Any interest in wood boilers?

[MaineShark]

The brand of wood boilers that I will be using (Greenwood Furnace) is from the West coast, and they're looking to build market share in this area, so I may be able to talk them into some better pricing or better financing or some other deal to make the system more attractive for the first folks to get one.  They want referrals (word of mouth is the best possible advertising), and they want example installations that might be available for prospective customers to tour.

If anyone here is seriously interested, and particularly if your're vaguely in the Concord area (although that's not required), please get in touch with me and we'll see if we can work something out.

Please take a look at my website for more information about the product, and feel free to email me or PM me or post here with any questions.

Joe

[LiveFree]

How much would something like this cost to tie into an existing oil heating system?

[MaineShark]

How much would something like this cost to tie into an existing oil heating system?

It's dependant on the size furnace that is required (which determines the cost of the appliance), the existing system, and the location of the furnace.

The location is one of the biggest factors in the installation cost.  These are large and heavy pieces of equipment and need to be installed in a garage, walk-in basement, or another building.  If the house/business is such that the boiler can be placed near the existing oil boiler or furnace, and there is an available (unused) chimney flue of correct sizing, the location is ideal.  If the boiler needs to be located in a separate building that doesn't have a chimney, and we have to run underground piping to bring the heat to the house, the installation becomes a bit more costly.

Assuming a relatively straightforward installation and a Model 100, cost should be in the neighborhood of $10-12k for the boiler, including installation and freight.  Typically, people are seeing 60-75% reductions in their heating bills, although some have been as high as 85%.  So, if you take the amount that you currently spend on fuel per year, and then find out what 70% of that is, you'll have your yearly savings.  Divide the installed cost (eg $10k) by that number, and you will find out how many years it will take to pay off the installation.  Of course, oil is only getting more expensive, so the actual payoff will be better.

And, of course, if you get your wood for free (eg, if you have your own wood lot), the savings are greater.  (The Greenwood furnace also prefers large, unsplit logs, so you actually save a good bit of labor by not having to split the wood)  Even if you don't, it's nice to be using local resources instead of oil that has to be shipped it.

Also of interest, the Greenwood system uses very little electricity compared to oil-fired equipment, and can actually be operated on battery power for a decent amount of time, to deal with power failures.

I was actually in a meeting with some local contractors and some of the folks from Greenwood last evening, and the expression used by one of the contractors was that people have already bought these boilers; they've just been paying their oil company instead of us.

As I said, if people are serious, I'll talk to the Greenwood folks and see what we can do about the pricing, since they are really interested in building market share in this area.

Joe

[KBCraig]

Looking at the Greenwood site, I didn't see any mention of ash removal, and it doesn't appear to have a grate. Do you have to shovel it out through the feed door?

[MaineShark]

Looking at the Greenwood site, I didn't see any mention of ash removal, and it doesn't appear to have a grate. Do you have to shovel it out through the feed door?

You can either shovel or vacuum the ash out.  Because it is a gasification boiler, almost all the wood is burned.  You have to clean the ash out when the level reaches the bottom of the air inlet holes in the back of the chamber, which is roughly an inch from the bottom of the chamber.  Greenwood indicates that this should be done once a month.  There is also a cleanout on the back to allow ash to be removed from the flue pipe, at about the same frequency.

The system burns the wood so completely an cleanly that there is very little ash left over.  Ash is, after all, unused fuel, so any ash (chunks in the firebox, or smoke out the chimney) is wood that is being wasted.  Even if you have a wood lot and don't actually pay for it, that's a lot of labor going up the chimney, in the case of a typical smoky boiler, furnace, or woodstove.

The Greenwood system is 85+% efficient, which is on par with a quality oil boiler.  But, of course, wood costs dramatically less per btu than oil, and is locally-produced.

Joe

[dalebert]

I saw something about furnaces for dried corn. The impression I got was it was used to supplement a heating system rather than completely replace it. Has anyone looked into those?

[Russell Kanning]

I saw something about furnaces for dried corn. The impression I got was it was used to supplement a heating system rather than completely replace it. Has anyone looked into those?

sounds like a different thread .... you could use it for anything ... I have .... it makes more sense to me for places that grow corn ... we have wood in nh.
my dad might get one sometime .... he is in kansas

[KBCraig]

The ethanol scam is going to drive corn prices through the roof (not to mention prices for beef, pork, poultry, and dairy!).

If I had a corn burner, I'd be checking if it could also handle wood fuel pellets.

Kevin

[MaineShark]

There are systems for dried corn, wood pellets, and other biomass.

Honestly, though, the cost of the equipment is higher and the cost of the fuel is higher as well.  Solid logs are low-labor and low-cost, and the boilers themselves are lower cost.

(Of course, while Greenwood doesn't support it, I expect someone with some ingenuity could build an appropriate grating to hold pellet fuel inside the combustion chamber, if one was inclined to do so...)

Joe

[MaineShark]

Found some interesting information.  Anyone a discounted wood boiler?

This site lists towns that will exempt some of your property from taxation for the installation of various types of renewable energy systems, including wood heating systems.

So, in other words, if you install a wood boiler, your property assessment goes down (permanently) by 75% of the installed cost (at least, that's how Northwood does it).  Then figure in Greenwood's "365-days same as cash" financing, and you don't even have to pay for the boiler until a year from now, in addition to getting the lifetime tax discount.

The details are up to your town, so check with them.  In Northwood, they directed me to the tax assessor as the one who handles it, but it might vary in your town.

Also, Greenwood is very interested in getting some "demonstration" units in this area, so if you are willing to allow others who are interested in wood boilers to look over your system on occasion, they are offering a discount (roughly 7.5%, I think) on the cost of the boiler.

Any interest?

Additionally, I'm offering $100 for leads that result in sales.  So, if you know someone who would be interested in one of these systems, let me know.  If they buy one, you get $100 to spend as you like.

Joe

[dalebert]

The ethanol scam is going to drive corn prices through the roof (not to mention prices for beef, pork, poultry, and dairy!).

If I had a corn burner, I'd be checking if it could also handle wood fuel pellets.

Kevin

Ah, good point. I was watching something on 20/20 about the B.S. surrounding ethanol and the lobbying by the corn industry. Russell's point is also good. There is wood in N.H. 

[MaineShark]

Russell's point is also good. There is wood in N.H. 

Exactly.  Greenwood is pushing the fuel savings in their marketing, but I expect that they will find a good percentage of the sales are the result of a desire to be self-sufficient, not just a desire to save on fuel.  These things use very little electric power compared to a regular boiler, so they lend themselves well to general off-grid purposes.

Joe