I'm looking into purchasing an OWF. I'm done using the indoor woodstove after a couple chimney fires, plugged chimneys filling my house with smoke, going up on the roof at 3am in a snow storm to unplug it, the mess, the bugs, and the dented knotty pine boards in the hallway when the girlfriend brings wood in to fill it.
The Central Boiler Classic 5036 is top of my list currently. There is a dealer 3 miles from work, so it's convenient. I'll be heating a 1200 sq. ft house, DHW, and a 1200 sq ft garage on weekends.
What are your opinions on this brand?
What brand would you recommend?
How much wood are you using a season?
How often do you have to fill it?
I've been using wood heat for 25 yrs. now and figure I saved enough money to purchase one. Looking at about $10,000 installing it myself.
I have a natures comfort nbc250 I run my forced air, my garage forced air an I heat all my hot water with it. My water heater is turned off.
I installed mine all myself. I paid around 9000$ total than made my own pipe.
So far in my life it is the best investment I've ever made, hands down.
I would say get the biggest you can afford just for a longer burn time with a bigger box.
I chose mine after doing research because it has a ash pan for one. So I don't need to shut it down to clean it. And I like the fact that my blower blowed air in through the ash pan which keeps ash ports clean and it burns from the bottom up instead of from the back forward or front to back. burns evenly which heats evenly.
I also went with a plate exchanger to heat my water instead of the tube style. With the tube you only have as much hot water as your tank will hold. With the plate I have hot water until I run out of fire.
I have the Central Boiler 5036, I've been running it for the past five years. It works awesome. If you are used to burning wood then you know you are fooling yourself if you think you are saving money. Sourcing, cutting, splitting, stacking, filling all that wood takes time. But if you are like me which I assume you are because you already heat with wood, the work you have to put into it is worth it.
Now I have found my stove runs best using split 18" or so wood. You can put full logs into it, however, I found I use less wood by burning split. I fill it two to four times a day, depending. I never fill it completely full, I only fill the front half of the burn box and I won't always fill it to the top, just a few logs or so. Again this comes down to experimenting with wood usage. I have found I use less wood filling it more times a day, than stuffing it and filling it once a day.
Wood usage also comes down to how cold it is outside. When it dips down to the single digits it defiantly burns more wood than does when its warmer. I heat the hot water, a 3800 sq house, and a 1400 sq shop. I also have a pool heater hooked to it to use in the summer. Any questions feel free to ask, and yes I would buy a central boiler again.
I have the Central Boiler 5036, I've been running it for the past five years. It works awesome. If you are used to burning wood then you know you are fooling yourself if you think you are saving money. Sourcing, cutting, splitting, stacking, filling all that wood takes time. But if you are like me which I assume you are because you already heat with wood, the work you have to put into it is worth it.
Now I have found my stove runs best using split 18" or so wood. You can put full logs into it, however, I found I use less wood by burning split. I fill it two to four times a day, depending. I never fill it completely full, I only fill the front half of the burn box and I won't always fill it to the top, just a few logs or so. Again this comes down to experimenting with wood usage. I have found I use less wood filling it more times a day, than stuffing it and filling it once a day.
Wood usage also comes down to how cold it is outside. When it dips down to the single digits it defiantly burns more wood than does when its warmer. I heat the hot water, a 3800 sq house, and a 1400 sq shop. I also have a pool heater hooked to it to use in the summer. Any questions feel free to ask, and yes I would buy a central boiler again.
How many cords of wood would you say that you have been using on an average year?
I looked at doing this some time ago, but don't have close access to a good supply of wood. We are planning on purchasing land and building in the future and I would like to have some wooded acreage and utilize a Wood Boiler.
I bought a Royal 7500 6 years ago when I bought my house. I heat 1800 square feet, and my wife likes it hot in the house (75). I installed mine by myself, and I only have 5000 into everything. I would say it's the best investment I made for my house. I load it twice a day, and burn whole logs, as long as I can fit them through the door. When it is below 20 degrees, I burn the most wood. I have never burned more than a face cord a week. I cut all of my own wood, and I have tons of farmers around me that beg me to clean out their fence rows.
I don't have access to wood on my land. I go get it all in the spring from other people who don't want it, or have land they want cleared. I've never paid for wood.
I have a Central 6048, rated at 500,000 BTU (no clue how they come up wit ha rating, too many variables)
I highly recommend one. I use mine to heat the house, hot water, 32x48x12 shop, and pool in the summer. It is an excuse to play with hotrod saws, have a dumptruck, and an iron mule.
My situation is a little unique though. My shop where I work is here at home, and a good friend has a tree service. He calls, I haul. If I had a real job, and had to buy wood with actual cash, things may be different.
Central boiler heat rating is at peak output
When wood burns down btu output goes down
I chose 6048 over the 5036
For approx. $2000 extra you will get longer burn times due to the larger water capacity
Out of all the brands i researched it has the largest wAter cap.
Initial startup takes more wood/time but once up to temp it doesnt take anymore energy to maintain water temp
Im looking at 24-36hr burn time heating comparably same sq footage as mentioned above
My .02
Oh yeah
Burning seasoned wood is way more efficient and will reduce usage greatly
I built a 12x30 wood shed for my wood
Fyi I have 11000 in mine
Heating hot tub and hot water for most of the year
When it gets warm enough and i no longer need heat in my house I can put wood in the CB every 4 days
We heat 2 homes that are 300 feet apart with our Central boiler 6048. I used to sell and install Central boiler units for my bro-in-law, who was the first Central Boiler dealer in our area. You can go on for hours discussing, but outdoor wood boilers are almost always said to be "the best investment I've ever made" Sure everyone has their own favorite brand, but as long as the unit is built well, you cant go wrong.
When I did the research, Central is the best you can get. But, you pay for it. I installed a Wood Master for my dad. It's a great boiler, bang for buck wise. We also spend the money on the good insulated pex. Wasn't cheap, but I don't loose (but maybe) 1 degree from the boiler, 140' to the house boiler.
I lose 30* by the time I get to my pole barn, I'll go check the drop in the house. ANd yes Central Boiler is the best on the market, and Shawn is right, you do pay for it!
We have had our Central Boiler for 13 years now. Only replaced two pumps and the door solenoid. We buy our in bolts 20 cords at a time and that will last two years. So it costs $900 a year for the house,garage,hot tub and water. If I could do it over again I would of spent the money and ran insulation /pec in PVC pipe.
I'm done using the indoor woodstove after a couple chimney fires, plugged chimneys filling my house with smoke, going up on the roof at 3am in a snow storm to unplug it,
You're doing something wrong. Most likely burning wood that isn't properly seasoned. Even if you never cleaned your flue, it would take many years for it to plug when operating the stove correctly and burning 1-2 year minimum seasoned wood.
kinda sorta, we run a ton of chimney fires and people always claim they "just got it cleaned"
I will never have a fire place in my house, the new triple wall pipe that is on the market sucks and rots and looses its insulating value very quickly. We have seen a significant rise in chimney fires in new construction.
We've had our 6048 Central Boiler for 5 years now. Our home was actually sized for the smaller size, but I chose to step up one size. I don't regret it.
We average between 10-13 FULL Chords of wood a year, depending on how cold it is. We usually load it 2 times a day. Apx every 12 hours. We usually burn from Oct 1-April 15th.
We have 40 acres of land to get my wood supply from. It's great family time together, and a great work out. I love a 20 degree winter day.
To me it's the best weather for cutting & splitting.
Seasoned Hard Wood is the best, but I like to mix a little bit of green stuff in. You'll learn what your stove likes as you develope your "Wood Burning MoJo".
OUR STATS: 2100'sqft home, hot water heater, 36'x38' garage, and 2 base board radiators on the second level of our house. (kids bedrooms)
I run ours at 185 degrees. I've ran it as high as 195 degrees, but I found my wood burning MoJo is 185*.
Had to buy our first tank of propane in 5 years this year, and we didn't actually fill it completely.
The best decision we've ever made.
If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.
I'm intrigued by wood burning furnaces/boilers. Have not looked into if I can have 1 where I live, but my current thought is can you take a week vacation in the middle of winter and not worry about your house becoming an ice brick once you get home? Pipes frozen or the dogs water dish being solid?
How are you guys heating your hot tubs? Is it a kit you buy? Or something you are making up on your own? I plan on buying a Central Boiler this summer. I had thought of doing the hot tub. But haven't seen anybody doing it.
Was going to do one of these for my home but decided to go with geothermal so I don't have to go out in bad weather to fill with wood. What do you guys do when you go away on weekends or long vacations? How do you keep a constant heat in the house?
Have a bunch of down trees here if people are interested in taking a look in the spring as well.
Most people run two stats in there house ins for the burner an one for thee furnace. You keep the furnace stat around 60 and the burner stat At the temp you want the house. When the burner runs out or fire/hot water the furnace stat kicks in and you start burning propane. And the hot air going through the heat exchanger for the wood burner keeps the water from freezing in the burner, because the pump is always running.
I've lived in my house for 4 years now. Had the burner from day 1, I've never looked at the amount of propane in my tank, and I'm going to call and have it removed this year. I'm sick of looking at it.
Ive never used my furnace, me and my uncial live a mile apart. When he goes out of town I fill his and him the same for me.
I am saving $75+ per month as i stated with an indoor woodburner/stove. I am on natural gas, I don;t get long enough burn times to go furnace free over night, so it kicks on. I estimate a few extra dollars in savings if I could do so, plus a few bucks savings on the water heater.
My highest heating bill last winter was $265, compared to my typical monthly electrical bill of $35.
I figure the MAX savings per year I will attain is Oct-April $700/year.
That takes a long time to pay off, but everyone's situation is different.
If I had propane or electric heat I imagine I could save a lot more than that.
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