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indoor wood boilers

Started by rogdan, November 14, 2012, 05:44:57 PM

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rogdan

  I am looking for comments about these http://www.newhorizonstore.com/Category/54-gasification-boilers.aspx type of boilers such as reliability, ease of use and overall installation cost. I researched OWB's years ago (pre gassification) but we have wood smoke allergies in the family and the cost/benefit did not work out. Are there more effecient than the newer OWB's and do they produce less smoke?   
Thanks

Farmertan

I've got a wood gun in my basement ( http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/woodGasification.aspx ). I bought the optional smoke hood and have it piped to the outside using flexible dryer venting. I do get some smoke in the basement as a result of back puffing, but have never smelled smoke in the house. We have a walk out basement and I move wood in through a garage door into the basement. If you only have a bulkhead, installation of this thing as well as moving wood inside would be a drag. As for heat, we love it. In the most extreme weather we get (single digits) I have to load it three times a day. Normally (teens - twenties) I load it twice a day. If we're cold, we turn up the heat. Then we watch out the window as the oil truck drives past our house!

Local4Fitter

All wood burning appliances smoke at some point. Seems if you have an allergy you would want that smoke outside of your home. Have you looked at the outdoor gassifiers? Higher cost, but with the allergies it may be well worth it.
1974 John Deere 510, Wood fired pizza oven,2005 Dodge/Cummins,Firearms for all occasions.

thecfarm

I'd want the smoke out side too. Probaly I'm allergic to smoke too. I'm allergic to poplar and pine trees and a list of other things too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

rogdan

Farmertan: thank you for the info and link, is you stove particular about how well the wood is cured or type (hard or soft) wood?

  My neighbor's classic smokes/smolders alot and I see many others brands around that are the same, are the newer gassification models not like this on start up? Do they also require less wood over a winter compared to the older design?
Thanks for the replies.

beenthere

rogdan
You might need to learn more about your smoke allergies too. Is it the white particulates in smoke that cause the allergy or the by-products of combustion of wood. Seems initial startup will always give the white smoke, but that can dissipate after there is heat build-up and dry wood. The invisible off-gases may be less polluting, but still may trigger your allergies.

When opening the fire door to a wood burner, there will likely be some smoke and gases released. If this is bothersome, then maybe burning wood isn't for you or the family.

Might want to hang out with some wood burning people in your locality to see if working around their woodburners will trigger your allergies. It would be pretty disappointing to learn after a big purchase and installation that you couldn't be around the burning wood.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

rogdan

 These are all good points and very much appreciated. I notice that when my son visits neighbor for a few hours that I can smell the smoke on him. I smell it when I'm in the home too but to have it cling to you is more than I would expect if things were all as they should be? They do heat with wood and coal exclusively and have older stoves.
I've also been in other homes that just supplement with a wood burner and haven't noticed this so I wonder if it is an issue with the stoves?

711ac

I'm another with a Wood Gun, I love it, and the fact that it's in doors. As soon as I'm finished here, I'm going to fill it for the night, as usual bare foot (radiant slab) and in my underware! BUT there is going to be a little smoke. I also have the smoke hood but not a problem, although with allergies, I'd do some carefull thinking with either (indoor/owb) before taking the $$ leap. My "Gun" is in an addition that is fully insulated and finished, but on the outside of the original exterior wall of the house and with a std. exterior door that separates this room. This room was purpose built for the boiler and a little wood storage. The same thing could be built not attached, in your yard to give you an additional boiler choices other than the stand alone owb's. And yes a "gasser" will save you on wood. I'm not going to begin to guess how much, but there is a massive ammount of "fuel" that normally goes up the chimney in a non "gasser". And if your a greenie type, a gasser is much cleaner on top of the efficiency. I gain TONS of heat in my house just from having it indoors. In an outdoor situation this heat is lost.

ImaYooperman

I, too, am looking for an indoor wood boiler. (I am looking for an indoor wood hot air furnace, too.) The Heat Gun is new to me. Many thanks to the two posters who stated they have them. Since I am now considering one, I'd be interested in how long you owned them and if you have had any problems with them. In reviewing the literature, It looks like the small holes on the bottom of the refractory that leads to the gasification tunnels could easily clog and be problematic. Is this a problem or another figment of my overly active imagination?

Another concern is the assertion that between burns the fire goes out (great in theory) and is restarted by the stored heat. What is the actual time of shutdown for this to be practical? Am I correct that if the fire goes out, you are, in effect, restarting the fire from new? That sounds like a stupid question, but it seems like some kind of automatic propane gas restarting would be in order.

Many thanks for any additional information. And, thanks to all past posters. I have learn a lot on here.

Farmertan

Rogdan, the woodgun is not very picky at all. If the wood is greener, you end up burning more because there is a lot of heat involved in boiling off all the additional water. If you burn wood that is too dry, or more importantly, split very small, you can get into issues with a condition called "back-puffing." When this happens, I get some smoke smell in my basement, but nothing upstairs.

Yoop, "bridging" of the firewood can and has been a problem in the past for me, but I've learned a lot about how not to load the wood, and I don't have that issue anymore. The boiler does shut off all air to the primary burn chamber, putting out the fire. The smoke (what little there is) stops coming out of the chimney almost immediately. There is smoke at startup, but not much.

I'm starting my second season with this boiler. I can't tell you how much it burns compared to other appliances because the only comparison I can make is between this and a small woodstove in a house about half the size of this one.

Wood heating is definately more than a choice of fuels. It really is a lifestyle. If you're like me and get your own wood, you'll need to devote a significant amount of time to cutting, splitting, stacking and moving wood. I kind of like it though. I consider it my gym membership.  Good luck in your research.

711ac

I'm nodding my head agreing with farmertan. Start cutting your wood now! I think that it is said that a cord of "green" wood has a TON of water in it.
There are a ton of "indoor" wood boilers out there and you might want to check out http://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-boiler-room-wood-boilers-and-furnaces.13/
for other opinions on some of the other offerings. I like the simplicity and the fact that they are made in PA USA, with no fancy sensors and controls or computers to order from What country was that? Parts you don't have, never break or need replacement. :D

cp881

I have an Econoburn that is made in NY state that works very well but like every one else I get some smoke when loading. Also cleaning the ash is a little messy, It is so fine that you just touch it, it becomes air born. The ash also gets into stove pipe, had to make a stove pipe with a clean out .

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