Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: csnow on February 05, 2011, 10:16:33 AM
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Thanks for looking at my post, I have been browsing around here for a few weeks and just signed up. Here is my situation. I have a 1684 sqft house with 9 ft cielings and a full basements. The house is rated as an energy star house. I currently have a 75,000 btu propane furnace that heats it along with a heat pump. The basement has radiant floor heat in it which is not hooked up do to propane and electric cost. I also have a 28x36 attached garage that would like to heat with the owb as well, it is not inuslated or finished at this time and would be hooked up down the road. I live in central ohio North of Columbus. As of today I have burned through about 450 gals or propane. My question for you guys is, how much wood do you think I would burn in a whole season, I know it probably depends on what owb I go with, but just looking to see if for some reason I cant get enough cut and have to buy it that I will still be saving some money. thanks and I am looking forward to hearing from you
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Plan on a lot of wood, as in several cords.
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I would say it all depends on a lot of factors.Just like you said.Depends on what type of OWB you get,regular or Gasification?,How bad the winters are?How well insulated your home is(I know you said it is an energy star :thumbup:)Also what type of wood you burn,Seasoned or green?hard or softwood?
I am sure others will chime in with more experiance on the yearly wood use.As I have just been running my gasifier since january.
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Judds- you beat me to it! ;D
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Basically, if you decide to get a wood boiler, whether gassifier or not, start with several cords of wood. If you don't use it the first year, you'll use it the next.
If you're worried about wood consumption, go with the gassifier. They will use less wood and heat your house just as well. Though the expense is higher upfront, the cost of operation will be less if you're purchasing wood. Even if you're cutting up your own wood, you could probably buy a cord for every 2-3 hours of OT you could put in at your regular job.
That being said, I have a regular OWB. It uses a lot of wood. I'm also a tree guy, so I'm getting paid to cut the wood anyways and I need to dispose of it somewhere. I love my OWB, but, when I build a house someday, I will have a gassifier installed. I will probably buy a Garn because they are the easiest to operate from what I've been reading. Plus they look pretty cool.
Some things to think about.
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Here's my take on it.... If you have the time to cut the wood, or maybe you don't have the time, but are willing to spend the time, then get an OWB. My house is a little more than 5000 sq ft. I used to burn propane and spent at least 300 to 400 per month in LP. I was using it to run two furnaces for my house. I kept my thermostat at 68 and at night, went down to 60. My basement was always cold.
Now I heat my basement floor (I ran the lines when I built the house just in case) my garage floor and 2 heat exchangers for the furnaces. I go through about a cord every two weeks. Cut and split mixed and old dead wood. Anything I find laying down in my 20 acres of woods. If I had to buy the wood, I would still do it because I'd be at 300.00 per month, but I have a real warm basement, it stays about 77 or so, my main floor is always 74 and my garage is always 60. There's never ice or snow within about 1-2 feet of my garage door, and it just feels toasty warm in my house all the time, plus I love the smell of burning wood.
Now I could turn the thermostat down in the garage... I could also finish installing my thermostats in my basement to even that out a little, but I've gotten spoiled. You have a smaller house, and is probably better insulated than mine. You should go through less wood because of that. And if you cut your own wood, you will save a bunch of money. This is the first year Ive had to buy wood, but I'm still ahead of money.
I have a CB6048 and have no complaints at all about it , but I think pretty much any well known stove will be fine. I spent around 10,000.00 on my stove and all the extra stuff that it needed which includes all plumbing, both HX;s, rental of the trencher cement pad etc...
It should have paid for itself this season or next I can't remember.
Keep in mind though, I'm sure you realize it's alot of work to get all that wood and then there's all the loading and stuff. I load mine twice a day at 6 am and 6pm, but it's well worth it in my mind.
Good luck!
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I would say it all depends on a lot of factors.Just like you said.Depends on what type of OWB you get,regular or Gasification?,How bad the winters are?How well insulated your home is(I know you said it is an energy star :thumbup:)Also what type of wood you burn,Seasoned or green?hard or softwood?
I am sure others will chime in with more experiance on the yearly wood use.As I have just been running my gasifier since january.
Well i did some btu comparison earlier after I made this post and according to my finding, for the 450 gals of propane I have used at 91,600 btu i would need approximately 4-4.5 cords of wood depending on the wood and moisture content. but this is also just for heating the house not the radiant floor and also does not take into consideration and heat or btu loss while the system is idle, I would like to get a gasifier, figure if i am going to spend the money might as well do it right. thanks for the response so far.
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If you build an insulated "wood" shed, you can get an indoor gassifier and put it in the shed. For instance: Eko-40 (http://www.cozyheat.net/Orlan-EKO-40-Full-Installation-Kit_p_311.html)
One thing to keep in mind is that gassifiers may be eligible for a tax rebate of up to $1500. That might help you make up your mind.
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I thought the $1500 tax rebates ended in 2010.
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They did. And, as everyone, knows government(I mean u and me) is out of money. Who knows, if it will be renewed. I would definately go with a gasifier. I would lean toward an outdoor unit because wood does not have to be cut so small. I like mine.
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They did. And, as everyone, knows government(I mean u and me) is out of money. Who knows, if it will be renewed. I would definately go with a gasifier. I would lean toward an outdoor unit because wood does not have to be cut so small. I like mine.
Well maybe by the time I decide something they will have another rebate
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According to the Central Boiler web page..There is a $300 tax credit for 2011...You also got the option of a pellet owb..My bro inlaw has one..Thing works slick.. So you got that option, than doing the hard labor of wood..Just fill the hopper once a week and your good to go..
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According to the Central Boiler web page..There is a $300 tax credit for 2011...You also got the option of a pellet owb..My bro inlaw has one..Thing works slick.. So you got that option, than doing the hard labor of wood..Just fill the hopper once a week and your good to go..
Isn't buying bags of pellets kinda defeating the purpose? Were they able to point you to the credit? Haven't heard this one yet.
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According to the Central Boiler web page..There is a $300 tax credit for 2011...You also got the option of a pellet owb..My bro inlaw has one..Thing works slick.. So you got that option, than doing the hard labor of wood..Just fill the hopper once a week and your good to go..
Isn't buying bags of pellets kinda defeating the purpose? Were they able to point you to the credit? Haven't heard this one yet.
What kind of purpose you talking?...I buy my hardwood by the grapple.. Only free wood is the junk wood
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how much wood is in a grapple? and do you buy it cut and split or in logs? in my part of ontario (canada) if you buy fire wood it ends up not much cheaper (if any) than heatig oil
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how much wood is in a grapple? and do you buy it cut and split or in logs? in my part of ontario (canada) if you buy fire wood it ends up not much cheaper (if any) than heatig oil
6 to 8 cord is in a grapple....really depends on how the trucker stacks the log length wood in the truck.. I buy wood in log length.. If I was to buy the wood already processed id be paying $180+ for a cord of hardwood..Much cheaper processing it myself..Wood is always cheaper than oil..Just a matter of the labor part...
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I own only 2 acres with very little trees on it and have never bought wood in my life. Look around and you will find free wood. Check with guys who do tree trimming, I know a guy who is willing to give me all I want.
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I have a 1400 sq ft farm house built in the early 1900's with minimal insulation. My wife leaves the thermo at 75 day and night. My rough calculations are I have gone thru 3 - 4 cord (full) since October. I have a gasifier and I live in Michigan with a lot of open fields around me (windy as hell most often) I would guess I would have gone thru 300 - 400 gallons of propane per month in the colder months = $1500 - $2000 to date. Mind you these are just rough guesses, but I cannot see being without my owb ever again. Granted I have access to free fire wood so my cost of operation is way low. Up front was a different story. Stove, rad, insulated pex, pump, pex, fittings, custom plenum, trenching, etc. , I am staring at about $9200. I plan on heating my pole building next year so my consumption will increase, but so will my savings on gas. In my humble opinion, it's a no brainer, fly OWB gasifier. I don't think I have made a better long term decision, ever. Choose your brand wisely, and I believe it will pay you back ten fold.
Rich
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I own only 2 acres with very little trees on it and have never bought wood in my life. Look around and you will find free wood. Check with guys who do tree trimming, I know a guy who is willing to give me all I want.
I own 2 acers of land myself..But Im for the most part wide open.. I do get a fair share of free wood like pine and popular..But no one gives hardwood for free unless its a big ass tree that no one wants to deal with.. I have called tree contractors in the past.. Have yet to see a drop of wood..I know I can get junk wood all day off of craigs list..
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My personal opinion is this: I do not turn down any free wood, period. Any wood that tree trimmers bring me is good wood to me. All wood puts off heat. pound for pound-pretty similar. I have never paid for wood although I have traded labor once or twice on jobs I would have done for free( friends).
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Pine actually puts out more btu per pound than hardwood.
Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound.
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Pine actually puts out more btu per pound than hardwood.
Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound.
true on that..but doesnt last as long as hardwood does in he dead of winter...
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My personal opinion is this: I do not turn down any free wood, period. Any wood that tree trimmers bring me is good wood to me. All wood puts off heat. pound for pound-pretty similar. I have never paid for wood although I have traded labor once or twice on jobs I would have done for free( friends).
I hear ya on that..free wood is free heat/hot water for sure...I never turn down free wood...
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Pine actually puts out more btu per pound than hardwood.
Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound.
while that may be true, 5 lbs of dry white pine takes up a lot more space than 5 lbs of dry white oak
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I have a 1400 sq ft farm house built in the early 1900's with minimal insulation. My wife leaves the thermo at 75 day and night. My rough calculations are I have gone thru 3 - 4 cord (full) since October. I have a gasifier and I live in Michigan with a lot of open fields around me (windy as hell most often) I would guess I would have gone thru 300 - 400 gallons of propane per month in the colder months = $1500 - $2000 to date. Mind you these are just rough guesses, but I cannot see being without my owb ever again. Granted I have access to free fire wood so my cost of operation is way low. Up front was a different story. Stove, rad, insulated pex, pump, pex, fittings, custom plenum, trenching, etc. , I am staring at about $9200. I plan on heating my pole building next year so my consumption will increase, but so will my savings on gas. In my humble opinion, it's a no brainer, fly OWB gasifier. I don't think I have made a better long term decision, ever. Choose your brand wisely, and I believe it will pay you back ten fold.
Are the gasifiers picky about the wood as far as being split or whole?
Rich
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My gassifier doesn't seem to do as well when I use 15 inch+ wood. I split anything that large or bigger.
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I cut all my wood 25 inches..due to what size my wood splitter can split....
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My gassifier doesn't seem to do as well when I use 15 inch+ wood. I split anything that large or bigger.
Thanks for all the responses, I'm really thinking of getting one just got to figure out what one, maybe I'll start buying misc parts, to help ease the price pain.
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Pine actually puts out more btu per pound than hardwood.
Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound.
Yea, I had some earlier in the year that I would only throw a piece or two in with a full load cause it burned so hot. I think it was the same species that they make those starter sticks out of.
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I save the big rounds for when overnights are cold, like last night at -12. still -4 right now.
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Woo-hoo!!! Up to +1F!