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1

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Still in the research process

« on: January 12, 2010, 01:20:48 AM »

if you want to save money and have time , build the pex your self. i did for the cost of around $220  . only get 4-5deg heat loss at 100' distance.hx 400k btu flatplate and circ,-plus fittings ,copper etc, im at maybe $1000 and thats high. however i did pay $440 for taco 14oo series pump for constant circ pump from furnace to house to bring my total up. not sure if u get one when u buy a factory built .

how do you build the pex yourself? 

2

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Looking to buy OWB

« on: January 12, 2010, 01:11:22 AM »

what kind of heating do you have now ie. forced hot air, radiators, baseboard, radiant, ect.  it is important to know..  my father runs wood with a natures comfort 175 for about 2000 sqft but he uses radiant heat in the floors... can run water temps around 130 and get great heat... I have a 3500 sqft home and a small office that i heat with an ncb-250, when i used wood, it works like a charm...coal not so much...  the natures comfort is a great wood burner... wood that is.  their prices were reasonable i thought.   i have fin-type baseboard and radiators and require higher water temps.. 160 min to be effective, 180 even better but not necessary. 

I have forced air I was not awaire that the delivery system for the heat plays a role in what size OWB I should get.
Thank you to everybody's input. I have 25 acres and plenty of friends with land so getting wood is not a problem. I've used about 3 cords so far this winter in my insert. That's also running my furnace.
Has anyone looked at houserwelding.com. A local welder who is making OWB. One drawback I see is they have no ash pit/pan. I would need to let it burn out to clean ashes. Would this be a big deal? The price is right, and I like supporting local economy. However I want to buy the right unit the first time.
Thanks again for everyones help!

3

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Looking to buy OWB

« on: January 05, 2010, 10:03:20 AM »

I'm heating a 2240 sq ft house that was built around 1880. I use an insert that will burn about 3 1/2 hours whitch means I get up once a night to put wood on it. I use my 19 yr old propaine furnace as a back up. I called for propaine yesterday it's $3.40/ gal. Ouch! I have used about 250 gal so far this winter.  I can only get the main living area to about 58 deg during the day. unless I want to crank the furnace, but I figure I could burn money cheaper. I have been looking at OWB for about a year now. Information overload.

Finally my question: can anyone recomend a brand?
Money plays a role I've looked at CB they seem costly. Looked at shaver look good. Any issues? I've also looked at Houser welding. Any thoughts? Other brands people like?