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Installation for a Shaver 165 Outdoor Wood Furnace
This page is being built for the common guys trying to make heads and tails out of the crazy manuals and endless options to install an outdoor wood furnace.
After spending months and almost a year doing research on outdoor wood furnaces. The Shaver 165 outdoor wood furnace seemed attractive because you did not have a lot of electrical parts located on the furnace.
Setup and Installation for the Shaver 165 Outdoor Wood Furnce
The Shaver Outdoor Wood Furnace comes with a 44 page manual for installation. The Outdoor Wood Furnace manual is basic and does not cover everything. Example, wiring a new thermostat to control your fan on the existing furnace can be very complicated. You may have a high efficiency furnace controlled by a mother board, with a fan that has 4 speeds. If you don't have HVAC exp. and electrical do not attempt.
Speaking with other buyers of the Shaver 165 Outdoor Wood Furnace they did not think the manual was very detailed considering what you are paying for the furnace. Also mixed ideas from the local dealers selling outdoor wood furnaces. Example, the dealer says most customers are not using the 50 ft copper water coil that comes with the furnace and chose a brazed plate heat exchanger for their domestic hot water ($150 PLUS).
Shaver 165 Outdoor Wood Burning Furnace Comes with the following Circulating Pump Blower fan ThermoDisc thermostat for back of the furnace. Which I found out to be junk, mine busted by the second day and replaced with an Aquastat. Motion Light which is made from plastic. I never connected mine. Neighbor that bought the same furnace connected his and had alot of problems so he went to lowes and bought a decent one.
Number 1 to consider is location from house.
All the insulated Pex Pipe Costs Cash and is a large part of the cost to setup. So every 10 feet counts besides the further away the more of a heat loss. Estimated heat loss at 100 feet and insulated pipe placed below the frost line is about 2 to 3 degrees, which does not seem like much when you are talking about the water is probably near 180 degrees. Also how easy is it unload the wood nearby with a truck or trailer. You dont want to waste your time moving wood around the yard especially in the winter time with ice and snow on the ground. Consider average wind direction in your area why
1. You don't want the smoke blowing directly on your house (which if you burn in the summer for domestic hot water and have the windows open smoke could be a problem, which may be fixed by extending your smoke stack) 2. Not too close to neighbors or road 3. The trench you have to dig, Digging yourself or Hiring Someone??
Number 2 Concrete slab
The average furnace weight is probably near 3000 lbs filled with water and more if you buy a larger one. For example, the Shaver 165 that is estimated to heat a 4,000 sq. foot home should be placed a 5 by 7 foot slab which is about a half yard. Choices the local concrete suppliers will tell you their stuff is stronger then the quickrete you buy at Lowes but fact is if you check the spec's on the bag they are near the same at 3500 psi. Also quickrete makes stronger stuff if you want more strength.
So if you go the Quickrete bag route you will need about 25 bags and if you go with the local supplier you will need the cement, sand and stone, both cost wise should be around $80. But with the local concrete supplier you have to mix the three items with water and get the ratio right aswell haul it back to your house, compared with just buying the bags of Quickrete and just adding water.
Your concrete pad should have atleast one round hole toward the back of the furnace so that you can run your pex lines through the concrete and into your trench...Good luck finding a 10 inch short piece of pvc, i could not find it and did not want to spend 30 bucks on 8 ft length. Lowes has a 10 inch round concrete form $7 or $8 made of cardboard you can use. The weight of the concrete did push the cardboard but i could still get two 4 inch sewer lines (w/2 insulated pex lines in each) and two 3/4 inch lines that i ran outdoor wiring 12/3 through. The Round form worked ok but i would advise using a buckett or something else with more strength.
Also I would advise putting a second round hole in the concrete just in case you decide you want to run more lines iin the future.
When making your pad i kept it the front of furnace about 10 inches off the front of the slab. You can put a 5 gallon bucket under the Ash pan and rip the ashes out with a garden hoe. For loading wood use a base of driveway stone, on wintery days of sleet and freezing rain you do not want to step on a concrete slab with a layer of ice on it when loading...
After your pad is set your ready for delivery of the Shaver Outdoor Wood Furance. With the weight of the furnace being almost a ton I would advise paying for delivery. If you dont have the proper heavy equipment dont fool around with it, it is not worth the risk. Delivery was around $100 for about 45 minute drive from the dealer.
PexPipe for underground water lines (Millions of choices and everyone says theirs are the best)
PexPipe can be found most anywhere and averages about $1 a foot for the standard 1 inch line
SolarGuard Premium Insulation for Do It Yourself (if you have the time it appears to be a great product and the staff are very helpful and friendly) To find where to purchase SolarGuard Locally Call 1 800 231 6200 Or the SolarGuard Factory at870 895 3104 or 3111
Anderson's Outdoor Wood Furnace Center (Great Prices but if you have tech. questions they are tough to get a hold of after purchase)
Anderson's Outdoor Wood Furnace Center N5526 State Highway 57 Plymouth WI 53073 262 626 8779
