Outdoor Wood Boiler vs Polar Vortex - Staying Warm in Extreme Cold 

100% my parents have an old farm house and the boiler was out behind the house in the open field for years. About 3 years back now I asked my step dad wouldn’t be worth it to build even a little scrap lumber building around it to keep the heat in? He said I’m not sure so we went to the local Home Depot got a trailer full of used pallets for free built just a small shed around the thing and threw some scrap insulation. He said the past 2 years they’ve used probably 25-35% less wood just breaking the wind from the unit.

@Jason , having lived in few houses with central boiler inside, both wood, coal and gas, I could never understand why the boiler would be out in the elements, and not in at least a garage or workshop.

safety purposes a lot of people are not comfortable having fire going on near the house, the idea of keeping it out in open gives sense of risk free system I guess

You can but different sizes of heat exchangers to fit your duct work

That’s a good idea!

The water jacket around the boiler holds 250 gallons that is continuously circulated. I usually clean the ashes out every week to 10 days.

that's one large wedding ring around that boiler🤣🤣!!

That's the best part about em is they can really help with the clean up of all the undesirable wood...lol....it all burns & makes heat! 😀 👍 🍻

LOL...I actually think I'd rather deal with the cold instead of the heat....hahaha...I'll look for a replacement cup for ya. 😀 👍 🍻

staying political neutral .... ha ha..... thanks for posting

Im new to the wood boiler scene but i did cook a pizza in there once and it worked great. Why not right.

And a few more days to go, I'm in Edmonton. 🥶🍁

you guys are heartier then me!!

monday feb 15...in tint Cochrane WI at 8 am it is 33.333 Celsius. Probably a heat wave in Alberta.

The answer is in the sideline...selling split forewood...this way all firewood is available for sale or for burning......

LOL...yeah they can go thru a LOT of wood with temps that cold....prolly doesn't help that the house is at 74 all day...all night...hahaha 😀 👍 🍻

Your insurance company is nuts...if the interface between the chimney and the structure fulfills all normal chimney requirements re insulating air gap etc...then theoretically the WB inside should never be a problem...as can be seeen here. There is more danger in having a vehicle with a fuel tank indoors....

@@JohnSmith-yv6eq and todays electric cars near your house too!!

Hey GP...yeah I think the single row gives a better burn, sort of like a campfire when you just throw a huge heap of wood on can get choked out...I think stuffing a boiler plump full can be similar, plus what fun would it be if I only had to go out in the sub-zero temps once a day?!?! LOL

those are loaded questions, the temperature drop across the heat exchange will vary depending on usage, the water heater has first priority, so if water being used will drop it quicker than when not in use. secondly the energy saving of the heat and hot water. my boiler eliminates propane for heat and hot water for the entire season, but the electric goes up about a little for the fan and circulator running. long story shot instead of a propane delivery every month it's once or twice a year, for cooking and hot water in the non heating season, the boiler could run all year for hot water but probably not beneficial.

Yeah she's a hungry one for sure...lol....but that 10-12 full cords a year also is over 8 months of burning. I start beginning of Oct and go through end of May sometimes even into June. If it's sub-zero temps I can go through a face cord a week for sure. But then again it also depends on the type of wood I'm burning. So like last week was almost a face cord, but it was all Silver Maple. Not Oak. That makes a big difference. We have around 2800 sq ft and we keep inside temp at 74 plus hot water....so when all said & done, it's not overly inefficient. I do agree the new models are WAY better on wood consumption.

The answer is in the sideline...selling split firewood...this way all firewood is available for sale or for burning......

If you like you OWB, you can keep your OWB. For me, it's like watching som odd 70's technology from Russia compared to what we have here in Finland.

@@jouman450I highly anticipate the awesome technological wood burning advancements from Finland finally reaching our shores.

Love mine as well. Seems the ones that don’t like an OWB are either the ones that have it installed poorly and bad underground lines or the ones that are lazy

@@AATreeService 👍🏻

@@FirewoodMidwest I come from Norwegian stock,(two generations removed)so I am proud of advanced European designs. But that Tesla guy is revolutionizing everything.

I would check to see what dealers/brands are in your area and go talk with them. The new gasification models are all pretty similar so often it comes down to what brands/models are in your area and would be offer installation and service if needed. I burn Pine all the time...well I burn pretty much any wood...lol...I prefer to have mine seasoned so I'm using the boiler for heat and not using it to dry the wood. One thing to keep in mind is that a outdoor wood boiler is going to use a lot of wood. I think that's the biggest factor many overlook. You might be better off looking at a high efficiency wood stove for in your house...not sure, just something to consider. Unless you have a good amount of wood ready to burn. Just remember that then each year you'll need to continue getting more wood. Check out one of my latest videos on 'Firewood Supply', that will give you an idea of how much wood I have on hand to be prepared for burning for the next few years. 👍

Nope, if you load it up nice and full it'll last overnight. Also if the fire does happen to go out then the natural gas furnace will kick in when temp in the house drops to set point.

That is the one nice thing is less often on the fill up...I was just talking to my dad and he was telling me he's on about a 2-3 hour refill cycle as well...lol 😀 👍 🍻

@Frank Maggard I was about to scold our host on "12 hrs with quality stove," but back 40's dad straightened him out. We gotta keep a check in that Shifty fellow.

@Frank Maggard he easily could. He chooses to do a moderate fill and have a easier coal bed to manage.

@Frank Maggard what model of stove do you have?

Hahahaha....you're right I've never thought about that or looked at that way...lol...yet it seems that's what they are always referred to as. 😆👍🍻

Good night too you guys say warm tonight buddy is still could there busdy 🍺🍺

On the 13th we were down around -41°C in northwest North Dakota at like 6 in the morning.

Glad to she getting better.

@@larrykluckoutdoors8227 thank you Larry shes up and around we are waiting for that hundred day mark to see if she goes in remission

@@tonyr6190 I thinking about her. Take care

@@larrykluckoutdoors8227 ok thx Larry appreciate it

I think because of the long durations of slow burn smoldering fire. Once the blower shuts off there's no air being fed to the fire so it hardly burns but continues to put out smoke which contributes to all the build up.

Yep, the hot water heater in the house is on separate water line. The boiler itself is a closed system but not pressurized. 😀👍🍻

If it's all the same species that's probably true, it doesn't have to boil off the extra water at the same time so it gets hotter sooner so the water temp reaches 170 sooner and shuts down the blower, and then it just smolders with the air restricted until the water reaches 160 again and the cycle starts over again.

No dumb questions here my friend. I usually clean out the ash every other week or so. Some wood leaves more ash than others and so depending on what I'm burning and how much I'm burning (how cold it is) I might have to clean the ash out every week to 10 days. I put the ash in a steel trash can and then cover it for a few days to make sure all coals are out....then I just dump it back in the ditch or around the woodyard where I need to fill low spots. Wood ash however has many uses but I mostly just use it as fill. 👍😀🍻

@@Back40Firewood well thank you for your response. yes we use what little ash we generate (usually from a fire pit when we have friends around) as a soil improver, just dig it into the garden beds. stay safe and warm mate

Definitely! I load my OWB with wood up to 28", only split what won't fit through the door and what needs to be split gets split at 23" (24" stroke on my splitter). All these factors add to length of burn and better efficiency. The fewer times you open the door, the less heat you lose.

The answer is in the sideline...selling split firewood...this way all firewood is available for sale or for burning......

Usually twice a day unless the temps are single digits and lower.

I can agree with you on that one along with wood stoves too.. The City of Seattle just passes an ordnance that No Natural gas can be installed on some buildings.. This is to "Help" off set the carbon foot print, most of Pierce County (Washington state where I live) All new construction of homes can not have a wood stove or fireplace..

@@DanielAtkinsFirewood This is all knee-jerk politics. Burning wood causes the same release of carbon as leaving the tree to rot in the forest. I recently retired from a power company and we had several bio-mass sites that burn tops and limbs from the pulpwood industry. Those sites are considered zero-emission sites. Natural gas has the smallest footprint of any fossil fuel. Forcing people to heat with electricity causes increased use in coal, hydro or nuclear. Same as with electric cars charged at home. The problems with Oregon and Washington is that they are too close to California.

@@philgriswold2133 : oh I know I see it all the time.. Sometimes the only thing I can do is laugh about it and move on, just because there is nothing I can do..

Wow, you Americans can turn anything political. Thank God I live in a free country.

But if the time you spend making firewood is spent doing something else that costs money like golfing then you're really behind....paying for your hobby and paying for your heat! lol 👍😀🍻

I usually average between 10-12 full cords depending on how cold the temps get. 👍😀🍻

Yep, that's right....those are the set points for the boiler water temps