A Guide to Choosing the Best Outdoor Wood Furnace for You

In this blog post, you're going to find out all about wood boilers: which outdoor wood boiler is best to use and who makes it, and how efficient it is to use one to heat your home, the advantages it has for our environment, wood boiler comparisons, features, parts, and accessories. Additionally, you'll learn the most effective practices from the experts in choosing your new wood furnace.

With the Landscape of the Outdoor Wood Boiler Industry changing so rapidly due to the Government EPA Regulations has caused a lot of businesses to close their doors and leave customers struggling to find parts and maintenance products to keep their units up and running. We have decided as a company that we are going to assist customers to locate and offer parts and supplies for their Traditional units that are up and running.

The New EPA Certified units are very expensive and require a lot of maintenance. These units are riddled with issues with shorter burn times, people who converted over to the New EPA Units wish they had their traditional units back.

Environmental Aspects of Using an Outdoor Wood Boiler and Personal Benefits

The wood furnace has been around for years, but it was pushed to the wayside due to the low cost of fossil fuels and electricity.

Now that the cost of fossil fuels and electricity is increasing and new research exposing the damaging effects that burning fossil fuels has on our environment, we are looking for a safe and inexpensive alternative and we have found it!

Burning Fossil fuels have familiarized us with the terms “Greenhouse effect” and “Global Warming”. With the climbing prices of Oil, propane, and electricity, people are searching for alternative solutions to their increasing heating bills.

As consumers, we, are locked into paying whatever price a corporation extends (war time or peace time) for fossil fuel. Also, the extent of damage fossil fuel has on our environment includes its shipment (Remember Exxon Valdez).

As scientist continue their research, we should change our ways to preserve the environment rather than damage it further.
Burning cut timber is a source of energy that has been around since fire was discovered. Nature finds a way to burn off dead or dying trees using lightning and other forms of natural fire starters, to purge the dead and dying to make room for the new.

You will probably remember a bear named “Smokey the Bear” and his message “Don’t Start Forest Fires”. You might be wondering where has he been? The US Forestry Service has realized that burning is a natural occurrence that is necessary to cycle trees and new growth. With Smokey’s help, we immediately extinguished natural fires as soon as they started.

What happened is that an excessive number of dead trees and debris built up on the forest floor, so when a fire finally began it was incredibly hot causing “healthy” trees to be destroyed as well and killing seeds and kept baby shoots from germinating. This caused total devastation which takes years to heal. We’ve learned that controlled burning is the best way to prevent this.

Burning with a wood furnace has several advantages:

• First and most importantly to me is: “You’re not dependent on the oil, electric, propane or gas companies” You call the shots. If you desire to get your own wood, heating is free! You might have heard the saying “wood heats twice” The wood heats you when you’re getting it and heats your home as well. Let me tell you cutting and collecting wood is not for the weak. It is a hard job but gets you into shape quickly and keeps you there and saves you money and time at the gym.
• If you don’t feel like cutting your own wood and still want to save about 50% or more, a phone call to your local firewood guy will do the trick! He will love you and save you some money from the next guy because you can burn all kinds of wood which he can’t pass off the fireplace guys. The firewood guy has wood that has insects and pine wood and big old knots that can’t be split, tell him to bring it all and also let him know that you don’t need the wood split, just small enough for you to pick up. The length of the wood doesn’t really matter. He will be calling you twice a month and bringing beers and hanging out with you by your wood furnace. (This is experience talking)
• Thirdly, I love providing for my family and giving them a warm house and hot water. Before my outdoor wood furnace, my house was at 68 degrees and costing me $300 to $400 a month. When I got the outdoor wood furnace my heat went up to 74 degrees and it felt good knowing that I provided that. Another nice advantage is the hot water, you get free hot water as well that means long hot showers and it cost you a log or 2. We also heat my in-laws pool to 89 degrees in the summer.

Read more about EPA Regulations for Residential Wood Heaters.

How Efficient Are Outdoor Wood Boilers

An outdoor wood boiler can be the answer to higher energy prices.

What if there were a way to heat your home, give you all the hot water you need for baths, showers, laundry and more, heat your pool, spa, and anything else you wanted to keep warm with a truly efficient and renewable resource? What if you could help the environment while you were heating your home? What if you could do all this for FREE?

It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But there is a resource that fits all of these specifications. It’s right in your backyard. Wood is easy to find and acquire.
Now you’re saying, “But that’s old-fashioned and inefficient. Hey, and it’s a lot of work. And it’s dirty too!”

Not true. Wood heating has come of age.

The modern outdoor wood furnace takes advantage of the latest developments in heating technology. Set up outside your home, and using water to air heat exchangers, our outdoor wood furnace burns cleanly and efficiently. In most cases, it can be connected to your existing system to distribute the heat.

Because all your fuel is kept outside, you won’t have the mess associated with indoor wood stoves. The outdoor wood burner unit will burn all sizes and types of wood, too… even those knotty pieces that are tough to split. The best part is you only have to feed your outdoor wood stove once or twice a day – even in the coldest weather. Load the wood stove up in the morning and evening, and the unit will do the rest. Water heated to 160 to 180 degrees surrounds the firebox, then it courses through pex tubing to your home where heat exchangers convert it to hot air which is dispersed by your existing system.

Coal, gas, and oil are fossil-based, non-renewable resources. And in the last year, costs for these commodities have soared. Electricity prices are also climbing.

The environmental impact of these fuels is also a factor that must be considered. The methods used to extract fossil fuels are damaging. Home systems, unless they are constantly and professionally maintained, are not efficient burners. Electricity is often produced by coal-fueled plants or by hydroelectric dams that affect our fragile ecosystems.

There is no other source of warming the home that gives you all the advantages of a timber-fueled system. It’s environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and efficient. And with a little extra work, you can get all this for free. This is an energy source that grows virtually everywhere.

How Do Outdoor Wood Boilers Work

The concept in which these wood furnaces works is so simple. As you can see in the picture diagram #1 (below), the fire pit is surrounded by a water jacket.

The water heats up to around 185 degrees and then is pumped into your home through insulated underground Pex tubing. The hot water is then cycled through a domestic hot water heat exchanger and then it is sent to a heat exchanger for your existing furnace. This is displayed in diagram #2 (below).

The wood furnaces can also be hooked up to swimming pools with heat exchangers, whirlpools, radiant floor heating system and about anything you can think of.

Wood Furnace Benefits and Features

Pipes

Outdoor Wood Furnace Benefits and Features Pipes On top of heating your home and domestic hot water, these units can easily be set up to heat areas of your home such as garage and basements with little effort and cost.

First, let me assure you this is an easy thing to do! If you are handy with the homeowner basics you should have no problem setting this up yourself.

From the start of the company 20 years ago, our goal has been to help our customers achieve an independent and self-sufficient lifestyle with our efficient furnaces.

WoodMaster Is my first recommendation. It was designed for family use with safety in mind. Taking the fire hazard and the mess outside. We knew we could make a superior product than the other units on the market. The design of the heat-baffle round chamber would produce a superior heat transfer and water circulation.

Outdoor Wood Furnace Uses

Use your wood burning stove (outdoor wood furnace) to heat your home, business, garage, pool, and spa; or connect to your radiant in-floor heating systems.

Using wood in a wood burning stove to meet your heating needs is an environmentally friendly fuel source. Unlike fossil fuels, wood is a renewable fuel source that is abundant in North America.

Inexpensive, environmentally friendly, renewable and abundant

What Makes a Good Wood Furnace?

The Outdoor Wood furnace is by far the best way to heat your entire home.

• The wood and bugs stay outside
• You only need to split and cut wood to pick it up.
• Smoke and dust are outside.
• You only need to feed fire once a day.
• You can heat anything.
• Can connect to most existing furnaces.
• Burns more efficiently than other indoor wood stoves
• Can heat domestic hot water
• Can heat your pool or spa
• Do I need to continue?

I have tried about every option out there and I can tell you confidently this is the easiest and cleanest way to heat your entire home.

I even have experience in other outdoor wood-burning furnaces.. I have operated the Central Boiler, Wood Doctor, and the WoodMaster. I still own the units to show customers the differences between the units so they can make an educated decision.

Outdoor Wood Furnace VS Wood Stove:

• Refer to list above!
• You will handle the wood a lot more with an indoor wood stove.
• You will burn more wood heating in the same area as an indoor wood stove.
• You can’t control heat very well with an indoor wood stove.
• You're at risk of burns (kids) with an indoor stove.
• You can’t heat domestic hot water with an indoor wood stove.
• You have to feed an indoor wood stove 5 to 6 times a 24 hour period.
• You can’t burn soft woods like pine or hemlock with an indoor wood stove.
• A good indoor wood stove is cost wise is very comparable to an outdoor wood stove.
• Homeowners insurance will increase with an indoor wood stove and decrease with an outdoor wood stove.
• You risk carbon monoxide accumulation in the house.

Outdoor Wood Furnace VS Pellet Stove:

• Refer to many of the points above.
• Pellet stove prices will follow fossil fuel prices.
• You have to buy a fuel source with a pellet stove.
• No dust inside the home.
• Can’t manage the heat very well with pellet stove.
• As expensive as an outdoor wood stove after install.
• Pellet stoves can’t heat anything else. (Domestic Hot Water & etc.)
• You can heat multiple buildings with an outdoor wood furnace.
• You can heat a swimming pool or spa with an outdoor wood furnace.
• So on and so on.

Indoor Wood Furnaces VS Outdoor Wood Furnaces:

• You need to bring the wood in the home.
• Bugs, smoke, dust, and ash are best outdoors.
• Refer to lists above!

Who Makes the Best Outdoor Wood Boiler

Alternative Heating & Supplies prides itself on bringing you the latest innovations in this technology, along with full-service parts and accessories.

You’ve probably heard about the environmentally friendly method of heating your home, your pool, your water and any space in your home. If you have, then you’ve come to the right place. If you haven’t, well, you’ve still come to the right place.

We’re the experts you need regarding Outdoor Wood Boilers, Alternative Heating, Wood Burning Stoves, Outdoor Furnaces and Hydro Heat.

Whether you’re looking for Wood Master, Wood Doctor CT, Wood Furnace Parts and Accessories, Pex Tubing, Plumbing Solutions, or Wood Boilers installation services and maintenance, you came to the right place!

We’re also well versed in Wood Furnace Law. Talk to us, we’ve got the answers.

We have years of experience and can advise you on choosing the right equipment for your home. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today

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Outdoor Wood Boilers - Alternative Heating and Supplies

We carry an exceptional supply of wood furnace parts and the prices on our wood furnace parts are also very attractive.

If you’re not up to speed on outdoor wood furnaces, many people are taking advantage of the new way to heat your home, give you all the hot water you need for baths, showers, laundry and more, heat your pool, spa, and anything else you wanted to keep warm with a truly efficient and renewable resource.

Check out our blog posts on how to install and maintain an outdoor wood boiler, and if you need more details, do not hesitate to contact us!

• Where & How to Install an Outdoor Wood Boiler
• Wood Boilers Maintenance Kits & Tips
• Wood Boilers Connections Part 1: How To Connect an Outdoor Wood Boiler to an Indoor Furnace
• Wood Boilers Connections Part 2: Common Problems in Connecting Two Boilers Together
• Stove Maintenance Part 1: How to Change the Wood Stove Fire Rope
• Stove Maintenance Part 2: How to Replace a Wood Stove Fan Cover
• Stove Maintenance Part 3: How to Clean the Wood Heater
• Stove Maintenance Part 4: How to Set Up the Control Panel