Neighbor stopped by to look at my wood boiler. He was thinking about putting one in for himself. Mine is a central boiler but haven't really looked at what's out there now. Wondering what brands out there are good. I know they have changed some because of regulations.
Most of what was isn't anymore do to epa regs. Can't be sold, so some are now listing the same units as coal only to get around the regs.
With my back, knees, neck, and carpal tunnel deteriorating the way they are, there just may be a used one for sale in the U.P.!!!
I agree. My central boiler 6048 is bout 12 years old it does a great job of heating everything but boy is it a wood hog. It’s nice not having to put firewood in the basement but the bloody thing is ravenous.
They can still burn wood...but in the USA, the new ones just have to be one of the newer EPA certified clean burn models. The ones that are now labeled as "coal", are the same "old school" smoke dragon that put OWBs on the EPAs radar to begin with... The old ones can still be used by their current owners...just not legal to sell...or move...cannot be sold with the property either. And they are starting to "enforce" it by using the HO insurance companys...
I think the Heatmaster G series has a good rep. If I was shopping for an OWB, and even if I found 'non-EPA' ones I could buy, I wouldn't. EPA might be a PITA, but what they did for OWBs did actually improve them, IMO. Way less wood burned being the main good thing - less smoke being the next. Of course, you do need dry wood. It could also be possible there are some not so good new 'EPA' ones out there, don't know enough to say one way or the other. But don't think I've seen bad words about the Heatmaster G's, yet - and lots of good ones.
I have a Woodmaster 4400...but if I were to replace it today I'd go with the Heatmaster G200 for sure. All the EPA regs did really is make it so people HAVE to burn only very well seasoned wood. Even our older OWBs do NOT smoke that bad with well seasoned wood...but they're able to burn completely wet wood which = lots of smoke. I can literally cut a tree down, buck it and throw the rounds in and itll burn...no way a newer EPA boiler could do that. That said, pretty much everyone on this site recognizes the value in preparing wood far enough ahead to have it properly seasoned, so running an EPA approved boiler should be no problem.
I just joined this year, yes I realize the value of seasoned wood, but my OWB keeps me cutting to feed it. It doesn't get to lay around to long. Since joining, I will be working on advanced wood stacks, but man oh man, that OWB wasn't hard to feed with two daughters and a wife helping with splitting (hydraulic). But in the same summer both daughters got married and the wife got her foot crushed at work and man, I went from three great helpers to none! I am just happy that I have a truck load left right now!
I am also looking into a new unit when we build a new house. I have it narrowed down to 2 companies Portage & Main or Polar. The polar is cheaper price wise by around 1000.00 .
Don't know if there are any reviews, but read the negative ones if you can find any. You won't learn anything form the good reviews, only what to watch out for with the low reviews.
On the flip side of that, there's always waaay more bad reviews than good. Most people who buy a product and have a great experience don't think to get online/forums to write positive reviews...but basically everyone who has a bad experience does. I try to keep that in mind when researching things...
Yup no matter what you buy, it’s what you burn that makes a big difference. It’s a learning curve too, load to the heat demand. Don’t fill the fire box with dry split red oak when all u need is DHW in the summer , or wet rounds of poplar in January at -40. U get the idea.
Dog gone thing eats wood so fast I’m finding it impossible to get on a 1 year plan let alone a three year plan!!
Crown Royal, Portage and Main, Heatmaster, Heatmor, Hardy, Polar and wood master come to mind really quick. I have an old Hardy that is a 1992 model and works like a champ, but burns a lot of wood. Simplicity is its specialty. I'd look into a used stainless steel unit, would be apprehensive to by a regular mild steel boiler used, due to deterioration. As for the new EPA gasification boilers, they are super efficient and actually simple to use. But the jury is still out on a bunch of designs in my opinion. Saw a portage and main that wouldn't cycle correctly, a heatmaster g200 with a warped secondary burn door (first season burning with it), computer issues with the central boilers, etc. Factory support is probably gonna be more important than local dealer support. Crown Royal seems to be the leader in that front at the moment. I'll be looking at a new one in the next few years just to cut down on wood consumption; Heatmor, Hardy and Crown Royal will be the early leaders. I'm a believer in stainless over regular steel.
You really want a closed boiler system, the "open" ones, like most of the central boilers are really inefficient. Econoburn is a closed system, as well as some royall, I believe heatmor, and many others.