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[sstan]

has anyone bought or heard of a boiler by the name of Natures comfort?  very interested

[j845125]

I have a natures comfort 250. I'm very happy with it while burning wood, however when I try to burn coal, the lack of shaker grates presents a problem. The owner of natures comfort is sending me shaker grates. It is made very heavy. I heat two houses and my workshop, plus hot water for the houses. Once I get this shaker grate so it can burn coal, it'll be perfect for me.

[sstan]

I have been running since sept and am very happy.  Like everyone I have been playing with it some!  I got a 2007 model and Dave at NC was great on giving me tips to bring it up to the 2008 model (longer chimney inside and overflow modifications).  I replaced the strap on aquastat that came with mine with a immersion type .. much better!  I have been burning a mix of wood and coal.  I found the air slots between the bricks let so much unburt fuel fall into the ash pan I cut some 3/8 pipe to 12" and put them in the slot .. made the jholes smaller.  I rake the coals some to get the fine stuff to fall and have been very happy so far!

steve

[Firebug]

I have a NC 185 and I have not been very happy with it.  Per the owners suggestion I have replaced the pump (to small) the aqua stat, insulated the bottom, placed a piece of steel over most of the chimney (to much heat loss through the chimney) and it still goes through way to much wood.  I fill it 3 times per day and I'm trying to heat a 2000 SF house and it's approved for a 4000SF house.  I fill it @ 9PM and there is hardly any coals left @ 7 AM the next day.  They want me to buy the next size up but at this point I think I want to cut my losses and find a better boiler that will do what it should do.  Any suggestions?

[j845125]

firebug,

I can understand your frustration, there are alot of variables to play with, quality of fuel burnt, how much air is to much or not enough, water temperature, heat transfer in exchangers, outside temperature... I've come home from work several times when I 1st got it to find mine cold and blowing for all its worth(called it my diesel fuel burner for awhile), but have it down now to two times a day is plenty, with wood, even as cold as it has been. I'm still playing to burn the minimum amount of fuel, and hoping that the new grates will allow straight coal in the colder temps. Coal, to me, is a much better heat source, cheaper, hotter, less mess, less work. If mine won't burn coal like it should, continuously, it's gone for a Freedom or Mahoning.

[Firebug]

I try to keep the boiler @ 160 but that is very hard to do.  When I get up in the morning it is about 100-120.  We usually need to turn the inside boiler on for about an hour or two to get the temp in the boiler and the house back up to normal.  We have the draft blower open about a 1/4" per the manufactures recomendation.  If we open it any more all the heat blows right out the chimney.  You can see the fire coming right out the top in the evening.  We tryed using coal with the optional shaker grate but that did not work much better.   I think that the boiler is well made but it has some design flaws that need to be addressed. 

[John D]

firebug,I initially had a lot of problems with my Shaver keeping up as well.I found a lot of my problem initially was the wood i was using.Add to the the shavers lack of a good tstat and blower shut down. I got all that fixed,and its much better now.I went with a Shaver 250 which is almost as big as a NC 250,they are very close in size,and i have about 3000 sq ft home,every well insulated,I was going to get the 165 which is about the size of your NC175,and im so glad i upsized.If i had it to do over,id went one more bigger it was only $250 more ,it held another 30 gallons of water.Has a 58"long firebox opposed to my 50".Ive learned to not beleive any of the MFG specs as far as BTUS and what it will heat,the only one who pust accurate info,IMO is central boiler,they error on theside of too big,I think thats one of the reasons why  you see so many happy owners of CB,they pay more,but are satisifed.When I called Shaver they told me a 165 (165 gallons of water) would easily heat my home,and its poorly insulated,and small. The cost about 5200 deilvered,it sounds enticing,next to the central boiler dealer who said i needed a 6048 ,holds 393 gallons of water ,huge firebox,9000+ dollars.You know what if id went with the central boiler I'd be enjoying 24Hr burn times,and the ability to fit real big wood thru the door.

         One thing I wanted to ask you was how many degrees of temp are you losing between the house,and OWB,how long is your run,and what kind of PEX did you use,and what is it enclosed in.If you cant get the NC working to your satisfaction, Im sure a CB 5036 would make you happy.

[sstan]

Firebug .. it's too bad your having som much problems .. I guess like anything you can get a lemon!  I have been very happy with my NCB 175 .. in fact with the warmer days the last week or so I am getting 18 hour burns!  worse I have gotten is a 12 hour burn on the coldest nights.  I will have to get some info on the modifictions you mentions (insulating bottom and metal over chimmney).  I have found the guys at NC very helpful.  I am heating a 22000 sq ft house and DHW that is 12 yr old!  You mention having to pyut on a larger pump so that leads me to believe your boiler has a long run (I'm at 100' run .. 200" counting return and the stock pump is fine).  I agree with the other post .. check your temp at boiler output and at HX .. see what your losing . it may not be the boiler .. may be the install!!

[Firebug]

Thanks for the input.  My boiler is about 60-70 feet from the house.  I have it buried about 2-3 feet under ground with foam wrapped insulated pipe.  My boiler temp averages about 5-7 degrees above what the inside boiler temp is.  It's great that you are getting such long burn times.   Even with the warm weather the longest burn time I can get is about 10 hours, but that is very rare.  The only thing that I can think of is that I am heating with in-floor radiant heat and that there is too much water to heat for the OWB to keep up.  I think that although the boiler is approved for 4000 SF and I'm only trying to heat 2000 SF that it may in fact be to small to handle the job.  There is a possibility that I never did need to change the pump because it did not improve my situation at all.  Actually all the things that I have done have not worked so replacing anything may not be necessary at all.  At this point I don't see where I have a choice but to replace it with a larger size.  I like the idea of the Central Boiler getting 24-hour burn times.  Almost seams to good to be true.  How much do you open the flapper on your blower Steve?

[John D]

   I am easily getting 14-18 hr burn times with good wood on  cold nights. i usually have a log or 2 left as well.I have gotten 24 hrs 3 or 4 times now on the warmer days (30 at night,40 daytime).The last cold spell we had,it was 15 below at night,15 during the day,I still got 12 hr times.I also load the front only,30" long logs in a 50" long firebox.if theres an uneven piece left,ill shove it to the back,and stack fresh wood up front only. 
         Not for nothing your dropping more in 70 ft than i am in 110 ft,and I do not have top of line insulation,just the cheap solarguard 3 wraps around metal lined pex,and shoved in a 4" drain pipe.Mine is 4-5 ft deep though,its a little warmer down that far,but not much.About 30 ft of mine is hanging in the air,in my attic,and up side of house.I think your lines may be contributing,and you shouldnt have needed to upsize the pump unless your uphill a long distance,but even then the returning water running downhill should help draw the water thru with a siphon effect.

[Firebug]

The reason why I changed the pump and everything else that I did is because that is what the manufacture recommended.   It sounds like your boiler holds a lot more wood than mine increasing the burn times.  I also have been loading the wood in the front of the boiler trying to keep the fire away from the chimney that is about 3/4 of the way back in the middle of the stove.  I get so many sparks coming out of the chimney that I will be a little worried when the snow melts.  I'm looking forward to the heating season ending as I have used over 40 some face cords of wood this year and I'm not done yet!  My next mission is to find a good boiler for next year.

[sstan]

Wow .. still not sure what to say .. I have a 2007 model so I had no adjustment on myu damper .. retrofited it some to allow only a 1/4 gap when open.  I am amazed at the amount of sparks comming out the chimmney also .. just saw a post about something called an aqua stack .. a heat reclaimer for the chimney .. I may look into that.  But from reading this and other site no OWB is real efficient .. but I certainly am in line with what everyone else is burnning in other brands!  In fact I loaded at 7 pm last night and at 7 this moring still had half a load and it was 10 degrees last night..

[Firebug]

There is no way I could ever get that kind of a burn time while using the same stove you are.  If the outside temp was around 40 through the night it may be about the same but it would still not have half a load left.  What size home are you heating again?

[sstan]

My house is 10 years old .. pretty well built (did it myself) and about 2200 sq ft.  I use a water to water heat exchanger tied into my oil burnner.  I have the lower end pex burried 3 ft down .. my temp drop via an IR themometer checking on pex right after pump and after it comes into the house is only a 1 degree drop.

steve