Half way point

About half way through the heating season. Starting the eighth season using this furnace.

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And how do you like it? Tell us more.

Has it ever leaked? A friend has a OWB, don't know the name, and he has to have a crack welded every year.

I also have a Central Boiler, this is its twelfth season.

Looks like a little house. Little cabin in the woods. A little small, but looks warm and cozy! I've heard the pipes in them don't last much longer than that. Is that true?

I never could get excited about braving the elements morning and night to stoke a wood hog. Don't take me wrong, as I also heat totally with wood, but my boiler is in my garage/shop, and bring in 4 days worth of wood with my compact loader tractor. I also have an airtight HE fireplace, and all the wood for it, is stored in my walk in cellar and brought to the first floor in a home built dumb waiter that holds 3 days worth of wood when we need it.
Before retireing last March I worked for a company that sold Harman stoves (largest dealer in NYS) and we also sold and installed wood gassers (Pro Fab and Econoburn) The gassers will cut your wood consumption by at least a 1/3rd. OWBs like yours were outlawed here in NY, and at 8yrs old you are due to spring a leak. The units we sold had controls that maintained a minimum water jacket temp of 140F. If they drop below that, the transfer circulator shuts off, to protect the boiler from condensation, and with it shut off the user will be out there refueling it. Most, learn the schedule, quickly and it amounts to two loadings per day, if the boiler is sized properly. (Bigger is not better) just a matter of timeing.
Loren, the Acg.

I got one just like that one!

One of the best things I ever bought.

Works great in northern Michigan where below 0 temps are common.

I burn mine year around to supply domestic hot water for the home.

Have not had any problems yet. I reloaded one time each day to maintain 160 degree water temp. Does burn alot of wood. I put that wheel barrow load in each day.

Half your firewood

Half your hay

Half be left

On Groundhog day

Author unknown... Gene

We have one at our place in Indiana. 12 years old. No major problems with the system, only the water circulation pump located in the basement had to be replaced once or twice.

Hope your dealer gave you a water test kit and corrosion prevention chemicals. The inside of the boiler tank will corrode just like the O.D. of cylinder liners in diesel engines if the water is not treated.

Not trying to tell you what to do, just helpful info, I hope.

I have changed the water 3 times adding fresh corrosion inhibitor each time. Never had to add water any other tIme and the water tests fine. Ashtrol is used regularly although I know some say it is not needed. My pumps are located in the house and were installed by engineers that know what a pump curve is, or so they say. As long as I get everything flowing before I heat up the system , things go well. Will be satisfied if I get 15 years out of the furnace.

Looks great. I bought a used 4436 and it"s 6 years old. I"ve had it for 3 years. Drove to Winchester Va. to pick it up. Heated with wood all my life and this sure made heating with wood a lot easier on me. I have my machinery set up now so I get all the wood myself. I don"t pick up a stick of wood till it goes in the boiler. I do have to run the chainsaw but have a grapple that makes that a lot easier too. Mounted the wood splitter upside down on the loader and as I split I drop the wood in a dump trailer. Lot of the wood I use most folks would throw it down a hill because it"s so large. I found that"s the best wood to burn. Last longer and more heat per pound.

My boiler is smaller than yours and have to load in cold weather every 12-14 hours. I run year around too. Use junk wood in the summer and use a plate exchanger for hot water. No tank.

No wood trash, ash dust or smoke in the house. Boiler is 100 ft. from the house and can sleep good at night knowing the wood fire won"t burn the house down with me in it. Unlimited hot water also. Never run out as long as there"s fire in the boiler.

Been thinking about running mine all year to heat our water but after eight months I need a break . It is amazing how long a burn last when the heating demand is removed.

Sounds like you have worked out a good system to handle the heavy work. I have found ways to use my old tractors too, helps to justify the accumulation of my toys.

I'm 64 years old, and if my Hardy quit tonight, I'd put in another one. Best heat we've ever had. I put it in in 1998, so I guess it's 15 years old. Burns year 'round. Trouble free! You've got a lot of good years left in that one!

Would someone please explain to me how the heat is transferred to your house and radiated into your living space? I guess if it's a boiler there's pipes, but what about in the house?
And Adirondak Case Guy, will you give me a brief on difference in gassers and OWB?
I might be interested in something like this, but guess I need lessons. I will check out what I can find online

So that heats that little shack, how do you heat the house? Kind of kidding here, but how does that heat the house? Stan

There are two lines running side by side buried in the ground. One is a supply line with an inline pump mounted to it bringing the hot water from the boiler to the house, the other is the return line bringing the water back to the boiler to be reheated. At the house, the heat is attained one of two ways. Either the water circulates through a heat exchanger which is installed in the forced air system your home already has, and when the blower for the forced air kicks on it blows the hot air from the exchanger through the duct work and into the house. (the exchanger is similar to a radiator) The other way is achieved when you are building a new structure. You can lay out a series of lines embedded in the concrete floor that the hot water will circulate through. The concrete has to have insulation put down before it was poured to keep the heat from the concrete from going down into the ground. The heat in the concrete will rise into the building, and that will heat the home. Not professional information by any means, but hopefully enough that you get the basic understanding of how an outdoor boiler works. Most homes that an outdoor boiler to house that is already built go with the forced air system as the home already has duct work from the previous heating system installed. New construction homes most often opt for the radiant heat in the floor. If it is a multilevel new home, water lines are run between the ceiling of the lower level and the floor of the upper level. That way the heat in between the levels will radiate to the upper level of the home.

If you look above, I tried to give a basic explanation of how outdoor boilers work to 37 Chief. Hope it will help you too.

Jeff,
Rather pricy pex tubing imbedded in spray foam inside a 4-6" black plastic pipe should be used to get the hot water from the OWB to the house, or much of your heat energy will be lost in the ground.
Once your hot water is in your home, it is tied to your home distribution system. If you have an existing hydronic heating system, your boiler is fed at the return port, and and the return to the OWB is Teed into the distribution manifold.
If you have a Forced Air heating system, you need to purchase a properly sized water/air heat exchanger. That coil will be mounted in the hotair plenum above the jacket of your furnace. In both systems your Tstats will work the same as before.
Wood gasifiers work totally different than conventional OWBs. they are air tight and the wood only burns when ther is demand for heat. When there is demand, there is two chambers, the top one that holds the wood, and the gasification chamber, below it. On the burn cycle a combustion fan starts up and opens a flapper door alowing combustion air to be forced in both chambers. The air is forced downward through the wood and the fire is in the bottom of the stack. At the bottom of the wood chamber there are a configuration of "nozzles" (small openings that the combustion air rushes through).
As you know, when you blow on an ember it comes back to life. The air rushing through the nozzles into the gasification chamber is very hot, 1200F-2000F. All the oils and particulats (cresote) are burned rather than just being allowed to escape up the chimney. The flu returns are in the bottom of the gasser and capture this extream heat, disipating it into the water jacket, making these boilers react quickly to demand. The burn cycles will vary in length and intervals, and when there is no demand the wood is setting in a dormant state , deprived of oxygen, not smoldering, and emitting smoke. That is why gassers burn so much less wood. You might wonder how the wood rekindles for the next burn cycle. That is where "Bigger isn"t Better" During the dormant cycle the wood actually bakes in the chamber, and there is always those little white embers on the bottom peices of wood. Blow on them they light. If the boiler is too big the dormant cycle can be extended too long and the wood will not relite. Normal cycles on a properly sized boiler wouls be, 15-30min. burn,-1-2hr dormant. depending on demand.
Hope I haven"t confused you.
Loren the Acg.

Thanks for the info. Stan

(quoted from post at 06:35:26 02/03/13) There are two lines running side by side buried in the ground. One is a supply line with an inline pump mounted to it bringing the hot water from the boiler to the house, the other is the return line bringing the water back to the boiler to be reheated. At the house, the heat is attained one of two ways. Either the water circulates through a heat exchanger which is installed in the forced air system your home already has, and when the blower for the forced air kicks on it blows the hot air from the exchanger through the duct work and into the house. (the exchanger is similar to a radiator) The other way is achieved when you are building a new structure. You can lay out a series of lines embedded in the concrete floor that the hot water will circulate through. The concrete has to have insulation put down before it was poured to keep the heat from the concrete from going down into the ground. The heat in the concrete will rise into the building, and that will heat the home. Not professional information by any means, but hopefully enough that you get the basic understanding of how an outdoor boiler works. Most homes that an outdoor boiler to house that is already built go with the forced air system as the home already has duct work from the previous heating system installed. New construction homes most often opt for the radiant heat in the floor. If it is a multilevel new home, water lines are run between the ceiling of the lower level and the floor of the upper level. That way the heat in between the levels will radiate to the upper level of the home.

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The third way which I believe is most common, is for it to tie into the existing forced hot water system of the house where the existing circulator pump forces the heated water through out the house, as called for by the home thermostats.