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[Rob 165]

Selling my Shaver 165 on Wed and not sure what I'm going to do, except celebrate that the Shaver is gone.  RIP.  Good Idea very very poor execution.  I'm either going to put a natural gas hot water tank in my shop to heat my floor or buy a Nature's Comfort.

[Russ Brumit]

Selling my Shaver 165 on Wed and not sure what I'm going to do, except celebrate that the Shaver is gone.  RIP.  Good Idea very very poor execution.  I'm either going to put a natural gas hot water tank in my shop to heat my floor or buy a Nature's Comfort.

  I've had at least 50 people look at my Shaver and all have said good things about it. Most find it hard to believe that it can heat  the house,large shop,pool,and hot water in both. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.Mine works great.

[CORVAIRWILD]

I read this post, all 3 pages, and it makes me think about what I drive.

A 1984 GMC Suburban wtih the 6.2 Diesel, 250,000 miles, and a '93 Hyundai Excel, and I collect Corvairs.

Who could ask for a more re-knowned group of Orphan cars?

The Hyundai's were junk, I find the seats a little thin, otherwise it's a great car. The Suburban has the much hated 6.2. I have several of these, and don't have trouble, they just aren't as tough as a Cummins for instance. the turbo 6.5 takes a beating, but they're cheaper, so I just take it easy.


And the Corvairs. They leak oil, but they're the cheapest collectible out there, parts are plentiful, and they're economical too! Go fill up the tank on an SS396 Chevelle, or 383 Roadrunner. I get low 20's with my '64 4 Speed Monza convertible. I also have a Turbo Spyder, that gets 15, but has a racing engine!

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[oldchenowth]

I have only had one.  I really like my Wood Doctor HE5000.  I like the boiler plate, myself. I look at history, look at all the old skyscrapers and their boiler systems with the old coal burners.  Those guys made repairs without all of our new electronics and welders and etc. most are still producing heat 100 years later. IF it gets a crack it can be welded.  Rust is my only worry, but with the chemicals out there now, control of that is rather simple, as long as you take the responsibility of maintaining it.  Stainless in my opinion WILL crack, just when?
The HE5000 is a simple and effective design.  I get a clean burn with very minimal ash and my wood use is much lower than I had anticipated. Which was low to begin with!  I would definitely buy another WD. Granted this is my first season and first stove.  I would like to consider myself picky and able to recognize quality when I seee it, hence my purchase.  I think even the mild DIY'er could install this fairly easy, and talking with the Turples, I believe they will stand behind their stove.  If any of them want to continue to do business in the long run, they had better.  This forum is a good example.  You cannot hide complaints from customers anymore, IT WILL BE KNOWN!  That goes for any manufacturer of any product.  The net has allowed checks and balances.

Buy an HE 5000, you will be happy you did.

[CORVAIRWILD]

My wife and I have decided to got with a Waste Oil Boiler. I can get a good supply of used engine oil easier than cutting, hauling and splitting wood

[willieG]

My wife and I have decided to got with a Waste Oil Boiler. I can get a good supply of used engine oil easier than cutting, hauling and splitting wood

corvairwild, i am not here to bash you for not going with wood as i know a lot of folks don't want to cut and haul and stack and etc etc  and your choice is sure no business of mine and i wish you all the luck in the world with your new oil burner. my only question would be what is a "good supply" of used engine oil. do you have a realalistic idea of how much used oil you will need?
i can only guess it would be near what a regular oil stove would use. in my neck of the woods that would be a few hundred (if not more) gallons a season. that is a lot of oil changes and now  adays i think that many places will take all kinds of used oil, including tranmission oils, rear end oils. hydrolic oils and will pay most shops some money for it. I am only guessing but you might have some paying comitition for that used oil.


make sure your "good supply" is good before making a major purchase and good luck to you.
i do know our local tractor shop uses a stove lilke that and they say it works great but he does have a good supply of oil

[CORVAIRWILD]

The whole idea of these forums IS to mind other folks business. Otherwise I would make an uneducated decision, and wish I woulda' known the pitfalls BEFORE, but of course, then it's too late. So read, and comment, and be the Devils advocate... No problemo...

The house DOES have a very nicely built fireplace, stone over cement block, with gaps for air circulation aided by a hidden fan. There's also a wood boiler in the basement, next to the oil boiler. Maybe I'd put up with the wood required for the house, but we're buying the place because of the large warehouse, and that's heated by propane, I think, with direct ceiling heaters.

I'll have to buy a few "Modines". Prolly not a hard to find item, as they were made for a Zillion years. I do all my own plumbing, gas and oil installs, electrical, etc. So I can buy any used Junk, and make it work.

I plan to buy a 1000 gallon oil storage tank with a work bench work surface, and fill it during the summer, when oil shops have more oil than they can give away. In the winter, it'll be scarce, much like finding cord wood or wood pellets, or even oil!  I will fill out the load chart once we close the deal on the prop, and figure out what space I'll use, what's insulated, what'll be rented, etc. I may have the faom truck spray some uninsulated walls when we do the trench to the house for the buried water lines.

[74hodag]

I have an Aqua-Therm but I would get a Johnson if I had it to do all over.  Aqua-Therm sucks.  Their customer service is non-existent and the people they hire to sell their products don't always know what they're doing.  At least mine didn't.  He buried the pipes about 1 foot underground. He also didn't put a bleeder valve at the highest point of the system so we were constantly air locked.  The first year we had to fill it at least 4 times a day.  It was a full time job.  We tried contacting AT about the problem but they wouldn't answer an email and when we contacted them by phone we'd get put on hold forever after describing the problem.  I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure everyone knows just how crappy their customer service is.  Also, the fan flapper thing broke after 2 years and it 's riveted in so replacement is a pain.  They know how crappy it is so they charge and arm and a leg for a replacement.  Never, ever consider an Aqua-Therm.  They have absolutely no compunction about hiring dishonest dealers and they don't back up what they sell.

[MattyNH]

So maybe the furnace itself doesnt suck...Maybe its the people that installed it sucked and had no clue on what they are doing.. My lines are buried 3 feet..Did everything myself execpt  for the actual hook up..Hired my own plummer... Sounds like yours is plumb wrong where you getting air locked all the time etc....as far as the flapper thing..Come on 2 rivits really that pain in the ass?? Pretty easy to me.. yeah if u buy flapper through them u pay just like any dealer for any brand.. u can find them on the internet..Sorry you have a bad investment...For me one on the best investments..Beats paying big oil!