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My wife and I have been considering buying either a corn/pellet stove or a outdoor wood boiler. After much discussion and thought, we have decided to go with a outdoor wood boiler. Can I get some opinions as to which brands are best built and longest lasting? Thank you for your help.
You have a lot of options when it comes to choosing an outside wood boiler. You also have to decide on a lot of factors, what type of existing heating system you have, placement of unit outside, heat demand of the structure(s) to be heated. I had to figure all these out 2 years ago when I decided to get an outside wood boiler. It took me a year to weigh all my options, but I finally made a decision and got an OWB for this heating season.
As far as longevity is concerned with these stoves, it all depends on how you take care of them, and a good manufacturers warranty doesn't hurt either. I know that Central boiler has a good product and they stand by it with a decent warranty, but like any warranty, there will be costs involved with repairs if or when they are needed. I know I have heard of some people, from forums much like this, complaining about having to have the unit shipped back to the manufacturer to determine if it was fault of the manufacturer or not. Talk about a pain, especially if it is in the middle of winter, and this winter in MI isn't any exception. Plus I heard it was at the expense of the stove owner.
Anyways, I know there are a lot of stove companies out there, they all claim outrageous burn times and misleading efficiency ratings. If you are looking for an efficient OWB, there are only a couple of places to look. The most common problem with these major brand boilers, is that the fire box that holds the combusting wood, is completely surrounded by 160-180 degree water, prohibiting the fire from reaching temps in the 1100 degree range, where the superheated combustible gases are ignited. Most stoves just let this gas escape through the exhaust stack, wasting up to 80 percent of the woods energy. If you really like to cut wood and use a lot in a season, then these conventional stoves are perfect, except for the locomotive like smoke that they emit and fog up an entire neighborhood.
The best thing to look for when getting a stove is, look for firebrick inside the burn chamber, or anything like it that will allow for higher temp burning. I know there are a couple of wood stoves that use gasification principles for their outside wood boilers. Garn has a model, and Aqua-Therm has a new Omega model that can achieve these higher temps of burn. The Omega is what I have, and it has been great. I have a 2500 square foot home with radiant baseboard heat, so it plumbed right up to my existing system, and the coldest my house got was 70 degrees last week with the frigid temps we've had. I have to fill it in the morning and before bed, but it sure beats paying over 450 dollars a month in propane. That's about what I payed last year, even before the recent increases in heating oil..
I hope this helps a little bit in your efforts to find a stove, if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me...
I hope you don't mind me adding a little something else.
Once you find a furnace that you think seems to suit your needs,
ask the reps if you can talk to some people who have the units. The best way to find
out about the product is to talk to those who actually use it.
That pretty much goes for anything that a person buys.
Warning - against an outside corn boiler or inside corn stove. As I am sure that you are aware everyone from the media, the big three, the president of our fine nation and the farmers are pushing E85 which is great, however, the downside to this is the price of corn has doubled in that last 2 years from around $2.00 to $4.00/bushel. Keep in mind that E85 is currently avaliable in only limited amounts in limited areas right now but will continue to grow.
With that growth in mind, expect the price of corn to continue to rise proportionally, you could in say 10 years pay more to heat your house with corn than with natural or LP gas. A wood boiler is the way to go.
I know, I know, you hear the argument that we all hear "But wood is soooooo hard to get" LIE, what they MEAN is "I cant find anyone who will cut the wood, split the wood, bring it to me, stack it neatly, and maybe come to my house and light the fire daily for free". I am here to tell you, wood is plentiful and free with some sweat equity on your part.
You want free wood?
1. Go to the woods and cut it
2. Introduce yourself to someone in the area that is a tree trimmer and have them dump it in your yard - they just take the no preimum wood dig a big hole in the ground, dump it, and burn it, remember, you dont have to be selective about the type of wood, you can burn pine.
3. Wait for the summer storms to roll through and knock some trees down, as your community cleans up the mess, be the nice guy with the trailor that hauls it off for them after they have cut it down
4. Hook up with a local insurance agent and they will pay you to clean up trees from their insureds yards, this way you can pick and choose your cutting options e.g. nothing laying on a house, nothing close to power lines etc,
5. The state, county, towns, power companies are always cutting down trees that are in the way and they dump it, get it, burn it
6. Your local power supplier always has a big supply of car crash poles that you can buy for $1.00 each, thats 30 feet of wood that burns very well.
You want cheap wood?
1. Go to a local saw mill, one that makes pallets is the best (because they can only use hard wood) I can fill my 10' x 16' trailor for $20.00. Heck I dont even have to stack it if I choose not to, they give me 6 cubic yards from their payloader.
I live in north central Indiana and have a well insulated home but not protected from the wind. The house is a 2 story 3200 square footer. In the 2005 heating season, I spent $2000.00 to heat the house and my water with LP. In the Feb of 2006 I bought a WoodMaster 4400 that I use to heat my house and water with however, I shut it down in the spring. This year, I have spent about $160.00 for LP. The stove installed was $8000.00 and hooked to my existing forced air furnaces, so a 4 year payback if LP styas at the same price.
If you have questions please fee to email me at and I can provide you more information and pictures.
With all the options for outdoor wood stoves these days, it is hard to pick the right one. Especially, since salesmen will lie just to get you to buy their product. Personally, we wish we would have bought a Woodmaster. But, my husband insisted on a Hawken Energy stove. It has been a nightmare ever since. The stove is a month old and the water jacket is leaking, the wires to the outside light are exposed, the water level gauge was made from mild steel so it rusted and stopped working immediately, and the insulation has gaps, plus many other "small" problems. Getting them to honor their 20 year warranty is like pulling teeth, they came and took pictures of the stove. But, the president of the company informed me they do not do field pressure testing on their stoves, because they do not leak. So, we had to hire an outside contractor to do the testing, and Hawken Energy will still not fix the problems. No response to e-mails or phone calls. So much for a warranty. We have NEVER sued anyone before, but there is a first time for everything.
free heat machine,
to anyone considering a outside wood boiler stay away from the free heat machine. i bought one 4 years ago used it one year and it leaked. they sent me a new one and it lasted one and a half seasons and it leaked and i've been fighting with them ever since august to fix it with no satisfaction to date dispite there promise to take care of it.apparently they are the same stove as the hawken stove. i know they look the same
