Outdoor Wood Boiler

[S.W.A.T.]

Been looking into this pretty hard for the last couple weeks. 48" logs seems to be fairly common.

 

[sumx54]

Do kids even go outside anymore? Let alone doo any worthwhile work........:d

Mine damn well do. My boy is 13 and has already worn out a pair of steel toe boots.

 

[ferniesnow]

Wow all this talk about 2'+ long logs and no splitting has me pretty jealous. I burn about 5 cords a winter but it all gets hand split, my least favourite fall chore. If a guy could use 3' lengths and not split, wood heat would be a pleasure.

I try to get in the range of 6-8" in diameter, 10" at the max for my furnace and never have split them. The whole log burns longer that the split log. The larger part of the tree is cut into 16" lengths for the Blaze King. I split that on a daily basis throughout the fall and spring when it is too warm for the furnace but not warm enough for no heat! My furnace only runs part of Nov. and until around the first part of March. I'm thinking this year may be a little longer!

It can warm up any time now..........:d

 

[Bnorth]

Dude get a 4 ton electronic log splitter


Best thing ever , used to take it camping and plug into trailer geny

Only ever had one, wet, knotted log it would not split

Like water coming out wet, at the bottom big end butt

sent while I should be drinking tea's

I can hand split faster than a log splitter though. It's the short bucking, loading, unloading, splitting, and then loading in the shed that takes all the time. To just go long buck and throw right in the shed would be so quick and easy.

 

[Bnorth]

I try to get in the range of 6-8" in diameter, 10" at the max for my furnace and never have split them. The whole log burns longer that the split log. The larger part of the tree is cut into 16" lengths for the Blaze King. I split that on a daily basis throughout the fall and spring when it is too warm for the furnace but not warm enough for no heat! My furnace only runs part of Nov. and until around the first part of March. I'm thinking this year may be a little longer!

It can warm up any time now..........:d

My little stove can only fit a 14" log, my pine is usually 6-8" but the fir is mostly 12-24".

 

[somethingnuw]

does your house need to be built around the system... ie only works when designing and building a new house? Or can it be added to an old house?

 

[mick]

does your house need to be built around the system... ie only works when designing and building a new house? Or can it be added to an old house?

It is best to design the house and heat system together but you can retrofit a boiler system into your existing heating system or a complete redesigned one

 

[S.W.A.T.]

does your house need to be built around the system... ie only works when designing and building a new house? Or can it be added to an old house?

its already set up for it

 

[ferniesnow]

My little stove can only fit a 14" log, my pine is usually 6-8" but the fir is mostly 12-24".

That's the size I cut for my little stove in the shop. So three sizes for 3 different appliances. Makes for some fun loading some days.

I think those outside boilers would be good with a covered wood shed right there. The gable end going over the boiler door so on those rainy days, you don't get wet. Also, when the roof slides or melts, it doesn't interfere with loading.

 

[winterulez]

I have been running a www.friesenbuilt.ca boiler for a few years now. I have fc48 model. It works great. It's not a fancy wood boiler like some of the other ones. I use it too run my infloor heating in the basement and I put a heat coil in my forced air furnace and use it too heat the rest of the house. I built a 16x16 shed close by for all my wood. I run up too 4' logs as well. Yes it's a bit of work. Bringing in the wood from the bush, cutting too length and then stacking in the shed. I fill mine up in the morning when its real cold and when i get home from work, about every 12 hrs. Warm days above -5 it dont burn much at all. I don't mind the extra work, and its a lot cheaper than a couple tanks off propane each winter too heat the house. You can retrofit an old home very easy. My dad did his old farm house.

 

[rsaruk]

What happens when you go away for a few days? Will the house get cold and the pipes freeze?


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[ferniesnow]

What happens when you go away for a few days? Will the house get cold and the pipes freeze?


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

I have electric back-up that is thermostatically controlled. When I built my house, there was no NG in the subdivision (and none in the foreseeable future) and electricity was a cheaper install than propane.

 

[Moose]

I have a heat innovations homesteader. will fit 4.5fters, this last week with the -35 I filled it once a day. got a 30x35garage with floor heat(eep around 10c) and the house is 1500sqft with a basement which has floor heat and use the water for the forced air for upstairs as well. if you buy a new boiler make sure you follow the manufactures warranty instructions. I didn't and I have had to fix two holes myself. the boiler is only 5 yrs old. if I would have done what the said(water samples, proper cleaning)they would have replaced or fixed it for me.

 

[somethingnuw]

I have a coal outdoor furnace that holds two to five days of coal depending on temperature. If you have wood your probably feeding it twice a day that wouldnt make the wife very happy.

there is a guy in ValleyView on sturgeon lake with a coal burner... not sure how he set it up but his place is huge... large steel box outside with a large auger... the auger keep the coal furnace stocked... he splits a shipment of coal with the local arena... one load per year... says he will never switch... awesome set up and the heat great... no smell, no dust on the inside... he must know someone as i wouldn't even begin to know where to start on buying that much coal bulk...

 

[Transporter]

I have a heat innovations homesteader. will fit 4.5fters, this last week with the -35 I filled it once a day. got a 30x35garage with floor heat(eep around 10c) and the house is 1500sqft with a basement which has floor heat and use the water for the forced air for upstairs as well. if you buy a new boiler make sure you follow the manufactures warranty instructions. I didn't and I have had to fix two holes myself. the boiler is only 5 yrs old. if I would have done what the said(water samples, proper cleaning)they would have replaced or fixed it for me.

Had to replace my water jacket too pretty much starting to think its just cheaper to run gas and alot less of a headache. Problem I think I had was used well water to mix with glycol that caused it to turn acidic over time hopefully the premixed will be better.

 

[Eagle]

I run a Quadrafire pellet insert. Works awesome. Real easy to operate. It starts and stops its self and really easy to clean. If you buy the bags in bulk they are about $ 4.00 each. Just fill the hopper and walk away. My wife loves it and she is not filling the house with smoke...Like I said mine is a insert, it looks very clean looking.

 

[SledMamma]

2-4 pieces of wood per loading? Holy snappin turtles that must be some good furnace. You better share the brand with the OP. When I run my outdoor wood burning furnace we burn 13 cords per winter to heat 3000 sq. ft. house. My wife was the slave and hated it. I was gone to work all winter and spent all spring/summer/fall gathering, cutting, splitting, stacking. OMG to old for this crap now.

13 cords is a lot!! Holy...

On "warmer" winter days (anything -10 or above) it takes even less. Once it is around zero outside, you barely have to fill it even once a day because the heat demand is so little. The beauty thing about a water boiler system is that water neither gains nor loses heat easily... Once the system is fired up it really is very efficient. I think the fact that it is in the floor really helps too- when my feet are warm, so is the rest of me!! In the switch between seasons when temps really fluctuate day to day and morning to night it can be hard to find a balance: too warm during the day to need the heat and too cold to not have it at night...

I think I am a bit biased about the wood fire system tho: I grew up with wood heat so it reminds me of my childhood... The smell of it, packing wood. I even love going to get firewood, and watching my kids help stack it. It's a dying tradition...

 

[sumx54]

13 cords is a lot!! Holy...

On "warmer" winter days (anything -10 or above) it takes even less. Once it is around zero outside, you barely have to fill it even once a day because the heat demand is so little. The beauty thing about a water boiler system is that water neither gains nor loses heat easily... Once the system is fired up it really is very efficient. I think the fact that it is in the floor really helps too- when my feet are warm, so is the rest of me!! In the switch between seasons when temps really fluctuate day to day and morning to night it can be hard to find a balance: too warm during the day to need the heat and too cold to not have it at night...

I think I am a bit biased about the wood fire system tho: I grew up with wood heat so it reminds me of my childhood... The smell of it, packing wood. I even love going to get firewood, and watching my kids help stack it. It's a dying tradition...

I too grew up with wood heat and find it refreshing to go out with the kids and make a day of processing firewood. Can you post what kind of boiler you're using. Also what is the glycol worth that's being used in these boilers and how often are you topping it up?

 

[rsaint]

I have a Global Hydronics sitting now, Yes you are a slave to these units it is a 400,000btu rating and wood burn 15-20 cords a year all can be 48-54'' long. Full of glycol about 1500 bucks worth. Have switched all over to nat gas. Very easy to tie into existing a zone valve and pump. Kids dont even want to look at it anymore nor do I. And it is for sale basically for the price of glycoland pumps and exchangers for hot tub, house furnace and hot water tank.

 

[Snowdin]

I have an NH log loader that I mounted on a 16' car hauler trailer that I want to sell. I paid 13,500 for the log loader and power pack, 3500 for the trailer. I can sent pics when I get home. Want to get 9,000 for it all. It's saved a lot of sore backs around my place. Use it for loading garbage, small scrub brush and tons of things.