As part of our home building, we are planning on having an outdoor wood boiler.

I'd like thoughts or opinions on who makes the best ones, things you would have done differently, etc.  This would be for a ~2200 sq. foot house, and maybe, the 2.5 stall garage.

(these are legal where we have our land, no near neighbors anyway, and about 110 of our 160 acres is mature hardwood timber, so I won't be buying wood, and I've heated my current house with a wood burning insert for many years, so not new to the firewood game)

My plan is to build a steel roofed "corn crib" (spaced wooden siding) looking building that would hold the boiler and about 8 cords of wood.

Everyone around here has them; after seeing whats involved, id never buy / use one.

You need electricity, water (and lots of it), and wood. There are so many parts and failure points, i dont see how they are cost effective with the amount of labor and time involved. Its a year round venture to make sure wood supply is sufficient.

Get one that burns coal as well.  It burns hot and clean.
My electricity bill went from $750 a month at 68 degrees to $250 a month and we kept it around 74"  That was 2 winters ago when it was brutally cold up here.

I burned a lot of dead ash trees that year.  ..

ETA: Get one made in Canada.  They know what they are doing.

Always drawbacks.  I'd use less wood than my woodburning insert that I have been feeding for 10+ years, and I don't have to add wood every 4 hours.  We would use it for heat only, hot water would be supplied by propane, which would power the back up generator and furnace/stove/dryer.

Looks like Portage and Main are the top of the line.

ETA: coal isn't a thing around here, as much as I think it is a great energy source.

My brother has one. He's going to get rid of it.

If designed and used properly they are great. MOST are not used properly.

If I had one, I would install it in an insulated shed. That way if it's not running, the water lines won't freeze. Then, I'd run water lines in every indoor concrete slab (basement, shop, garage). Run it wide open for a few days  when it's bitterly cold, then shut down once all the concrete is up to the desired temp. Repeat as needed.

The way people typically install them gives a lot of wasted wood burning.

They go through a LOT of wood. When it's not that cold out, you have to damper it down and then it belches smoke. Wide open they don't make much smoke. You also have to size it for your coldest temp but then it's too big for not as cold days and you have to damper it down, leading to lots of smoke.

As a supplement to a conventional house heating system, they are good. As a sole heat source, they suck.

Yeah, they don't look any more complicated that some of the systems people use to keep pools/saunas/Jacuzzi's going.

I don't burn 8 cords now with a wood burning insert.  I store wood where I fell my trees, and toss a piece of corrugated over the stacks for a year or so, then bring it under cover about 6-8 months before I need it.   This has worked well for many years.  My wood burning insert hates wood that is the least bit green/wet.

Some clowns burn green wood, and that has given the boilers a bad name, there are whole websites dedicated to hatred of wood stoves.

We don't plan of using the boiler to heat our household water, just heat the house Nov. through early May.  The price ranges of these things are wide spread enough I thought I'd see what people here have actual experience with.  You can spend 3k-15k.

Central Boiler, Greenbush, MN.  I'm biased though - they're part family.

My two neighbors downhill from me have them, but the manufacturer is in TN, not sure of the name, but they come from Lawrenceburg, TN.

Go to the boiler room at the Hearth Forums.  Read.  Gasify.  IIRC P&M is a respected brand there.  Plenty of other brands to choose from if you insulate a shed.

I owned but never fired an indoor Empyre Elite 100, intended for use in a shed.  Then I figured out my current house is insulated well enough that the minimal amount of propane burned would not have a useful return with the amount of time spent on wood, even if I could get it for free.  I bought it at a really good price and sold it for what I had into it.  The company had gone bankrupt before and I think they went bankrupt a couple years later.

We looked at them when we were building,  didn't have access to natural gas so we priced out wood boiler, propane, and geothermal.   Since it was a new build,  if we would have gone with the boiler we would have had to buy/install the boiler, but still need an A/C installed, and a furnace with small propane tank.  After did the math and the geothermal was only like a grand more than the boiler/AC/Furnace.  Add in the going outside to fill,  etc we went with the geothermal.  Had a tax break back then for it too so I was even cheaper than boiler.  3 winters later I am VERY pleased with geo heat.  (I also added a basement wood stove for fun,  hardly use it).

So if you already have A/C, and a furnace, boiler is way cheaper.  If you still have to buy/install those...look at geo.

I looked at all of them before buying mine and I chose Central Boiler.  Just less to go wrong with it and much better engineered.  I had a Fisher Papa Bear wood stove in the house prior that really heated up the downstairs of my 100 year old house, but the upstairs was still cold.

My forced air gas furnace also never really kept up and I was burning $400 of propane a month.

Put in this thing and my heating costs have dropped to almost nothing.  I live on 110 acres of farmland so we are cutting trees all the time.  Plus with the storms we have had over the last few years I always have neighbors giving me more wood than I can possibly burn.

When I used the gas furnace, the air coming out of the ducts was warm, but not hot.  With the boiler, its piping hot air coming out.  Plus I can heat my water.

I have since completely enclosed the carport building the water stove is under.  Did this after the first year and really noticed an improvement in the burning rate of my wood.  Slowed it down a lot.

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Damn you guys go through some power and wood. I might have a $100 electric bill and $150 gas bill. More like $100 and I have a wood stove I burn a few cords of wood through that keeps the bill down. Most of that wood is free.

Before you go any further, go read in the "Boiler Room" at Hearth.com forum. Seriously, efficient boiler operation hinges on a good install. Very, very few people actually install these things right because they're trying to cut costs. They end up paying with labor to keep the thing fed.

#1 I would highly suggest you don't even consider a standard boiler. The efficiency is horrible. The smoke they put out when they go into stand-by is horrific. It's not just the neighbors you should be concerned about; aren't you concerned about the health of your family? If the wind is blowing the right way, that smoke WILL get inside your home...

#2 Don't go cheap on the piping. Good pipe costs $15+ per foot... Cheap pipe means you're pumping TONS of heat into the ground... My dad installed a boiler and thought he got a great deal on pipe... He actually found a great deal on ground-defrosters. I don't care how cold it was outside, there was always a 4 foot wide swathe over the pipe where no snow would accumulate EVER. It takes a LOT of heat to soak 3 feet up through the ground and keep the surface temp above freezing, even when the ambient is in the negatives.

How much power does a geothermal vs wood boiler use? Probably will end up with solar so bigggg consideration.

I think they key is that they use ALOT ALOT ALOT of wood.  Friend of my dad had one and we would help him get wood.  He was ALWAYS getting more wood.  That consumed a huge portion of his time.  He was in the country and had his own trees but still had to go elsewhere unless he wants to cut all his down.

I've decided against it.

I may just get a free standing wood stove, then use electric for the bedrooms, or blow air to them.

Or I may try one of these - I'd put it outside, close to the house and run duct work to my existing ductwork.  They seem to tie right in.  I'm going to house it in an insulated cinderblock shed,  with the wood stored in a covered carport right near it.   Very little risk of any fire this way, and I don't have to install a chimney through my house roof.  There are several sizes with different sized blowers.

Looks almost exactly like my neighbors install - even your house looks like his!

I forgot to mention that both my neighbors love their boilers.  Mess is outside, you can burn larger wood and wood that can't be burned inside (e.g. treated wood) and it's fairly efficient.  Every once in a while, you can tell they are starting up their boilers but very rarely; it's probably been years since the last time I saw it.  Most of the time, it's just like my Englander 30-NC wood stove in my home:  zero smoke coming out of the chimney.

Thanks for posting!

Dont know about the boiler,  but our 2300 sq ft home stays 72 all winter here in NE ohio with geo.  Last year it got down to -8 for a couple days and it had no trouble keeping up.  Our house is all electric and our bill is about 200 a month all told.  Geo is probably only like 50 of that on average.    We also well insulated.  2x6 walls with spray foam/fiber.

Thanks for all the comments, lots to look into.  We are starting from scratch house wise, and plan to go with high quality windows and insulation and what not.  Maybe geothermal/small wood stove for the weekends is the way to do.

One thing, I'm going to be doing a lot of tree cutting/trimming anyway due to the woods never being managed and the field edges needing to be trimmed back.  I actually enjoy cutting wood and will be retired once we move to the new house.

Main thing is that we don't want the mess/risk of fire inside the house that we have with a wood burning insert that I have been feeding now.

I think no matter what you use for heat, there are always good/bad with any system.  I know I don't want fuel oil.

I've been running a woodmaster 3300 for 8 years now. Heat exchanger connected to a regular propane furnace so can run either depending on propane costs. When my boiler cools down when I'm gone too long the propane furnace will take over for heating the house. Heats hot water tank also. I like having options.  I have had to replace the gaskets on the door twice and the door fan once. Otherwise it has been pretty maintenance free. I add chemical once a year to prevent tank rust.

Edit

Nevermind. Total cost of installation.

There is good and bad with anything.  I went away from an inside wood stove and to a water boiler due to my wife developing severe asthma.  The Papa Bear would leak out a little smoke every time you opened the door.

My boiler is 109 ft from my house.  And I did install the insulated pipe that Central recommends and sells.  It's only 12" under the ground but it leaks no heat.  During snowfalls, you can't see where the line runs.  Even a day or two after the snow has stopped.

Central also uses only a water pump.  A hot line running to the house, and a cold line running back to the stove.  Water is constantly circulating.  Heat is controlled by a draft door that activates when the water temperature drops.  I have mine set between 175-185.  The only time my stove smokes is when I'm heating the water for the first time in the fall.  I rarely use anything other than hardwood.

When I was shopping for boilers, Central seemed to have the best features, and the least amount of things that could go wrong.  Really a simple to operate stove compared to some.  Also has the waffle pattern in the top of the firebox to increase the surface area that is heated.

The dealer wanted 3k to install.  But I've always done home remodeling/electrical/plumbing, so I did it myself.  I did trade off some backhoe work with a neighbor who is an HVAC guy who built the box the heat exchanger slid into.

This is true... they all have their good & bad... I used to heat with a stove indoors and we loved it, really missed it when we moved. We don't miss it anymore... even the best still leak a bit of smoke when opening the door... and no matter what you do there will be a mess from the wood and fine ash particles ending up on things in the house.

IMHO, the best of both worlds with very few negatives is an indoor boiler that is not in the house, but inside an attached building/shed/garage/closet/etc. I'm getting ready to install an indoor gasification boiler; I'm building an addition onto my garage specifically for it. I stack all my wood in the wire baskets that have had the 275 gal plastic totes pulled out of them so I can move the wood into the garage with a tractor then roll it into the boiler room with a pallet-jack. I only stack the wood 1 time that way.

The pluses:
No expensive underground insulated lines to buy, I can run simple pex with insulation stuck over it through my crawlspace to the heat-exchanger (saves some money).
Waste heat coming off the boiler will heat the garage
I can load the boiler without getting all bundled up
Wood stays inside where it's dry but it keeps the mess in the garage

Downside: may still get some minor smoke smell (but it shouldn't be much)
More pipe required to get my stack tall enough to meet code

I have been running an outdoor boiler since 2004.  Mine is made by Royal.  I had a friend who was a dealer and got a great price on it...still happy for what I paid, but if I had to do it again today (no dealer friend as he is out of that business after a flood) I would take a hard look at Central Boiler (likely just go with them).

We live in a log home and our primary heat was propane (I did not want the expense of a field stone chimney at the time).  We have radiant heat in all areas except the master bedroom due to thick carpet.  We have a cathedral area in the living/dining area.

Prior to the outdoor boiler we could not maintain a temp above 60 when it was 20 degrees or cooler outside.  The propane boiler could not do it and was costing us a fortune (over $2000 in fuel) to run.

We added the boiler.  I choose the larger unit to heat my garage I the future.  I bought decent underground tubing (rated for -20 on top of the ground).  In most spots it is 4' below the surface.  I also added 2" styrofoam insulation above the pipe before back filling.  I did the install myself.  The outdoor boiler resides under cover and has room for wood storage.  We store about 3 1/2 cord of hardwood.  There is room for about 2 cord of softwood.  I know softwood is not as efficient, but the source nearly endless for me on our land.  We probably go through about 4-5 cord of softwood.

We bring our logs out of the woods and cut them to 42" long (the boiler can take up to 60" wood).  We stack the 42" wood on a set of ibeams which allows the wood to be rolled to the splitter.  The wood falls from the splitter to a wood elevator and either dumps on the ground or trailer (for the hardwood).  We stack the wood in cubes.  The are about 4-5' wide and 4' tall.  There are two squares of 2x4s per pallet.  We move the wood with forks on the front of our tractor.  Each pallet will last about 2 weeks depending on the temperatures.  We also burn pallets.  I stack the pallets about 5' tall and cut them in three slices.  Each pallet will give a couple days of hot water in the warmer months.

I like the outdoor boiler and will replace mine with another when it comes time.  Mine is one of the first generation units.  Do your research, don't skimp on the install material.  Don't be afraid to do it yourself if you can or are willing.

Good luck,

Mike

Mike

I’d really like to see pics of your setup

The common trend I see is those who like them the most live in poorly insulated and/or very large homes. Also those who live in very cold climates that stay below freezing temps for months at a time tend to like them more than those who live in climates that have wider winter temp swings.

If you build new and exceed the minimum insulation standards for your area, then a boiler will likely not be worth it. If you have outrageous heating bills in a large, poorly insulated house, a wood boiler may be worth the price and wood cutting labor.

Given a choice, I'd preserve the heat I make (insulation) vs finding the cheapest method possible to make gobs of heat with.

I'm not opposed to wood boilers but MOST I see installed are installed wrong. Also, I live in a climate that can see 0* one day and be 60* a couple days later. So, if it's your only heat source, you have to size it for the coldest day you'll face but if you do, then it'll be grossly oversized for those warmer days and it'll be belching smoke.  That's not nearly as big of a problem in much colder climates.

You make some good points.  I'm really re thinking this, and don't know with all the engineering that would need to be done with the gas furnace, wood boiler, plus whole house generator....we are just going to spend tons of money on tying those systems all in.

I think a small euro style wood burner for really deep cold days in Jan/Feb might just be enough.  We were going to do that anyway as we just have to see flames in the winter.  Going with dual large buried LP tanks and filling when prices are decent is probably the best option.

Thanks for all the input here.

one other option nobody mentioned.
Masonry heater.
Pro's
Uses the least amount of wood
no opening the firebox when there is a fire inside so no smoke in the house.
lasts forever if not abused
most efficient way to burn wood, burns clean so having creosote is unheard of.
Light the fire, burn it as fast and as hot as possible, shut off the air supply when the flames are gone and your done. Usually about 2-2 1/2 hrs/burn. no messing with air supply dampers etc.
I heat 2800 sq ft with 2 fires/day in the coldest weather, 1 fire/day in the shoulder seasons.
heat is very even, our house varies about 1-2 degrees in temp. Altho a sunny winter day will warm the house significantly.
No electricity needed.
Con's
Cost.
even with minimal wood/fire there is still a very small mess in the house, tho much less than a wood stove.
Have to burn dry wood and no crap wood (plywood, painted wood, varnished wood etc).
to get the most from the heater house needs to be designed for it.

Your burning one load of wood for your heat, so to get best/most heat use good firewood, (hickory, Ironwood, sugar maple, oak), stay away from light woods, your looking for the heaviest densest woods which give the most heat per size.