Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: chadley on March 02, 2012, 06:37:24 AM
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Finally! I am purchasing a OWB. What time of year is best to install? I want to make sure its up and running correctly before next fall. Giving ground conditions, weather, time to install, time to work bugs out: when is the best time to install? Thanks,
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So what did you end up buying? I did my install in the early summer.
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Did mine in the summer, what are you getting?
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I'm doing mine right now. With mid 60-70 degree days its went good. Now we just got an inch + of rain so its a little muddy. If you can find a time its not going to rain that would be the best.
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I did some of the install in dec and jan when temps were -20. I fired the unit jan 14 2009. That was NOT a good time to install. I suggest doing it this summer and leave yourself some time to test fire and debug if necessary before the heating season arrives.
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Spring or summer is what I would recommend. It doesn't take long to install one of these units, maybe two days at the most on a standard hookup.
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ASAP
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As soon as you can form and pour a concrete slab. This will be better than gravel and definitely better that loading in the mud.
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I am all for ASAP, I started with months to spare and yadayada yada I got it going just in time
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I went with the Hawken 2100. I am all for the ASAP too. I don't want to wait. :P I'm ready to have it. My wife wont want to get it till fall since we won't need it till then. I'm going to try to convince her to go ahead and have it installed. I'm going to do a lot of it myself but the hook up to our water heater is going to be a chore so I'm having an istall guy do it. The rest I plan on doing myself. Wood cutting time now. :thumbup:
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I went with the Hawken 2100. I am all for the ASAP too. I don't want to wait. :P I'm ready to have it. My wife wont want to get it till fall since we won't need it till then. I'm going to try to convince her to go ahead and have it installed. I'm going to do a lot of it myself but the hook up to our water heater is going to be a chore so I'm having an istall guy do it. The rest I plan on doing myself. Wood cutting time now. :thumbup:
Way to go Chadley..Congrats on your decision......No more oil/propane man!..
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Congrats! Welcome to the owb club! Placing the boiler can be the last step so to keep your wife happy just wait to do that at the end. Plenty of plumbing, cement forming and pouring, hole cutting, trench digging and wood cutting to do in the meantime.
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Congrats Chadley, glad to see you made it through the storms yesterday. Should be plenty of wood down there to cut now.
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The install can happen any time. If you haven't already done so I would start loading up on firewood before next heating season so that you have nice dry seasoned wood ready when your install is done. You can never have enough and it is always better to get the wood when you want to rather than when you have to.
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mgw44,
no worries. I sell firewood as a side job and have 8.5 acres of woods with down trees right now I am cutting. I have 15 chords cut/split and ready to go for next winter and have plenty more to cut/split.
I just wonder. Assuming I had it completely installed in June; should I fire it up and see how it is going to run even though I don't need heat? Just curious. I don't want to wait until Oct.to fire it up and realize I have an issue that needs to be dealt with and miss out on savings/heat. What do you guys think?
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mgw44,
no worries. I sell firewood as a side job and have 8.5 acres of woods with down trees right now I am cutting. I have 15 chords cut/split and ready to go for next winter and have plenty more to cut/split.
I just wonder. Assuming I had it completely installed in June; should I fire it up and see how it is going to run even though I don't need heat? Just curious. I don't want to wait until Oct.to fire it up and realize I have an issue that needs to be dealt with and miss out on savings/heat. What do you guys think?
Without heat being drawn off over a day or two you won't be able to tell anyway. Chances of something being wrong are pretty slim I'd think
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I wouldn't fire it up that early. It might be a good idea to fill with water and make sure you don't have any leaks with your plumbing. Then add your chemical let it cycle for awhile, then turn off your pump and wait.
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I would certainly fill it with water and get everything running without a fire but I wouldn't put wood in it until October. There is no reason to put ash in the firebox until you need the heat.
mgw44
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If you have your domestic hot water hooked to it I would go ahead and fire it up and run a few days, take some long hot showers and check for problems.
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I agree with gspren..........