Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Outdoor Wood Furnace Recommendations, ?????

With Ol' Man winter right around the corner for most of us here at the 24HCF, wood stoves and furnaces come to mind for us hardy souls out there.

I was talking to a pard on the phone a few minutes ago that lives in Albany, Ky. He and his wife are considering purchasing a forced air outdoor wood furnace for their smallish country home.

I'm hoping to get some recommendations and insight from those of you with some hands on knowledge that would care to share.

TIA, Denny

If they have the room in their basement, I think an indoor wood furnace would make more sense. Probably burn half the amount of wood and you don't have to go outside when it's freezing cold. You can also hook it up directly into your furnace ductwork and you can set it up to work in conjunction with your regular furnace.


Personally, I like Clayton wood furnaces.

I'm with rrroae - get one that you can burn inside.. You WILL burn about 60% less wood and you'll be warmer. Another plus is you'll save about 7-9 GRAND...

FWIW..


The main issue may be local ordinances re: wood burning and/or your insurance company that may frown upon one, unless it meets certain requirements (distance from combustibles, concrete pad, insulated (and separate) chimney etc..)

I have a Heatmor. 3 years so far and it works great.

I'm heating 2980 sqft with 2 zones and one water-to-water exchanger for a 40gallon heater.


Mennonite sold and installed my system. (Christian County, KY)


Mine is outside in it's own building, I just back the truck up to the garage door and chuck the wood out onto the concrete in front of the furnace.

I specifically DID NOT WANT this chit inside my house anymore. No fire risk, no bugs, no bark, dust, or doorways or steps/stairs to haul wood into.

Make sure you consider all that. And go stainless.

Only have to check it morn before work and when I get home. Besides, most on here are nearly Seal material hardasses that hike 10miles, 8,000ft to kill elk, so what if you have to walk outside to check it.

1+ I installed one at my parents house a few years ago and the insurance co had a fit with a hole in it because I wasnt a lisenced installer even though it was inspected by a lisenced installer they gave us so much grief I finally took it out .

Central Boiler.

PM northern_dave. He builds em.

My friend wants a forced hot air unit NOT a boiler.


Denny.

Send him a note anyway...he's full of knowelge on this stuff.

Plus they can be connected to forced air.

If it's outdoor, it uses water.

they are typically low or no pressure so it's not a boiler in the sense that people come to think of actual steam boilers that you need a license to operate.

They are wood fired water heaters that use the water to heat things in your house. Be it baseboard, underfloor, forced air through a heat exchanger, they can even heat your houshold hot water via a water to water heat exchanger so your elect or lp water heater doesn't need to run.

Water temp typically 180f. (for the boiler water that flows from outdoor unit to the house, not for your water heater lol)

Constant circulation to the house and back with automated valves opening flow to whatever task is calling for heat.

You can even get dual fuel units that have a gas gun that will kick on in the case that you cant be around to feed the stove wood.

A boiler can be used with an air-to-water heat exchanger, similar to an A-coil used in your plenum for a/c.
I presently heat our home with an add-on forced-air furnace, a Fire Chief, inside the house. It's sheet-metal ducted just like any natgas or fuel oil unit would be. I'll be adding an indoor wood-fired gasification boiler in a year or two once all the buildings are completed.

Heat exchanger not an option as my friend simply wants to connect it to their existing ducting.

Thanks for the reply, Dave.

Check this site: www.airstove.com/

This is what was in our home when we bought it last year.


http://www.woodheatpro.com/home.aspx

Built in the USA- very well constructed in comparison to others I've seen. Many of the other add-on mfg's are now made in China.

helped install a "aqua-therm" in 1993 still is running today.... when my turn came i went an bought a aqua-therm "coal one" #275....burns both wood or coal.

I live in the hot part of the world but when I built a house about 6 years ago I had my ducting ran around a box around my regular fireplace with a blower motor.

Worked great down here. Probably not great farther north. Would crank up a fire and keep the living room warm and about an hour before bed turn the blower on and blow heat all over the house.

Thats what you do with a heat exchanger.

It goes inside the existing plenum and the furnace air blows air through it without the furnace actually burning.

(I's like a radiator)

i have a HADRY 5 years 0 problems it is stainless steel we do run it all summer also to heat our hot water, when heat is need for funnce work ti ciculates hot water in to a radiator that is in bottom of old indoor furnace un it where an air conditioner a-frame coils would be and uses the old blower and duct work

+1
this will be winter no 6 with my central boiler unit. Wish I would have done it sooner.

i would rather have to go out side and fill (besides i am outside feeding 2x a day any way and dont have to opack all the wood in side and as far as one inside burning less wood that what i have i would mnake a big bet there aint much difference