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[chadley]

so in your opinions; how much difference do you think there is in wood consumption between a 1/4 and 1/2 in fireboxes?  Obviously temp, location, wood and all of those factors come into play.  But all things considered equal, what do you think the difference is?  1 cord a year 10 cords a year?

I'm considering the Earth's but I wish my Hawken dealer was the Earth dealer instead.  I'm not sure I like this Earth dealer nearby.

[woodfuel]

I think people are trying to say 25% more? So say you use 4 cords, 25% is 1 more cord.     8 cords, 25% is 2 more.

[Scott7m]

so in your opinions; how much difference do you think there is in wood consumption between a 1/4 and 1/2 in fireboxes?  Obviously temp, location, wood and all of those factors come into play.  But all things considered equal, what do you think the difference is?  1 cord a year 10 cords a year?

I'm considering the Earth's but I wish my Hawken dealer was the Earth dealer instead.  I'm not sure I like this Earth dealer nearby.

No matter the temperature, no matter the distance. None of that is going into the calculation, when you increase the firebox thickness 1/4" you lose 25% in efficiency.. 

If your throwing In 20 pieces of wood a day, the 1/4" box would heat your house The same on 15 pieces, so if you figure up for example 5 pieces of wood per day, and heating 200 days, that's 1000 pieces more wood up the stack.  As far as how many cord and such, have no idea, it just depends on how much your burning

[Outdoor Wood Furnace Info]

This thread was a great read.  Thanks for being gentlemen (assuming you are men - sorry if ladies), and thanks for sharing your collective wealth of knowledge.

[woodsmaster]

 I would agree with scott that the thicker steel will result in lower efficiency. The key to longevity
is largly threw monitering and treating your water.

[ffbare]

This is my favorite thread so far on this page. 

[Drivebymashing]

The earth 305 bear cub is 3/8 thickness that's what I have I love it!!

[ffbare]

Thanks for that driveby.  Im going to do some more homework on plate exchangers  the taco 007 pump seems kinda big but I'm going to read more about that too, I'm still learning.

[Steinacher Sales]

To All,

I've been listening to Dealers bash the Shaver time and time again. They must of been a pretty good product for Earth, Acme, and Natures Comfort to copy them to start their furnaces businesses. I sure they have changed some by now, but some units still look similar.

I have also heard that the dealer makes all the difference. I totally agree 100%. A good Dealer can get things done for his customer. I've always said a Dealer who truly cares is rare. I stand behind the Shaver Products and do right by my customers!

Greg Steinacher
618-401-0726
My Web: www.midwestoutdoorfurnace.com

[slimjim]

That certainly has been witnessed right here on this forum Greg, your corporate office should be proud of the way YOU handle things.

[Steinacher Sales]

Thanks Slim! I try!

[woodbutcher]

15 year old CB and still going but don't know how long. Has 1/4" steel firebox with a 3/8 bottom no grate.
It's starting to look bad being years of burning. Looking at something with a little more meat, like the 1/2" fire box. Once the metal is hot it stays hot. I'll try to give you and example, I'm a welder and when you heat a piece of 1/4' steel and a 1/2" piece, the thicker piece will take a lot longer to cool down. Same will be the case in the firebox. Plus I know after a lot of years of burning the firebox starts to break down.
On my CB the 3/4" floor shows no signs of any wear, but the walls and top of the firebox don't look so good. Cleaning the ashes out about once a month isn't bad but a pain in the butt, you have hot coals, and ash coming out the door and you get a face full of ash and still get some hot coals with the ash. That's why I'm looking a a owb with an ash pan.

[hondaracer2oo4]

Woodbutcher, I believe you are missing one piece of the puzzle on the heat transfer. You aren't taking into account the cooling agent(water in the water jacket) actively cooling or exchanging the heat from the metal, whichever way you want to look at it. When you heat a 1/4 piece of metal an a 1/2 piece of metal and then you pour water on it what is the difference in time that it takes for both to cool down? Not much difference. Scott7m has said before that he has been a part of some testing on 1/4 and 1/2 firebox thickness testing. He said that they found for every 1/8 inch thicker that you go you lose about 15% efficiency I believe.

[woodbutcher]

Scott seems to know a lot about OWB's but not a lot about steel. Your boiler don't cool down to outdoor temp's. There should be less than 10 degrees temp. drop in the water before the boiler kicks in. Just try to but your hand in the boiler when it is not calling for heat, well the steel is at that temp. of the coals and don't take a lot of fuel to bring it up to temp. and also the same is true as the heat is taken out of the water, it takes a long time to bring the firebox down. If thinner is better than buy a owb that is 1/8" thick and see how long the firebox lasts. A firebox with 1/2" steel will last a lot longer than one made of 1/4" steel, also if thinner is better than the owb makers would be making them as thin as aluminum foil.

[slimjim]

Woodbutcher, I will go on record agreeing with Honda as well as Scott on this one, a better way tostore heat is in refractory cement