Thanks Guys... Pretty lax about regs around here but I'll look into it.
So the "coal" units burn wood good yes? i'm a little short of coal trees around here. ;-)
So how do these things work. say its cold out and the thermostat calls for heat.. how does the thermostat relay that message to the outdoor furnace??? or does it even work that way? (remember I am BRAND new to this thing ,sorry)
And if the EPA banned wood furnaces.. why are there so any out there? Which leads me to the next question.. which ones should I look at that are decent and wont break the bank?
And I was leaning to the boiler type, but just doing my research..
No coal trees in my neck of the woods either. There are a lot of folks out there burning wood in the coal stoves with great results; myself included. The higher efficiency ones will have grates in the floor of the firebox and a fan in the back that blow draft air up from underneath to stoke the fire, whether coal or wood. There is an aquastat in the unit that keeps the water temperature within the stove at a set temp, usually 170 to 190 depending on your needs. For example mine is set to 175 with a 10 degree differential. When the water gets down to 165, it will kick the fan on and feed air to the fire until the water reaches 175, then shut the fan down and close the damper until the temp falls back to 165. Most run a pump at the boiler circulating hot water through the underground lines, through the exchanger(s) in the house, and back to the boiler 24/7. As for inside the house, personally I like using a second 2 wire thermostat right next to your existing one that only turns on your furnace's blower fan on a call for heat, instead of starting the burner and the whole process- thus simply blowing air across the exchanger within your ductwork and distributing heat taken from that hot water coil. Some utilize an aquastat inside and wire it to the existing thermostat (don't ask me how, I'm not a wiring kinda guy) so that it only runs the fan as above, unless incoming water temp from the boiler drops below maybe 130, or wherever you set it, at which point the gas would resume as normal until the water temp comes back up. The boiler is completely independent from any house controls and just runs when it needs to.
The EPA stoves are all gasification stoves, which are higher efficiency than the regular coal stoves. They're a bit more costly, and some have a little extra maintenance, but the lower wood consumption is a payoff for some. I'm not going to chime in about ups and downs of those as I have very limited experience in the gasification world. Now coal burners on the other hand, there are 3 top contenders that stand out in my mind. Heatmaster C series, Portage and Main BL series, and Crown Royal MP series all have a 3 pass heat exchanger to capture as much heat as possible before exiting the flue therefore are quite efficient in comparison to some others, and all 3 are made with shaker grates in the floor and an ash pan/drawer underneath for easy ash removal. Crown Royal has a slightly less efficient 2 pass stove, the RS series, which was the predecessor to the MP and is a contender with a bit smaller price tag. I just installed one yesterday actually, and spoke to the guy just now and he's in love. Heatmor CSS has a quality unit as well, with a bit of a different design in terms of exchangers but has proven to be pretty efficient as well and can be ordered with shaker grates as well, but the ash removal is done with an auger instead of a drawer and can get a little messy. I myself burn a Heatmaster C series and love it, would not change a thing. The MP series from Crown has piqued my interest however and I think I may switch before next season and try out one of those. Hopefully someone can chime in about gasification if that is something that interests you; there are many happy customers with gassers out there burning half the wood they would have with a regular old wood hog. Conventional stoves like Earth, Central, Ozark, Woodmaster etc with the flat floor and no exchangers tend to be quite inefficient as they're essentially just a tank in a tank design with a direct flue exit so a lot of heat is lost out the stack, but the price can be less than a multipass too. There are a lot of variables in a decision like this ranging from initial investment to how much wood you can/want to reasonably process every year. Customer support is a huge deal as well, and a dealer who is local and stands behind the product is worth the stove's weight in gold. Buying from some clown on the internet that disappears as soon as they have your money may save you a few bucks upfront, but if there is trouble you're often on your own. Just something to consider