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Home Made / Opinions and information
« on: November 18, 2014, 10:11:57 AM »
There will probably be as many different opinions on my questions as there are snowflakes in a snowstorm, but I gotta start somewhere!
Last year I bought a Hawken OWB as I didn't have enough time to build my firewood processor AND an OWB, and I could afford to buy an OWB but not a processor, so I concentrated on the processor. For those of you interested, the Hawken has performed as they said it would altho it chews thru the wood pretty fast. That's understandable tho, considering it's heating upwards of 10,000 UN-insulated square feet. I went thru about 20 cords last season from the second week of January until the first day of May.
Anyways, I'm going to build the next OWB that I will use to heat my shop, office and a new living area that has yet to be built. My questions are general in scope:
1) How much bigger in diameter should the water jacket be in comparison to the firebox?
A lot of the builds I see, and some of the manufactured units as well, have the water jacket only 6 to 8 inches bigger around than the firebox. I would think the more water, the better, but my thinking may be flawed in this regard.
2) Is it better to pull the heated water off the top of the OWB or the bottom?
Again, I have seen both methods used in both the home made and manufactured OWB's.
3) Should the chimney pipe come out the top of the OWB, (vertically), or out the back, (horizontally to a 'tee', THEN to the vertical position)?
I'm sure the answer to these questions will lead me to MORE questions, but I'll keep it short for now.
I appreciate any of you taking the time to give me your insights!
Last year I bought a Hawken OWB as I didn't have enough time to build my firewood processor AND an OWB, and I could afford to buy an OWB but not a processor, so I concentrated on the processor. For those of you interested, the Hawken has performed as they said it would altho it chews thru the wood pretty fast. That's understandable tho, considering it's heating upwards of 10,000 UN-insulated square feet. I went thru about 20 cords last season from the second week of January until the first day of May.
Anyways, I'm going to build the next OWB that I will use to heat my shop, office and a new living area that has yet to be built. My questions are general in scope:
1) How much bigger in diameter should the water jacket be in comparison to the firebox?
A lot of the builds I see, and some of the manufactured units as well, have the water jacket only 6 to 8 inches bigger around than the firebox. I would think the more water, the better, but my thinking may be flawed in this regard.
2) Is it better to pull the heated water off the top of the OWB or the bottom?
Again, I have seen both methods used in both the home made and manufactured OWB's.
3) Should the chimney pipe come out the top of the OWB, (vertically), or out the back, (horizontally to a 'tee', THEN to the vertical position)?
I'm sure the answer to these questions will lead me to MORE questions, but I'll keep it short for now.
I appreciate any of you taking the time to give me your insights!
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