I have an oil burning furnace is there any way to convert it to run on wood.?

Question

I am running short of money for fuel oil. I live on 15 acres of land and have lots of hard wood trees. My house is 3 stories tall I have a wood stove in the basement and with all the in side doors open and the oil heat shut off heat from the wood stove does not make it much past the top of the basement steps. The oil burner it from the early 70s and is forced hot water base board radiators on all 3 floors that do a great job keeping the house warm.

I am looking to see if this is even possible to convert an oil burning furnace to wood burning. I no you just can't start throwing wood in the furnace and I do not want to blow my furnace up or damage it. Maybe some web sites with conversion plans or some suggestions of how to get my hole house heated cheap.

Thanks for looking, Mike.

Answer 1

Your oil furnace would require extensive modifications in order to burn solid fuels. The biggest mod would be making and fitting a door big enough to feed the furnace. If it's a fire tube boiler like mine you would have problems with the tubes plugging with creosote and ash with no easy way to keep them clean. You would have to install additional firebricks to protect the firebox and lastly the firebox probably isn't big enough to hold enough wood to burn for anymore than short periods of time and would require constant attention. An adjustable draft mechanism would have to be worked into the plan. I believe anythings possible with enough intelligence, time, persistence and money but in this case it's just not practical. If money wasn't an issue, I would suggest installing a dual fuel furnace. Add on furnaces are available but by the time you invest in one and get it plumbed in you would probably have almost as much money tied up in that as you would with a new dual fuel wood/oil furnace and still be stuck with the old inefficient oil furnace you have now. Years ago it was common to convert coal furnaces to burn oil but they were fuel hogs and as much heat went up the chimney as went into heating the home but oil was cheap back then. If I were in your shoes, having access to large quantities of free wood, I would look for a way to replace your existing oil furnace with a new efficient dual fuel furnace where you have the ability to burn either wood or oil in the same unit. Check and see if you qualify for a low interest loan or possibly even a grant to help cover the cost of a new furnace. People to ask for advice would be your oil supplier for one. If your income is low enough you may qualify for LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and be able to have your furnace replaced at no cost to you.



http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap/



http://www.buildingenergyvt.com/multi-fuel-boilers/



http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&q=dual+fuel+wood+boiler&revid=1467962943&sa=X&ei=-vABTfOtHYSKlwevg7WACA&ved=0CHsQ1QIoAw

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

i do not think that is good idea, oil furnaces were designed to burn oil. I had a wood furnace converted to gas that I remove . It was like taking a steam locomotive apart .all cast iron.however they are selling wood stoves which you connect to your present furnace ,get heat that way. possibly You would build a Metal enclosure around your wood stove connecting it the Warm Air feed pipe. Making sure there are no leaks of carbon monoxides from the wood stove going into the hot air pipe. you may also need a blower. You might be money ahead to buy a wood furnace designed to attach to you system. Do a goggle for wood furnaces 80,000 btu to 150,000 btu Cutting wood is tough work. I know experienced old guys do it .it is tough work.. Can be dangerous. I helped my Dad cut wood. you really had to be alert.

Answer 4

Unless you want to burn down the house, don't even try.



wood produce a lot more heat than oil. The furnace is not insulated to take all this heat and the exhaust pipe is to thin and will get red hot igniting any flammable material like a wood frame around the chimney in no time.



Your insurance will decline any claims if the fire was the outcome of a non approved system.



DON'T DO IT.

Answer 5

Get a new oil heating system. The new ones are usually about 20-30% more efficient than something that old. Depending on if you have baseboard or steam heat the prices will be very different. If its a hot water system with 1 zone your looking at about 5000 installed or if its steam about 6000. Also one more thing DO NOT have a plumber install it, have an oil company do it, in most states a plumbing license does not cover heating systems and plumbers dont know the state regulations. Another thing i see every other source of heat going up much higher than it is now too because the more ppl switch over the more expensive it will become.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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