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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Thinking of getting a owb but have some questions for you guys.

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:23:54 AM »

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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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Thinking of getting a owb but have some questions for you guys.

« on: February 07, 2011, 03:34:52 PM »

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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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Thinking of getting a owb but have some questions for you guys.

« on: February 06, 2011, 07:04:13 AM »

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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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Thinking of getting a owb but have some questions for you guys.

« on: February 05, 2011, 04:22:53 PM »

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 )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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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Thinking of getting a owb but have some questions for you guys.

« on: February 05, 2011, 10:16:33 AM »

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