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[jwrj78]

Here are pictures of the OWB that is in my neighbors shed that he is not going to use. He bought it a couple years ago and due to health problems he is not going to mess with it. It was used to heat a house( not sure the sq. footage, but it was big) and dhw. The only reason it was sold was because the solar panels caused the roof to leak on the house. I am buying a OWB and had it narrowed down to two or three different ones until I found this one. Its not very pretty but with a little tlc it may make something. Any advice will be appreciated.

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[jwrj78]

Heres more. .  There are 4 and a half of the solar panels


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[jerkash]

I don't want to call it Junk because I don't know if it is and I'm sure it's workable, but it seems to me there is gonna be one problem after the other with this unit.  Of course some people love agrivation.  I personally hate it!

[rosewood]

Don't really think they consider that a owb .I believe those are usually in basements as a wood stove / boiler because of the water coil in them .also not insulated and weather tight.could be put in insulated shed and use to heat larger water tank  ,if it is free or cheap it wouldnt hurt to try.

[beeman]

cant call it junk you should see mine it looks to be a closed unit very scary building presser did it have a expansion tank with it if it is a good price (free) the solor panels would make for a fun project

[NewToIt]

Looks more like what falls into the "furnace add-on" category of wood burners.  These were meant to sit in the basement of your house, next to your existing furnace, and then be plumbed into it.  With that said, I do have two friends that use these in alternative ways...... since it is not designed for withstanding the weather.   One of them built a small shed to enclose the unit, which sits about 15 ft from his house, then pipes the hot air into his house and through the existing duct work.  The other has it in his unattached garage (about 15ft from house) and pipes the air in while also heating his garage.  Both gentlemen like the extra heat, but both complaining of having to manually adjust the draft to maximize heat output vs. burn times.  They are always out there fooling with it because it's either burning too hot or too cold.  To keep it simple, I won't share some of the other problems/complaints they have on here right now.  If you want more info, let me know.

None the less, it would heat the heck out of a 2 or 3 car garage or small barn!!!

[MrDan27611]

I have had that exact boiler for 30 years. I'm about to replace it with a Portage and Main because my heat load is exceeding it's capacity by quite a bit (it's about 120,000 BTU, I need over 200,000). It's a perfectly fine boiler and does what it was intended to do. I'm not sure about the uninsulated comment as mine is insulated and holds it's heat perfectly well. Aqua II had a good reputation in this part of the world until they went bust. As for fiddling with it a lot, maybe I'm unfamiliar with how easy new ones are but I don't recall fiddling with it much. It's not a forced air furnace so you do have to adjust the drafts but that gets to be pretty easy and it's just like a fireplace insert, lots of air while starting the fire, then choke it down once it's hot.

Mine has a water capacity of 500 gallons. It also has multiple heat exchangers built in which is nice. After 30 years, with no water treatment, the boiler still works fine with no corrosion cracks or leaks. We've NEVER treated our water with any additives. I had two stress cracks welded in an area I could describe to you if you're interested. They are easy enough to check.

This boiler is NOT intended to go outdoors. It should be protected from the elements however ours is in a small building detached from the main house. This was done so you can build a matching house to the main house and you don't have a metal box sitting in the yard belching smoke, a wife pleasing setup. This boiler is not up to today's standards in efficiency but in looking at every boiler made over the last 12 months, I don't see where I'm sold that the new ones are THAT much better. They are better, but it's not night and day based on what I've seen. I'll have a much more informed opinion when I get my new P&M installed here shortly.

At best, that boiler is worth $500-1000, probably more like $500. That's not including the panels.