OWB Annual Consumption?

[AIM]

My OWB burns about 12-13 cord a winter heating house and garage. Both stay 74° or so all winter. I for one would not go any other way than an OWB... For what it's worth.. Try to see the reality in the claims of some people with IWB's that heat a zillion sq ft on a wheelbarrow load per month.. They are better than OWB's no doubt but I have seen some rather unrealistic claims here.

 

[Marshy]

Honestly for the cost of an OWB and the wood it consumes, I would consider a high efficiency indoor boiler with a properly sized thermal storage system. That might not make sense for a seasonal cabin or if you were considering buying a used system but it does if your going new and putting it in your main residence.

 

[Circle B MN]

I own a CB5036 which I use to heat my 1800 sqft home. I have in the time that I have owned in, near ten years?, never burnt more than six cord through the winter. I always burn seasoned wood just as you would put in any other stove. I contribute this to the greater efficiency than some others report. I look forward to the improvements in the Classic Edge series and could see making the switch for an even more efficient unit.

 

[NSMaple1]

Honestly for the cost of an OWB and the wood it consumes, I would consider a high efficiency indoor boiler with a properly sized thermal storage system. That might not make sense for a seasonal cabin or if you were considering buying a used system but it does if your going new and putting it in your main residence.

That's what I did 3 years ago. About to head into season 4.

We didn't have an OWB before, rather in indoor wood/oil unit that was about as inefficient on the wood side as you could get. Went from 8-9 cords per year plus a tank of oil, to 5-6 cords per year plus about $150 of electricity, for all our heat & DHW for the year. And no more chimney cleaning. That's with a lot of crappy windfall spruce in the piles with the new burner (at least half), I'm aiming to get below 5 cords once I get my piles to mostly good hardwood.

I think if I did want to heat water with wood outside the house, I would put an indoor gasifying boiler in an out building (shop/mancave/etc.) along with my entire winters wood.

 

[jrider]

Junk wood is easy to come by around here. It's either a by product of me selling 100+ cords each year or pine scrounges that I pick up along the road. The first year I had my owb, I burned 5.5 cord of seasoned maple. After that though, I planned on accumulating junk wood and have burned 8-12 cords each year since. It may seem like a lot of work but when I can just cut a 12" diameter log around 24"-30" long, and not worry about splitting, the work load decreased dramatically. I am heating 3000 square feet of living space, built in 1978 to 74 during the day and 66 at night. I generally burn from early Oct to mid/late April.

 

[svk]

Honestly for the cost of an OWB and the wood it consumes, I would consider a high efficiency indoor boiler with a properly sized thermal storage system. That might not make sense for a seasonal cabin or if you were considering buying a used system but it does if your going new and putting it in your main residence.

I have an awesome IWB at the cabin. If/when that burns out I would go with an outdoor unit if I was permanently there. There's still the small risk of burning the house down with the iwb that could be eliminated.

 

[doeber21]

Last winter was my first with my homemade boiler. I figure I burned about 10 cords if my figuring is right (doubtful though). Some good seasoned stuff, some work skids, and some I don't want to talk about. But I kept my house at a consistent temp the whole time. Sq footage aside, the way I see it is. If I would have been able to maintain the consistent temp in my house with the indoor wood furnace like I did with my boiler I would have burned close to the same amount. The boiler also does my hot water and the shop ( but that's only as needed).

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[wat648]

I burn about 8 cords a year in my Nature's Comfort, heating a 1800 sq foot house, decent insulation and windows. Also have floor heat in the basement (which is GREAT!!), which I would not have if I did not own an OWB. House stays around 74 all winter, both basement and main floor, have caught it at 78 a time or two when it was really cold out and wife decided it was a little chilly in the house. I also heat all my domestic water 365 days a year for a family of 5.
I also don't always burn the best wood, some cottonwood, elm, pallet wood, etc. If it will burn, it gets tossed in. That is one of the beauties of an OWB. Another is cutting/splitting wood much larger. If it will fit, it will burn.