Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers WITH EPA-Certified Models => Earth Outdoor Wood Furnaces => Topic started by: BenGrove on February 08, 2014, 01:30:51 PM

Title: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: BenGrove on February 08, 2014, 01:30:51 PM
So I'm from the Southwest Missouri area and not far from a dealer for Earthwood.  When we were talking, he recommended me the Rancher 360 Series for my situation, which is also what he uses.  He said the Firebox is .5" thick, which is different than most brands, which have a 3/8" thickness.  The salesman said this helped use a lot less wood, etc.
Is this .5" thickness true that the Rancher 360 uses a lot less wood than other brands (heatmor, hardy, etc) because of it's thicker firebox?
Thanks!
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: hondaracer2oo4 on February 08, 2014, 02:23:01 PM
According to just about everyone just the opposite is true. Thicker firebox=less heat transfer.
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: yoderheating on February 08, 2014, 04:48:39 PM
 Yes that is either a bald faced lie or a ignorant salesman. Its like saying I added twice the insulation to my home and now the heat is blowing right through the walls and I can't keep my house warm.
 All matter transfers heat at a certain rate, increasing the thickness of anything decreases the amount of heat transfer.
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: Sprinter on February 21, 2014, 06:06:49 PM
Look up and research high mass boilers. AKA cast iron boilers. Lots of opinions
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: userdk on October 23, 2014, 02:38:35 PM
Sounds ridiculous. The thicker the slower the heat transfer. In the same way that a smaller tree takes less time to cut down than a large one. Thicker simply cannot transfer heat faster than thinner, although I do acknowledge that different steels transfer heat faster/slower than others.
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: ms1780 on October 30, 2014, 07:48:28 AM
I can agree that the thicker the metal the slower the heat transfer but since there are a certain amount of btu's in every piece of wood and the firebox is completely surrounded by the water and energy (btu's) has to go somewhere, most of it is going to end up in the water, even though it is going to take longer.  I agree they are probably less efficient than lets say a Hardy, but for several thousand dollars less I'm not too concerned about burning one or two ricks of wood more per year.  The dealer I purchased my Mountain Man 505 from was in SWMO at 4W Metal and I can's say enough good things about them.  Just my two cents.  I love my stove so far, only issue is the blower door sticking when its not cycling very often and burning wood that is not completely dry.  I am going to try the paperclip trick this evening.
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: JTS717 on October 30, 2014, 08:14:50 AM
The energy has two places to go in an owb, it will either be transfered to the water or sent out the chimney.  With a thicker firebox less of the energy will be transfered through the steel and more will be going out the chimney.  I would understand if he told you the firebox will last longer since it is thicker but don't believe it will burn less wood. 
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: ms1780 on October 30, 2014, 08:32:39 AM
I agree with JTS717 100% on that and that is why I said most of it is going into the water. Some will be lost out the door too.  They are not more efficient for sure, but I think the loss in efficiency is small because of the way the chimney goes 2/3 of the way into the firebox.  The salesman was wrong about them being more efficient but I do believe they will last longer.  Here in Southwest MO wood is cheap so that is what helped make up my mind to buy one and the dealer is 2 miles up the road. 
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: mlappin on October 30, 2014, 08:50:06 AM
Something else that needs to be considered, different metals conduct heat differently. A oxy/acetylene torch can cut mild steel no problems, it won't cut cast iron or stainless as both transfer heat away from the torch head too fast. A OWB made of cast with half inch walls would be ridiculously heavy, one with half inch stainless walls would be very expensive. Industry standard appears to be 1/4" mild steel for the firebox, which is a good compromise between cost, weight and longevity.

People seems very happy with Ridgewoods, if I'm not mistaken the reason for the thickness of their firebox is they are taking a used propane tank, cutting it in half and building two boilers, which again is a good compromise for cost and longevity.
Title: Re: Talked to a Salesman the other day, is this true?
Post by: ms1780 on October 30, 2014, 03:36:53 PM
I talked to the guy at Ridgeline and looked at the stoves.  I liked what I saw and the price was great.  My concern was the fact that they did not have an induction fan.  When my shop, house and hot water all pull heat at the same time I was afraid it wouldn't be able to go from smoldering to good and hot fast enough, especially during the times when it did not call for heat very often.