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[Michaelriffel]

I am wanting some sound advice about bringing a outdoor wood furnace over to install in our house here in Japan.

No, we're not joking. The prices for heating is tremendous here if you really want a warm house and not just sit in front of a small heater with coats, hats, and gloves on (yes, many Japanese do this). For example- A moderate indoor wood stove(seen below) can cost over $7,000+; Fuel oil or propane heaters can cost $250-300+ a month to heat only a couple of rooms part of the day while the rest of the house is literally freezing.

Since we have been garenteed an unlimited supply of wood, we believe we could best heat our whole 1,350 sq.ft. home with an outdoor furnace and still end up spending much less even when considering shipping it over, extra parts, and installing ducting and heat exchanger. But will the thing last?

We live in a rural city with neighbors around us so would only consider a gasification unit. The Hawken's GX10 has stood out to me to be the best for what we are looking for although I still am considering a Portage&Main or Central gasser.

The Japanese gov. and local city office has given us the O.K. to bring a OWB over and use it. (apparently there is no reg. or law about outdoor wood boilers that are used to heat the home because they do not have them) They said it is fine as long as it does not bother the neighbors, however we would have to pay a 5% import tax on it.

I included a picture before I started remodeling the house, (All new Windows, plumbing, electrical, insulation, and drywall)
-Mike

[Scott7m]

If I were in your situation I'd be looking at the Empyre Pro 200 304 stainless gasifier.  It's the only 304 stainless one on the market.

I would never consider a hawken, but portage and main would be another good choice.

[slimjim]

Japan, how cold does it get there, I thought it was mostly tropical weather, 1300 square feet is not enough load for the 250 and not sure about the 100 even but that would be a lot closer to your heat load, find something more to heat, maybe the neighbors house's, yes I meant the plural

[Speed]

I wouldn't guess Japan to be tropical, I can see it getting cold there. This is neat. keep us posted. Great that you have OK from authority to try this.

[Michaelriffel]

I am in a Mountainous area in a Japan and it gets in the 5-10 degree range.
I thought most boilers were big for what I needed. But doesn't that help with having a longer burn time without having to fill it?

I would also really like to cut down on how much wood is needed but still not have to fill more than twice a day. If I get a smaller unit, will that still last as long and be relatively smokeless?

[Scott7m]

When it comes to gasification sizing def needs to be correct, over sizing can be bad news on a gasser

Empyre also has 304 stainless XT100's now that are small gasification outdoor wood boilers rated for homes up to around 2500 sq ft.  I heated my home last winter with one of them and it is 2200 sq ft, burn times were in the 12-14 hour range. 

When it comes to gasification empyre has a lot of good units, I think they have 6 or 7 EPA approved models now and that's far more than anyone else. 

[UKSmoker]

I read this site a lot but I rarely post. I do have to let you know, Michaelriffel, that a Pro Fab shipping all the way to Japan is just asking for trouble.
My neighbor had a profab 200 before he moved. He had troubles starting the first year when the box connecting to the blower rotted out from creosote. He's in Florida now but he gave the unit to me. He felt it would detract from his resale value. I've been slowly working through the repair in my spare time but it's been a long process. Every corner of the firebox has needed to be rebuilt. Most of the steel is just 1/8" thick. I would be embarrassed to try and sell this thing with my house too.
Not only did the firebox need to be rebuilt, I'm also going to have to rebuild the lower part of the structure that held the brick in place. I'll try to put a picture below.
I don't know about the Hawken you're looking at but my neighbor has one of their units and he loves it. When I showed him my profab project he laughed. If I had to pay for this thing I would have laughed too.

[UKSmoker]

The picture didn't show up in my last post. Here's the rusted out lower section of my profab200. The top part has already been repaired.

[Scott7m]

Did he run a system optimizer on it?!

Is that a greenwood or empyre branded unit

[cantoo]

Whatever you buy will likely be bigger than what you need for your own house. I would consider getting a bigger unit and heating several neighbour houses, this will make you money and make for non complaining neighbours too. The company I work for used to ship stuff to Japan so I spent some time I Japan but I was in more dense areas so no way would a owb work there. Wouldn't an indoor burner make more sense? You might want to contact us companies that regularly ship equipment over there and ship with them.