Greenwood Hydronic Furnace (wood boiler) Opinions?

Mi39ke

http://www.greenwoodfurnace.com/

Seems to be a low mass (on the water side, anyway) gasification unit with flat plate heat exchanger and pump built in.

They would like us to commit to selling and installing this product.

Anyone with experience out there?

Michael Ward

Tom_35

Excellent product

Michael,

We installed one this winter and were really impressed with it. Very well constructed and designed. This is not a lightweight machine---be sure to have proper material handling equipment to move into place.

Our install is taking care of 4 zones of radiant floor heating and the domestic hot water. The flue runs "clear" shortly after getting up to the proper firing level.

Will be anxious to see how the unit does next year for a full heating season. But, from what time we saw this year on running, we were impressed.

Tom Atchley

Mi39ke

Thanks, Tom!

Yes, the actual placement of equipment looks to be the hardest part of the job, from my point of view. We are a small shop and bringing these units in looks to be a big investment in the outsourcing of crane rentals, etc.

I've always wanted to buy some big equipment/toys, but I thought I would be doing it after my knees gave out and that was the only job left! [grin]

Glad you have had success, so far. Please keep me informed in the event you find any negative properties.

Regards,

Michael Ward

Tom_35

Stocking inventory??

Michael,

I don't know what kind of delivery Greenwood has, but I would be hard pressed to stock the product unless there was a really good floorplan available. I'm in Arkansas and we have folks that use wood a lot for heating, but it is mostly wood stoves, fireplaces, inserts, etc. The Greenwood pretty well is going to be tied to some sort of radiant heating and unfortunately, radiant is not a big item in the south.

We have been doing radiant heating for just 6-7 years, but it is such a hard sell here because we are predominantly a cooling market. The homes have central cooling and the heating is generally natural gas, propane, electric, or heat pump. Any way you slice it, ductwork is involved, so if a person wants radiant heating, it's an additional expense (investment) and homeowners generally don't choose to go that direction.

Sorry---kind of got off track. Tying up cash in inventory would be a tough decision in my book. Greenwood makes a great product...hopefully they will have a built-up inventory that can make things work for you as well as them.

Good Luck.

Tom Atchley