Originally Posted by oliver foster

I have an old single stage outdoor wood boiler. It heats my 4,000 sq ft shop and my 1350 sq ft house in a very cold location of VT. We see -30F every winter at night several times. The boiler runs for 6 months straight. I had it running yesterday to take the edge of the shop and lower the humidity in there.
I go through at least 8/9 cords of dry hardwood. If I am burning left over soft wood from my neighbors saw mill operation and logging, picture slab wood and punky lower ends of the trunks, I will burn 15/16 cords.
The problem with just burning soft wood is there is little embers left in the morning to get the fire going again. If I burn hardwood, I don't have to start a fire from scratch for months at a time.

It is a lot of work compared to a propane heater, but it saves me a ton of $$$.

Originally Posted by cougar

Up here in Alaska, people are slowly moving away from outdoor wood boilers. The common complaint is forgetting to wake up in the middle of the night and feed the boiler. Resulting in frozen pipes.

Originally Posted by oliver foster

I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night and feed the stove, even when it is -30-40F. Hardwood that is even partially dry in a decent stove will burn all night.