Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers WITH EPA-Certified Models => HeatMaster => Topic started by: yoderheating on January 24, 2011, 01:10:59 PM
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I sold the Heatmaster 3000 that was heating my home. I wasn't planning on selling it but had a guy who really wanted it. I think I am going to install a G200 gasifacation furnace and try it out. I will try to post pictures and info on how it goes. This is going to be the first time I've personally used a gassifier to heat my house and I'm pretty excited.
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Fired up the new furnace tonight. I was really impressed, it started gasifying about 10 minutes. I filled it up with a mix of oak and pine. Hope to have some pictures by the first of the week.
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Awesome! I sure would like to see some pics of your new gasifier. :thumbup:Definatly keeps us updated on how she does.
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Yea, I have a weekend class both Saturday and Sunday and don't get home before dark so pictures are going to have to wait until next week.
Jackel440, I have to say that you inspired me to make this change. I have been somewhat skeptical of gasifacation but your enthusiasm must have rubbed off on me. :)
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I, too, am interested in hearing how the unit works. I have been doing my research on this for months and I intend to go with a gassifier system. I am in MO and there is a HeatMaster dealer in my area, but this was the first I have heard of their G200 gassifier and I cannot find any info on it anywhere online.
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Yea, I have a weekend class both Saturday and Sunday and don't get home before dark so pictures are going to have to wait until next week.
Jackel440, I have to say that you inspired me to make this change. I have been somewhat skeptical of gasifacation but your enthusiasm must have rubbed off on me. :)
Well I am glad you were able to take inspiration from my build thread. :thumbup:
I have to say I am loving how well my stove is performing.I want to say it seems to be sipping the wood.Even though I have not had a regularOWB I have researched enough to know that they eat wood.I am glad your stove is working out for you. :thumbup:
Now I don't know how yours is designed,but you will want to check your refractory passages for any build up of fine ash that doesn't exit out the stack.Maybe every couple of weeks or so.Till you learn how it is going to run.
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The G200 isn't built exactly like some of the other brands. It is a down draft unit but the bottom is really easy to clean. Takes about 10 seconds once a week to get the ash out. I intended to have pictures up by now but I can't seem to get home before it gets dark.
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Well, the days are getting longer now.....slowly.
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Pics required.LOL!!!
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Yoderheating, the 300 that you sold...what were you heating with it? Sq footage and age of home etc. if you don't mind? and whats the comparison like with the new gassification unit?
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I was heating about 1600sq ft, poorly insulated 90 year old house. The G200 has cut wood consumption close to half of what the MF3000 burned.
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Ok, now there is a lot more daylight......how about those pictures of the G200?
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Yoder, wood consumption is half...wow. I don't heat with wood yet but that is a reason to consider g200...Why would you choose the HE model instead if it saves that much work on cutting and chopping? or is that only because it was 1/2 against the 3000? and would be less than half against the HE?
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gassifiers and wood consumption question....
back when i was looking at stoves (way before the gasification models were born) most all dealers said their stoves were in the range of 60 to 65 percent efficient (some experts set that number to only 50 percent)
so now along comes the gasifiers..and these same dealers are saying you will use half the wood your old stove did...mmmmm. if i used 10 cords for the winter, with my old stove and now if i buy a gasifier i will use only hlaf as much (only 5 cords) that sound good but i am puzzled on the efficiency? there is no way that a stove can be 100 percent efficient and if my old stove (as the dealer said) is 60 or 65 percent efficient then am i right in thinking that if my new gasifier will use half the wood it must be twice as efficient? that means my new gasifier is 120 percent efficient? all these promises seem to confuse me, or is my thinking all wrong here and someone can set this wood consmption thing straight for me and any others that may be as confused as me
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good point willieg, I think wood furnaces(old) are probably more like 35 to 45 percent eff. and gassifiers might take em up to 65 to 75.. wood be my guess...but my point is even if its 10 cords a year down to 6 or 7...I like the concept...now just sell me on the price.
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You guy's really need to find someone who owns a gasifier and go take a look at it under full gasification. They are so cool to watch operate. I was a little bored at work about 6 or 8 weeks ago and I took an hour or so and built a rocket stove. They are a natural updraft gasifier. You can't believe how hot they get. After about 15 minutes of operation my infrared thermometer won't even take a reading(907*F upper limit). If you have a good, modern, conventional boiler with a lot of heat transfer area, you will cut your wood consumption by real close to half(roughly 45% in my case) with a gasifier. I agree with NCredneck about the thermal efficiencies of the old and the new ones. They all make impossible claims. When mine is under full load, it is supposed to be operating at 2000*. I've checked my exhaust temperature and it's at just over 300*. That's already a 15 percent loss. There are also many more factors involved, and in my mind the most important one would be boiling out the moisture present in the wood. I don't remember the numbers, so I'll apologize in advance, but I think a pound of wood contains about 8500 BTU's(dry). At 20% moisture it takes around 17 or 18% of the available BTU's to boil out the water. Even if we say that number is 15% and you tack on another 15% going up the exhaust, in my book that puts you down to about 70% at best. That's a far more realistic as far as I'm concerned.
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I agree with ya'll that most wood furnace companies greatly exaggerate the efficiency of their furnaces. If I had to simply guess the old style furnaces (firebox without grates, air intake in the door, exhaust basically going straight out the chimney) run around 45%-55%. The newer furnaces ( grates, air in from bottom and top, bypass system to cool exhaust) run from 65%- 70%. Most of your gasifiers are going to be in the 70% to 85% range. The problem with the gasifiers is that the rating system used by the EPA was found to be inaccurate. Under that system companies could reach more than 100% efficiency which is impossible. So we still don't really know exactly what kind efficiency these gasifiers are running.
From my experience with the furnaces I sell I can get close to twice the burn time out of the G200 gasifier compared to the most inefficient furnace I have ever burned. I have not burned one of our HE models, however my father-in-law did heat his old farm house with one last year. From my estimations the HE models will us maybe 10% more wood then the gasifier. The advantage of the HE is that it will burn junk wood better, it will burn coal, and it is much easier to clean. The gasifier doesn't produce much ass but it is harder to clean. About once a week I clean out the tubes with the brush theat came with the furnace. I then scrape any ash out of the secondary burn chamber. I wouldn't have to do this every week but I have noticed it is most efficient when everything is kept clean. With the HE model you just pull out the ash pan and dump the ash every few weeks and every few months run a hoe through the upper bypass to knock out any ash buildup.
I don't want to discourage anyone from buying at a gasifier. They seem to be the best furnaces on the market today. What concerns me is that so many people start neglecting their furnace after the newness wears off, say maybe a year or so. You can't do this with a gasifier. If you let ash build up in the secondary burn chamber you start blocking the air flow and that just kills your secondary burn. I guess what I am saying is that if you are the type of person who does a good job at maintaining equipment you are an ideal candidate for a gasifier. If you are looking for something to throw wood in once a day buy a traditional furnace.
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I agree with ya'll that most wood furnace companies greatly exaggerate the efficiency of their furnaces. If I had to simply guess the old style furnaces (firebox without grates, air intake in the door, exhaust basically going straight out the chimney) run around 45%-55%. The newer furnaces ( grates, air in from bottom and top, bypass system to cool exhaust) run from 65%- 70%. Most of your gasifiers are going to be in the 70% to 85% range. The problem with the gasifiers is that the rating system used by the EPA was found to be inaccurate. Under that system companies could reach more than 100% efficiency which is impossible. So we still don't really know exactly what kind efficiency these gasifiers are running.
From my experience with the furnaces I sell I can get close to twice the burn time out of the G200 gasifier compared to the most inefficient furnace I have ever burned. I have not burned one of our HE models, however my father-in-law did heat his old farm house with one last year. From my estimations the HE models will us maybe 10% more wood then the gasifier. The advantage of the HE is that it will burn junk wood better, it will burn coal, and it is much easier to clean. The gasifier doesn't produce much ass but it is harder to clean. About once a week I clean out the tubes with the brush theat came with the furnace. I then scrape any ash out of the secondary burn chamber. I wouldn't have to do this every week but I have noticed it is most efficient when everything is kept clean. With the HE model you just pull out the ash pan and dump the ash every few weeks and every few months run a hoe through the upper bypass to knock out any ash buildup.
I don't want to discourage anyone from buying at a gasifier. They seem to be the best furnaces on the market today. What concerns me is that so many people start neglecting their furnace after the newness wears off, say maybe a year or so. You can't do this with a gasifier. If you let ash build up in the secondary burn chamber you start blocking the air flow and that just kills your secondary burn. I guess what I am saying is that if you are the type of person who does a good job at maintaining equipment you are an ideal candidate for a gasifier. If you are looking for something to throw wood in once a day buy a traditional furnace.
Lol at Yoder's gassifier producing ass..... I was thinking, dang gotta get me one of those....got a good chuckle!
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LOL, that was an unfortunate mistake. :)
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LOL, that was an unfortunate mistake. :)
How was it that you made that mistake,and not me? That is something that I usually do. Nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks one way but types the other. I read that twice this morning, but never caught it.