I need some help.

[pulse]

I have been heating with a hawken boiler for 5 seasons now. It has paid for itself within the first two seasons. I heat my house, garage, and dhw. The boiler works fine but has a healthy appitite for wood. Between 10-14 cord depending on the severity of the winter. Anyway I really want a new gassification boiler, mostly for the wood savings but I am having a hard time justifying it. I know there are some people who have switched from a standard to a gasser and I want to know if they are happy with the decision. I have found a perfect condition 1 year old empyre pro 200 for $7000.00 ( it was used by a empyre dealer) and thought if I could get around $3000.00 for mine I really wouldn't be losing anything. Standard boilers are still legal to install in Michigan but I figure that time is limited. After that, my boiler will have almost no value for resale. Also for those who have sold their own used boilers did you have a hard time finding a buyer? Were you able to get what you wanted for price? Thanks for any and all thoughts.   

[beenthere]

That is a lot of wood. Is it well dried, or burned the same season it was split?

I'd think a used one would be real tough to peddle on the market, for some of the same reasons you are thinking of trading it away. But might not hurt to try and if it sells, then make the upgrade.

[pulse]

Nope that is well seasoned, under cover dry wood cut 3 years ago. I do have a pretty large heat load though. We keep the house between 72-74 and it is over 3000 sq ft living space with a lot of LARGE windows, 9 foot ceilings plus unfinished basement. The garage is over 600 sq ft with a 10 foot ceiling. Heating dhw for 5 now. Also the underground pipe is logstor so I know I am not losing hardly any to the ground. 

[martyinmi]

  Pulse,

I'm thinking the Pro 200 will be a bit on the small side for the load you'd be putting on it. I owned a Pro series 100 for 1 heating season, and I loved the way it performed as far as being almost smokeless and the miserly amount of wood it used. I had a few minor warranty issues with it, but our local dealer was great in getting them resolved. The biggest reason I don't still have it is the primary combustion chamber size. It only held a little over 5 cu. ft. of wood, and there were about three weeks out of the winter where I found myself out in the cold at 11:00  pm stuffing it full of wood just so it would make it until 6:00 am. My home is somewhere around 1800 sq. ft., average insulated, and new windows and siding. I'm afraid you'd be in the same boat I was in if you make the purchase.
   If you go to Pro Fab's site and compare the two OWB's(100 vs 200), as well as the EPA's site, you'll see that the 200 is not quite twice as big(firebox capacity), and the output is only about 85% more. Your heat load(as far as square footage is concerned) is more that double what mine is. I'll bet you'll be loading it three times/day for the biggest share of the heating season, and when it's 0*F out side, it really stinks having to get dressed up and go out at 10 or 11 pm to top it off just to get you by until 6 am.
   Most of people who frequent the sites out there dealing with sizing an OWB will tell you to take the manufacturers maximum recommended sq. ft. heating capacity and cut it in half when purchasing an OWB for use in colder climates like yours and mine. In your case, with more than 3600 sq. ft., you'd be much better off with the Pro 400.
   I don't think $7000.00 is a bad price for the unit. Pro Fab will probably work with your dealer and allow him to transfer the remainder warranty over to you(mine was used less than a year and they did that for me).
   Fell free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions about my dealings with Pro Fab or about gasification.

      Marty 
     

[DDDfarmer]

10-14 cords would be nice.  We use 50-60 cords heating 3 houses with one stove.  My father uses 25-30 cords heating his large house and two large garages. Yet we also dont have those exotic woods like oak or maple.

[doctorb]

I agree with the comments above regarding OWB sizing.  If your stove is too small for your heatbload, you'll be working too hard and disappointed after shelling out the extra $ for a new gasifier stove.

It's been said here before, but using that much wood would first make me revisit the winterization of my house(s).  Windows, doors, insulation are very important to fuel efficiency, and you might get more savings in fuel consumption there than you would by purchasing a new OWB.  Just a thought.