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[kc]

I am gearing up to install an OWB with my next step to pour a concrete pad hopefully in the next week.   I have what I thought was a perfect spot picked out - 50' from the house, near the driveway for convenience, and also downwind from the house as it is to the east.   But this spot is near a drop off going down into a hollow which is wooded.   If I continue with this plan this spot my stove will be 10' to 20' feet from the woods.   I have never operated an OWB and I am wondering if being that close to the hollow and woods would be a mistake.   Starting a forest fire would not be big fun.   Are there any precautions I can take to eliminate the risk or should I forsake the convenience and shorter distance and install it further back from the woods?

Thanks for any advice in advance...

kc

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[Scott7m]

I have installed furnaces practically in the woods with no worries.  What brand are you installing is a key question?  Some do have the potential to throw sparks out more than others.  My boiler sits 10' from an overgrown field

[kc]

I am leaning toward an Earth Furnace.   Either the Rancher 365 or the Mountain Man 505.  Solid looking furnace and affordable.  I have a friend who does boiler work and I am queued up to have him drop by and help me iron out the details of an install of hooking up my furnace, HWH, garage, and hot tub with sizing and component recommendations.   I have another friend who has a central boiler and that is a nice furnace too but kind of pricey.   I have read some about spark arrestors but I am not clear if they would help or hurt my cause (clogging up)...

kc

[Scott7m]

Best of lick on your decision.  I was tempted to buy earth to sell here on my lot.  They sent me a list of folks in my area to chat with who owned earth furnaces.   They were all happy but knew of folks not on the list that weren't, the more I dug, the uglier the picture got

[Johnv656]

I built my house in the middle of an 18 acre woodlot. I just installed a Hawken and have had no issues with smoke or the way it burns.
Been very happy with thier rep and the customer service I have recieved from the company, and the OWB works great, wish I would have installed 5 years ago when I built the house.

[walkerdogman85]

i  have a hardy and its sits right up to hundreds of acers of wood with  no problems, it does throw the occasional spark

[jrider]

Mine is located 22 feet from my house right on the edge of the woods and I haven't had any worries.  One thing I lucked out on that many don't take into considertation was to orient the door facing north when I placed it on the pad.  When you are loading, the smoke will be blown away from you much more than it will be blown into your face.

[husky 555]

My furnace sits about 10 yards from the woods (mostly pine) and has no cap or spark arrestor.  I have not seen a spark come out of the flue in five years.  The worst thing is the circulation of the wind.  Most of the time the smoke is blown into the woods but occasionally it will blow back towards my house.

[AirForcePOL]

i  have a hardy and its sits right up to hundreds of acers of wood with  no problems, it does throw the occasional spark

My Hardy throws sparks too.  I think the Hardys would be the worst just because of the design. Although the H4 has a plate under the exhaust exit right?  My H2 throws sparks quite a bit, usually they are out before the hit the ground. 

[rick w]

buy a portage&main ive had mine for 3 years and have never seen a spark come out of the stack yet with the smoke chamber system by the time the sparks hit the exit in the back of the stove they are cold.

[d conover]

I have not seen any sparks come out of my new H4, but I have only been running it for about 3 weeks.

I had a H2 for 12 years and saw lots of sparks flying .  I don't think I would want it that close to woods unless I kept the leaves raked away for several feet.
The h2 never did set the grass on fire though and it was surrounded by dormant bermuda which I think would catch fire pretty easy.

[walkerdogman85]

yeah my hardy h4 has the plate under the stack the only time i see the sparks is when i have the doors open just to get it burning hot but yeah the smoke in the face is overpowering some time but so far the hardy owb is one of the best things i have bought in a while wouldnt want to go back to burning inside

[AirForcePOL]

yeah, there's nothing to stop the sparks from flying on the H2.  Actually, the unit that i have was burnt up because of that exact thing.  Spark fell out and caught the wood pile on fire. 

Anyway, to the OP - I think you would be okay with most of the units out there.  A chimney extension might help midigate risk of sparks flying too.  I just wouldn't put a H2 in that location lol

[kc]

Thanks for the feedback guys.   I feel better about my chosen spot and I'm going to form it up tomorrow!

kc

[johnybcold]

My stove is surrounded by woods the clearing is big enough for the pad, the one thing I think is important is to try and get the display facing the house so you can see it without going to the boiler I have to use my binoculars from the house but at least I don t have to walk out there