Hello all.our family is debating getting a new outdoor wood burner to replace our Central Boiler 6048. Goal is to cut wood consumption considerably. Heating two old farm houses with some updated insulating. Anyone with opinions on any of these models or experience with any of these brand’s would be appreciated. I really have no complaints about our current CB outdoor stove it has served us well since 2006. Thankful for any input.
Is the 6048 at the end of its life? The one thing that doesn’t make sense to me is what I perceive to be a huge amount of heat loss from a boiler that is installed outside of the building envelope of a heated structure.. i would think that simply replacing one outdoor boiler with another wouldn’t save a ton of wood if the new one was still outside. Is it possible to enclose your current boiler in a well insulated structure that you can also use as a workshop, man cave or just heated storage? Asking of course as I don’t know what your current setup looks like...
They are pretty well insulated...there is a little heat loss though...the big difference is in the technology used on 2020+ OWB's...the old school ones were just a fire in a tube inside a tank of water...current OWB's are downdraft gassifiers, and will save a ton of wood over the old design
Hmmm. Didn’t know that. So are they able to idle down to meet demand like the older ones? or does one have to arrange for hot water storage to accommodate a continuous burn? The “idle down” function of the old ones seemed to be a “feature” that encouraged burning of wet wood to lengthen a burn which then resulted in a higher overall volume of wood burned..
The ones I am familiar with can idle down...and do it cleanly, because the exhaust is being monitored by an O2 sensor, and the primary and secondary air is separately micro controlled via stepper motors, so no more lingering cloud of smoke while they idle...and no HUGE cloud of smoke when the damper opens back up upon call for heat.
No the 6048 is working fine, no issues whatsoever. It’s my 58 year old back that seems to be progressively giving me more issues each year. I’m just looking for something that will cut my wood consumption. Also this year is appealing because of the 26% tax credit incentive. Our stove actually is under cover in a wood shed but it really doesn’t radiate any heat. I think it is insulated quite well.
I have had a gasification boiler for 10 years now and absolutely love it. It’s the only owb ive ever owned so I have nothing to compare it to. I do know it burns less wood than people would expect and is insulated pretty well. Snow will sit on top of it for the better part of the day after an overnight snowfall. The only major area of heat loss is the loading door. Mine is from Portage and Main and has virtually been bullet proof. If you’re looking to cut down on consumption, I think I would first look at improving insulation in the houses.
I have a couple downdraft gasifiers in the family. My Heatmaster and my FIL's Crown Royal. Both have been great, so I don't think you can do wrong with either brand. The next generation of boilers with active exhaust monitoring look interesting.
I have a GS200. Not sure what their model is, but is about 8? years old and one of the first gasifier model they made.
How much water does your CB6048 hold? When I spoke to the dealer for CR I was considering the 7200E as I only heat one house He recommended the 7300E. to replace my old CB CL-40. I think with two houses and the milk house you would consider the 7400E.
I've designed and built a number of owb's. Also studied every major manufactures designs. The one brand that I found to go the longest without leaking are heatmor. They have the best design IMO. Heatmor® I especially like the idea of them offering a waste oil burning option, no more lifting firewood.