EZ · « **Reply #18 on:** September 10, 2003, 03:17:51 am »

cut2size, I have the Hardy also, no problem with it except that blower kept rusting out. After the 3rd one rusted, I made one out of stainless stain, now I'm happy.
EZ

Curly_Woods · « **Reply #19 on:** September 10, 2003, 08:23:34 am »

Steve M,

What are the dates of the Midwest Forestry Show in St. Charles? Do you know if there is a web site with info about the show?

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Author Topic: Outdoor Boiler (Read 3017 times)

Curly_Woods