CJadamec
TFP Expert
Outdoor wood boilers got really popular for a while back when heating oil was over $4 /gal. They work really well if you have a steady supply of seasoned wood to feed them with. Depending on the heat demand and the size of your boiler you will feed the fire anywhere anywhere from every other hour to as long as 12 hours. That's if you are running 24/7.
They more commonly look like THIS.
Typically you will need 3-8 cord of wood to heat a standard size house for a winter. If you were maintaining a pool the whole season with something like this I would expect similar consumption.
By the numbers good quality well seasoned hard wood will get you about 22-24 million BTU per cord of wood (1 cord = 128 cubic feet dry tightly stacked wood). At full burn rate of 200k btu the boiler I linked to will consume a cord of wood in roughly 5 days, or 120 hours of run time.
The wood smoke produced by these types of boilers can be an issue for both you and your neighbors. At least in my local area its tough to get a permit to install one of these boilers.
They more commonly look like THIS.
Typically you will need 3-8 cord of wood to heat a standard size house for a winter. If you were maintaining a pool the whole season with something like this I would expect similar consumption.
By the numbers good quality well seasoned hard wood will get you about 22-24 million BTU per cord of wood (1 cord = 128 cubic feet dry tightly stacked wood). At full burn rate of 200k btu the boiler I linked to will consume a cord of wood in roughly 5 days, or 120 hours of run time.
The wood smoke produced by these types of boilers can be an issue for both you and your neighbors. At least in my local area its tough to get a permit to install one of these boilers.
