Stove or Boiler...?

Does the house have electric baseboard heaters?

Take a walk and plan where the trench for the boiler would run, from the boiler site to the wall penetration into the house. Any driveways/sidewalks/patios in the way? That could be a factor.

I'd personally be against the boiler if I didn't already have hydronic baseboards installed. You're talking about running pipe to every room in the house.... ugh.

There is also the option of a wood furnace if you already have HVAC ducts in the house- downside there is that you most likely need a new flue from the boiler room up through the roof.

The wood stove requires the least house surgery either way.

Boilers and furnaces are where we are forced to go, when trying to heat a space larger than one can reasonably heat with wood stove(s). You give up everything good about a stove, namely the look, the feel, the ambience, for the sake of distribution. But with a house your size, I see no reason to even consider a boiler or a furnace.

Put otherwise, if I’m doing all that work to fell, haul, process, split, stack, move, and load firewood... I want to look at a fire in my stove, damnit!

You never hear stories of the family gathered around the boiler, on a snow day in January, they lack ambience.

I went from an OWB to a free standing stove, 4 seasons ago, wish ida done it sooner...
Burning 1/5th of the wood heating the same space..
Both have their pluses and minuses though..

jorswift said:

Who would load it when im on vacation? I don't really want to put glycol in it....

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If you leave the circulating pump and heat exchanger running, the water will continue to be heated by traveling thru the heat exchanger in your house, and it’s unlikely it would freeze. Not ideal, since now you’re using your electric heat to warm your lines, but it does work. I’ve done this on industrial electronics cooling systems, during the installation phase, on cold nights prior to finalizing and adding glycol.

There are pros and cons to both an OWB and a modern woodstove . . .

We could debate efficiency, safety, costs, wood use, temperature control, etc. but what I want to focus on is you mentioned not once, but twice, that this would be for supplemental use in a moderately sized home.

Since it sounds like you are not hoping to heat 100% or perhaps even 50 or 75% of the time with wood heat and only hope to burn wood as a supplemental heater -- perhaps just on weekends and evenings as some folks do here . . . and since you are not looking to heat a very large home . . . I would respectfully suggest a modern woodstove vs. OWB, recognizing that while you gain the picturesque view of the fire, reduced wood consumption, etc. you will lose out on a more even temp throughout the entire home with an OWB.

I would pass on a used OWB right off the bat.

So - stove.

maple1 said:

I would pass on a used OWB right off the bat.

So - stove.

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I'm in this camp.

Boiler is getting zero love.

Maybe he should post this again in the boiler forum to be fair!

Some of us get around.

But seriously- a boiler is a full meal deal. It's not a supplementer.

maple1 said:

But seriously- a boiler is a full meal deal. It's not a supplementer.

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And super expensive compared to a stove.

Highbeam said:

And super expensive compared to a stove.

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Yes indeed. As most full meal deals are.

(OP also kind of glossed over the costs of all the other stuff that would be involved aside from just the boiler...)

jorswift said:

I am having mixed thoughts right now. I am wanting to supplement my heating bill with wood. I live in a 10 acre wood patch with a ton of dead ash. Plus can almost get wood anywhere for nothing. I currently have a POS Majestic ZC fireplace and want to replace it with something efficient. So my thoughts, I have a 1800 sqft ranch with 400sqft bonus room about garage. I am ALL electric with heat pump. I heat my garage with small electric heater too.

1. I can get a used outside wood boiler for around $1000-2500. Install water lines, exchanger, etc and heat whole house. Use lots of wood and have to be outside to feed it.

2. finally got my wife to like and agree on something such as https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-clearance-to-freestanding-wood-stove.155497/ . My ZC is in the corner so this is doable. I like the look and will supplement the heating. My house is not a very "open" concept so some rooms may be cooler than others. But planning on moving t-stat to another room.

What would you do? Again, looking to supplement, not replace heating. I want to get away from the ZC hazard and have something warm and safe. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Thanks.

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A lot of things can go wrong with a boiler. Stoves are much more simple and reliable. The more complex a system is, the more likely you will have problems with it.

I have a buddy with the old style outdoor Central Boiler. One thing that's nice is you load it up, shut the boiler door and walk away. Wood stove inside takes just a little more attention to get the fire settled in. If you want to heat your garage too the boiler would make sense. If not indoor wood stove all the way.

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begreen said:

showrguy, would you have considered the boiler system heating a space that is 2/3ds smaller?

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Sorry BG, just saw this now..
I'm not sure I understand your question, but when I built this place in 2001/02 I put over 2 mile of radiant tubing in all the froors, including basement and attached garage, installed a Mahoning multi-fuel OWB, chose that because they have a seperate combustion chamber that you can use an oil or propane burner, I had propane for 'just in case'..
That thing paid for itself after the 2nd heating season, radiant heat is awesome btw..
Back then a tri-axle load of logs was about $450.00 and easy to get, now that same load is $700.00 -- $800.00 and can be hard to find..
The OWB was great in alot of ways, but the biggest draw back was it ate alot of wood, I did'nt care so much when I was in my 30's and 40,s, but now I'm in my early 50's, and handling sometimes 20 cord of wood over a long, cold drawn out winter got to be like a full time job..
I installed the BK King almost 4 years ago, knowing that there's no way a single woodstove was gonna heat my whole house !!
I was wrong..
It's much easier to mess with 3-4 cord with the King, the only drawback is you must have dry wood, little more mess inside, no warm floors, but I can deal with all of that !!

What I like about boilers (any hydronic boiler,not just wood) is that they are so versatile. Radiant floor heat, water heating, snow melting... you can even heat your swimming pool/hot tub. Radiant floor heat in a large barn/shop concrete floor just can't be beat when you have to lay down and crawl under some piece of equipment. While not nearly as efficient, affordable simply reliable or arguably practical, they are great for a lot of things a stove just can not do.

All that said, you'll pry my plane jane wood stove from my cold dead hands..LOL..