Nick87
Well-known member
With the new house I'm thinking of putting in a wood burner to heat the house, F#$k propane nothing I enjoy more than cutting and splitting wood on a cold winter day anyhow. Any suggestions ?
Outdoor wood burning furnace
- Thread starter Nick87
- Start date
Gellar
Well-known member
I wanted to go that direction. Some days I still wish I did. If you want to heat multiple buildings it’s a good option. Do you have an area to cut enough wood? A lot of people I talked to that had them had had trouble with the floors rusting out.
Nick87
Well-known member
Finding wood should be no problem. Eventually it will heat my shop when I win the lottery.
I have a couple friends who had outdoor boilers. They have all replaced them with other means of heat. The average wood consumption for those beasts was 30 cords (4'X4'X8') per winter. If you have your own wood lot it will help. Each guy was heating a detached two car garage, two story house, and getting his hot water needs from the boiler. The good thing is that you can burn green wood. My BIL had a hunting accident one year and did not have any wood cut ahead of time. I spent most of my free time that winter cutting firewood for him.
Scott85
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When I lived in WV most the guys I worked with had them. A few of the guys burned all year long to heat their hot water. As others as said they burn a lot of wood. Some advantages are no mess inside your house. At least with hardwood you only have to fill them up twice maybe 3 times a day. They can heat your hot water.
seeth07
Well-known member
When we put an addition on our house over the old food cellar (my house was built in the 1800 and still had the old school cistern and a dug tunnel through a door in the basement as the food cellar) we decided to dig out the cellar and extend the basement where we could put a wood burner. Near the same time, we also got rid of the old oil burning furnace and put in a high efficiency propane furnace setup with a 150 gallon tank. Both decisions have worked out very well for us. Our setup allows us the ability to keep the wood mess confined to just that area of the basement and its great not having to go outside to put wood on when its -10 out. We can also leave freely in the winter knowing that the house will stay heated from the propane furnace.
I know a lot of people that went the outdoor furnace route. The amount of them that still use it is very few because of the massive amount of wood required to keep them going and fire wood right now is just as crazy priced as anything else. For comparison, we go through 6-10 chords of wood each winter using our indoor burner while I know people that use 25-30 for their outdoor one.
I know a lot of people that went the outdoor furnace route. The amount of them that still use it is very few because of the massive amount of wood required to keep them going and fire wood right now is just as crazy priced as anything else. For comparison, we go through 6-10 chords of wood each winter using our indoor burner while I know people that use 25-30 for their outdoor one.
Chad Gus
Well-known member
My parents, when they built there new house, went with both outdoor wood burner and propane. They used it similar to what at @seeth07 does. In those transition times, late spring and fall, they used the propane to take the chill out of the house, instead of firing up the wood stove. Since my dad passed away, going on 5 years now, my mom just uses the propane.
Hem
Well-known member
If you are building new you have many options. Quality windows/ doors along with a thought out insulation plan is a savy investment. Spending a wad of money on this isn't glamorous but it pays.
Our propane provider fills the 1000 gallon tank to 85%. Our 2700 sq ft home has a gas furnace and range. We have a decent size wood stove which heats the core of the house nightly. I can squeeze out maybe four years on 850 gallons.
I thought about a wood furnace but didn't want to live in a cloud of smoke.
Our propane provider fills the 1000 gallon tank to 85%. Our 2700 sq ft home has a gas furnace and range. We have a decent size wood stove which heats the core of the house nightly. I can squeeze out maybe four years on 850 gallons.
I thought about a wood furnace but didn't want to live in a cloud of smoke.
seeth07
Well-known member
You for sure have to enjoy the smell of wood burning to have one indoors. Your entire house will smell like it and you get comments at work about your musk
lol
Addicting
Well-known member
Rust and creosote was definitely a problem on the door and blower. We went thru two doors, several blowers and 2 water pumps. We did it for around 10 years and I can’t say we really saved anything. Time, equipment, repairs all cost a lot. We had 20 acres of woods and at the end ended up just buying fire wood logs and renting a big processor. Can’t say I will ever do it again.
If building I would spend the money on good spray foam and you will be ahead in a few short years. The outdoor burners are just not worth it.
If building I would spend the money on good spray foam and you will be ahead in a few short years. The outdoor burners are just not worth it.
JEL
Well-known member
Most of the ones I used to see around here are now gone.
Lots of information on woodheat.org. Most efficient way is indoor wood burner. I built new and planned for a wood burner.Windows on each side of the wood burner. Wood boxes on each side of the wood burner. Chimney inside the house with no bends. Load the wood boxes thru the window.Spit wood into wire baskets.Move baskets on patio with pallet jack.
Caseknife
Well-known member
25-30 cords of wood per year would be the "Nope" for me. We built our house in 2017, so it has all the updated building codes, like 30 some inches of insulation in the attic, 6" walls etc.
House is 2800 sq ft, we heat with a BlazeKing, King Ultra, fill the firebox once a day and it will keep the house 75 degrees plus. All this while going through less than 4 cords of tamarack/doug fir a winter. Our furnace is propane, so it keeps the house warm when we are gone, but the BlazeKing will burn for about 30 hours with a full firebox. A couple wheelbarrows of wood on the patio for a week, refill on my day off. Wish we had a source for hardwood.
House is 2800 sq ft, we heat with a BlazeKing, King Ultra, fill the firebox once a day and it will keep the house 75 degrees plus. All this while going through less than 4 cords of tamarack/doug fir a winter. Our furnace is propane, so it keeps the house warm when we are gone, but the BlazeKing will burn for about 30 hours with a full firebox. A couple wheelbarrows of wood on the patio for a week, refill on my day off. Wish we had a source for hardwood.
MarvB
Well-known member
Holly woodlot Batman!
Djfan
Well-known member
We are about to change over to a wood stove, much like Mrc has. We have horrible insulation right now, though, so that has to happen, too.
Gerald Martin
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If you go with a wood burning system make sure you get a furnace with a re-burn chamber for higher efficiency. I think they are @ 85% efficient. My brother heated his home with that and it worked well. When the fans were running you could only see hot air vapor from the smoke stack. He coupled it with old 1000 gallon propane tanks for a larger water storage capacity to circulate through his house.
My father in law has an outdoor furnace that is only about 50-60% efficient. It has a plume of smoke 24/7 coming out from it.
How are you circulating the heat through your house? My father in law designed his home with the outdoor furnace in mind and had radiant heat piping in the floors.
My brother had an oil furnace system that used radiators and forced air.
I would only recommend outdoor furnaces if you have a readily available source of “free” or cheap wood. Both systems I have experience with used between 10-15 cords per year.
My father in law has an outdoor furnace that is only about 50-60% efficient. It has a plume of smoke 24/7 coming out from it.
How are you circulating the heat through your house? My father in law designed his home with the outdoor furnace in mind and had radiant heat piping in the floors.
My brother had an oil furnace system that used radiators and forced air.
I would only recommend outdoor furnaces if you have a readily available source of “free” or cheap wood. Both systems I have experience with used between 10-15 cords per year.
Pretty sure 30 cords would be on the high end of the spectrum for those. My mom uses one for her place. She has a bed and breakfast that's around 5000 sq. ft. Uses it for heat and hot water and burns around 12-15 cords a year. Certainly far less efficient than an indoor stove. People often point to being able to burn green wood as an advantage of outdoor boilers. While it's true that you can do that (because you don't have to be concerned with creosote build-up), it still isn't nearly as efficient to do so, which may explain why some folks go through such large amounts of wood with them.
Addicting
Well-known member
A lot of that is from when they changed the emissions standards. The older series were cheaper to manufacture and they can no longer be sold. The new version has to regenerate just like a diesel and are more everything to own.
Most all the places that sell them by us stopped or went out of business.
