Outdoor wood boiler heating systems are an old technology that is coming back into vogue in many places. The basic technology works like this: In a shed far from the house, you put a wood burning furnace which heats the water in a water container. Both the furnace and the water vat are insulated to keep the heat in. The heated water is then transported across the property, usually the yard, through pipes. It heats the house and the water that gets used inside it.

Outdoor wood boiler heating systems are becoming popular because they burn wood and utilize water, rather than using fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, or coal to provide warmth. Wood, of course, is a renewable resource; even if it takes trees a while to grow, you wont run out of them. After the expense of putting in the outdoor wood boiler heating system, you wont have gas bills anymore, and your electric bills will be cut significantly.

Outdoor wood boiler heating systems are more common in rural areas than in large communities. In some parts of the country, these areas don’t have gas or electricity, but wood is readily available. Another consideration is that wood boilers can put out a lot of smoke and soot, and therefore the only people who could get away with having them were ones who lived far apart. In more recent times, brand new advances in wood burning appliances have sizeably lowered the amount of smoke new wood boilers make, and as such outdoor wood boiler heating systems might become more used in heavily populated areas.

Especially for people in rural areas and acreages or farms, outdoor wood boiler heating systems are a good choice if you have several buildings to heat as well as your residence. One wood boiler can be used to heat all of the buildings, including barns, workshops and greenhouses. While installing the system extra pipes from the boiler shed to the other buildings would be needed. This is different than a traditional gas or electric system, which would require a separate heating source for each building.

Wood boiler systems aren’t for everyone. The firebox will require loading daily, especially in the cold winter months. This means venturing outside and moving wood around, from wherever it is stored to the wood boiler. Since this heating system isn’t completely automated, someone will have to be around to supply it with wood daily to keep the system running. Also, you will need quite a bit of wood at all times.

Outdoor wood boiler heating systems are a lot of money up front to install. It will be a few years before they start to pay for themselves, although monthly heating bills will be lower immediately. A lot of people have decided it is worth it to switch to a wood boiler heating system.