We are thinking about installing a one of those Hardy outside woodburners and was wondering what some Hardy owners think about them.

Are you satisfied? Do they actually do a good job of heating the home? Is the quality good? Is it a good investment (cost versus payback)? If I have to buy most of my wood, is it still economical?

-- Steve in So. WI (alpine1@prodigy.net), August 17, 2001

Answers

Depends on the cost/type of your current heating, cost of a cord of wood in your area (this can really vary), type of wood in the cord, size of your house, insulation value of the house, how efficient the wood furnace is and how cold your winters are. There is also the purchase, installation and maintenance costs of the wood furnace.

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), August 17, 2001.

we have alot of family and friends that use the hardy and they all think it is great. We just bought one 2 weeks ago and are hooking it up our self.( with a little help from those family and friends,) we checked into some others and the hardy was the best price on the large size we need to heat our house,workshop and greenhouse. we are looking forward to lower heating bills. check around and go look at some one's that has been working around your area. the co. can put you in touch with people in your area. hope this helps.

-- vickie (vduffys@cs.com), August 17, 2001.

Steve We have had a Hardy outside for just over 2 years.We heat two homes and it provides all the hot water we can use for both homes.We use ours all summer long for our hot water and it works great.We are also able to burn green wood which makes it nice during the winter.All we do when we get a little short on wood is go out and cut down some trees and we don't have to wait for it to season. The company has been very helpful when my wife has had a question. We fill it up twice a day during the winter.It does burn alot of wood but we are heating two homes one being over 2000 sq ft.The heat is a nice dry warm heat.We live in Missouri it doesn't get quite as cold as WI but it does get down into the zero range on occasions. My wife also noted that her allergies don't bother her as when we had an indoor wood stove. Hope this helps. We love the stove. A little expensive but we think its been worth it. E-Mail us if you have any othe questions. Jack & Margaret Murdock

-- Jack Murdock (jrm@salemnet.com), August 17, 2001.

You need to call Central Boiler and get one of their brochures! The Hardy stove is not very efficiant! Central Boiler cost more to buy,but you will make up the difference in fuel used in a few years. On an average cold day here, my neighbor stokes his fire (hardy stove) 2 times a day, with a Central Boiler, and the same cold day, you would add wood about every other day! They have a much longer burn time. The way the Central Boiler is made and installed is much better than the Hardy Stove... Central Boiler is the Top of the line and the Hardy is the least efficient of all Outside wood furnaces. Central Boiler will give you a brouchure if you call them and it give comparisons of all the stoves. 1-800-248-4681 Central Boiler is made in Minn. and Hardy is made in Mississippi or one of the southern states. In a side by side test, Central Boiler had an 8% heat loss and Hardy had a 128% heat loss. Which would you rather drive... a Cadillac or a Yugo?

-- Ginny D (yehagirl@rockinredranch.com), August 18, 2001.

I've always wanted to install an outdoor furnace, but someone told me that if you ever lose electricity for some reason in the winter you would be without heat. Since I live what seems to be the last house on the power grid I could get pretty cold. We usually have at least one ice storm each winter and sometimes the electricity will be off for several days. Hope you have thought about this. Do you have an alternate heat source incase?

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), August 18, 2001.

That is exactly why we don't have an outside wood burner! It takes electricity to run an outside wood stove, but you can put a small solar power unit to run the pumps and blower. We opted for a wood cook stove, not only does it keep us nice and toasty, but we cook on it too!

Ginny

-- Ginny D (yehagirl@rockinredranch.com), August 18, 2001.

While I do not own a hardy woodstove, I would be cautious about taking web advice on the topic. For example, Ginny quotes a "128 % heatloss" in other words it is so inefficent that it loses all of its heat AND 28% more.

Talk to your neighbors they know what has worked for them

-- Mark (nittellin@hotmail.com), August 19, 2001.

Steve, after MUCH reesearch we decided upon a Central Boiler unit. I have talked with many different people, looked at a lot of literature, checked warranties, price, talked with dealers, etc., etc. For many different reasons, we settled on CB. My husband is installing it now.

As for the power, for most types of heat you need power. What you need for a wood boiler is enough power to keep the pump going. With an extended period of cold without the pump running your water could freeze and subsequently ruin the furnace. As one person pointed out, a solar panel could be set up to run the pump. I can't tell you off the top of my head what the wattage and amp draw is but it is not high. We too live in an area prone to power outages. The solar panel will come later after a bit more research, right now my hubby thinks it's a better idea to have an easy connection to the generator.

One of the reasons we went with an outside wood heater is to get rid of the fire hazard within the house. This will make a difference on our HO insurance, our peace of mind and cut down on the wood mess and smoke in the house.

No matter what brand, if any you go with, it is a large purchase and certainly you are on the right path by asking people. Talk to some people in your area, too. Let us know how you made out.

-- TAB (burnash@gisco.net), August 19, 2001.

I would just like to say I am very pleased with the Hardy. I bouught a house that already had one installed. He took it with him to his new house but left me all of the interior parts. Which meant all I had to do was purchase the Hardy Stove. After talking it over with the previous owner I decided to purchase after living here one winter (Central Illinios). I never could have guessed it would work as well as it does. I can't say how much money it would save if you had to buy wood buut in my area I have enough sources of free wood. With a little bit of labor and some gasoline for the chainsaw and logsplitter you can save a lot of money over the long run. I figure in three years it will pay for itself then whatever I save will be money in my pocket!

-- Todd Spangenberg (Spangy@irtc.net), September 28, 2001.

IN RESPONCE TO SOME OF THE COMMENTS ABOUT OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACES THAT APPEAR HERE.

[1]PIPES FREEZING...FIRST OF ALL I`D USE A GLYCOL/ANTIFREEZE PRODUCT IN THE LINES USED FOR HEATING.THEN YOU DON`T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE LINES EVER FREEZING.PLUS GLYCOL HOLDS THE HEAT LONGER.I THINK IT IS THE SMART WAY TO GO.IF THE DOMESTIC HOT WATER LINES ARE RUN BELOW FROST LEVEL AND INSULATED ;THERE SHOULDN`T BE A PROBLEM EITHER.PLACE SOME OLD SLAB WOOD OVER THE WATER LINES.THE WOOD DRAWS THE FROST THUS PROTECTING THE LINES TO SOME DEGREE FROM FREEZING.[OLD TIMERS CURE TO PREVENT PIPES FROM FREEZING.]

[2]NO POWER...THATS ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE GO WITH THE OUTDOOR FURNACES.YOU CAN HOOK UP A CAR BATTERY TO THE CIRCULATING PUMP IN SOME SYSTEMS.NOW,IF YOU LIVE IN AN AREA SUBJECT TO LONG POWER OUTAGES YOU COULD HAVE A FEW EXTRA CHARGED BATTERIES READY.I`D CONSIDER TRYING TO HAVE A HOOK UP WHERE YOU COULD CONNECT THE WIRES TO YOUR CAR BATTERY OUTSIDE.THIS WAY YOU DON`T KILL THE BATTERY.YOU CAN START THE CARS ENGINE TO CHARGE IT UP AGAIN AND AGAIN.JUST REMEMBER TO KEEP THE GAS TANK FULL AT ALL TIMES DURING THE WINTER.YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO THIS ANYWAYS TO CUT BACK ON CONDENSATION IN THE GAS TANK.PLUS SOLAR POWER ISN`T THAT RELIABLE IN WINTER.I`M NOT SURE IT WOULD FUNCTION DURING A SNOW/ICE STORM.

CORDWOODGUY

-- CORDWOODGUY (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), October 09, 2001.

I have used a Hardy for 5 years. It does use a lot wood.I am heating 2000 sq ft of 1886 construction and a 18000 cubic ft garage.I have burned 125 cord through it in the 5 years.based on propane cost I paid it out in 3 years.So far the only expense has been 1 blower moter,1 fan for blower moter,1 set of grates.I feel i have put 15 years of average use on it in the 5 years I have owned it.But my friend using a classic heating comperable area has used 1/2 the wood I have.

-- Harold L Dump (pjhh@iland.net), December 29, 2001.