I’m looking for opinions, both for and against, wood fired boilers. In particular I have looked at Aqua-therm and Central Boiler units. These are designed for installation outside of the home and I would be installing the domestic hot water heater that is offered with both set-ups.
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The code requires installing an approved material to slow the spread of fire between floors and adjacent vertical and horizontal cavities — here are the allowed materials and required locations.
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Replies
I'm not an expert but I have two relatives who installed them recently. Both are water heaters not boilers but provide hot water to an air handler for heating and are tied into the hot water system. If this is the type you mean, they both gave them thumbs up. They only need wood added twice per day, once in the morning and at bedtime and will handle large chunks of wood minimizing the cutting and splitting that a fireplace needs. They are used as primary heat for approx. 2000 sq. ft. homes and the hot water for medium families. They have gas or propane as backup sources for both but use very little of the gas. They were designed so that the air handler for the gas furnace was used without firing the gas furnace. The water flow is regulated by the water temp and the furnace thermostat regulates the fan. I'm not an authority but have discussed it with them and would consider it for myself in future plans.