Outdoor Wood Furnaces

[PAkev]

Now that the winter and cold weather is pretty much behind us, I am thinking of a proactive measure for heating my home for the 08-09 season. We currently have an oil fired forced hot air system which was very pricey (about 3K) to operate this year with the prevailing fuel costs. I have a resource of 10.5 acres of land which is mostly wooded and am giving strong consideration to installing an outdoor wood furnace. I haven't talked to any manufacturers yet but from my research understand this can be piggybacked onto our existing forced hot air system with a heat exchanger and can also heat our domestic hot water. Heck.. there are some that can even heat a swimming pool and/or hot tub.

I'm currently on an information gathering mission before visiting any local dealers so that I can process and discern the info they provide a lot easier. Just wondering if anyone here has experience with outdoor wood furnaces that's willing to share their thoughts.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

I know quite a few people that have them but they are all hot water systems in the homes..... mutiple zones and even "dump" zones. I have hear nothing but good things.

I was thinking about it too but I question the efficiency of the heat transfer unit. It is basically a large truck radiator and fan. I want cheaper heat too but I might invest in installing a secondary source or go back to my indoor wood furnace (which is tied in to my heating system).

Good luck.....

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

I have a buddy that heats a 5K plus sq. foot home with one. As you stated its tied into his forced air (natural gas) heating system. As for a wood supply............................It doesn't hurt that he owns a land clearing business.......

 

[Bondo]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

Ayuh,.....

I've got 1 in my shop that's getting closer to compleation....
Building My Own.....

Trouble here in Ny is,.. Many towns,+ villages are Outlawing them,+ now the State is thinking the same thing....

If I have to,.... I'll move this thing into the cellar or something.....

I hear that the newest, state of the art, next thing coming is the Gasification Boilers,....
Supposed to be a Much Higher Effencey......

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

I hear that the newest, state of the art, next thing coming is the Gasification Boilers,....

That's what Frog uses...

 

[aspeck]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

Yep, they are great units and do everything that you said they would. Can easily be converted to hot air with a heat exchanger. They lose a little of their efficiency that way, but not much. A catalytic converter on the exhaust will help to "scrub" and reduce some of the smoke they emit. And you can get them with back-up oil, etc. But don't rely on your present furnace for the outside unit back-up ... cause the piping in them can and will freeze in the winter if your flame goes out for long periods of time (like vacation).

I sent you a PM before I read all your post ...

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

love it, Propane dealer sent out a repair crew to make sure my tank meter was working.
I put one in this January, heat the house, hot water, and this summer will add the hot tub, and garage, the pool just isn't used enough to heat. If you can pipe a heat exchanger to something you can heat it, the source of water temp is a variable that you set.
The unit I bought from Pennsylvania, off rt 80, is all stainless in and out, and will burn wood, coal , and in a separate chamber accept a oil burner, or propane, or waste oil.
I suggest a 16x20 ft cement pad, and a lift device for the logs. Catalytic converter will not work, they work on full burn or smoldering in the off mode. they have a efficiency of about 50%. It can be increased by adding fire brick liner and a shelf to route the smoke and gases around the top a bit to burn them more completely.
Smoke is a issue, my closest neighbors are 600 feet away, and I cant see the others. I have a good prevailing breeze thru the valley, and I have my stack topped higher than any opening in my house. sizing the unit is important, too big and it will smolder and have excess smoke, be hard to keep lit. Too small and you wont be able or want to keep the fuel up, i fueled in winter about 3x a day, or when I was coming and going what ever log would fit at the time.
They are illegal in VT,NY,Oregon, and Washington. and Spitzer and EPA are working to outlaw them. so a permit, grandfather status is important. As I see it if used properly ,no garbage or processed wood burning, you are only burning would giving off co2 the same co2 that rotting wood give off, not the co2 from a fossil fuel that nature had sealed deep in the earth and only man
exploits. Feel free to email or IM me for more info.

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

if you use a siphon type heat exchanger on your hot water heater it will work in reverse should your fire go out and protect our unit from freezing, the heat plate system does not. the siphon is cheaper anyway.

 

[JB]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

Tree huggers are working hard to get wood burning (including fireplaces) banned on air pollution grounds, at least in/near towns.

If you have the space, consider geo-thermal. Even in frozen places like MN and ME the ground below 6-8' stays a steady temp (50-70*). Circulating air through an underground heat exchanger can supplement or replace both furnace and air conditioner. All the energy it needs is a circulation blower.

I understand that is the system used at the Crawford White House.

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

the state of michigan is doing a grant program to encourage wood boilers.

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/biomass_rfp.cfm
http://michiganwoodenergy.org/calculator/calculator.php

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

......

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

Tree huggers are working hard to get wood burning (including fireplaces) banned on air pollution grounds, at least in/near towns.

Wouldn't that be considered name calling?

I've lived in places where wood burning was banned. The improvement in air quality was amazing. There are lots of places where burning wood for heat is a bad idea.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

the state of michigan is doing a grant program to encourage wood boilers.

But many areas are also prohibiting wood burning, including the township just west of Kalamazoo. So a lot of people are putting them in quickly so they'll be grandfathered in.

A neighbor at the lake place put one in last fall. He was unemployed for 7 months, so being able to get plenty of firewood from his friends' forestland allowed him and his aged parents to stay warm in an otherwise cold winter. This was in a National Forest area (but private property), a township but no municipal structure .. just cottages around a lake.

Still, one other neighbor complained about the wood smoke. This is the same neighbor that complains about noise from boat motors, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, cars driving by, or kids laughing and swimming.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Outdoor Wood Furnaces

I knew someone in PA with one of these. His house was very toasty.
He also had 50 acres of land so his resources were great.
Sorry I don't know much more about the system though other than he said it cost him $4K to get up and running (this has been about 15 years ago).