If you live in a suburban or rural area near a source of cheap wood, you could heat your home for the entire season for the cost of one month's electric heat bill. An outdoor furnace requires less tending, eliminates respiratory problems caused by burning wood indoors, and keeps the wood burning mess, ashes, wood scraps and bugs outside.

There are a surprising number of outdoor furnace manufacturers with a wide range of styles and designs to accommodate different heating capacities and fuel sources. Many are Johnny-come-lately manufacturers who think they can weld a bunch of metal together (like Morris Furnace) and build a furnace!

Shaver Furnace has been building furnaces since 1972 - 35 years!. Now that is longer than the ones that say they have been in business the longest. Hmmmm

One of the selling points of an outdoor furnace is the convenience of locating it near the wood fuel source. Since the water heated by the furnace is pumped to your home through insulated, underground piping, the furnace can be set up as close as 2 feet, or as much as 500 feet from your house - although we don't recommend those long distances..

All outdoor furnaces are designed to work with any existing heating system and can be thermostatically controlled. If you have a forced air system, you can use the existing duct work. You will simply need to install a water-to-air heat exchanger in your furnace. Your furnace is still available as a back up.

If you already have radiant floor heating, you would connect the underground feed from the outdoor furnace to the existing circulating pump.

For radiant baseboard heat, you can connect the piping directly to an existing boiler or install a water-to-water heat exchanger. 

By adding another pump and thermostat, you can receive the added benefit of free hot water.

An outdoor boiler can even be used to heat your swimming pool, driveway, work shop, greenhouse, or multiple buildings.

While many manufacturers recommend a stainless steel firebox, they still use a mild steel water box. Go figure. Wonder if it has to do with saving money?  The stainless steel is also welded to the mild steel. Not good. Welding "ruins" the qualities of the stainless rendering it of no additional benefit. Stainless steel is also prone to stress cracks and doesn't transfer heat as well. A lot of stainless steel can't be welded or repaired either.

Our firebox is so thick, just shy of .400", that we have NEVER had one rust through and we have furnaces that have been in service for over 30 years..

Normally, outdoor furnaces are loaded twice a day. In mild temperatures the Shaver Furnace is only loaded once a day. Burn times per load vary from 12 to 24 hours is typical, depending on what you're burning and what you're heating, the outside temperature as well as how well your house is insulated.

One trait all outdoor furnaces have in common is versatility. Whatever your heating needs are or the type of fuel you burn, it's possible to design a system for any heating system you can imagine.

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