Wood Pellet Boiler vs Outdoor Wood Boiler

[btarby15]

Looking for some thoughts and opinions here. I live in a ~3k sqft stone farmhouse in southeast PA, half of the house is original (no wall insulation, I do have some attic insulation) and the other half is new, built in 2021. Old house has cast iron radiators, new addition has radiant slab downstairs, hydronic baseboard upstairs. I currently heat with a outdoor wood boiler, Heatmor 100k BTU, and have an older oil boiler as backup. I'm having trouble keeping up with the amount of wood the OWB goes through, but I love not running oil since it's currently around $4/gal in my area.

Was researching wood pellet boilers as a happy medium. Has anyone switched from an OWB to wood pellets? Or from oil to pellets? I'm not sure if I would just replace my oil boiler in the basement, or close-up the shed my OWB is in and put a wood pellet boiler in there, utilizing the underground piping I installed and heat exchanging system it currently uses. What wood pellet boilers are best? There are a few used Harman PB105 for sale locally, ~$2k.

 

[peakbagger]

Before you start looking at models, do you have a consistent reliable bulk supplier of residential pellets in your area. Sure you can haul and load tons of pellets by hand but most for most pellet boilers, folks put in bulk tanks and get bulk loads of pellets delivered. Many bulk pellet dealers sell pellet boiler brands that they have had the most success with. Ideally a pellet boiler is designed and built to minimize routine cleaning that frequently is expected of pellet stove owners.

Me SYS has installed a lot of Pellet Boilers in my area and have their own line of boilers. Not cheap and it took several different brands to get to the point where they have one that doesn't need fiddling with.

 

[btarby15]

Before you start looking at models, do you have a consistent reliable bulk supplier of residential pellets in your area. Sure you can haul and load tons of pellets by hand but most for most pellet boilers, folk put in bulk tanks and get bulk loads of pellets delivered. Many bulk pellet dealers sell pellet boiler brands that hey have had the most success with. Ideally a pellet boiler is designed and built to minimize routine cleaning that frequently is expected of pellet stove owners.

Yep I do have a few bulk suppliers to choose from

 

[brenndatomu]

Heatmor 100k BTU, and have an older oil boiler as backup. I'm having trouble keeping up with the amount of wood the OWB goes through,

Yup, upgrade to a gasser and cut that usage in half...and make sure your underground lines are not of crap quality...that will eat a TON of extra wood!
You don't want to go to pellets...only 1 step down from the same issues as oil...subject to crazy supply and pricing swings too.

 

[btarby15]

Yup, upgrade to a gasser and cut that usage in half...and make sure your underground lines are not of crap quality...that will eat a TON of extra wood!
You don't want to go to pellets...only 1 step down from the same issues as oil...subject to crazy supply and pricing swings too.

Yeah, don't really want to switch to a gasser model...they have a lot more issues than a conventional OWB, and require extremely dry wood, something I don't always have. My oil boiler is pretty old...was contemplating replacing it with a wood pellet boiler that way it doesn't have to run through the 150ft of underground lines...if I could find a used Harman in good condition, it wouldn't be a terribly expensive experiment.

 

[brenndatomu]

they have a lot more issues than a conventional OWB, and require extremely dry wood

Most issues are operator error, because people don't bother to read the manual...its not that difficult...and I wouldn't say extremely dry...the dryer the better, but some people still burn some stuff that is too wet IMO, and all that does is make you have to make more firewood...burning wet wood is false economy.

 

[btarby15]

Most issues are operator error, because people don't bother to read the manual...its not that difficult...and I wouldn't say extremely dry...the dryer the better, but some people still burn some stuff that is too wet IMO, and all that does is make you have to make more firewood...burning wet wood is false economy.

Appreciate your input.

 

[salecker]

Wood that isn't dry has the same stuff in it that firefighters use to put out fires...
Water
As a gasafication user for the last 14 years i would not go back to a conventional firebox.
And make sure you have good lines.

 

[peakbagger]

The OP asked about pellets so I focused on pellets. IMHO, if someone has access to firewood and is able to handle the wood and have a backup source of heat for when they are not home, skip the pellets, stick with cordwood and go with indoor gasifier with oversized thermal storage tank.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

Wood pellet pricing has been fairly stable historically.
Except for a jump in 2023

Link to Massachusetts historical fuel pricing

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-home-heating-fuels-prices#retail-heating-oil-and-propane-prices---dashboard-

Below a weblink to fuel cost comparison calculator ((Pellets Fuel Institute)

Compare Fuel Costs

www.pelletheat.org

There are really good pellet boiler brands available in the northeast.
Look at the classifieds page: https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/classifieds-for-sale-wanted-etc.10/