As a mechanic, maintenance man, I am going out on a limb here… keeping simplicity in mind, the classics are the way to go! Keep it simple and anyone can operate the unit! While I see both sides of the fence, I will heat with my wood stoves as long as I can, and hopefully next year be able to afford a new lp tankless boiler and water coils for our wood stoves! The only reason for lp is when we are away, to help maintain heat, no to heat the house!
I too have a CB Classic. 19 years old. Haven't had a lick of trouble with it. I have friends with gasser, their not impressed. The gasser does work and all but as you have stated it is more work. Depending on my wood, I load twice a day. 12 hour runs. It still has wood in it when we refill it. House is warm and all my domestic hot water is heated by it as well. Good presentation on your behalf.
Well, I'm glad we have an older model. The previous owner of our house put it in about 12-13 years ago now, I think. I like that we can pretty much throw any wood or paper products in it to burn. I don't recycle any paper or cardboard in the winter. I just set aside to throw in the wood boiler. Our first couple winters we were burning some punkier and greener wood just because we didn't have enough seasoned wood set aside yet. This is our first winter with a good supply of seasoned wood and it's taken far less to keep the house warm. I'm not sure how much longer our boiler has, hopefully a while yet. It seems in good condition still, and we've been keeping it up since we bought this place. Not sure what we'll do next either. High tech is not always better, practically speaking. God Bless!
I do that as well with cardboard and paper too! Makes sense to me to burn it versus driving it torn down to the transfer station! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I do agree high tech isnt always the best!
I have a 20 yearold CB. Love it. Has never given us any major trouble. Plus have a local Sales and Maintenance Guy 9 miles away. If it was to go kaput I would shoot for another Classic
Indeed! Classic all the way but I wouldnt be oppossed to a gassifcation style but Id go with a mechanical gasser. NOT a computer ran one. All the CB gassers are computer ran
"Iron Sharpens Iron" 'nuff said! KISS is always better in the long run! I have the same woodstove in my house since 1989. A little maintenance and it will last a lifetime. Have a good one, Jay!
When I bought my Classic 6048 last fall I had zero experience with wood boilers. Literally had never even thrown wood into one. Did some research of all types and settled on the Classic 6048. When I finally reached out to Central Boiler they advised that with zero experience and for simplicity, I made the right choice. The sales rep also advised that he wasn’t a big fan of the new style as they are more complicated, more working parts, more maintenance. The Classic 6048 just works!
Ive heard the same thing from people who work for CB LOL they praise the classics for simplicity! Hope you have years of happiness with it! I love mine!
I have owned the old school and the new style boilers and would never go back to the old school! To me it is so much easier to use the new unit because I have to split half the amount of wood as I use to. That is a time saver! I don’t do any more maintenance on the new unit compared to the old one either. It also creates much less ash to clean up and dispose of.
Im glad you are happy with it! Im not against gassers I just dont like the CB ones. The concept is cool but the computers and all the jazz involved im allset. Ill take a more "mechanical gasser" over a computer controlled one.
Hello and thank you for a very well made/well thought out video & discussion thread. We have had our Classic 4436 since 2003 & love it -- very few problems since then other than 2 solenoids burning out (needing replaced) & an air bubble in the line at some point many years ago. We've tried to keep up on it well enough but have slipped some in the last few years. (i.e., not been so particular about maintain perfect rust inhibitor/Ph levels; not changing the door gasket annually, etc.) Always tried to keep the insides scraped out adequately, used creosote remover, etc. But just yesterday I discovered a pinhole leak inside the firebox; (panic!) & tried to have a guy weld a plug/patch on it. Result: TWO MORE pinhole leaks! Now we got a MAJOR PROBLEM! Drained the entire system; & started considering/researching options... Talked w/ a dealer & was pretty much sold on investing in the Elite 560 HDX as a replacement...UNTIL I just watched this video. Simplicity IS better & much more preferable! However I have not seen any other posts (anywhere!) re how people have dealt with/repaired leaks in the firebox. Any suggestions?? Need to make decisions pretty quick. Thanks!
Dont let me deter you from the new model but from what I have been told from new machine owners and central boiler themelves say the new models NEED consistent cleaning and premium wood. So if you are not willing to clean the heat exchangers, tubes, etc then it will be hard to run efficient for you. I have had several people say they have no issues with them but they need to be kept clean and burn perfect wood, I personally dont want one, but thats me. I compare the old machines to new machines like a 4 barrel V8 with magneto (classic boilers) versus a turbo 4 cylinder fuel injected ( new machines ) yeah they are more efficient, cleaner, less wood, etc but ME personally cant justfy it. Most of my wood is seasoned and dry, I like the OPTION to be able to burn premo wood BUT I like to have the option to burn not so dry wood, pallets, junk limbs, etc... I do not know where to go for help for leaks... that is unfortunate and Im sorry to hear. I would call metal shops, fabricaters, etc... The problem with pin holes is you are delaying the enevitable, You fix one pin and another may show up later ( could be years idk). Let me know how you solve it!
@@HomesteadJay Well thanks for the reply & insight, Jay. I agree with you the new Elite stoves seem like there's going to be more messing around w/ it -- AND 'more things to go wrong' on them potentially. However we went over to look at/compare side by side; & I've gotta say: there are some really attractive features to them. For example: The firebox on the Classic is HUGE/DEEeep! -- & digging out/dumping/hauling ashes from that cavern every week is less than ideal; compared to the little bit of fly ash produced in the Elite stove after TWO weeks! Also, like you, I enjoy lots of aspects of the whole wood heating process; so I reasoned it just be a matter of getting used to it & into a routine. The other thing is, they're just so much more efficient! The wood we've got put up for this year could potentially last through 2025 too! Yeah that's right -- we walk by faith, not by sight -- we bite the bullet & took the dive! We should be back to burning wood by the end of next week. Hallelujah! Happy heating!
Hi Gary from the UK here, I'm an old heating engineer and it's refreshing to see someone who is not supported by some big company giving an honest comment, I always say the more bells and whistles you have on anything the more that can go wrong. As you are a mechanic have you ever considered building your own boil knowing what you know now. Great video very interesting and informative keep them coming well done
Id love to build my own wood boiler! I think id try to make a hybrid machine that took some of the gassification process but still able to load ugly wood like the classics!
@@HomesteadJay So you want to build your own boiler, me too I have been toying with the idea of a steam engine type of heat exchanger to turning the fire into hot water fast and also using wood chips for fuel with a screw feed from the hopper but also a reciprocating fire bed plus an air fan to push the air through the fire bed for the 2nd burn, see what you think th-cam.com/video/GsqLLCUxvog/w-d-xo.htmlsi=UWaRGtWkztBaPnHR th-cam.com/video/_ErYQsWpI2s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=GRKehIH9vhBofHkJ Take a look and let me know what you think.
I checked the videos out. Very neat tech there indeed. I get the concepts for sure and that stuff is really cool to see animated. The second one was wild how every push of the screw it adds clean fuel and moves the ashes out.
@@HomesteadJay my thoughts exactly, I thought if your could use wood chip as a fuel, it would be great for off grid and you would use a lot less wood, we in the UK, many many years ago had this type of boiler for domestic use and I fitted lots and lots of them, they were Very Very efficient and boy did they get hot, and fast too, although I did have one client that went on vacation for 2 weeks and and the boiler was still lit when he returned home from the vacation. So anyway I think if you use the same style of boiler but changed the top part of the boiler, and replaced it with the combustion chamber of a steam engine with water running through many tubes ,Now that would be a beast of a boiler. I was thinking you could use exhaust pipe for the water tubes, what do you think.
We got $6000 back from Efficiency Maine when we had our boiler installed back in November so that helped knock down the price tag. We are happy with our 560hdx but we never had an older one for comparison. Our dealer from Downeast Boiler is a super nice guy and equally knowledgeable. Great video
As always nice job, however, after 13 years with a Wood Doctor converter, three years ago I made the jump to the 760HDX (of course here in Maine you have to go to a gasser), maybe I'm running it wrong, but other then cleaning out the ash about every three weeks, that is really all I do. When heating system is done I take it all apart, oil everything down and wait for October to put it all back together, which is maybe a hour or so, but I really tend to it less than I did prior. All my wood is split, I have thrown some big pine rounds into it as I have plenty around and this fall as I was re-doing my deck, I'm not sure of the BTU value of nails but it handled the boards quite nicely. I do have some concern over the electronics as with everything it will fail me at some time but after three years it's really been quite simple to use! Enjoy the videos.
I'm in my 3rd year with the 750HD. Similar results. I burn almost all rounds, up to 12" in diameter (tip to trunk), all of it is dead and dry, less than 16%. I prefer the rounds as I find they burn longer, I burn the branches on warmer days. I am 3-5 weeks between ash clean outs but I'm doing the exchanger every time this year to compare with last year when I only did it 3 times. I thinks nails would go, haven't tried. I plugged mine with gravel, spring cleanup. Anything that will fit between the secondary air tube and the nozzle will go, anything bigger will cause problems.
You say that your not trying to sway people, but that was definitely how it comes off, I think you need to go check one out that is dialed in, I'd offer but I'm too far away. If ran properly the gassers aren't scary and do work great. IMO, 99% of all of the problems and extra work can be minimized or eliminated by burning dryer wood. The CB manual says 20%, but my target is less than 16%. Some people in warmer more humid areas will have more trouble drying their firewood adequately, which means they need to split it smaller or season for multiple years! Below 16% moisture, operated correctly, my CB 750HD is on cruise control, very little work, almost zero maintenance, I would claim were even if you factor in that I through in less wood. On the newer 50's and 60's the exchanger is easy to access and clean, I usually do it every 3-5 weeks when I do ash takes about 5 min (my worst were 15-20 min after burning the 18 to 20% wood and one burst last year freezing rain on all my wood). longest I've went without cleaning it was ~4 months and I only had one passage plugged. As I've mentioned in your other vid I am burning 100% standing dead and deadfall. I burn rounds from the tip to the trunk (some trucks are to wet, they are stacked for next year). The last piece of split wood that I burned was last January when I needed a long burn while I was gone, ~12 cords ago. I am a shift worker and chose the CB 750HD because of the internet connection, its nice to check it from work and know that its still going, but since the start of the 3rd week with it I only use it to time my refills. I do agree that it is much more complex and I will be prepared for that in the future, luckily I have one of the later 750's and other people should have issues before me and I'll be able to get ahead of it. Pretty much all the items you mention in the video (2x4's , pallets and other scraps) burn fine in mine as long as they are dry. I've burn't it all. Nails however, I would pick them out. Nails wouldn't cause issues, bolts might. Avoid any non-combustible that is larger than the gap between the secondary tube and the nozzle as they will block the air flow. Year 1 I had my wood on racks on a gravel pad, I raked up the bark in the spring, separated the gravel and burn't it. It burn't fine but ash the ash cycled through there was enough missed gravel that I plugged off. I was able to rod it from below with 3/8 tubing but not sure you have room on the 60's with the swirl chamber. My racks on on grass now. The things that drive me nuts are the firebox door seal!!! (the new 60 style I installed is much better) and the water testing.
Jay. I'm in the same boat! My CL5648 is definitely up in age, but I love the machine! Being in NYS, I don't think I can buy and install another non gasification machine! I'm hoping I can still get several years out of my classic! Great video. Thanks!
My Crown Royal 7200E takes about 15 minutes twice a month for maintenance. The amount of ash left behind is miniscule after 2 weeks of burning. It does prefer split wood over full rounds, but I wouldn't call them sticks. I've got a spare room. Come to Northern Michigan and I'll give you some hands on time! 😁
I have a gasification boiler. Nails are fine. I've burnt probably around 30-40 pallets this year. The nails come out just fine when i clean the bottom chamber out. (I have a Heatmaster G4000) I do burn pine -- It's fine, but but hardwood is better (obviously, just like any other stove). I will also throw in giant rounds if they are knotty and I don't feel like splitting it, I just put some split pieces (and branches) around it and it will burn. Just takes a while. If you don't want to get a gasification boiler, if you can get one (big issue on can as some states don't allow them) look into the multipass boilers (Crown Royal and Heatmaster both make one) They are middle of the road between old school boilers and newer gasification ones.
Jay, good summary. I basicall do not take any issue with your points but wanted to add a few and hopefully clarify. It seems from other videos you have a reliable dealer, so shcnge is a convern for you. I recently went thru the same issues as you when I went from my indoor Bejamin Boiler of 23 years old ( made here in Nova Scotia) where I purchased an outsoodr boiler. The controls on your boiler are essentially the same as my indoor boiler (minus the fan). I wanted something relaible without computer chips failing. So I researched the market and chose a Polar G2. Same controls essentially as you boiler, no computer, no wifi, just plane controls. I installed it last summer and it hats my log home and shop with no issues. You can feed it with a 2 ft stick, and I do use some rounds. But I did build a 3 suded shipe with an arrached roof to keep the wood dry from the rain ( 20 ft x 34ft, with clear panels to allow the sun to shine in and good air flow. So far I have been happy with the Polar.
Jay you are spot on i have a 14yr old heat master and love it the place I bought mine the guy wanted me to trade mine in on a new one well after I told him I wasn't going to he said he could sell a 100 of them like mine so that told me what people think of the new ones. I agree the new ones are alright but not like the old ones. Great video thanks my friend. This is my wife's phone just thought I'd tell you
I’ve owned an old cl17 central boiler for 20 years, I switched to the 560 gasser. I love the gasser, it uses way less wood and the water temperature is more consistent. The other thing is smoke, the old stove I could see smoke for a mile from the house! The gasifier there is very little to no smoke at all. I love being able to check on my stove on my phone! Way less trips out to the stove than before!!! I’ve owned the new stove 2 years and I would never go back to the old one.
I definitely like and prefer the old school style too. Nothing against the new models but there's way to much stuff to have to do and clean and could go wrong with the new ones. I am a very simple kinda guy so that's the way I like to live hahahaha! Stay safe my friend
New sub here, We're looking at a 760 here at our cabin. I like the chat about both types of boilers. Unfortunately I have neighbors close by so the classic isn't an option for me, don't want to smoke them out 😂
We have a classic edge HDX750 at one property heating a home/pole building. At the other property we have a classic CL5036 heating a house, and possibly a smaller pole building. The HDX gasification unit has more maintenance with cleaning as you stated. The first year or two I was cleaning the ash/heat exchanger every week. 5 years in and I am cleaning it every 2-3 weeks. You can burn pine, punky wood, and full chunks that are not green in the gasification unit, but it is best to put those at the top so it dries the pieces as it burns with more seasoned wood at the bottom. One thing the HDX unit struggles with is warmer weather when there is not much heat draw. I find it will smolder out if you don’t have a good coal bed, or you can change the water differentials to 5 degrees so it kicks on more frequently. The classic just eats whatever you throw in and keeps on going. Minimal cleaning on the classic boiler which makes it so nice. I know both places are not heating the same square footage, although I believe if you burned seasoned wood in both units (classic vs HDX) you would not be far off with wood consumption. If I could go back to repurchase the first unit it would have been a classic instead of a gasifier.
Try and get a supply of dryer wood for that gasser (even if its only enough for a test). The gasser will clean up and burn less fuel as it gets dryer (according to my tests). You will eventually hit a point were it would be too dry and you would start losing efficiency (heat up the stack or lack of coal bed production) but were are talking less than 10% which is hard to get to in most climates. You already have it so you might as well try and make it work for you verses fighting it.
@@yetilikesbeer I burn dry/seasoned wood in the gasifier. We usually let the wood dry for two years before using it. Gasifiers are a completely different animal than the conventional units.
@@GeneralBeefDip have you measured the actual moisture of the wood, cut it and average the inside and the edge. CB recomends 20% but I wont touch it till its 16% or less. I heard of people in humid climates that need 4 years to get big wood dry enough or there forced to split into kindling. I run my 750HD on 16% or dryer with almost 0 issues. At around 10% I have issues with too much coal production, I can get the coal bed above the bottom of the door. You say it will fizzle out in warmer weather, consume the coals. Too me, that wood is too wet. From the time I light mine till I shut it off it runs flawlessly regardless of the load. I lit it Oct 24 and it's now March 9, so 19.5 weeks straight no re lights. I clean it on the fly.
This is jimmy d,I have had a 5036,old school and went to a gasification,,we love the new one so far,,can see and change the temp,on my phone,lot more parts on this one ,so we will see
Some people like them, I am not sold. Something tells me to stick with the old school style. Id rather have simplicity over efficiency. ESP growing my tree business not every job is going to be premium firewood trees. Im gonna run into the junk wood which I wouldnt want to force through a gasser!
Biggest difference is time vs wood consumption. I had a cleanfire 700 and switched to crown royal mp7350. Mp burns more but is not picky at all. The cleanfire had to be split, dried, stacked, etc. I decided with more wood cause the cleanfire plugged up constantly and it was a pain to clean. Mp7350, cut down a tree and throw it in!
The choice will be dependent on many factors. In areas with less forest/less wood and thus higher prices for wood, the savings in wood consumption can make the difference. Some people won't mind spending more time doing maintenance on a gasification unit. I myself would prefer the classic if I have access to enough affordable wood.
Two other discussions you could have is storage vs no storage. And closed vs open systems. Then combine all three and try to find the best combination. I love my closed gasification boiler with storage. If I had to, I would do it the same way. Perfect setup, in my opinion.
Small batch burn stick boilers with properly sized storage are much more efficient than any OWB's. But as they are usually European or based off of a European design they have output limitations for alot of people in North America. Low to medium loads can use either but for high loads only an outdoor boiler, conventional or gasser will work. The OWB's have storage, they store the energy in wood form, LOL.
@@yetilikesbeer yet they have US-made ones with self-loaders using woodchips. Automatic and you can remote monitor with an application. So, when you factor in no having to load, gasification is easier IMHO.
@@BeachBum51050 Not sure where your going here. The video is comparing outdoor wood boilers. Old OWBs - conventional style combustion verses New OWBs - gasification combustion. The comment I replied to was asking to compare storage vs no storage which is hard to compare because the operational concepts behind an OWB and a stick burner with thermal storage are different. As for gasification, I have the CB Classic Edge 750HD, which is a gasification outdoor wood boiler. And yes it is easy and that's without an automatic feed system. I would put any automatic wood feeding system, whether it is conventional or gasification, in a separate category. IMHO hey are just to expensive and they force the user into a specific wood supply which might get more expensive in the future.
@@yetilikesbeer yup I was kind of going sideways on my response. I have a huge wooden parcel I will be building on in a couple of years. I will invest in a chipper (probably buy it off an auction site) and silo it. An auger will bring it to the boiler's feed tray. Some sensors and it will be pretty much hands off aided from the bi-weekly maintenance. What I cannot or won't harvest on my own property, I will pay the $25/per day to harvest on BLM. I realize for the first year I'll need to buy. Anyway, the systems I've been looking at are simple to maintain and are comparatively priced. They are smaller so less material goes into it. I guess since I won't have any junk wood, it makes sense to use a gasification boiler.
Good evening Jay.. Well about 8 years ago I was going to put in a outside boiler.. The cost at the time for a full install with me doing most of the work other then the plumbing to my heating system in the basement.. It was about $8500.00.. The unit it self $4800.. The piping was $4.00 bucks a foot.. And as you know I had to be a certain distance from a building.. So I just burned my wood stove.. I was burning about 5 cord a year.. But because of health reasons I gave up the wood and went to pellets.. So much less work but cost is up now.. But with that being said.. If I had put in a boiler I would still be burning wood just because of what you said about what you can burn for wood.. I would have been able to keep up with cutting.. I don’t know if that makes any sense to you.. But it was a choice I made back then that I wish I hadn’t.. Any way.. Great video.. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. As always stay safe and always be kind. Cheers
Hey Gus! Sorry for the late reply. I remember you telling me you changed to pellets instead of wood but yeah the initial cost of wood boilers is high but its a longer term payoff. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Go 603!
I have never had a old school boiler but I’m impressed by my woodmaster Cleanfire 900 not as hard to maintain as people think I like staying ahead on wood so it’s not a big deal for me You could look at it but it’s a long ways away
I would stick with a classic.myself. if it's not broke, don't fix it mentality. The availability of less than desirable wood that you get hours, days, weeks of heat from is sweet. Got your shout out Jay👍
I love my HDX 560 it’s awesome a little maintenance and TLC and it’s good to go I burned a none gasification stove for 22 years and would never go back
I have the 760 HDX and it’s great,very little maintenance,very little ash. There are benefits to both but I’m glad I went gasification route.I also have the same settings on mine,170-185 degrees works the same way!
here in europe we have gasification boilers in our basement or the boiler room in the brick barn and theyre not that big but if you load them up with hardwood it can burn for a day but it depends, we had one at my gigantic school and it was enough to heat everything and i was quite surprised it could do that and we had to reload every 4-5 hours and we used pine only because the area is pine monoculture for the most part
@@HomesteadJay search on TH-cam “Eco Angus 600 full clean” and the channel Oak Farm Firewood has a video on how they’re cleaned and it’s in English too if you want to see how boilers in Europe are cleaned
I am guessing when you have limited access to wood, you might prefer gassification. Then it's also likely that if your neighbors are closer, you might also consider gassification to reduce smoke around. In my opinion, having the old school design comes with more wood, but much less handling of wood, which highly compensate the overall effort involved. Thanks!
I went into my gasser with 1 main goal. Minimal handling of the wood. The logistics of the future are coming together slowly but my goal is to only handle my boiler wood twice by hand. Right now it's mostly 3 times, I'm burning standing dead and deadfall rounds from my property, some up to 12" in diameter.
My dealer runs the 6048. His solution to smoking out the neighbors (he's in a rural subdivision) is the fan kit. He goes through alot of wood but that smoke goes almost straight up for 20' clearing all of the neighbors regardless of the wind, LOL. He's not a fan of the gassers, overall when my shop is turned down we use similar BTU's and I do it with less than 10% of the smoke and much less wood.
Honest video. I agree completely with your situation. You use wood that otherwise would end up in landfills or decomposing where it might be an eyesore. Technologie is a good thing, but can make simple things overcomplicated and the more components...the higher the risk of something breaking down. Just a question: is it possible to increase the efficiency by insulation the outside of the wood boiler even more?
Hey Duas! I would imagine that if the machine was in a heated building it would use "less" wood potentially however youd need more wood to heat said building lol so I dont know if its a net win or loss lol I would love to have this boiler in a shelter indeed! (Future plans)
If you like to prep your wood, and like it clean, dry, and split, the gasification is the way to go. If you like to throw any piece of wood you find on the side of the road, and don't like to split and stack your wood nicely, then old school is the way to go. Depends on your personality.
I had a 2005 CL6048 but sadly sprung a leak early spring 2021. I’m getting older so decided to get a new stove, thinking it would be my last. I made the mistake of going with a highly recommended multi pass unit from another manufacturer. Just finishing up my third heating season and seriously thinking of moving back to Central Boiler old school type boiler.
I have masonry heater and i heat my house with that. If you like low tech and reliable ways to heat your house then you should have it. It's very efficient and convenient way to heat. Sure you must have fully seasoned firewood and you can burn pine also.
I like being able to burn anything but when I see "takes 65% less wood" on the side of a gasification unit I get why people go that way. Exhaust too I guess but I like splitting and I don't mind feeding it so who knows! I was just out throwing huge green rounds in it because I'm low on wood. Can't do that in a gasifier!
I thought the EPA required gasification units now. Most companies are not even setting to older style. Also not super about splitting. Buddy of mine in Idaho has one and he puts in rounds just says it takes longer to recover unless you have some smaller stuff in there as well
The EPA has no idea what they are talking about if you ask me. The gassification process is indeed (cleaner) for sure but you need dang near perfect wood ( which is the goal, I get) but its too refined for me. I like the classic to be able to toss whatever kind shape species of wood in and it will burn. Im not always "ahead of the curve" for seasoned wood so to be able to burn some what green wood mixed in with the seasoned wood is nice. The gassers need perfect wood all the time. Pros and cons like anything
I believe that gassification boilers came about because of EPA regulations restricting the emissions of new heating units. Your type of boiler is no longer allowed to be used in certain states. My type of forced air wood burner is no longer allowed in many localities because of emission standards. If you want to keep your simple burner, you had better learn how to restore it because, eventually, you won't be able to buy another one.
Yours is old school? Shoot, my machine is a dinosaur then! (Just teasing.) I have an old CL40, similar size to the 6048’s, but my draft door is on the side. Built in 94, had a couple repairs done this year, and it’s working out great for me
9:03 yes, you can't say all the things you said before as facts. These are just your thoughts, assumptions and some misunderstanding of the operation of the gasification boiler. Especially in the part that deals with requirements for firewood and the real situation with their use. I spent a couple of years choosing a boiler before buying it, and thanks to the unpretentiousness to fuel and its complete combustion, I chose the pyrolysis type of boiler (gasification). I say this as an owner since 2017. So, it is desirable to burn wood with a moisture content of no more than 20% in a conventional and pyrolysis boiler. This is of course a reasonable rule, but if for an ordinary boiler it is a strict recommendation in view of the chimney, creosote, acidity, then for a gasification boiler it is only a question of the amount of fuel and nothing more. Because the turbine that supplies air and the high temperature burn everything! And by everything I mean literally everything that burns. In reasonable proportions, you can burn the remains of all unnecessary things: rubber (tires), roofing material, old clothes, old shoes, and so on. That is, in addition to heat, the boiler can also work as a heat exchanger. But of course it doesn't work like a miracle and you can't exaggerate, but only add such fuel to the main one - firewood. And as for firewood, there is no difference here: pine or oak, it works the same, only the difference is that pine is lighter and you need more of it than oak, that's all. The best recipe from me is this: paper plus some cardboard for starting a fire, pine wood. After 10-15 minutes, when it has burned out and turned into red coals, we load firewood at the base: thinner ones at the bottom, preferably pine, then from the bottom to the top we fill the chamber with firewood from small to nearly unsplit large oak. Thus, the boiler will reach the set temperature and operating mode as quickly as possible. In a reasonable amount, no nails or screws are equally scary to him, nothing moves or jams there, because everything is blown downwards only by the force of the air that is pumped by the fan. But in an ordinary boiler, you cannot burn rubber, roofing felt or any similar junk, because there will be an unpleasant smell, there will be black terrible smoke and so on.
If you like simple you should take a look at crown royal. I put a 7200e in last summer. It gasification with no computers like headmaster or central boiler. Those are the choices I'm my area.
I'm like UJI got basically the same unit size and what not as you just a different brand name mine is the Empire 450 And it's 23 years old I did get the tank patched up because I had some links from heat cracks X last year which was 22 years and I burn anything and everything
Classics are gonna use more than conventional gassers but the gassers are more picky and need premium wood dry and split to run properly. The classics can burn unsplit greener wood
Your local welder may be able to build a new boiler . Its not that hard. IF he is willing to pressure test his welds. If he isn't, don't let him build one..
Gassification saves time cutting wood, since it doesn't burn as much. But it requires more time to clean. But getting the wood is done on my own timetable in the summer when its nice out. Cleaning a gassification stove has to be done whether I like it or not every week or two, and it has to be done when its cold out when I'm running the stove. Why would I want that? Plus the old school boiler can burn any wood. Wet, dry, doesn't matter. Small pieces, huge pieces. Gassification is so much fussier. No thanks. Classic boiler for me - all day every day!
Should be new kind of gmo'd plant that replaces the wood, then system carbon captures itself, pressurizes the capture into new fuel. Somebody said he burns a special coal on similar video. Self carbon capture, coal burner probably some sort of goal.
Hahah ive never burned a deer LOL but yeah the classics are "easier" but people burning crap like you mentioned are why they got banned in the first place lol
Im sorry to hear your boiler dying on you. You can still get the classics but you have to travel to a state that sells them and basically cash and carry
I like to be free to make my fire as good as I can. I do not like dictatorship in making efficient fire and to follow stupid rules that some companies set up for their better profit. Further I can reccomend you some kind of extended valves and ventillator at the according the exhaust and the heat exchanger for a better efficiency of the warmed up water. Old school - yea - but did the teachers told you to listen strictly always? Have your own mind about the most efficient heating. Paul
As a mechanic, maintenance man, I am going out on a limb here… keeping simplicity in mind, the classics are the way to go! Keep it simple and anyone can operate the unit! While I see both sides of the fence, I will heat with my wood stoves as long as I can, and hopefully next year be able to afford a new lp tankless boiler and water coils for our wood stoves!
The only reason for lp is when we are away, to help maintain heat, no to heat the house!
Hey Pat! Thanks for chiming in! Wood heat in any way is awesome!
I too have a CB Classic. 19 years old. Haven't had a lick of trouble with it. I have friends with gasser, their not impressed. The gasser does work and all but as you have stated it is more work. Depending on my wood, I load twice a day. 12 hour runs. It still has wood in it when we refill it. House is warm and all my domestic hot water is heated by it as well.
Good presentation on your behalf.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regardless of the machine style, heating with wood is an awesome thing!
Well, I'm glad we have an older model. The previous owner of our house put it in about 12-13 years ago now, I think. I like that we can pretty much throw any wood or paper products in it to burn. I don't recycle any paper or cardboard in the winter. I just set aside to throw in the wood boiler. Our first couple winters we were burning some punkier and greener wood just because we didn't have enough seasoned wood set aside yet. This is our first winter with a good supply of seasoned wood and it's taken far less to keep the house warm. I'm not sure how much longer our boiler has, hopefully a while yet. It seems in good condition still, and we've been keeping it up since we bought this place. Not sure what we'll do next either. High tech is not always better, practically speaking. God Bless!
I do that as well with cardboard and paper too! Makes sense to me to burn it versus driving it torn down to the transfer station! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I do agree high tech isnt always the best!
I have a 20 yearold CB. Love it. Has never given us any major trouble. Plus have a local Sales and Maintenance Guy 9 miles away. If it was to go kaput I would shoot for another Classic
Indeed! Classic all the way but I wouldnt be oppossed to a gassifcation style but Id go with a mechanical gasser. NOT a computer ran one. All the CB gassers are computer ran
I’m glad I have my classic , and it’s my second one , my first one was hit by lightning , cl 6048 is the best boiler u can get 👍🏻
Long live the classics!
@@HomesteadJay lots of comments on this one
"Iron Sharpens Iron" 'nuff said! KISS is always better in the long run! I have the same woodstove in my house since 1989. A little maintenance and it will last a lifetime. Have a good one, Jay!
Indeed Bob!
When I bought my Classic 6048 last fall I had zero experience with wood boilers. Literally had never even thrown wood into one. Did some research of all types and settled on the Classic 6048. When I finally reached out to Central Boiler they advised that with zero experience and for simplicity, I made the right choice. The sales rep also advised that he wasn’t a big fan of the new style as they are more complicated, more working parts, more maintenance. The Classic 6048 just works!
Ive heard the same thing from people who work for CB LOL they praise the classics for simplicity! Hope you have years of happiness with it! I love mine!
I have owned the old school and the new style boilers and would never go back to the old school! To me it is so much easier to use the new unit because I have to split half the amount of wood as I use to. That is a time saver! I don’t do any more maintenance on the new unit compared to the old one either. It also creates much less ash to clean up and dispose of.
Im glad you are happy with it! Im not against gassers I just dont like the CB ones. The concept is cool but the computers and all the jazz involved im allset. Ill take a more "mechanical gasser" over a computer controlled one.
Hello and thank you for a very well made/well thought out video & discussion thread. We have had our Classic 4436 since 2003 & love it -- very few problems since then other than 2 solenoids burning out (needing replaced) & an air bubble in the line at some point many years ago. We've tried to keep up on it well enough but have slipped some in the last few years. (i.e., not been so particular about maintain perfect rust inhibitor/Ph levels; not changing the door gasket annually, etc.) Always tried to keep the insides scraped out adequately, used creosote remover, etc. But just yesterday I discovered a pinhole leak inside the firebox; (panic!) & tried to have a guy weld a plug/patch on it. Result: TWO MORE pinhole leaks! Now we got a MAJOR PROBLEM! Drained the entire system; & started considering/researching options... Talked w/ a dealer & was pretty much sold on investing in the Elite 560 HDX as a replacement...UNTIL I just watched this video. Simplicity IS better & much more preferable! However I have not seen any other posts (anywhere!) re how people have dealt with/repaired leaks in the firebox. Any suggestions?? Need to make decisions pretty quick. Thanks!
Dont let me deter you from the new model but from what I have been told from new machine owners and central boiler themelves say the new models NEED consistent cleaning and premium wood. So if you are not willing to clean the heat exchangers, tubes, etc then it will be hard to run efficient for you. I have had several people say they have no issues with them but they need to be kept clean and burn perfect wood, I personally dont want one, but thats me. I compare the old machines to new machines like a 4 barrel V8 with magneto (classic boilers) versus a turbo 4 cylinder fuel injected ( new machines ) yeah they are more efficient, cleaner, less wood, etc but ME personally cant justfy it. Most of my wood is seasoned and dry, I like the OPTION to be able to burn premo wood BUT I like to have the option to burn not so dry wood, pallets, junk limbs, etc... I do not know where to go for help for leaks... that is unfortunate and Im sorry to hear. I would call metal shops, fabricaters, etc... The problem with pin holes is you are delaying the enevitable, You fix one pin and another may show up later ( could be years idk). Let me know how you solve it!
@@HomesteadJay Well thanks for the reply & insight, Jay. I agree with you the new Elite stoves seem like there's going to be more messing around w/ it -- AND 'more things to go wrong' on them potentially. However we went over to look at/compare side by side; & I've gotta say: there are some really attractive features to them. For example: The firebox on the Classic is HUGE/DEEeep! -- & digging out/dumping/hauling ashes from that cavern every week is less than ideal; compared to the little bit of fly ash produced in the Elite stove after TWO weeks! Also, like you, I enjoy lots of aspects of the whole wood heating process; so I reasoned it just be a matter of getting used to it & into a routine. The other thing is, they're just so much more efficient! The wood we've got put up for this year could potentially last through 2025 too! Yeah that's right -- we walk by faith, not by sight -- we bite the bullet & took the dive! We should be back to burning wood by the end of next week. Hallelujah! Happy heating!
Love my old beast. Heatmor 400. About 6 years old and although hungry, always reliable and eats anything!
Thats the best! Eat it all lol no frills just burning!
Hi Gary from the UK here, I'm an old heating engineer and it's refreshing to see someone who is not supported by some big company giving an honest comment, I always say the more bells and whistles you have on anything the more that can go wrong. As you are a mechanic have you ever considered building your own boil knowing what you know now.
Great video very interesting and informative keep them coming well done
Id love to build my own wood boiler! I think id try to make a hybrid machine that took some of the gassification process but still able to load ugly wood like the classics!
@@HomesteadJay So you want to build your own boiler, me too I have been toying with the idea of a steam engine type of heat exchanger to turning the fire into hot water fast and also using wood chips for fuel with a screw feed from the hopper but also a reciprocating fire bed plus an air fan to push the air through the fire bed for the 2nd burn, see what you think
th-cam.com/video/GsqLLCUxvog/w-d-xo.htmlsi=UWaRGtWkztBaPnHR
th-cam.com/video/_ErYQsWpI2s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=GRKehIH9vhBofHkJ
Take a look and let me know what you think.
I checked the videos out. Very neat tech there indeed. I get the concepts for sure and that stuff is really cool to see animated. The second one was wild how every push of the screw it adds clean fuel and moves the ashes out.
@@HomesteadJay my thoughts exactly, I thought if your could use wood chip as a fuel, it would be great for off grid and you would use a lot less wood, we in the UK, many many years ago had this type of boiler for domestic use and I fitted lots and lots of them, they were Very Very efficient and boy did they get hot, and fast too, although I did have one client that went on vacation for 2 weeks and and the boiler was still lit when he returned home from the vacation.
So anyway I think if you use the same style of boiler but changed the top part of the boiler, and replaced it with the combustion chamber of a steam engine with water running through many tubes ,Now that would be a beast of a boiler.
I was thinking you could use exhaust pipe for the water tubes, what do you think.
We got $6000 back from Efficiency Maine when we had our boiler installed back in November so that helped knock down the price tag. We are happy with our 560hdx but we never had an older one for comparison. Our dealer from Downeast Boiler is a super nice guy and equally knowledgeable. Great video
Wow 6K thats a heavy rebate indeed! Thanks for sharing Josh!
Outstanding informative Wood Boiler Video Sir 🧐👌👍 Cheers 🍻🍻
As always nice job, however, after 13 years with a Wood Doctor converter, three years ago I made the jump to the 760HDX (of course here in Maine you have to go to a gasser), maybe I'm running it wrong, but other then cleaning out the ash about every three weeks, that is really all I do. When heating system is done I take it all apart, oil everything down and wait for October to put it all back together, which is maybe a hour or so, but I really tend to it less than I did prior. All my wood is split, I have thrown some big pine rounds into it as I have plenty around and this fall as I was re-doing my deck, I'm not sure of the BTU value of nails but it handled the boards quite nicely. I do have some concern over the electronics as with everything it will fail me at some time but after three years it's really been quite simple to use! Enjoy the videos.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regardless of the machine style, heating with wood is an awesome thing!
I'm in my 3rd year with the 750HD. Similar results. I burn almost all rounds, up to 12" in diameter (tip to trunk), all of it is dead and dry, less than 16%. I prefer the rounds as I find they burn longer, I burn the branches on warmer days.
I am 3-5 weeks between ash clean outs but I'm doing the exchanger every time this year to compare with last year when I only did it 3 times.
I thinks nails would go, haven't tried. I plugged mine with gravel, spring cleanup. Anything that will fit between the secondary air tube and the nozzle will go, anything bigger will cause problems.
You say that your not trying to sway people, but that was definitely how it comes off, I think you need to go check one out that is dialed in, I'd offer but I'm too far away.
If ran properly the gassers aren't scary and do work great. IMO, 99% of all of the problems and extra work can be minimized or eliminated by burning dryer wood. The CB manual says 20%, but my target is less than 16%. Some people in warmer more humid areas will have more trouble drying their firewood adequately, which means they need to split it smaller or season for multiple years! Below 16% moisture, operated correctly, my CB 750HD is on cruise control, very little work, almost zero maintenance, I would claim were even if you factor in that I through in less wood.
On the newer 50's and 60's the exchanger is easy to access and clean, I usually do it every 3-5 weeks when I do ash takes about 5 min (my worst were 15-20 min after burning the 18 to 20% wood and one burst last year freezing rain on all my wood). longest I've went without cleaning it was ~4 months and I only had one passage plugged.
As I've mentioned in your other vid I am burning 100% standing dead and deadfall. I burn rounds from the tip to the trunk (some trucks are to wet, they are stacked for next year). The last piece of split wood that I burned was last January when I needed a long burn while I was gone, ~12 cords ago.
I am a shift worker and chose the CB 750HD because of the internet connection, its nice to check it from work and know that its still going, but since the start of the 3rd week with it I only use it to time my refills. I do agree that it is much more complex and I will be prepared for that in the future, luckily I have one of the later 750's and other people should have issues before me and I'll be able to get ahead of it.
Pretty much all the items you mention in the video (2x4's , pallets and other scraps) burn fine in mine as long as they are dry. I've burn't it all. Nails however, I would pick them out. Nails wouldn't cause issues, bolts might. Avoid any non-combustible that is larger than the gap between the secondary tube and the nozzle as they will block the air flow. Year 1 I had my wood on racks on a gravel pad, I raked up the bark in the spring, separated the gravel and burn't it. It burn't fine but ash the ash cycled through there was enough missed gravel that I plugged off. I was able to rod it from below with 3/8 tubing but not sure you have room on the 60's with the swirl chamber. My racks on on grass now.
The things that drive me nuts are the firebox door seal!!! (the new 60 style I installed is much better) and the water testing.
Jay. I'm in the same boat! My CL5648 is definitely up in age, but I love the machine! Being in NYS, I don't think I can buy and install another non gasification machine! I'm hoping I can still get several years out of my classic! Great video. Thanks!
I say the same thing every year! I hope it keeps chugging too!
Buy one from out of state and replace with exact model. nobody needs to know
@oliver_klozoff good point! Lol
My Crown Royal 7200E takes about 15 minutes twice a month for maintenance. The amount of ash left behind is miniscule after 2 weeks of burning. It does prefer split wood over full rounds, but I wouldn't call them sticks. I've got a spare room. Come to Northern Michigan and I'll give you some hands on time! 😁
Hey James! Thats a cool unit ive seen several videos on them! Thanks for the invite indeed, Much appreciated!
I have a gasification boiler. Nails are fine. I've burnt probably around 30-40 pallets this year. The nails come out just fine when i clean the bottom chamber out. (I have a Heatmaster G4000)
I do burn pine -- It's fine, but but hardwood is better (obviously, just like any other stove).
I will also throw in giant rounds if they are knotty and I don't feel like splitting it, I just put some split pieces (and branches) around it and it will burn. Just takes a while.
If you don't want to get a gasification boiler, if you can get one (big issue on can as some states don't allow them) look into the multipass boilers (Crown Royal and Heatmaster both make one) They are middle of the road between old school boilers and newer gasification ones.
Yes indeed ive heard of the CR and heatmaster in between models! Cool middle of the road idea!
Jay, good summary. I basicall do not take any issue with your points but wanted to add a few and hopefully clarify. It seems from other videos you have a reliable dealer, so shcnge is a convern for you. I recently went thru the same issues as you when I went from my indoor Bejamin Boiler of 23 years old ( made here in Nova Scotia) where I purchased an outsoodr boiler. The controls on your boiler are essentially the same as my indoor boiler (minus the fan). I wanted something relaible without computer chips failing. So I researched the market and chose a Polar G2. Same controls essentially as you boiler, no computer, no wifi, just plane controls. I installed it last summer and it hats my log home and shop with no issues. You can feed it with a 2 ft stick, and I do use some rounds. But I did build a 3 suded shipe with an arrached roof to keep the wood dry from the rain ( 20 ft x 34ft, with clear panels to allow the sun to shine in and good air flow. So far I have been happy with the Polar.
Theres nothing like simplicity indeed thanks for sharing your thoughts!
By far your best video...this was a good one! You nailed it..I have a gasification and I can't wait for my brand new 6048.
You're still able to get a new 6048?
@@mnfirefighter813 Yes you sure can..the new ones are made out of titanium stainless steel. But still the old school features
@@brandoncase4952 good to know, thanks!!
What state did you purchase it?
What state LOL!
Jay you are spot on i have a 14yr old heat master and love it the place I bought mine the guy wanted me to trade mine in on a new one well after I told him I wasn't going to he said he could sell a 100 of them like mine so that told me what people think of the new ones. I agree the new ones are alright but not like the old ones. Great video thanks my friend. This is my wife's phone just thought I'd tell you
I’ve owned an old cl17 central boiler for 20 years, I switched to the 560 gasser. I love the gasser, it uses way less wood and the water temperature is more consistent. The other thing is smoke, the old stove I could see smoke for a mile from the house! The gasifier there is very little to no smoke at all. I love being able to check on my stove on my phone! Way less trips out to the stove than before!!! I’ve owned the new stove 2 years and I would never go back to the old one.
Glad you like it! I like the classic better! Either way we both love wood heat! Thats a win regardless!
I definitely like and prefer the old school style too. Nothing against the new models but there's way to much stuff to have to do and clean and could go wrong with the new ones. I am a very simple kinda guy so that's the way I like to live hahahaha! Stay safe my friend
Same here! Simplicity indeed!
New sub here, We're looking at a 760 here at our cabin. I like the chat about both types of boilers. Unfortunately I have neighbors close by so the classic isn't an option for me, don't want to smoke them out 😂
Hahah who doesnt love some smoke from classics! Indeed you are correct they do smoke more than the gasser models! Thanks for subscribing!
I agree. I have a Classic 4030 installed in 2008. Only problem I had to replace the pump
Same here lol
We have a classic edge HDX750 at one property heating a home/pole building. At the other property we have a classic CL5036 heating a house, and possibly a smaller pole building. The HDX gasification unit has more maintenance with cleaning as you stated. The first year or two I was cleaning the ash/heat exchanger every week. 5 years in and I am cleaning it every 2-3 weeks. You can burn pine, punky wood, and full chunks that are not green in the gasification unit, but it is best to put those at the top so it dries the pieces as it burns with more seasoned wood at the bottom. One thing the HDX unit struggles with is warmer weather when there is not much heat draw. I find it will smolder out if you don’t have a good coal bed, or you can change the water differentials to 5 degrees so it kicks on more frequently. The classic just eats whatever you throw in and keeps on going. Minimal cleaning on the classic boiler which makes it so nice. I know both places are not heating the same square footage, although I believe if you burned seasoned wood in both units (classic vs HDX) you would not be far off with wood consumption. If I could go back to repurchase the first unit it would have been a classic instead of a gasifier.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regardless of the machine style, heating with wood is an awesome thing!
@@HomesteadJay yes it is, there’s no other heat like wood heat.
Try and get a supply of dryer wood for that gasser (even if its only enough for a test). The gasser will clean up and burn less fuel as it gets dryer (according to my tests). You will eventually hit a point were it would be too dry and you would start losing efficiency (heat up the stack or lack of coal bed production) but were are talking less than 10% which is hard to get to in most climates. You already have it so you might as well try and make it work for you verses fighting it.
@@yetilikesbeer I burn dry/seasoned wood in the gasifier. We usually let the wood dry for two years before using it. Gasifiers are a completely different animal than the conventional units.
@@GeneralBeefDip have you measured the actual moisture of the wood, cut it and average the inside and the edge. CB recomends 20% but I wont touch it till its 16% or less. I heard of people in humid climates that need 4 years to get big wood dry enough or there forced to split into kindling.
I run my 750HD on 16% or dryer with almost 0 issues. At around 10% I have issues with too much coal production, I can get the coal bed above the bottom of the door.
You say it will fizzle out in warmer weather, consume the coals. Too me, that wood is too wet. From the time I light mine till I shut it off it runs flawlessly regardless of the load. I lit it Oct 24 and it's now March 9, so 19.5 weeks straight no re lights. I clean it on the fly.
I’m a first time viewer and I’m already a fan thanks so much for a great video!
Awesome! Thank you! Glad to have you around!
Great explanation. Hey thanks for the shout out... Carry on my friend stay warm as I know you will.
Thanks again!
This is jimmy d,I have had a 5036,old school and went to a gasification,,we love the new one so far,,can see and change the temp,on my phone,lot more parts on this one ,so we will see
Some people like them, I am not sold. Something tells me to stick with the old school style. Id rather have simplicity over efficiency. ESP growing my tree business not every job is going to be premium firewood trees. Im gonna run into the junk wood which I wouldnt want to force through a gasser!
Biggest difference is time vs wood consumption. I had a cleanfire 700 and switched to crown royal mp7350. Mp burns more but is not picky at all. The cleanfire had to be split, dried, stacked, etc. I decided with more wood cause the cleanfire plugged up constantly and it was a pain to clean. Mp7350, cut down a tree and throw it in!
Love that!!! Id agree with you for sure! I want not picky when it comes to burning wood
The choice will be dependent on many factors. In areas with less forest/less wood and thus higher prices for wood, the savings in wood consumption can make the difference. Some people won't mind spending more time doing maintenance on a gasification unit. I myself would prefer the classic if I have access to enough affordable wood.
Thanks for sharing your insight! Regardless of the machine style, firewood is an awesome thing!
Two other discussions you could have is storage vs no storage. And closed vs open systems. Then combine all three and try to find the best combination. I love my closed gasification boiler with storage. If I had to, I would do it the same way. Perfect setup, in my opinion.
Hey Derek! Your setup is cool indeed!
Small batch burn stick boilers with properly sized storage are much more efficient than any OWB's. But as they are usually European or based off of a European design they have output limitations for alot of people in North America.
Low to medium loads can use either but for high loads only an outdoor boiler, conventional or gasser will work.
The OWB's have storage, they store the energy in wood form, LOL.
@@yetilikesbeer yet they have US-made ones with self-loaders using woodchips. Automatic and you can remote monitor with an application. So, when you factor in no having to load, gasification is easier IMHO.
@@BeachBum51050 Not sure where your going here. The video is comparing outdoor wood boilers. Old OWBs - conventional style combustion verses New OWBs - gasification combustion.
The comment I replied to was asking to compare storage vs no storage which is hard to compare because the operational concepts behind an OWB and a stick burner with thermal storage are different.
As for gasification, I have the CB Classic Edge 750HD, which is a gasification outdoor wood boiler. And yes it is easy and that's without an automatic feed system.
I would put any automatic wood feeding system, whether it is conventional or gasification, in a separate category. IMHO hey are just to expensive and they force the user into a specific wood supply which might get more expensive in the future.
@@yetilikesbeer yup I was kind of going sideways on my response. I have a huge wooden parcel I will be building on in a couple of years. I will invest in a chipper (probably buy it off an auction site) and silo it. An auger will bring it to the boiler's feed tray. Some sensors and it will be pretty much hands off aided from the bi-weekly maintenance. What I cannot or won't harvest on my own property, I will pay the $25/per day to harvest on BLM. I realize for the first year I'll need to buy. Anyway, the systems I've been looking at are simple to maintain and are comparatively priced. They are smaller so less material goes into it. I guess since I won't have any junk wood, it makes sense to use a gasification boiler.
Good evening Jay..
Well about 8 years ago I was going to put in a outside boiler.. The cost at the time for a full install with me doing most of the work other then the plumbing to my heating system in the basement..
It was about $8500.00..
The unit it self $4800..
The piping was $4.00 bucks a foot.. And as you know I had to be a certain distance from a building..
So I just burned my wood stove..
I was burning about 5 cord a year..
But because of health reasons I gave up the wood and went to pellets.. So much less work but cost is up now..
But with that being said..
If I had put in a boiler I would still be burning wood just because of what you said about what you can burn for wood.. I would have been able to keep up with cutting..
I don’t know if that makes any sense to you..
But it was a choice I made back then that I wish I hadn’t..
Any way.. Great video..
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.
As always stay safe and always be kind.
Cheers
Hey Gus! Sorry for the late reply. I remember you telling me you changed to pellets instead of wood but yeah the initial cost of wood boilers is high but its a longer term payoff. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Go 603!
I agree that I don't think I would want a new gasification unit. I also like simplicity
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree!
I just bought a used gasification stove. I'm hoping the less wood consumption will save me lots more time with less wood cutting. We will see.
Perfect topic for our live feed
Indeed!
I have never had a old school boiler but I’m impressed by my woodmaster Cleanfire 900 not as hard to maintain as people think
I like staying ahead on wood so it’s not a big deal for me
You could look at it but it’s a long ways away
Hey Tom! Glad you like your boiler! Staying ahead is key indeed!
My dogs brought me a dead raccoon, fox or cat not sure but I threw it in my classic boiler so I didn’t have to bury it!
😂👍🏼
Speaking of you never did the video of everyone’s set up in there house , but the classic the way to go , the gasification one is ridiculous
The plumbing/setup video is on my desk now. I’ll have it done this week. I knew you’d agree with the classic sentiment!
@@HomesteadJay love my classic
I would stick with a classic.myself. if it's not broke, don't fix it mentality. The availability of less than desirable wood that you get hours, days, weeks of heat from is sweet. Got your shout out Jay👍
I love my HDX 560 it’s awesome a little maintenance and TLC and it’s good to go I burned a none gasification stove for 22 years and would never go back
I have the 760 HDX and it’s great,very little maintenance,very little ash. There are benefits to both but I’m glad I went gasification route.I also have the same settings on mine,170-185 degrees works the same way!
here in europe we have gasification boilers in our basement or the boiler room in the brick barn and theyre not that big but if you load them up with hardwood it can burn for a day but it depends, we had one at my gigantic school and it was enough to heat everything and i was quite surprised it could do that and we had to reload every 4-5 hours and we used pine only because the area is pine monoculture for the most part
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! That sounds like a cool unit to heat a school!
@@HomesteadJay search on TH-cam “Eco Angus 600 full clean” and the channel Oak Farm Firewood has a video on how they’re cleaned and it’s in English too if you want to see how boilers in Europe are cleaned
It seems Old School is always better! Well Dun!
Old school it is!
I am guessing when you have limited access to wood, you might prefer gassification. Then it's also likely that if your neighbors are closer, you might also consider gassification to reduce smoke around. In my opinion, having the old school design comes with more wood, but much less handling of wood, which highly compensate the overall effort involved. Thanks!
Hey Joe! You are spot on my friend!
I went into my gasser with 1 main goal. Minimal handling of the wood. The logistics of the future are coming together slowly but my goal is to only handle my boiler wood twice by hand. Right now it's mostly 3 times, I'm burning standing dead and deadfall rounds from my property, some up to 12" in diameter.
My dealer runs the 6048. His solution to smoking out the neighbors (he's in a rural subdivision) is the fan kit. He goes through alot of wood but that smoke goes almost straight up for 20' clearing all of the neighbors regardless of the wind, LOL.
He's not a fan of the gassers, overall when my shop is turned down we use similar BTU's and I do it with less than 10% of the smoke and much less wood.
Honest video. I agree completely with your situation. You use wood that otherwise would end up in landfills or decomposing where it might be an eyesore.
Technologie is a good thing, but can make simple things overcomplicated and the more components...the higher the risk of something breaking down.
Just a question: is it possible to increase the efficiency by insulation the outside of the wood boiler even more?
Hey Duas! I would imagine that if the machine was in a heated building it would use "less" wood potentially however youd need more wood to heat said building lol so I dont know if its a net win or loss lol I would love to have this boiler in a shelter indeed! (Future plans)
If you like to prep your wood, and like it clean, dry, and split, the gasification is the way to go. If you like to throw any piece of wood you find on the side of the road, and don't like to split and stack your wood nicely, then old school is the way to go. Depends on your personality.
I love the second option there lol as you know hahah
I had a 2005 CL6048 but sadly sprung a leak early spring 2021. I’m getting older so decided to get a new stove, thinking it would be my last. I made the mistake of going with a highly recommended multi pass unit from another manufacturer. Just finishing up my third heating season and seriously thinking of moving back to Central Boiler old school type boiler.
Something about the classics you just cant beat!
I’ve been burning 100% willow with my classic all week. Good luck doing that with a gasser.
Thats a wild wood!
Portage and main makes a real nice boiler
They do! They are huge machines too lol
I have masonry heater and i heat my house with that. If you like low tech and reliable ways to heat your house then you should have it. It's very efficient and convenient way to heat. Sure you must have fully seasoned firewood and you can burn pine also.
Ive seen those, pretty neat!
I like being able to burn anything but when I see "takes 65% less wood" on the side of a gasification unit I get why people go that way. Exhaust too I guess but I like splitting and I don't mind feeding it so who knows! I was just out throwing huge green rounds in it because I'm low on wood. Can't do that in a gasifier!
Exactly! Its a toss up indeed!
I thought the EPA required gasification units now. Most companies are not even setting to older style. Also not super about splitting. Buddy of mine in Idaho has one and he puts in rounds just says it takes longer to recover unless you have some smaller stuff in there as well
The EPA has no idea what they are talking about if you ask me. The gassification process is indeed (cleaner) for sure but you need dang near perfect wood ( which is the goal, I get) but its too refined for me. I like the classic to be able to toss whatever kind shape species of wood in and it will burn. Im not always "ahead of the curve" for seasoned wood so to be able to burn some what green wood mixed in with the seasoned wood is nice. The gassers need perfect wood all the time. Pros and cons like anything
I like my classic the maintenance is simple.
Long live classics!
I believe that gassification boilers came about because of EPA regulations restricting the emissions of new heating units. Your type of boiler is no longer allowed to be used in certain states. My type of forced air wood burner is no longer allowed in many localities because of emission standards. If you want to keep your simple burner, you had better learn how to restore it because, eventually, you won't be able to buy another one.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regardless of the machine style, heating with wood is an awesome thing!
Yours is old school? Shoot, my machine is a dinosaur then! (Just teasing.) I have an old CL40, similar size to the 6048’s, but my draft door is on the side. Built in 94, had a couple repairs done this year, and it’s working out great for me
What a CLASSIC! Love it!
I’m old school keep it simple less headaches!!
Agreed!
9:03 yes, you can't say all the things you said before as facts. These are just your thoughts, assumptions and some misunderstanding of the operation of the gasification boiler. Especially in the part that deals with requirements for firewood and the real situation with their use. I spent a couple of years choosing a boiler before buying it, and thanks to the unpretentiousness to fuel and its complete combustion, I chose the pyrolysis type of boiler (gasification). I say this as an owner since 2017. So, it is desirable to burn wood with a moisture content of no more than 20% in a conventional and pyrolysis boiler. This is of course a reasonable rule, but if for an ordinary boiler it is a strict recommendation in view of the chimney, creosote, acidity, then for a gasification boiler it is only a question of the amount of fuel and nothing more. Because the turbine that supplies air and the high temperature burn everything! And by everything I mean literally everything that burns. In reasonable proportions, you can burn the remains of all unnecessary things: rubber (tires), roofing material, old clothes, old shoes, and so on. That is, in addition to heat, the boiler can also work as a heat exchanger. But of course it doesn't work like a miracle and you can't exaggerate, but only add such fuel to the main one - firewood. And as for firewood, there is no difference here: pine or oak, it works the same, only the difference is that pine is lighter and you need more of it than oak, that's all. The best recipe from me is this: paper plus some cardboard for starting a fire, pine wood. After 10-15 minutes, when it has burned out and turned into red coals, we load firewood at the base: thinner ones at the bottom, preferably pine, then from the bottom to the top we fill the chamber with firewood from small to nearly unsplit large oak. Thus, the boiler will reach the set temperature and operating mode as quickly as possible. In a reasonable amount, no nails or screws are equally scary to him, nothing moves or jams there, because everything is blown downwards only by the force of the air that is pumped by the fan. But in an ordinary boiler, you cannot burn rubber, roofing felt or any similar junk, because there will be an unpleasant smell, there will be black terrible smoke and so on.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regardless of the machine style, heating with wood is an awesome thing!
If you like simple you should take a look at crown royal. I put a 7200e in last summer. It gasification with no computers like headmaster or central boiler. Those are the choices I'm my area.
Ive watched all makes and models and heard a bunch of good noise on those models!
I'm like UJI got basically the same unit size and what not as you just a different brand name mine is the Empire 450 And it's 23 years old I did get the tank patched up because I had some links from heat cracks X last year which was 22 years and I burn anything and everything
Burn it all!
Wood usage amounts?
Classics are gonna use more than conventional gassers but the gassers are more picky and need premium wood dry and split to run properly. The classics can burn unsplit greener wood
Old school all the way!
Agreed!
Your local welder may be able to build a new boiler . Its not that hard. IF he is willing to pressure test his welds. If he isn't, don't let him build one..
A new fabbed one would be cool. Id make a few changes to the classic design but keep it as basic as possible.
Gassification saves time cutting wood, since it doesn't burn as much. But it requires more time to clean. But getting the wood is done on my own timetable in the summer when its nice out.
Cleaning a gassification stove has to be done whether I like it or not every week or two, and it has to be done when its cold out when I'm running the stove. Why would I want that?
Plus the old school boiler can burn any wood. Wet, dry, doesn't matter. Small pieces, huge pieces. Gassification is so much fussier. No thanks.
Classic boiler for me - all day every day!
Should be new kind of gmo'd plant that replaces the wood, then system carbon captures itself, pressurizes the capture into new fuel. Somebody said he burns a special coal on similar video. Self carbon capture, coal burner probably some sort of goal.
I love my heatmor. Eats anything you put in. Deer carcass, trash, tires and garbage. I hear the new ones suck and will not relight.
Hahah ive never burned a deer LOL but yeah the classics are "easier" but people burning crap like you mentioned are why they got banned in the first place lol
Iam in the same boat love my old CB but after 18 years she has shit the bed, I hate change!!
Im sorry to hear your boiler dying on you. You can still get the classics but you have to travel to a state that sells them and basically cash and carry
This may answer some questions you may have. Not the best video but, he does go over the heat exchangers.
th-cam.com/video/44O8pgIoy0k/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for sharing!
I like to be free to make my fire as good as I can. I do not like dictatorship in making efficient fire and to follow stupid rules that some companies set up for their better profit. Further I can reccomend you some kind of extended valves and ventillator at the according the exhaust and the heat exchanger for a better efficiency of the warmed up water. Old school - yea - but did the teachers told you to listen strictly always? Have your own mind about the most efficient heating. Paul
Thanks for the feedback!
Older are better
Agreed!