I have a Central Boiler Classic Edge 750 Classic Edge Outdoor Wood Furnace | Central Boiler heating around 4000 sq foot This is my 2nd season running an OWB and I would like your experienced feedback on how big of splits do you run, how full do you fill your boiler ect. I fired her up at the beginning of the month. Last year I didn't keep good track of how much I burned so this year I stacked a full cord next to my boiler and started a spread sheet to keep track so I can start working towards a 3-4 year hord. So comes my questions. last year most of my splits were chunks 6 inches to so in thickness and anywhere from 16-22 inches in length and it seemed to burn pretty good, I have never filled the firebox all the way up generally half way, maybe 10-12 splits and I run 12 hours between loadings. I split up a bunch of "normal sized" splits, 16-18 inches long and 3-4 inch. Just to try it and see how they burn in the boiler. So far it really burns the smaller stuff way faster than the larger splits. But I get and keep a better coal bed with the smaller stuff. I tried a few 8-10 inch rounds they took forever to burn but seemed to burn the coal bed down to nothing. So I just finished roughly a cord as I said above smaller splits seems to burn through faster but I get a better burn out of thicker splits so the next cord I'll toss in a mixture of smaller splits with bigger splits, so the smaller ones that burn faster keep up a good bed to burn the bigger splits. What say Ye? Id like to also say that with some good information ect Id like to eventually compile the info with other stuff to make a small getting started with an OWB sticky to help the next group along with their new adventures. -Robbie
This season the splits I'm burning are varied a bit Logs originally 18"-20"+ split into thirds 8"-17" split in half Anything under i don't split I like to keep a few rounds that are fairly small to fill holes in the box to load it right up Lengths i like to keep around 20" or so,that way i can load the rear of the boiler up and same in the front which gives me a more consistent load and seems to keep bridging to a minimum Last year I split as i went along doing enough for a few days at a time (which really sucked) so wood wasn't all that dry Not sure what i burnt through last year as it was a bit difficult to keep track This year a bit different, had everything split in spring, loaded up the boiler shed in fall with about 9ish cord, 3 poplar, remaining ash (10'×16'×8') right next to the boiler (really nice!!!!!!) Backup plan, 5 cords stacked on pallet bins that can be brought in with bobcat when needed So far used roughly 2.5 cords of poplar as it hasn't been super cold yet and getting decent burn times (load it twice a day) weekends get about 20 hours or so between reloads
I'm burning anything from 2" x 16" up to 8" x 16". I try to get a good mix in there when I load with one big chunk right over the nozzle. Works great so far...
That's something I may try. I get my firewood from a golf course my friends dad manages, they cut them down in 14ft sticks and can be anything from 20 inches to 3 feet or so across lol. I have a bunch of 12-14 inch rounds cut at 20 inches and some that are just huge and my splitter hates them. I split as I went last year a fairly large pile. I kind of though roughly 7 cords for the season. This year I split probably 2-3 cord already and have 3-4 cord in rounds, another cord or 2 in sticks here at the house. And they will probably cut 80 or so trees down this winter. Mostly dead ash trees
Thanks, I think the handful of smaller pieces as a base throw a large round or chunk in and some medium sized ones around them will do great.
Sounds like a good deal for wood! I find every bit helps for sure! One thing I like a lot this year is that last year I loaded the biggest chunks i could get through the door, i had black finger nails most of the winter from getting caught between the door and log, first thing in the morning it will wake you up pretty quickly! Now with shorter, smaller pieces its less painful
I rend to torch my beard and eye brows often lol. I get up and load the firebox its usually in the middle of a burn cycle lol. I haven't busted my finder tips too much
After reading alot on this site and a few others, all wood burning appliances seem to have their own tricks or learning curves that one must figure out
Ive been to work a few times with scorched face!! After reading the manual it says to wait a few seconds before opening fully First time it happened to me I almost had to empty my shorts!!
I split almost everything at least in half, both to dry and for ease of loading. I like to have everything seasoned at least one full summer, but last year I burned up all of my stockpile and had limited time to cut this year so I'm behind the 8 ball. That being said, next year I'll be set! I have more wood than I know what to do with, I just need to process it. Everything gets split down to roughly 3-6" blocks, as long as I can split with the splitter. Uglies, scrap pieces and sawdust are burned right away when possible, to keep down the mess. As far as loading I load full as I can go, and I throw a few pieces in front of the door to help reflect the heat back into the box and protect the door a little bit. This year I dug up the boiler line that used to melt a 4' wide path 100' long even though it's 5' deep. I re insulated it and even buried it 6"-12" shallower than before and I've got no snow melting this test. I can already tell I'm burning less wood. If possible get ahead on your wood supply.
I hate that smell when you scorch your facial hair. As soon as I walk in the house even before my wife looks at me she will say: “did you get to close to the fire?”
Makes complete sense. Mine is indoors not out, but if I put bigger stuff in, it needs to be on a real good coal bed or else the coal bed will all burn out before the big stuff gets to that point. On reloads, if I have a couple bigger ones I want to get in there, I usually put a few smaller ones in first then bigger ones on top. Or else make sure I have a real big pile of coals there. In which case I likely reloaded too early, but sometimes you reload when you reload.
I have a nice pile of uglies. I toss them in when I think I have the fire box full enough but im not quite sure. I huck a few in lol. When ours was installed they used thermopex. pretty nice stuff. I get little to no temp drop between the stove and the house. But I do have a few drafts im trying to fix, also have been hunting down a vent that's not blowing air in my 1 year old sons room..to find that it wasn't hooked up in the basement, just off on its own.
I've got the empire cozeburn. Made in Canadia I think. Stainless firebox and jacket as far as I know, which is great for rust, but not heat transfer... I rebuilt the blower tubes twice now, and the door once, built it heavy, built it different, better than the original. Replaced the blower once and the control module deal once .I have a leak somewhere but not bad enough to look into. All of that of course is knock on wood.
Typically, I do not split anything that is used for the OWB. The larger the chunks, the longer the burn. Of course, this is limited by what you are comfortable lifting.
First year with an EZ Boiler Pro. Natural draft non gassifier. 2400Sq ft 2/3 of which is auto shop. I like my splits 6-12" by 2' long. No problem with bridging or coal bed so far. I have about 6 cord of smaller splits left that were for my other furnace. They're really dry & burn fairly fast. I load the front of the box full at 8:00 AM & 8:00 pm & that's usually it. Haven't had any sub zero weather yet, but I don't for see an issue with that. I'm kinda tired of handling the small splits, takes way longer. Went away for a Sat Sunday trip & stacked the fire box 2 rows deep. Got back 36 hrs later & had a water temp of 180 & lots of coals. Would've likely gone another 12 hrs no problem. Have burned about 1.75 cord since September 26th. Got about 4 cord stacked around boiler of good bigger Oak splits, but waiting for real cold to use that. So far so good.
It hasn't been a huge issue but I do get some bridging some times. Ive thought about stacking criss crossed similar to an end stack on firewood to see if they helps it. Got a few errands done this weekend, brought up about half of what I have remaining split. Its about time to start splitting again. Im hoping to get a large wood shed built this spring and able to put back about 8 cords for next winter. and start working towards getting a 2 or 3 year supply. The only real problem is trying to do it alone and when time allows when my 1 year old is asleep lol
You won't regret a shed! When pieces are frozen together or covered in ice and snow it sucks!!!! Being a one man show myself, its rather daunting to get 3 yrs worth, let alone one year, little bit at a time One has to make it a priority to get the supplies up, I've taken a week off here and there to take a big bite out of what I need, enlisting help from friends or relatives helps big time as things seem easier with even one helper
