# Outdoor Wood Boilers



## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I am in the early stages of looking at the possibility of installing a outdoor wood burning boiler to heat our house and shop with. I have a clayton wood furnace that still works good but its age and wear is beginning to show. The idea of moving the fire and wood/ash mess outside far away from the house is a very attractive idea. I have been reading up on articles that outline the pros and cons of outdoor boilers but wanted to hear from folk who own them to get their feedback. 

I have been able to look at the Hardy and Central Boiler models so far. I am looking for the heaviest duty built unit out there and so far from the information I I looked at, it seems the Woodmaster and Central Boiler are the two top contenders. In particular the 

Woodmaster 5500 

Woodmaster Models 

and the 

Central Boiler model 6048 Classic

Central Boiler Models 

I looked at some other models on the internet but they did not seem as well built. 

Anyone have any experience with outdoor wood burning boilers? I sure would appreciate any info. you can pass along.


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

I considered this option and rejected it for the following reasons!

I too heat with wood via a centrally located heavy steel firebox with blowers (never use them) because of massive masonry surrounding the sides & front and back in a latitude similar to yours!

I also have two heat pumps with cal-rod 220 V heat strips for emergency heat if needed, Never use that either and heat pumps are useless below 35 degrees! so much for 7 grand worth of AC'S disguised as heat pumps!

I just finished splitting my winters supply of oak , when it is required (actually below 50 degrees, especially when rainy or damp) I begin the task of firing the box which takes about 2 days to throughly heat the masonry and about the same amount of time to cease producing residual heat! In this latitude a fire is not essential 24/7..and the heat pumps fill the modest void easily.

Now the main reason for my rejection of this method!
What I have is more than adequate to heat this two story dwelling w/o overheating.. A problem with your considered option in once started and then not needed (in O/W's wasted ).. 

Note: if I were in a more northern latitude where temps were more consistently on the cold side 35 and below weeks on end it may make more sense once amortized!!

Age and agility is also worth considering in your buying decision! (should you become unable to hustle up the raw material and effort required to feed this behemoth) Who is and WHAT then, convenience can outweigh costs savings quickly!

A finial thought, everyone that I know that has invested in this alternative raves about it for about two seasons and then reverts back to our more traditional methods!

Just my thoughts and if not you, it may help someone else make an informed decision!


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## ktm rider (Aug 19, 2006)

I had one of these wood eaters for 3 years. I will list the reasons I got rid of it.

1- I burned no less than 19-20 cords a year
2- it is NO FUN standing outside in the freezing cold tending to the fire

3-- once or even twice a day fill is an absolute joke!! Try 4-5 times a day and it is ALL models not just the one I had. I have 3 friends with 3 different models and they ALL eat fuel. 

4- have heard of MANY peoples O.D. boilers cracking and needing welded after only a few years.

5-- ALL the dealers will lie and tell you that theirs will heat with one load a day and is the best unlike the others, yeah right.

I sold mine and went with an AHS multi fuel boiler and put that joker in my nice warm garage. It burns wood/coal and has an oil backup in case the fire goes out or I am away from home. It is WAY, WAY more efficient than the O.D. Boiler .
I know of a few of these type boilers and I thoughly checked them out before I bought my AHS.( Alternative Energy System
a few others are. www.newhorizoncorp.com and Royall Furnace. A quick google search will give you all 3.
If you are set on an O.D. Boiler the Central and the Mahoning seem to be the best for what they are. 
On the positive side you will get a good workout cutting all the wood they require and you will be one with nature atleast 4 times every single day.
Can you tell I didn't like mine????


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## booshcat (Nov 5, 2003)

I've been looking for a multifuel boiler wood/oil.
The AHS units look nice...probably the WO55.
Would you mind sharing a ballpark price?


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## ktm rider (Aug 19, 2006)

well, I got alot of bells and whistles on mine. I burn soft coal so I got the shaker grates, combustion blower ad auto switch over for the oil burner. I paid right at $5800. If you do buy one tell Jeff ( the owner) that you seen their boilers on the internet and want it to be a internet sale. That will save you the taxes.

I sure am glad I went with the AHS. I am VERY satisfied with it. It works great. I load it twicw a day when the temp is 25 deg. or higher. 3 times a day when it is 25 to -10 degrees. But that is burning coal. Not sure about wood. I usually only burn a small amount of wood. 

I would opt for the coal grates with the combustion blower if you have a coal source. Coal burns so much hotter and longer than wood.


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## booshcat (Nov 5, 2003)

I'm going to price out thw wood/oil and the wood/oil/coal combo's and see what the sticker shock feels like.
Thanks for the info.
If I go with one I can post about the installation and firing up.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Here is a link I came across that has the good, bad, and the ugly about outdoor wood boilers. Lots of good links for manufacturers on the last page. I found the Garn wood boiler to be very interesting but probably not practical for any but very cold climates. 

New York State Outdoor Boiler Report


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## ktm rider (Aug 19, 2006)

I have had mine fired up for a few days now since it is in the 20's at night and I am now and I'm getting a 20 hour burn since I found some good coal.

I live in a major coal region and they move thousands of tons a day so one day the coal will be really good and the next day it will suck. It is pretty much hit and miss. 
Again, I would highly recommend an indoor boiler. 
The local paper said they are going to crack down on the OWB's around here andtry to outlaw them.

Maybe even look into a stoker boiler. They burn anthracite coal and it is alot more expensive but they are pretty much like a pellet stove, load and forget about it for a day or so. 
Good luck with what ever you decide to purchase.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I talked to a guy who owns a Central Boiler outdoor woodburning boiler and he likes his but he did say it burns a good bit more wood than his previous indoor wood stove. 

I will continue to use the Clayton Wood Furnace I am now using until it is kaput. The cost of installation of an outdoor wood boiler is just too high to justify right now.

I have been looking at and reading up on with GREAT interest on the Garn Heating System. This looks like a very good compromise between an outdoor wood boiler and an indoor wood stove or furnace. I think it would be best to install if building a new home which is what I am working on doing in the forseeable future. Burning a load of wood once day or in some instances every few days for heat and hot water is very appealing and really cuts down on the amount of wood burned by a substantial amount.


Garn Heating System 

The WHS model 2000 installation package costs about $11,500 but you will have to build and shop building to house and insulate it. Unless you have some additional out lying shop buildings and heat your hot water with it, you will be looking at a long payback period.


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## ktm rider (Aug 19, 2006)

$11,500 WOW !!! please take this with " a grain of salt " but the once a day load is what they will all tell you. I don't see where it is any different than any others. they all store the heat in the water. I would ask for references from somone who has already bought one before I plopped that kind of money down.. 

I think I would look into a gasifier boiler if I was going to pay that kind of money. 
Gasifiers are the newest technology for wood burning right now. I wanted to burn coal since it is so cheap around my area. so the gasifier was out. 

AHS, www.newhorizoncorp.com and H.S. Tarm all make one. Although the Tarm is more $$ than the others and won't handle large pices of wood. 

Atleast you have plenty of time to do some good research before you are going to buy since you are going to hold off a while. Good luck with whichever one you buy.


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## catmando (Dec 18, 2004)

Chief: The New York state report was well written. I think that most of the information is fairly trust worthy. Trouble with most manufacturers is that they give statistics based upon controlled tests. Which may or may not reflect the actual installed operation.

I would bet that in a few years the OWB will feel the pressure of the bad publicity and start improving their products. I don't think that it would take much to put a catalyst in the exhaust gas stream and really improve the efficiency and emmisions.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Hi Carl! Haven't seen you post in a few months. Great to see you back. I thought the report was well written too. It covered a lot of areas I had not initially thought of plus the list of link to manufacturers was helpful as well.


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## bennyhill (Feb 19, 2021)

Hello to all!!
It would be Awesome if y'all had some pictures of these boilers, and all the other names y'all have commented on..
poor man here so I have thought to put up a wood burning stove out side and run a copper coil in side of it to make hot water and heat my home.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

There are links in the above posts that have pictures.
This one for instance.




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Classic Outdoor Wood Furnace | Central Boiler


Central Boiler's Classic series of wood furnaces are easy to load and operate while maintaining durability, quality, performance, and maximum efficiency.




centralboiler.com





Or have a look at something like this.








heating water with a wood stove


Apart from simply popping a kettle or pan onto the top of your stove, how else can your woodstove heat water?




salamanderstoves.com





Why not put the wood stove in the house to heat the water? It will heat your home as well. Also could put a system of black pipe on the roof to give you solar heated water in the summer. That would cut back on burning wood in the house in the summer to heat the water, and running the air conditioner to keep the house cool!  

We used the idea you are talking about, years ago. Referred to as coil stoves. We used them to keep our drill water from freezing in the winter time when we were out in the bush developing mines. Used a coil stove which looked like a 55 gallon drum with a 6 or 8 inch skin of concrete on the inside to hold the heat, with a coil of pipe embedded in it. We just used a 100 pound propane bottle and a weed burner to provide the fire and a 1 inch heavy duty mining hose wrapped in insulation and poly to transport the water to the mine site, via a big old piston pump set up on the lake ice. Similar set up to this








Waterline Heater - Thermex Engineered Systems Inc







thermex-systems.com


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

I have both a combo wood/oil boiler and a sealed fire place. The boiler is in my garage with lines running into my house and the fireplace is inside the house.

The is not a high efficiency unit. Between the two I’m burning 10 cord. And yes, there is labour involved. The house is about 4,000 square feet and we get temps down to -25C in the winter. The garage is about 2,000 sqaure feet amd is kept just above freezing from the ‘bleed off’ heat. The sealed fore place produces great heat to heat the main and 2nd floors with very little wood, whereas the boiler serves mainly to heat the concrete slab below grade and uses about 3/4 of the wood. But my house is always toasty.


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