Alternative Heating

[johnporter]

www.alternative-heating.com/outside-wood-stoves.html

This is a must read for people looking into the purchase of an outside boiler..

[derekdutton]

I have looked into a central boiler

[flyguy]

Lots of towns in Pa are banning them

[derekdutton]

why are they banning them flyguy?

[Admin]

I'll never go without wood heat. I love everything about it. Cutting it, splitting it, stacking it & burning it ;D How can ya hate it?

[mooreorless]

As I've said before I went with the central boiler unit three years ago. Felt it was the best then and still do. Best money I ever spent.

[johnporter]

Towns are banning the outdoor boilers due to the smoke. When the house isn't calling for heat, the dampers close up and the fire just smolders. Alot of smoke is caused by the smoldering process. I have witnessed it and I, myself don't think it is to bad..

[flyguy]

Thanks John ;D
Alot of towns are getting built up from the rich folks,They build these 400,000 dollars homes and complain about the smoke,yet they have fire places in their homes and thats OK.

[johnporter]

Amen to that flyguy. I live in an area that is totally summer homes or retirement homes. Talk about a fish out of water..LOL

[flyguy]

I got a ski resort in my back yard lots of city folks

[johnporter]

Picture this guy living in a retirement area...


Yes, thats me..LOL

[mooreorless]

Don't understand how they can ban something on your property that you use for heat,unless you were in a subdivision with rules in place. People have used wood for heat forever. My central boiler is going from october until april. The way the cb is made up it maintains a water temp between 174-185 degrees. When it hits 185 the damper closes and there is little smoke at all, once the temp drops to 174 then the damper opens and thats when she starts chugging smoke til the fire starts burning good, then it smokes just like any other chimney. I don't feel it is offensive in any way. I do refrain from using it the rest of the year to heat my domestic hot water, since I do not want to put smoke into the air when somebody has there windows open. That courtesy however is not reciprocated from my numbnuts neighbor burning his trash three to four times a week. I have smelled, up to a mile and a half away, offensive burners burning railroad ties on a regular basis. One has to use common sense so they don't ruin it for every body. Just because you can burn something doesn't mean you should.

[derekdutton]

On the central boilers, if the power goes out you will loose your heat wont ya? If i understand correctly there is a circulating pump attached to it.

Would a guy need a back up generator in case of power outages in the winter months?

And you said it has an automatic damper to regulate its own water temp.

I have a few questions about these cause this is what i plan on going to when i get the new house built. (someday) LOL

[johnporter]

Yes they have to have a circulator pump to move the water. We lost a apt. building in Maine to loosing the power and not being able to maintain the heat. If your smart, everyone no matter what you use for heat will have a back-up system of some sort..

[derekdutton]

I figured tim wilcox would chime in here i think he has one that he put in either last year or the year before that he loves.

[mooreorless]

Yes, like John said, you would need some sort of backup power to run a couple of things first being circ pump, second the damper door, and third being your fan in your funace inside your house. All of which can be run off of a small generator or a deep cycle 12 volt and converter in a pinch.