OT- Does anyone use an outdoor wood furnace?

[s. carolina smoker]

I was wondering if anyone here uses an outdoor furnace to heat their home. I have been thinking about getting one but I don't know anyone who has one to get info from. I am looking for the pro's & con's of owning and maintaining one of these things. I have an almost endless supply of wood so my labor is the only cost involved for fuel. My father lives next to me and I was wondering if you could heat 2 homes with 1 unit. I know this is not Q related but it does involve wood and I thought some of the folks that live in the colder areas of the country might have some useful advice.

Thanks!
Rick

 

[hdsmoke]

Check out another forum i frequent...www.arboristsite.com

There is a section dedicated to woodburners and firewood cutting. Lots of users on there with outdoor boilers and can answer any questions you may have. Start by doing some research there before just posting a generic question.

 

[s. carolina smoker]

Thanks HDsmoke. I will check it out.


Rick

 

[upnorth2000]

I have had one for 10 years. I live in northern Wi. so it gets a pretty good workout. I heat my home and garage. They do use a lot of wood. I burn 10-12 full cords of wood per season ususally starting the fire around Oct 15th and burning until late March or early April. It is nice to keep the house at 72 instead of at 64 when we were trying to keep the gas bill low. Mine is a wood-boiler so you have to be have someone to feed it when you are gone. I call it feeding the pig. Can be gone for a weekend if it is stuffed full of hard maple logs 36 inches long. I buy my wood by the logger cord which is still cheaper than natural gas. Good luck and do a lot of research before you buy one.
Marte

 

[travcoman45]

Sisters got a wood boiler. All they heat there place with. It burns up a fair amount a wood but is lots cheaper then propane.

I've looked inta them, boiler type is to expensive fer me, I'm goin with the outdoor air type. Were only goin ta use it on weekends (Thursday after work til late Sunday night an some inbetween) to help cut back on the heat bills.

I've seen the boiler ones hooked up ta heat a shop as well as a residence, just have ta make sure it's sized properly fer runin the two places.

 

[surgem7]

These are made in Elizabethtown NC

http://www.taylormfg.com/index.html

 

[dforbes]

Very nice site. I will be doing some looking around there. Thanks for the link.

Dennis

 

[jon foster]

We have a few in the area but I haven't talked to many people with them. A couple people we know have them and love them. The general consensus is the underground pipe is the killer as far as installation cost (they did the install themselves) and you need to be around to keep feeding it. But they all love them! Both guys we know heat their home, poll barn and hot water with them.

The other thing that is still fairly popular is the corn furnaces. I looked at one with a storage bin/hopper off to the side and a automatic feeder to keep the fire burning. It was very cool but took up a lot of space.

Keep us posted on what you do. I'll be interested to hear how it works out...

Jon.