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Looking to puchase a new OWB and can't decide

Started by treeperch, October 09, 2012, 04:36:03 PM

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treeperch

I am looking to purchase an OWB and  am thoroughly confused on which is the best unit. I have a 1300 Sq foot home, which I will be expanding within the next year to 2000 sq ft, and a 24x24 garage, and a 24x40 outbuilding that I wish to heat. How many BTU's per square foot should I look at? I live in Central WI. Right now, I am torn between a Central CL 5036, or a Portage & Main ML30. Every boiler I read about has its own claim to fame, so I am turning to you previous and current owners to help me out. The P&M has a round firebox,  a secondary heat exchanger area, and a cleanout drawer and claims to be 40% more efficient than the Central, but it also costs nearly 2k dollars more. Central seems to be more established in this general area and has a lot of fans, but I think that may partially be because that was all that was available locally until about 5 years ago.

woodmills1

cant respond to either specific

but do your homework and buy one


you will be happy with the lack of oil buying once installed
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

thecfarm

treeperch,welcome to the forum. BTU's and square footage is a good rough number to go with. Just remember most garage doors suck cold air. I have 2 doors and can see faint light on the outside at night. Make sure you get it big enough without filling it every 6 hours. I someday want my own garage, ::). I brought a Heatmor that will take a 54 inch stick. Way bigger than what I need now and probably at the rate I'm going, I will ever need.I was confused too when I was looking. And still am!  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Logging logginglogging

I love my Central, and where I am they have a much better dealer base....
Infact i have never seen portage & main for sale ever here.

doctorb

Check your local and state regs. before purchasing.  If you've been doing online research, knowing whether or not it's required in your area to have a EPA approved stove or not will help you decide by narrowing your number of choices.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

tpyounome

Welcome to the forum.
That's the first time I have ever said that, as I am pretty new as well.
These guys are a great resource for the outdoor wood boilers. 
Mine is being delivered TODAY.  I looked at a few and researched many.  Here in Indiana you must buy a EPA Phase 2.  (thanks  Doctorb and boilerman101)
I decided on the Empyre Pro series 200.  It is a Phase 2.  I chose it over the CB E classic 1450.
There are a lot of CB fans on this forum.  But I think they have the older non phase 2 boilers.  Which I understand are fantastic.  The guys who have the phase 2 CB around here in Indiana say they would rather have the older ones if they could still buy them.

westyswoods

FYI I looked for well over a year and was torn. Central was on the list but when closely comparing it with Portage and Main I decide and have recently purchased an ML 30 which is the smaller of their boilers. I liked the round firebox and overall design compared to Centrals. I also asked several owners of both and found the Portage and Main owners to be more satisfied overall. In total spoke to six of each plus some who had Heatmores.

One thing I would stay away from is the the high efficiency type stove as feedback I received from dealers and customers is they are not the cats meow and wood really needs to be cured and sized to let them burn properly.

The above comments are just my opinion and I am sure others can argue for other stoves. I have yet to get the OWB hooked up next week, I hope.
Stay Safe and Be Healthy
Westy

Logging logginglogging

I dont worry aboy state regs, install your self and noone will know....unless u have close nosey neighbors.

Logging logginglogging

Quote from: tpyounome on October 10, 2012, 03:32:49 PM
Welcome to the forum.
That's the first time I have ever said that, as I am pretty new as well.
These guys are a great resource for the outdoor wood boilers. 
Mine is being delivered TODAY.  I looked at a few and researched many.  Here in Indiana you must buy a EPA Phase 2.  (thanks  Doctorb and boilerman101)
I decided on the Empyre Pro series 200.  It is a Phase 2.  I chose it over the CB E classic 1450.
There are a lot of CB fans on this forum.  But I think they have the older non phase 2 boilers.  Which I understand are fantastic.  The guys who have the phase 2 CB around here in Indiana say they would rather have the older ones if they could still buy them.

I have to say i do have a phase 2 CB boiler.... (that just happend to be what i got used from a guy, i waset looking for that espically) but i have to say I love the thing. My father has and older boiler that I actually dont like as much....

thecfarm

My wife was on facebook and was talking OWB. Someone in MA stated that they could not start thier OWB until mid Oct and must be out in May. Yes,they said they have noisy neighbors.    :(   Check out any regs,just to be sure.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Handymark

I was down to a heatmaster or central boiler two years ago. Ultimately I went with the CB5036 because I like the firebox design better. I would be interested in hearing arguments in favor of a round box design.

thecfarm

I was not concerned with a round box,but mine is. I have the old type Heatmor. I was looking for a simple design with out all of the digital stuff and solenoids and switches and parts that had to be brought from the dealer. I can go to the hardware store and buy just about what I need when my breaks down. The only 2 items are my blower fans,they are the same. The bladder too.I wanted a very simple designed OWB.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

boilerman101

Hard to beat the Central features. Urethane insulation, solid easy to use door, great design and a proven U.S. company that I am confident will be in business in the future. Don't buy until you have physically looked at these furnaces. The manufacturing quality stands alone. IMO as a 10+ year CB user that has burned both the Classic and now Eclassic model.

NWP

Is there actually someone that inspects these stoves once installed to make sure they are legal?  My guess would be that until someone complains you probably wouldn't have any problems.  I have an older style Heatmor and the wood stove cops haven't shown up yet. ;)
1999 Blockbuster 2222, 1997 Duratech HD10, 2021 Kubota SVL97-2, 2011 Case SV250, 2000 Case 1845C, 2004 Case 621D, John Deere 540A, 2011 Freightliner with Prentice 120C, 2012 Chevrolet, 1997 GMC bucket truck, several trailers, and Stihl saws.

upsnake

treeperch
No I would doubt that anybody comes and inspects them, well unless you pull all the permits required then they might. But it would suck to spend that much money on a stove, that if 1 person complains you have to stop using. (if you live in a state that requires phase 2)

hockeyguy

treeperch,
I ended up buying an e classic 2300 in 2010 and have been happy with it.
I would have preferred the Portage and Main but couldn't justify the price difference.
Good luck in your search!

barbender

I have a Heatmor, going into the fifth heating season. Thecfarm said it already, they are simple and dependable. They just work. I have no experience with the other brands.
Too many irons in the fire

Vtmac72

I have had a cb5036 and now a cb1400, love certain things about them but hate the warranty and customer service. If you go with a cb read and understand all the fine print of the warranty before you sign it. They have had many problems with different stoves and now have many ways to not have to stand behind their products. Good luck.

mattNH

Installed a Portage & Main Optimizer 250 last season.  My only regret is that I didn't do it 5 years earlier.  Good luck.

ga jones

Here in pa they have to be EPA aproved. The dealers get around it by putting FOR COAL ONLY. NO REGS ON OUTDOOR COAL FURNACES.I had a hardy it cracked after 15 years. now i have a mahoning. Its ok simple to use.Burns anything you can get in the door. green pine,spruce hemlock household trash butcher waste coal if its burnable it will take it.
380c timberjack c4 treefarmer international trucks jonsered saws. Sugi hara bars d31 komatsu 350 tj grapple

boilerman101

It's comments and unresponsiblie owners burning crap like that, which are causing EPA and numerous states to come down on us owners that are trying to save money with our OWF's. If we don't do it right, they will continue to try to ban them all together. Many states like PA have already implemented requirements and there's talk of requirements coming down on a natiional basis. If you want an incinerator, go buy an incinerator.
Ya, I'm on my soapbox.

superwd6

Anybody buying an EPA boiler with horizontal tubes better get good at checking and cleaning them often. I've worked on enough oil boilers that had those tubes,with to low of stack temperature and to low of  temperature on return water WILL rot them out. Manufacturers of these EPA wood boilers tell you how clean they burn, which they do- but the off cycle always lets smoke and creasote out going to your secondary tubes that can be acidic(just like oil exhaust). E-classic has none of these-thats what I got and just recently, after seeing a standard boiler smoking the complete time it was in the off cycle-I wouldn't have one.Still loving the 2300 ;D.

superwd6

 
I decided on the Empyre Pro series 200.  It is a Phase 2.  I chose it over the CB E classic 1450.
There are a lot of CB fans on this forum.  But I think they have the older non phase 2 boilers.  Which I understand are fantastic.  The guys who have the phase 2 CB around here in Indiana say they would rather have the older ones if they could still buy them.
[/quote]

  When I was looking, the original design would let off cycle smoke return through the small inducer fan that feeds your fire. Keep an eye on it as if it hasn't changed it will plug the fan and eventually burn the motor. And when salesman showed me how to clean those tubes- I walked away. To much like cleaning dirty oil furnaces  steve_smiley

Gary_C

I think a very important part of the decision is what brand of underground piping to use. From what I've seen, there is no comparable line to CB's Thermopex. I have that stuff and my son has a competors product that is much cheaper and he uses twice as much wood as I use. Plus when it's cold he can't get enough wood in his stove to last thru a long winter day when it really cold.

It doesn't pay to go cheaper on the underground line.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

boilerman101

The Empyre Pro 200 only puts out half the btu of a E1450.
The E1450 has 7 vertical tubes that allow ash to drop down with very little cleaning necessary.
The Empre Pro 200 has something like 12 horizontal tubes to clean and 12 more vertical tubes, from what I saw at the fair. Salesman told me they need to be cleaned every 7-10 days.
Pro 200 has a very small firebox and has no means of fine tuning secondary air induction, while CB gassers are computer monitored and air adjusted according to burn rate.
CB has urethane insulation, Empyre pro, fiberglass batts.
I don't see the comparison even being close.
But hey everyone is entitled to their own choice.

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