Print

[cando attitude]

Well, I set out to buy an efficient conventional boiler and I guess I've done that with the Portage and main BL 28-40 but I did consider a gasser (at the time was looking at a CB 1450) and can't help but to wonder if I should have or still should yet move to a gasser.  Looking for thoughts of those that perhaps have moved from conventional to gasser.  Are you happy with it?  How much did your wood consumption decrease and perhaps most importantly, would you do it again??

Thanks, Cando

[yoderheating]

 I burned a Heatmaster G100 as well as a G200, both are phase2 furnaces. I have also burned 5 different conventional models. Personally I lean toward a conventional furnace simply because I like to burn everything including green wood. Now if I was only going to burn dry split wood then I would definitely go with a gasifier.

[slimjim]

I run a P+M 250 at our shows and love it, I run a P+M wood chip boiler at home and love it more, I also have my old Wood Doctor extra large (5 foot firebox ), burns anything I put in it, for 10 years as a backup in case the chip boiler malfunctions or I'm at a show, it is the boiler that got me involved in OWB's so I LOVE it, That being said, I also have a 5 year old Biasi SG5  oil burner in the basement, same vintage Roth double wall oil tank and over $1000 dollars of selkirk insulated stack on the gable end of my house, No oil has ever been in the tank or burner motor(insurance company wanted a backup)  I HATE OIL!

[Maxnchej]

Well, I set out to buy an efficient conventional boiler and I guess I've done that with the Portage and main BL 28-40 but I did consider a gasser (at the time was looking at a CB 1450) and can't help but to wonder if I should have or still should yet move to a gasser.  Looking for thoughts of those that perhaps have moved from conventional to gasser.  Are you happy with it?  How much did your wood consumption decrease and perhaps most importantly, would you do it again??

Thanks, Cando

I Cando,

[CountryBoyJohn]

I went out of my way to AVOID buying a gasser.  I live in Indiana, a Phase II state, so I went with a slightly larger stove than I needed in order to legally purchase a conventional stove.  I don't have the real estate to stock pile 2 years worth of wood to season and lower the moisture content to acceptable levels.  I'm lucky to get 1 year of seasoning right now.  Last year I ran short of wood, cut some ash and tossed it in.  Wood collection for me is fun and enjoyable, so "saving" wood with a gasser isn't a strong argument for me.  I empty my ash pan once a week and my bypasses once a month.  I call that low maintenance!  It's conventional for me all day!

[bruey]

I went with the old style, new ones I think are to much trouble, I have room to store wood but I burn lots of rotten and mostly crap wood early in the year and with the new gasified stoves I would not have much chance of that. From what I here in July the only stove you will be able to buy are the new ones nation wide.

[Hammersquash]

I am running an Empyre 200 gasser and so far things are great.  I really like the stove and I am very happy with the burn times and consumption although I have read there are problems with these units.  I guess time will tell....  I have not used any propane or Oil since September and have only had a bridged firebox twice this season and it was my own fault.  Once you get the grasp of an inverted fire and what will happen to the wood over time it's a snap.   I have most likely two and a half years worth of wood I processed this spring.  It only takes a summer to season it if you stack it right and burning green wood is a waste of BTU's anyhow.
  My only complaint is the size of the firebox.  I suppose the design maximizes it's efficiency but it would be nice to be able to jam a bit more wood out of it.  I try to keep my burn times to a convenient 12 hours but depending on ambient temperature I get 9-10 hours.  I process some pretty ugly pieces of wood so getting the box tightly packed it difficult with the small loading door. 
  I bought a unit that has to work a bit hard to keep up to all my demands.  From what I read you don't want to purchase a gasser if you want it to idle all day so I did some math to try to find one that would manage my house during the day and night and start rippin when I called for heat in my shop.  I am basically pulling 65,000 BTU's off zone A and 100,000 BTU's off zone B.
  I personally would rather the entire system to run lean.  It optimizes wood consumption, increases BTU's and lowers cleaning time.  Due to some of the complexities and design of the stove I do not want any creosote problems. 
  My shop is huge so I have a wood furnace and used oil stove in my shop to supplement heat if my air handler can't keep up.  So long as I am not paying for fuel I could care a less about the extra work. 

[Belknap]

I have a Empyre Pro 400 gasser that I have been running since last year.  I am heating 8000 sq ft and it works really well.  Last year I ran out of wood in March so I had to burn some green that I had cut in January and it burned it fine.  It did make some more creosote but I mixed it in and had no problems.  I have not had any problems with the airbox on mine like some others.  I think the key is having a good load on the boiler so it doen't sit idle for very long.  I am running 180 on and a 5 degree diffenrential.

[cando attitude]

I appreciate the input guys. 

I've not been running the BL  very long but I have to say that it's really easy to maintain and keep a fire going.  Even on really warm days, the blower design snaps the fire back to life and off she goes.  I've noticed a couple of others on the site recently inquiring about what to buy.  One of the things that had me concerned with the BL is the relatively low amount of water (90) gallons, relative to the competition that I was first looking at (CB 5036), which holds 195 gallons.  Since I've been running with it, I have NO worries about the amount of water in the boiler.  Even with a high load, the fan in the heat box snaps the temperature right back to set point.  I now  better understand the damper design and thus need for a large reserve capacity of energy.  I have 4 buddies who all have 5036's and I'm the oddball who chose a P&M.  Currently I would choose this stove again, although I will say that all 4 really have not had any problems with their CB's.

I purchased the BL because I knew I did not have the time/space to store and season the 10-12 cords of wood I think I will end up using this season.  I guess it's the technical part of my nature that the gasser appeals to.

[mlappin]

I have a conventional now, will be building a gasser soon, hoped to have it done by now but have had 'issues' this fall.

They are required in Indiana if you buy one, but homebuilt is exempt (for now). The thought of greater efficiency is whats driving me in that direction. I'm constantly tweaking stuff around the farm to gain efficiency.

Main reason is I had a few people tell me that I couldn't when the subject came up so of course time to make em eat crow.

The less firewood is also very appealing, my Father is on his second artificial hip, has an artificial knee, has had both shoulders worked on for torn rotator cups, and has degenerative disc disease, I hope to be in much better shape when I'm 67.

[cando attitude]

Mlappin, good luck with your build.  Keep us posted of your build progress and share a few pics along the way if you don't mind.

[Jwood]

Mlappin, good luck with your build.  Keep us posted of your build progress and share a few pics along the way if you don't mind.

He has been sharing 
 http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=6505.0;topicseen

[mlappin]

Mlappin, good luck with your build.  Keep us posted of your build progress and share a few pics along the way if you don't mind.

He has been sharing 
 http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=6505.0;topicseen

Yep, not exactly a wood burner but a boiler none the less.

Weather is craptacular at the moment, rained for most of yesterday and last night, was hoping it would stay cold and dry needed less than a week to get done with harvest. Gonna order the SS double walled insulated stack in the morning, need to double check my measurements and just too freaking windy to even climb a ladder today.

[ecc_33]

I have had a empyre pro series 200 for a season and a half. Love the burn times and is easy to clean. Have had problems with the forced draft box as others but also am going to be building a big shop in the next few years and was the reason for the 200. More demand and less idling helps a bunch imho. I always check weather at night to see what the temps will be like and load box accordingly. Makes a big diff.