Do you have wood? Having plenty of free trees on your property will cut your energy bills to almost zero!
If you live in the suburbs or a rural area near a source of cheap (or FREE) wood, you could heat your home for the entire season for less than one month’s electric heat bill. An outdoor furnace eliminates respiratory problems caused by burning wood indoors, and keeps the wood burning mess, ashes, wood scraps and bugs outside. The burn times are also MUCH longer than an fireplace or indoor wood stove, so it requires less frequent fills.
There are a surprising number of new and old outdoor furnace manufacturers with a wide range of styles and designs to accommodate different homes and the varied heating requirements, such as adding a garage or shop, etc. Many are Johnny-come-lately manufacturers who think they can weld a bunch of metal together and build a furnace!
One of the nice selling points of an outdoor furnace is the convenience of locating it near the wood fuel source. Since the water heated by the furnace is pumped to your home through insulated, underground piping, the furnace can be set up as close as 10 feet, or as much as 200 feet plus from your home.
Our outdoor furnace is designed to work with any existing system and is thermostatically controlled. If you have a forced air system, you can use the existing duct work. You will simply need to install a water-to-air heat exchanger in your furnace duct. Your furnace is always still available as a back up or for use while on vacation..
If you already have radiant floor heating, you would connect the underground feed from the outdoor furnace to the existing circulating pump. SImple.
For radiant baseboard heat, you can connect the piping directly to an existing boiler or install a water-to-water heat exchanger to transfer the heat.
You can receive the added benefit of free hot water – saving $30-60 a month – simply by adding another pump and an $8 thermostat.
An outdoor boiler can even be used to heat your garage, barn, swimming pool, driveway, work shop, greenhouse or multiple other buildings.
While many manufacturers recommend a stainless steel firebox, they still use a mild steel water box. So what good is that? The stainless steel is also welded to the mild steel. Not good, because welding ruins the qualities of the stainless steel, making it of no additional benefit. Stainless steel is also prone to stress cracks (which turn into bigger crack – and then leaks) and it also doesn’t transfer heat as well. A lot of stainless steel can’t be welded or repaired either. YIKES!
Our mild steel firebox is of such high quality, that we have NEVER had one rust through with proper water treatment!
Normally, outdoor furnaces are loaded twice a day at the most. Burn times per load vary. 12 to 18 hours is typical, depending on what you’re burning and what you’re heating, the outside temperature as well as how well your house is insulated.
One thing that most outdoor furnaces have in common, is versatility. Whatever your heating needs are, or the type of fuel you burn, it’s possible to design a system for any heating system you can imagine – or even buildings without ANY existing heating system! This is the best way for you to cut your energy bills!
<<< BACK
1st article:
Wood will burn for 92 hours? Don’t believe it!
2nd article:
Heating with Wood is Carbon Neutral
3rd article:
Northern Ontario Business Outdoor wood furnace market on fire
4th article:
Trouble Shooting Guidelines for Outdoor Wood Furnaces and Smoke
5th article:
Comments from users of outdoor wood stoves, as well as
welders on the subject of stainless steel vs. mild steel.
6th article:
Do you have wood?
You can cut your energy bills to almost zero!