Carbon Neutral Heating
In 2005 we elected to install an outdoor boiler. The firebox heats water in the boiler which circulates through heat exchangers in the house. One exchanger is in the plenum of our furnace. The other is connected to the hot water heater. When the thermostat calls for heat in the house. The furnace fan starts and blows air over the the heat exchanger and pushes heated air throughout the house.
We still have the oil burners for back up. We typically consumed about 960 gallons of heating oil per year, but since the outdoor boiler installation have only used about 50 gallons in three years! Depending on the price of oil and outdoor temperature, our payback period will be between 3 and 5 years.
The boiler runs from September to May. We shut it down and switch back to electric hot water during the summer.
The boiler is not for everyone, but I enjoy cutting wood and especially enjoy not buying oil. If you are interested, we purchased it from Mark Jolly in Falston (443-250-6649). The boiler was installed by General Heating and Cooling. We are very satisfied with their service.