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[RSI]

The 250 is a similar design. Just look inside the firebox and you will see the waterjacket around the chimney. There are no actual tubes. It does not go any higher than the main waterjacket and the water is pumped through it. (internal water flow, can't see that). The 325G has a much longer jacket around the chimney than the 250 because it is a taller firebox.

I think you will find most people like whatever brand they have until it has something go wrong. I used to have a Pacific Western and thought it was good till it cracked. After the experience with them I would never even consider any boiler built in Canada.

[rhugg]

I'm looking at the Natures Comfort also but leaning towards a Legend.  For you the Legend may be interesting as it is made in N Carolina, a modification to a Taylor as I understand.

[osentoskifirewood]

The more moveing parts the more welding more electronics and ash pans more prolbems! Talk to lot of people with diffence stoves. Hawken stove in simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






                                          jonserd 2188
                                          jonserd 2172

[MattyNH]

The more moveing parts the more welding more electronics and ash pans more prolbems! Talk to lot of people with diffence stoves. Hawken stove in simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






                                          jonserd 2188
                                          jonserd 2172

 

                 Aqua-Therm a very simple furnace as well ..Only moving parts is the pump, fan and the solenoid that lifts the flap off the fan...

[RSI]

As you can see most people will say whatever they have is best. What it really comes down to is it is a firebox with water around it. Not rocket science. There are only so many things that can be different and most don't make that much difference.
Personally I wouldn't consider anything without an ash pan and forced draft from under the fire. I also wouldn't consider anything made in Canada if you consider the warranty worth anything.

These are just my opinions but I did use a Pacific Western for 8 winters which is where they came from. If you asked me about it 5 or 6 years ago, I would have been it not knowing what I know now and how much better they work with a grate and ash drawer. 
If you find pictures of a pacific Western, compare it to other brands still on the market. There are a lot of other brands that look very similar. I don't know if they are coming out of the same factory or just copies but I sure wouldn't want a copy of a bad design.

If you get a quality built boiler that has been robot welded the welds are probably the strongest part of the boiler.

[Scratch]

RSI is right... There's not much too these things.  I think the biggest difference in stoves is the fan or no fan thing.  And not very many more differences than that.  Either way, you're gonna find everybody will probably defend their brand to the death... RSI likes the ones with the fans... I personally don't.

I think any of the brands listed on this forum would be much better than burning gas.  Either way, you'll save a ton of money.

[MattyNH]

RSI is right... There's not much too these things.  I think the biggest difference in stoves is the fan or no fan thing.  And not very many more differences than that.  Either way, you're gonna find everybody will probably defend their brand to the death... RSI likes the ones with the fans... I personally don't.

I think any of the brands listed on this forum would be much better than burning gas.  Either way, you'll save a ton of money.

            Good call...Its like buying a car..Ford, Chevy, or foreign..Bottom line is they all serve the same purpose - burn wood and not foreign oil..Im a huge fan of all OWBS..I think its great when someone invest in one..Some are simple.. some are more advance ..like buying a car lol..Either way all are great....

[merrellroofing]

Maybe you guys can help me make sense of this.
 CB 6048-390 gallons Rated for I think 5 or 6000 sq.ft.
Hawken 10000-360 gallons rated for 10000
Burnrite 228 gallons-rated for 6500
Portage&Main ML36 190 gallons rated for 8000
Natures Comfort 325 gallons rated for 8000

  I know they like to inflate the sq.ft. rating and I have seen both sides of the argument.(More water you have to heat less times, less water heats quicker)
I got a decent price on a P&M ML36 and I have heard good things about them but not sure about 190 gallons heating 8000 sq.ft.  I think I am going to check it out this weekend.  Also, opinions on P&M.

[yoderheating]

 
  If I was looking for a furnace I would throw all the manufactures hype out the window and look at the design. First you want a furnace that will produce a hot fire because it will burn cleaner and more completely uses all the btu's in the wood. You can get this from either a furnace that uses a forced draft preferably below the fire or by using a secondary burn chamber ( a gasifier). Secondly you want some way of transferring this heat into the water. Stay away from furnaces where the smoke travels a very short distance before exiting the furnace. You want to be looking for baffles, bypasses or some other way of capturing the heat produced.

[gspren]

   I have the P&M ML30 and it makes a lot of heat. My dealer has the ML36 heating his house and 2 shop areas. The P&M stoves named here are not gassifiers but they do force the air up through the ashes to make a hot fire and the smoke has 2 long horizontal runs through the water jacket before going out and up at the back. I have had mine going for 2 months now and have never seen a single spark come out of the pipe and that is burning without a chimney cap. That tells me they are capturing most of the heat. There are plenty of good stoves, my only other recomendation is to stay away from stainless fire boxes as stainless is a poor transfer of heat and as such will warp and crack faster than a carbon steel box. Good luck.

Gary

[victor6deep]

I went to see a hawken 2100 in action last night. There is a new dealer about ten minutes from my house.  He just had installed at christmas and it is his first unit so most here have more knowledge on owb than me or him.  I thought it looked pretty good except it looked like the fire caulk around the chimney was already burning out.  I assume you get that with any model that pipes thru the roof.  And when the fan kicked on, man was that thing smokin. 
  I also got a price from Burnrite, Which is here in Mt. Pleasant.  They have a very similar model to the 2100. It is built much stronger and is almost twice the weight of the 2100. I saw the smaller models from burnrite and was very impressed, but the price on the big one was almost 9g's and only a 10 year warranty.  But to me it looked to be far superior build quality than the 2100.
 

I have a burnrite and like it a lot. As far as strong built not many can compete. I looked at a cb but do a search on craigslist and its full of people wanting to get rid of their used central boilers. So figure it out I guess. As far as a hawken they seem nice but a stove to me is all about weight cuz steel weighs LBS.

[baldwin racing]

Maybe you guys can help me make sense of this.
 CB 6048-390 gallons Rated for I think 5 or 6000 sq.ft.
Hawken 10000-360 gallons rated for 10000
Burnrite 228 gallons-rated for 6500
Portage&Main ML36 190 gallons rated for 8000
Natures Comfort 325 gallons rated for 8000

  I know they like to inflate the sq.ft. rating and I have seen both sides of the argument.(More water you have to heat less times, less water heats quicker)
I got a decent price on a P&M ML36 and I have heard good things about them but not sure about 190 gallons heating 8000 sq.ft.  I think I am going to check it out this weekend.  Also, opinions on P&M.

like mentioned stay away from stainless my old royall made it 4 years and cracked on alot of welds.........not shure on there new models?.........my neighbor has a p&m thats designed for 8,000 sq ft. very nice unit....very well built and heavy duty,  his owb is about 4-5 years old now and he's had to have a blower motor changed this year.....first thing i think he has done to it that i know of......other than maintance....good owb in my book....
 I like my indoor that runs off draft ,no blower and works really well.....(www.nationalstoveworks.com) there website they do make out door also....if your intrested....if not no big deal.....they are a good company to deal with and they do back there products..... good luck and let us know what you get....
kelly

[Johnv656]

I have a Hawken 2100 and love it so far, First year on it, but went with them because the customer service has been great on getting answers to questions and they even came out to help with an on-site evaluation for location and set-up options. Did the install myself and they were more than helpful when I would call with a question.
They have evn checked to see how it has been operating since the install.

Our CB dealer in the area is more interested in the sale, I have 2 friends with thier boilers and they say trying to get service is like pulling teeth.

As far as Burnrite, I was very interested in thier stove. But when I called up the salesman to talk about them and go look at one in use, he was to busy. Tried to set up a couple of appointments to go look at them and he was always to busy.
I figured with this kind of customer service I definitly didn't want thier product.

[merrellroofing]

Update.  I bought a 1 year old used cb 6048.  Guy was losing his house and just wanted payoff.  On my second season and wish I would have done it long ago.  I might have bought a burn rite but the 228 was the biggest model at the time.  Their dealer lives 1mile from me and I visited him a few times.  Even after getting a good deal I still have 10,000 into it, but it was money well spent.