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[slimjim]

Not trying to be an alarmist but has anybody on here seen the news lately, 8 weeks ago Brent crude oil on the world markets was priced at 86 dollars per barrel, yesterday it closed at over 109. With our mostly warmongering government threatening an attack on Syria and the threats from other surrounding nations including Russia and China, anyone not burning wood this year gets no pitty from me. I'm  truly sorry that our boilers are not within your budget as I think most will agree on here that PM is a great value but if it is not affordable to you then buy another brand and get it in for your families sake. I will say also that when buying a stove, a new stove will come with a warranty, and service through a dealer, used? choices, choices,choises. do the install right, good pipe etc. the stove can be replaced down the road, you won't want to do the install over again because you cheaped out on it the first time.

[nstueve]

yea after looking at some prices and trying to compair units I started to look at the Earthwood 360. I was trying to compare apples to apples here but that seemed hard to do.

Estimated costs just for units...

The ridgewood 6000 = $3700
Earthwood 360 = $4600
Shaver 165 = $3600
Empyre 250 = $5500
Heatmaster 3000 = $5500

Ok so lets throw out the ones that are too expensive for use after install and shipping costs... Empyre and Heatmaster

Lets also toss the Shaver 165 due to low quality and having to fix stuff.

Leaves us with the ridgewood and Earthwood. Yes there is a $900 difference in price on these however the Earthwood is 235gal vs the Ridgewood at 164gal. Also the Earthwood has the bottom ash pan that I would like to have. I also noticed if you bump to the 7500 Ridgewood the water capacities are almost the same and the price is $100 more for the Earthwood.

If you wanted to compare apples to apples you would want to do the Bear Cub 305 and Ridgewood 6000 which are the same price.

So does someone what to take me through the Ridgewood and Earthwood design differences since that seems to be the way I'm leaning. Also will the smaller Bear Cub and Ridgewood suit my needs?

[nstueve]

Not trying to be an alarmist but has anybody on here seen the news lately, 8 weeks ago Brent crude oil on the world markets was priced at 86 dollars per barrel, yesterday it closed at over 109. With our mostly warmongering government threatening an attack on Syria and the threats from other surrounding nations including Russia and China, anyone not burning wood this year gets no pitty from me. I'm  truly sorry that our boilers are not within your budget as I think most will agree on here that PM is a great value but if it is not affordable to you then buy another brand and get it in for your families sake. I will say also that when buying a stove, a new stove will come with a warranty, and service through a dealer, used? choices, choices,choises. do the install right, good pipe etc. the stove can be replaced down the road, you won't want to do the install over again because you cheaped out on it the first time.

Agreed... I don't care for paying on a fuel source I can't control the price on. Also I agree with the install advice b/c I have heard it 10x now to use the "good stuff" on piping and such so I only have to do this once. I'm hoping that 1 boiler will cover me for 20years of use but who knows. I'd like to get it in this winter but it may end up that I will buy the supplies to run the pipe and power to where I need it for a boiler install. I don't know how much LP is going to be left in the tank when we take over the property in 2 weeks but if it;s close to full we might run propane this winter and keep the house cooler than normal. Perhaps if I install all the piping and electrial when we move in then I can wait on the boiler until we can afford a good one next spring. Lots of choices and tons of other things pulling my $$$ out of my pocket for this house to get ready for the winter.

[slimjim]

In my personal opinion, you are on exactly the right track, congratulations on the new home, best of luck and keep up the posts.

[fryedaddy]

I think you're going the right direction.

Getting away from the gas is the first step.

Step #2 is buying and maintaining your stove. I have no experience with any of these brands but the customers seem
more satisfied with Ridgewood & NC. I've never personally viewed a Shaver but have heard complaints about not being able to keep treatment in them. I think it's due to the stove boiling over a lot, could be wrong.

Keep the treatment in it and clean it regularly. I've witnessed several stoves lasting 20+ years and I've also witnessed
several lasting 5 due to maintenance.

The fellows who have given you input previously are some of the more helpful people on the site.
Listed to their advice wisely.

[nstueve]

Yeah after doing more and more research I think I have settled on a Earth 360... I just need to know how to afford a $5k boiler and all the hookups!

[fryedaddy]

It's not fun but you will thank yourself in the end.

[Speed]

I think the 360 will do you a fine job. I imagine it should handle an outbuilding for you in the future, also, if you choose.

I really don't think the bear cub is apples to apples with the Ridgewood other than the price, though. They only recommend the bear cub for small houses, not giving a sq. ft.  would make me pull back from trying to heat a house you described in your area. The RW 6000 would handle the house, I'm certain, but that extra 70gal from the 360 leaves you with some extra capacity.

[nstueve]

I think the 360 will do you a fine job. I imagine it should handle an outbuilding for you in the future, also, if you choose.

I really don't think the bear cub is apples to apples with the Ridgewood other than the price, though. They only recommend the bear cub for small houses, not giving a sq. ft.  would make me pull back from trying to heat a house you described in your area. The RW 6000 would handle the house, I'm certain, but that extra 70gal from the 360 leaves you with some extra capacity.

Yeah, The extra capacity will be nice and hopefully that will just help hold the house temp over the cold nights. I probably won't be having this heat an out building just due to have the property is set up. 350ft of underground line to the shop sounds like a pain and extra $$$. I have an old double barrel, air to air, wood furnace I'll put in the shop for now...  However, I will probably run a couple spare heating units off this set up. Like a heater for the garage and maybe heaters for the upstairs bathrooms depending on how evenly the house heats with the current HVAC system and vaulted ceilings everywhere...

Anyone want to suggest a good garage heater? It is supposedly 22'x28' but I haven't laid a tape to it. It also has a vaulted ceiling that slopes, so ceiling height is 9ft on the short side and 14-16 on the other side... Radiant or another heat exchanger with a fan? I don't need it 70-75 in the garage... just 50-60 maybe if I'm working out there for a while...

[Scott7m]

We carry a little small 50,000btu shop heater with built in fan etc that is great for that size shop. We sell them for around $329.00. There pretty quiet compared to most unit heaters

[slimjim]

The shop heater is one of those places that it's ok to cheap out, may I suggest that you look for a cheap or free mobile home furnace, drop a coil in it, use rubber heater hoses to connect to your copper or pex from the boiler and to the coil,this keeps the heater mobile by adding 2 lawnmower wheels to the frame and the squirrel cage blower is far quieter than the off the market fan rads. This is what I do at the shows to dump the heat from my boilers. cheap, mobile and very effective.

[yoderheating]

 Sometimes its easier to compare firebox size than the ratings different companies put out. If you are looking at a basic furnace without anything to make it more efficient I would say comparing firebox size is fair. I priced a job this week where the competition priced a furnace that was extremely undersized but claimed it was able to do the job. The job included multiple buildings and at least 11 radiant heat zones plus domestic hot water and one forced air system. When you compared furnaces I was pricing a MF10,000 and their unit was smaller than a MF3000 and I was comparable in price. Its a common practice among stove manufactures and dealers to do what it takes to make a sale, just be cautious and do your own research.   

[Speed]

When I built my garage heater, went on eBay and bought a 20x20 hx. Then go to the local heating and cooling place, they'll make you a box to fasten on back of hx, ask if Theo have any old squirrel cage fans around. They gave me one free. Cut a hole in top and fastened fan on top and hung it on the wall. Don't blow fan directly through hx, you want to pressurize it so air flows through the whole coil evenly. Total cost $115 for hx, $20 for tin box, fan free. And a few 2x4's to hang it.

[Speed]

Let's see if this picture will work, so you can see it.

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]

[chillyhiker]

Wow speed that is a sweet looking unit...I Will have to build something like that for may garage.