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hattie
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2010 00:24
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Hello: I'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone knew anything about outdoor wood furnaces. They heat water which is used to heat your home/cabin. Has anyone used them? Advantages/Disadvantages? Thanks for any input you may have.
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Kramer
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2010 00:42
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They don't work very good, IMHO.
A lot of people around here have them. They don't have enough chimney to draw correctly, so they smoke in anything but ideal conditions. In fall/spring when you don't need as much heat, the fire is choked down to the point that it will smolder terribly, creating massive amounts of smoke. Also, if you're trying to get a long burn out of it between reloads, it'll have to be choked down and smoke badly (again).
They're also pretty inefficient, lots of wood required because a lot of the heat is just plain lost since the fire is in a little structure a ways from the house.
Also, the cheaper ones are problematic when it comes to the firebox cracking.
It just doesn't make sense to me. But I'm sure lots of people love them.
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2010 01:09
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Thanks for the input. I had never heard of them before, so was curious. We live in an area that gets occasional power outages and I always worry about heat (it gets cold in these hills in the winters). We have electric baseboard heat only. Our place is too small for a wood stove. We do have a small backup generator and have used catalytic propane heaters, designed for indoor use, in the past when the power has gone out. I'm always keeping my eyes open for other alternatives. *S*
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lawnjoky
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2010 17:26
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There is no such thing as too small for a wood stove. Somewhere here I posted a picture of a wood stove I made for a teardrop camper I built. The box is about 9"x9"x14". I welded it up out of a piece of 1/4 steel from the recycle yard. The damper and air/fuel disk were found on line. The flue is 3". I made the roof jack out of 1/8 plate and some 3 and 4" exhaust pipe scraps from a muffler shop. The two sizes were needed to make it double wall where it went through the roof. You can literally put one of these on a shelf. I have also installed small wood stove on small sailboats, even on a 24' sailboat I lived on far several years.
Use you imagination.
Jocko
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 5 Jun 2010 22:38
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WOW - I didn't know that Jocko...I didn't know you could put a wood stove on a boat! hmmmm...I think I need to go a googling and find out more *S* Thanks for the information :-)
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lawnjoky
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# Posted: 7 Jun 2010 19:14
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Do a search for sardine wood stove. There is a whole world of little stoves out there.
Jocko
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VincentBaxter
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# Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:57 - Edited by: VincentBaxter
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The outdoor wood furnaces that we use in our town are higher-end ones that save a ton of money and produce very little smoke. I generally recommend going for a high quality line of wood boilers when considering switching from your heating system. If you go for the cheaper ones, you will actually be burning fuel less efficiently and generate a lot more smoke.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2016 14:35 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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I've long seen these on the internet and don't really understand why they wouldn't be great options. If a small modern interior wood stove can heat a whole cabin, then why couldn't a larger unit outside do just as well?
Seems to be just a matter of design, build quality and piping. The idea of saving interior space would be great in many cabins.
Moreover, why not have a little shed with a generator, a furnace, water heater and even a built-in-vac all in the building but sitting 10 or 15 feet from the main structure?
Does anyone else have experience with these?
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low277
Member
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2016 22:58
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I live in a area which has 3 different wood boiler manufactures. I have never owned one myself but I know several people who do have them. Some live them some not so much. I think it is like many things if it is sized correctly and you have a source for wood and enjoy cutting it they are great,
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NorthRick
Member
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2016 11:10
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I don't have direct personal experience with them but here's what I do know. Our cabin is about a 2 hr drive north of Anchorage. There are at least 3 places that have outside boilers. I know this because if we drive up on calm, cold days, there is a big cloud of wood smoke hanging over the highway and around these properties. I sure as heck would not want to live next to any of these places.
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DRR
Member
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2016 16:33
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Quoting: lawnjoky # Posted: 5 Jun 2010 17:26 Reply Quote There is no such thing as too small for a wood stove. Somewhere here I posted a picture of a wood stove I made for a teardrop camper I built. The box is about 9"x9"x14". I welded it up out of a piece of 1/4 steel from the recycle yard. The damper and air/fuel disk were found on line. The flue is 3". I made the roof jack out of 1/8 plate and some 3 and 4" exhaust pipe scraps from a muffler shop. The two sizes were needed to make it double wall where it went through the roof. You can literally put one of these on a shelf. I have also installed small wood stove on small sailboats, even on a 24' sailboat I lived on far several years. Use you imagination. Jocko
Here's the link Sir. I was curious what it looked like myself.
http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/3_344_0.html#msg4415
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