Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers WITH EPA-Certified Models => Central Boiler => Topic started by: Oakhillhounds on August 02, 2015, 02:36:58 PM
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Anyone have intell on the new central boiler edge ?
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I have tried unsuccessfully to get some info from the dealers that I know personally and they can't or won't divulge anything and don't have any on their lots, I'm not sure it has been tested for EPA approval yet either!
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a little info on their site:
http://www.centralboiler.com/products/classic-edge/ (http://www.centralboiler.com/products/classic-edge/)
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I've had my CB for 16 years and it has preformed great. But the new CB seems to be concentrating on all the high teck stuff. I'm replacing my CB next summer with a HeatMaster MF10000e. I looked at at-least 10-12 different makes and found good and bad in all of them. I liked the HeatMaster the best. You don't need all the fancy gismos to run a boiler, they won't put the wood in for you.
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I've had my CB for 16 years and it has preformed great. But the new CB seems to be concentrating on all the high teck stuff. I'm replacing my CB next summer with a HeatMaster MF10000e. I looked at at-least 10-12 different makes and found good and bad in all of them. I liked the HeatMaster the best. You don't need all the fancy gismos to run a boiler, they won't put the wood in for you.
Unless it is a commercial application and not heating a house, you better buy it now. You will not be able to buy a new one next year and probably getting hard to find any left now.
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OK after a quick look, at the link; I wonder why people would buy the 550 (an extra $1500, for 8k btu/hr)
I also do not 100% like the fact that they only have 1 set of 1.25" ports on the unit. There would be a lot of fittings, check valves and flow issues I have to worry about if more than one structure is being heated
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OK after a quick look, at the link; I wonder why people would buy the 550 (an extra $1500, for 8k btu/hr)
I also do not 100% like the fact that they only have 1 set of 1.25" ports on the unit. There would be a lot of fittings, check valves and flow issues I have to worry about if more than one structure is being heated
The 550 will hold about 1-1/2 times the wood which should give 50% longer burn time.
Most likely the reason for the single ports is because of flow inside the boiler. Nature's Comfort has been doing it since 2009 and it is not a problem.
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I've had my CB for 16 years and it has preformed great. But the new CB seems to be concentrating on all the high teck stuff. I'm replacing my CB next summer with a HeatMaster MF10000e. I looked at at-least 10-12 different makes and found good and bad in all of them. I liked the HeatMaster the best. You don't need all the fancy gismos to run a boiler, they won't put the wood in for you.
Unless it is a commercial application and not heating a house, you better buy it now. You will not be able to buy a new one next year and probably getting hard to find any left now.
Got my order in and will be buying before Dec. deadline.
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I have tried unsuccessfully to get some info from the dealers that I know personally and they can't or won't divulge anything and don't have any on their lots, I'm not sure it has been tested for EPA approval yet either!
Have you tried talking to the CB dealer in Dover? I know he has some Edge's on display.. The prices are kinda surprising according to the CB web sight..
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A friend of mine gave me this info on the Classic Edge 550:
Tested at .31
Downdraft through a nozzle in the floor like most gassers, no firebrick in reburn area.
Exhaust goes up around some waterfilled tubes with chains hanging in between. Chains are accessed by removing chimney elbow cap and are shaken with a poker to knock down residue.
Exhaust appears to be separated from firebox by bolt on panels...????
Uses firestar controller.
Very very basic design. Who knows, maybe they have figured out something??
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A friend of mine just got one (550) delivered this week. He'll hook it up sometime next week (I plan on going over and supervising!). Very simple design-similar to Portage and Main minus the horizontal tubes. The heat exchange area looks like it might be very hard and time consuming to clean in the event you're forced to burn wetter than ideal wood (you must take panels out from the primary burn chamber to access the heat exchange area).
Anyone using one yet?
I've gotta say....they are priced very competitively on their web site. Not sure what my friend paid for his unit though.
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I've had my 550 up and running for about 2 months now. All in all, seems to be running pretty good. Really impressed with how little smoke these gasifiers put out. Burns a lot less wood then my old 5648 did too I had originally planned to purchase an eclassic to replace my aging 5648, but these came out this summer and were a lot cheaper. After a rebate and dealer discount, it was priced nearly the same as a simillar sized conventional stove.
Haven't had to remove the access panels to get at the exchangers yet. And from what I was told, may never have to( maybe end of year cleaning?). Theres chains hanging through the exchanger that you slide back and forth with the poker that knocks off any ash that accumulates. I may at some point this winter, let the fire die down and pull them out just to have a look, but so far after 2 months, I've noticed no loss of performance using only the chains.
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Thanks for your feedback Pointblank!
I really am impressed with the design of the 550, as it kinda follows the KISS slogan. ;D
I'd be real tempted to buy one if I didn't have a spare P&M Optmizer 250 on hand as we speak.
Central Boiler has this unit priced where it should sell like mad.
I am really looking forward to my friend getting his up and running. As far as gassers go, Portage and Main are the most popular in this area.
I've seen CB's 1400 and 2300 in operation, and I think your 550 will not be anywhere as finicky to operate as they are.
A few more questions for ya, if ya don't mind.
What king of heat load are you putting on your boiler? (sq.ft.,insulated well?)
How much less wood does it consume than your old ripple top? (50% less?)
If you fill it completely, will it last 24 hours?
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Ya, i think the main thing thats been holding back the new gasifiers has been the price tag. These are priced where the old conventional stoves were at and should be easier to work into peoples budgets. Hopefully the design proves out over time.
Im heating a smaller home, DHW, and a shop. The house is a little over 1000 sq ft main floor + 1000 sq ft finished basement. 2x6 walls, R44 ceiling with decent windows. The garage/shop is 30x48. 2x4 walls, probably around R22 ceiling. I keep the garage between 45 and 50 unless I'm out there working on something.
Its been a very warm fall so far here in Minnesota so its hard to gauge wood usage compared to my old classic. If i were to guess, id say its somewhere between 1\3 - 1\2 less wood. I'll get a better feel for it in the coming weeks once it cools down and I'm finally putting a load on the stove.
As far as burn times, ive been following a 12 hour burn schedule, and usually fill less than 1\3 full. But its been warm and ive been mixing in some popple and pine along with some oak. The few nights its gotten down around zero, 1\2 full has been more then enough to get through the night.
Looking forward to some cooler weather so I can see what the stove can do.
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Haven't had to remove the access panels to get at the exchangers yet. And from what I was told, may never have to( maybe end of year cleaning?). Theres chains hanging through the exchanger that you slide back and forth with the poker that knocks off any ash that accumulates. I may at some point this winter, let the fire die down and pull them out just to have a look, but so far after 2 months, I've noticed no loss of performance using only the chains.
Thats an improvement over the Eclassics isn’t it? I only really looked closely at one and that was in near blizzard conditions, looked like you dropped one end of the cleaning chain in the tube, then got underneath and pulled it thru if it wouldn’t go thru on its own?
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How about some pictures, Pointblank :pic: I have yet to see a cut out diagram or any up close pictures of these units. The CB website doesn't give much information on the Edge.
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I should have taken some photos of the inside of the stove before I started it up but never did. However, If you go to Centrals website there's a brochure on the Edges that you can download. In there is a fairly decent cutaway picture that shows the workings of the stove.
And ya mlappin, the eclassics have some kind of scraper or cleaning tool hooked onto a chain that you pull through the exchanger to clean it.
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Finally got the chance to see my friend's Edge up and running.
He'd added wood about an hour prior to my arrival. It was cycling when I walked up to it.
Very impressive! Positively no smoke at all. :thumbup: His reaction temperature was 1580*F.
Pointblank, does your reaction chamber continue to climb the longer that you use it?
Mikes started out in the 1200* range 2 weeks ago and continues to climb daily. Is that normal?
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1500's hotter then I've been able to get mine. Best I've seen is around 1400, but I've been mixing in some semi-seasoned popple along with my dry oak and ash. Started mine up back in november and ya, my temps climbed as I learned the stove, the coal bed improved, and temperatures dropped enough to put a decent load on it. Started out im guessing around 900-1000 degrees and climbed to1200+ once a good coal bed was established.
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I still couldn't be more pleased with my Eclassic 2400 I've been burning since 2010, but if I were in market for an OWF today the Edge looks like a great unit at a great value price. The Edge 750 which is sized like my E2400 is selling for under $10,000. They look great up close in person. CB has a lot of great informational videos on their website featuring the Edge if you have not had an opportunity to see one yet.
www.centralboiler.com/explore/videos/
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boilerman, thanks for the link to the videos. They were very informative. Roger
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I purchased a 550. Coming off pellet heat and haven't burned wood for probably 10 years. I looked at other brands and liked them as well but one of the main reasons I went with it was that I have a supporting dealer 18 miles from my house and it's all he does. I also had to be cognizant of my neighbors. Still a few weeks out from startup. If anybody with an edge has more to add to help a newbie it won't go without appreciation.
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Panalo - I'd be glad to help you any way I can. Been burning Eclassic for many years. Burns about the same as your new Edge. My buddy ran an Edge last heating season and the Edge seems to be even easier to run and maintain. Best tip - Watch all the new Edge owner videos that came with your new owner pack before you fire it up. They will eliminate most of the learning curve if you follow their instructions.
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Thanks! Gets delivered on Thursday so I can finish my install. Hopefully have my buddy out this weekend to set my thermostat wires and make sure I still have back up heat if I go down. Pretty excited.
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Thanks! Gets delivered on Thursday so I can finish my install. Hopefully have my buddy out this weekend to set my thermostat wires and make sure I still have back up heat if I go down. Pretty excited.
panolo - Like any of the eclassics, to best understand them I would suggest read the manual (I know, unmanly thing to do). :) Roger
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I have an Edge 550 up and running for 3 weeks here in Northern Ohio. Highest chamber temp I have seen is 1250 and was curious if that temp should hold or if it always drops to 200 plus at idle on your guy's stoves.
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I have an Edge 550 up and running for 3 weeks here in Northern Ohio. Highest chamber temp I have seen is 1250 and was curious if that temp should hold or if it always drops to 200 plus at idle on your guy's stoves.
Dropping into the 200's between burn cycles is normal. You'll only see the high reaction chamber temps when the stove is calling for heat.
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Pointblank - How's your Classic Edge 550 Titanium running for you? The day after Christmas was such a beautiful day I decided to take a bit of time to check the primary air channels and primary air elbow. I was pleasantly surprised to see how little creosote had built up in them. I think it was less than an 1/8 of an inch thick. Just for giggles I took one of those paint scrapers and removed what there. With the elbow, I removed it and put it back on, nothing gathering in there. Comparing this to the E-Classic 1400 I had before this one, there is no comparison, the Edge 550 is by far a much simpler unit to clean and operate. Roger
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Roger, This is my 5th season with it now and its never ran better. They came out with a kit last year to upgrade the front air channel to match what the new stoves are like and it made a difference. Creosote could run down behind the old channel and would eventually plug things up. Usually had to shut down once or twice a year to clean things out. There's a drip edge in place now that solved that problem. I'm also running it hotter this year with a larger temp swing. Ive got it set at 190 with a 15 degree differential. (Vs 185 and a 10 degree swing). The hotter temps and longer burn times seems to lead to a drier firebox. Were nearly 1/2 way through the season already and its showed no signs of plugging up and theres minimal creosote in the primary elbow now. Ill probably open it up just to have a look, but im hoping to get a full season out of it now without having to shut down and clean.
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Now that I've inspected everything I'm not shutting down again until the end of the heating season when tuck it in for the summer.
Take care of that thing and have a Happy New Year!
Roger