Are the newer style gasification boilers less troublesome?

the other specs on the 300 and 500

 

So we will call it 6 months?
So heater looks to be 83% efficient

Good point...I need to recalculate. See below.

So we will use the 91,502 BTU/gall for propane, but 800 gallons instead of 1000...x .84 = 61,489,344 BTU's used by the house (and/or appliances) so you would have to decide how much of that is used per day, week, or month, but I'm just going to spread the total over 6 months/180 days evenly, just for a rough example of the heat you need. 61,489,344 over 180 days is 341,607.47 BTU's/day or 14,233.65/hour.
The garage is using about 400 gall/yr (?) that math would be 91,502 BTU/gall x 400 =36,600,800 BTU's...x .83 (% effciency) =30,378,664. Over 180 days that's 168,770.36 BTU's/day used by the garage...or 7,032/hr.
So if your heat load was constant over 6 months you'd need a total of 21,265 BTU's per hour to heat both buildings. They claim the Cleanfire 300 is capable of a max of 66,894/hr x 8 hours (3 times/day loading) so the 300 would be more than enough to do the job IMO...feel free to double check my math/calculations. Oh, and keep in mind any LP used by other appliances is added into your heat load too...probably minimal though, other than maybe the DHW, but that could be tied into the OWB too. Like I said earlier, bigger (oversized) is not better when it comes to gassers...

 

I have one of the new style gasification boilers, a Yedolux 450, It is very efficient. 5 cubic feet of softwood gives 450,000 BTU'S to storage. It's clean burning in almost 2 years of burning with no need to clean the chimney and it only takes 15 minutes to clean the boiler.
That big outside boiler you're looking at is a little scary with a 10 cubic firebox that might have to be loaded three times a day, that's a lot of wood!
Have you ever seen or heard of a Garn? They have been around for 40 years with a very good track record! Firebox with big btu output and 2000 gallons storage all in one.

 

I'd bet that, if this machine works like the HeatMaster G series, (the only one I have any personal experience with) in "normal" weather it will only need loaded 2 X day, and maybe a half load...but that all depends on the exact heat load of the house/shop too (which doesn't appear to be that high)

 

1/2 load gives 5 cubic feet = 450,000 btu's and more if burning hardwood ,with a draw off 22,ooo btu's that is a lot of idling . Even if the draw is 50,000 ,that is still a lot of idling .

 

What wood species are you using for that number?
Storage would certainly be more efficient, but it seems that is pretty rare with OWB's

 

With the amount of idling the boiler is going to be facing with a small draw , efficiency is likely going to be around 40% not 75 to 85 % . That is why I suggested the Garn!

 

I doubt it would be that low, but yeah, certainly not 85% either. I dunno about the Cleanfire/CB models, but the HeatMasters keep a running total of "firing time"...if a person was on the 3 year plan (dry wood), weighed their loads, and knew "firing time", you could use that data to get a rough efficiency I think.
As far as the Garn, not sure the OP has a heat load that would justify that investment...personally, I'd just do a storage tank before a Garn...and at that point a guy could even get by burning in an old school boiler (they aren't that smoky when running wide open)

 

Friend of mine has a central boiler gasification boiler and burns 5-6 chords a year to heat his house.

 

There’s also a good possibility I’m putting in some mini splits for air that also work as air source heat pumps that now will heat down to -15 or -20 so spring and fall may be done with them so maybe only be using the boiler in the 4 colder months.

 

What's his heat load like though? Its possible that he could do it on 3-4 cords/yr if using a good stove or whole house wood furnace (forced air) so while 5-6 cords doesn't sound too bad, it doesn't tell the whole story either. Like I said earlier in this thread...my parents and brother are heating their 2 houses (3-4000 sq ft total) and 2 shops (a 30x40 and a 40x60, all high ceilings) on ~11 cord year with a HM G10000. (which is half of what it took with the previous CB6048)

 

My uncle next door heats his similarly sized house on the same amount of wood with a forced air furnace that’s in the basement. Insurance up her is hard to find with inside wood and my wife is sensitive to the wood smoke inside. If I go this way it will be an outdoor boilers used to burn 20 a year if I can heat same amount for 8-10 I’ll be happy.

 

Garn has a pretty great reputation.

 

They do...and should for the cost.
That said, there has been a couple people on the other site with some major issues with theirs. That would make me wanna puke if I spent that kind of money on one...

 

The garn looks nice but will not be the one because they’re stupid expensive, you need to factor in return on investment and a few old threads I’ve read they had over 20,000$ into it and did their own work. They were over 10 year old threads so hate to see cost now. If I’m putting that much out I’ll put a ground source heat pump in and keep the gas boiler for helping it out when real cold. This smallest boiler if I wait to buy at the right time could probably have it in for 8-10000. Be about five years of propane or a bi less at current costs to cover it then it’s free wood heat from then on. Except the power to run the boiler and yes this boiler will Wi-Fi connect to my phone for alerts and track my wood burn on a graph for me ect.

 

I’ve been burning since late November with a G4000. I’ve burned about 1.5 true cords so far. I’m tempering my hot water 100F along with heating roughly 3k sq feet. In the kind of weather we are having I can go 12 hours on 6 decent size ash splits. IMHO if the boiler 40% efficient no way would I be able to go 12 hours on such a small load. Even when it was really cold around Christmas my wood usage was still very low, maybe 20 splits a day vs 12.

At least on the Heatmaster, the boiler shuts completely down when the water gets up temperature. The wood doesn’t sit there and smolder and waste a bunch of heat out of the chimney. There’s a reason they are at the top of the EPA list for efficiency.

 

Agree. I think you’re going to have that-especially in this day and age- with anything modern manufacturing turns out. It’s not something I would personally want. If I had more than a standard house to heat it would either be an indoor gasification furnace or similar OWB.

 

As good as those mini-splits are, and I recommend them to friends and family all the time, electric heat is still the most costly form of heating. I’d rather cut more wood than give more of my money to the electric man.

 

I’d take a mini split that’s 400% efficient over a 20 - 30% efficient old school OWB any day of the week.

 

Horses for courses I guess. I never was much for telling folks how to spend their time and money. Having a hvac background I see it differently.I’ll stick with my Woodstock IS and 4 cord a year thanks.