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[rugerman]

gasser or non gasser what does everyone think

[CountryBoyJohn]

Oh boy!  Now you done it!  Short answer: depends.  First, make sure non-gassers are legal in your state.  Conventionals may be illegal if under 350k BTU, or just out-right illegal.  Not to sound harsh, but there are gasser vs. conventional conversations already all over this forum.  To summarize: Gassers use less wood, generate less smoke, generate more heat per load of wood.  But, they require more maintenance, dryer wood, and are more expensive. 

I evaluated my situation and landed on a conventional.  I didn't have the $ for a gasser and I didn't want to feed 20% moisture wood because I don't have my own source of wood.  I have to obtain my wood from other locations and other property owners.  I still get about 10-12 months of season, but I don't think I get down to 20%.  A small part of me wanted to get a conventional because I wanted (in my own little way) to stick it to the EPA.  I am 100% legal with my stove, but I don't like products that exist because the government made a regulation.  I like free market products.  I'm sure there are plenty of products that I use everyday like that, but this one just struck a chord with me because it makes so little sense. 

[slimjim]

If you can stay with a conventional stove, no close neighbors and are not concerned about efficiency then the conventional stove will be less expensive, the gassers are a bit of a different breed and take some getting used to, I have both here on the property and regularly test new models for the company, I will be pulling out my old Wood Doctor conventional today and replacing it with one of our B-L series from P+M, I have run the P+M 250 for 3 years at different shows and it is remarkable but more than likely more money than you want to spend at this point, as a service / troubleshooting tech for the company, the simplicity, cleaner burn and tripple pass heat exchanger of the brick lined units that we have would make you a great choice but you are the guy with the checkbook and will need to determine where you would like to spend your money, look at them all and compare but really LOOK, don't take a salesmans word for it. Have you given up on your old boiler, I PMed Stienacher sales last night to see if he could do anything for you, no response yet but don't give up!

[slimjim]

Good post Countryboy

[yoderheating]

 Yea that is a hard question to answer. The money would be the first part of the answer, our gassers are costing  $7,300 which is a lot to spend on a furnace.
 A year ago I would have said conventional all the way but I have seen huge improvements in the way gassers are built. I really think that the leading brands are now at a point where the gassers are actually worth buying if you are looking for what they offer. Now if you have an over abundance of wood, don't care about a little smoke, don't want to split wood or burn dry wood ect then the conventional furnace is the way to go.

[Scott7m]

Gassers can be good, "can be" but it sure seems many folks are having a ton of issues with them.

They are also much more finicky to operate than a traditonal.  Last year it was always on my mind, what's my stove doing, did it bridge?  If they hang up just a little then you end up with a furnace that's not even as good as a regular conventional.   

I think for most folks conventional is still the way to go.  Unless there laws don't allow it.