Installing an Outdoor Wood Burning Furnace

80 - 90% of our customers install this outdoor wood furnace themselves!

You will NOT void the warranty by installing the furnace yourself!

Every furnace comes with a complete detailed 49 page manual with lots of pictures and diagrams!

If you have any technical questions or need any help whatsoever, please call 828-683-8055

Installing an outdoor wood furnace can be broken down simply. The parts needed will usually cost about $900 if the outdoor furnace is 50 feet from your home, including pre-made pre-insulated Pex pipe:

1. Pour a 4" thick concrete pad to support the furnace. The Shaver Pro Series 165 with the 1/2" firebox, weighs 1830 lb. The total weight with water will be about 3000 lb.  It will take only 1/2 yard of concrete for a nice concrete pad (approx 4" thick), giving you a nice place to stand and load wood. 
   You can also use SOLID concrete blocks or railroad ties - anything that will be stable and support the furnace.
   
2. Dig a trench, making sure it's below the frost line, to prevent excessive heat loss and freezing. This is the maximum depth to which frost will penetrate the ground during the worst of winter. This depth varies from area to area but is usually just 18" or less in our area  (WNC). See this frost line map or call your local building inspector's office. 
   
   Putting the Pex lines below the frost line is not mandatory but it will save a lot of heat loss and wood. The ground temperature below the frost line is 50-55 degrees, even in winter, so heat loss is minimal. It's like laying the pipe on the ground on a spring day. Otherwise, the ground can be well below freezing!
   
   Trenchers, ditch-witches and small backhoes can be rented inexpensively allowing you to dig the trench yourself with little effort, avoiding $40-60 an hour charge from your local landscaper or septic tank installer. 
   
   You will be placing insulated Pex pipe, which has two 1" PEX pipes plus two 3/4"Pex Pipes (one doubles as a  fill line, to top off the furnace) which are wrapped 4 times with insulation and are put inside a 4" drain tile type of pipe. You will also bury a 12/3 110V wire in a 4" or 6" PVC pipe. The pipe is placed in a trench, from the outdoor furnace to the house.
   
3. If you are connecting a hot water heater you will need another pump ($99), mounted indoors. This also supplies water to fill your outside furnace! See info and picture below. A picture of insulated Pex pipe is below.
   
4. Install the heat exchanger in the furnace's output plenum ($150 up - U.S. made).  We have well over 40 different sizes of heat exchangers to fit your plenum so that little or no metal work is needed! We can even have a heat exchanger custom made - in the U.S. - for as little as $202.
   
   (If hooking it to a boiler, you will install a water-to-water heat exchanger DIAGRAM HERE).
   
5. Connect the 1" PEX pipe at the furnace and at the heat exchanger.  We use simple compression fittings or SharkBite™ style fittings, so a plumber is not needed! SharkBite type fittings are simple push-on fittings. 
   
6. Connect the 3/4" PEX pipe at the hot water heater, again using simple SharkBite fittings (push on by hand). No expensive side-arm heat or plate heat exchanger is needed - since potable hot water is circulated directly from the hot water heater through the built-in domestic hot water heat exchanger furnace. It goes back to your hot water heater already heated up! This can save you $30-65 a month! 
   
   This also saves you about $300 on a side-arm or plate heat exchanger and tempering or mixing valve. You will never run out of hot water again!
   
7. Install a new 15A circuit breaker ($8-15) in your breaker box and connect the 110V wire to the breaker and out at the furnace. You can also get a power source from an existing wall plug, etc. (You wire up the back of the furnace including the light - which is shipped in the firebox, so it doesn't get damaged.)
   
   You can use a 12/3 wire to power up the furnace, so that the pump runs on demand, instead of 24/7, like with other furnaces. The third wire in the 12/3 wire is used for the pump instead of special thermostat wire, so that it only runs when your furnace fan (or boiler pump) is running.
   
8. Install a simple 2-wire thermostat ($15-20 at Lowe's) and hook it up to your existing thermostat. This allows the fan to be turned of and on as heat is needed, without turning on your furnace. This way, your existing furnace will come on automatically as needed, as a backup (if you has a snowstorm and couldn't get home, for example).  
   
9. Fill with water. Start a fire!
   
10. You have started saving money!

Remember, this is just an overview. You will get a comprehensive 59 page manual with lots of pictures and diagrams to make it super easy for you! Over 80% of our customers install the furnaces themselves! That's how simple it is.
 

OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACE INSTALLATION KIT - Typical items needed which can be purchased locally or our suppliers (828-687-4074). For one heat exchanger and hot water hookup - 50 ft. from furnace
Outside
	50' of insulated Pex Pipe- U.S. made (2 x 1" and 2 x 3/4") $6.75 a foot after a 15% discount.		$337.50
	50' 12/3 wire*		58.00
			$395.50
	1/3 to 1/2 yard concrete or you can use solid concrete papers if you put gravel and plastic underneath.		varies
Inside:
	16 x 18 Heat Exchanger (100,000 Btu) US-made (just an example) (Averages $170-220 most applications)		168.29 12"x12" is only $100.89
	Hydrocoil kit (SharkBite type fittings for the water-to-air heat exchanger)		$17.37 elbow/pr $15.57 straight pr
	Fittings for a plate heat exchanger (needed for boilers and snow/ice melt systems) 1 1/4 to 1' reducer bushings $13.12/pr , 1" NFPT straight coupler 16.52/pr		$29.64
	Installation kit includes all fittings, adapters, shut-off valves, drain, etc.		61.87
	Hot water heater installation kit includes all Pex fittings, pipe, MPT fittings, flanges, thermostat etc.		66.09
	2-wire Thermostat		16.00
	25' 12/2 wire*		12.00
	Bare Pex is available for running the Pex pipe in your home, if it is heated air space. It can be purchased for as low as $33.00 a 100 foot roll (.33 per foot/ non-barrier)		3/4" 36¢ foot 1" 57¢ foot
	110 V 15 Amp breaker		20.00
	*Priced at Lowe's on 2/28/09
	Sheet metal (Rarely needed, only if a heat exchanger won't fit your plenum)		31.00
	Labor for duct work (only if needed for heat exchanger to fit) OR We can have one custom made for less than you think, saving lots of time and labor!!
May not be the one shown	If heating domestic hot water add $92 for a pump. Our supplier (828-687-4074) also have a hot water kit that includes a thermostat, pump flange and all of the fittings for the top and bottom of the heat exchanger. ($64.19)		$89 up
			averages $459
	Total: $854
Pre-insulated Pex pipe for outdoors - underground. Only $1-2 a foot more than pipe you make/insulate yourself!		$5.39 a foot* for 2 Pex pipes insulated  in a 4" pipe. $6.75 a foot* for 4 Pex pipes insulated in a 4" pipe.
		*SHAVER CUSTOMERS ONLY

Download Diagram for Boiler and Hydronic installations such as for water radiators, water baseboard heaters, etc. (PDF file - Adobe reader required)

Download Diagram for hooking up a Pool, Hot Tub or Spa.

Sales and Customer Service for installation PARTS:  828-687-4074

Building codes (or lack thereof) often allow a homeowner to do much, it not all of the work themselves. In other locations a licensed electrician and plumber may be required to do the actual hookup. But no tools are needed to plumb it as all the fittings are push-on by hand fittings.

This usually doesn't preclude you from putting in the concrete pad, trench, pipe and wiring. Never cover the pipe and wiring before an inspection, if needed!

Check with your local Building inspector's office for your frost line level, in your area. 

Backup Power for your Shaver outdoor wood burning furnace

We sell a battery charger and inverter combo that is easy to install and use, that will supply back-up power to you outdoor wood burning furnace!

Utility Power - When stove sentry is used with a 90 A-HR Marine Battery (purchased separately), its highly efficient circuitry can provide up to 8 hours of operation when you have a power failure.

How it Works:

When electricity is present the Surefire Stove Sentry charges a battery and surveys the power line. At the instant that a power failure occurs, the Surefire Stove Sentry converts the energy stored in the battery to AC power. This assures operation of the wood furnace or pellet stove without interruption during the absence of electricity.

When AC utility power is restored, the Surefire Stove Sentry reinstates AC utility power as the prime energy source to operate the wood furnace or pellet stove. Simultaneously and automatically the Surefire Stove Sentry commences the recharging of the battery, to return it to full capacity in preparation for the next power failure. Cost is $488 and you will need to purchase a deep-cycle battery.

You can also install a small solar panel to charge the battery, instead of using line power and use a less expensive inverter.

Please remember that you will also need a power supply (backup) for your furnace fan! A small generator will do the trick.

Click on picture for a HUGE image. Modem users click HERE.

Scroll to bottom of large picture to see piping, heat exchangers, hot water hookup and wires in basement. 

Picture shown has heated garage in basement, but it could, just as easily, be a separate garage,  shop or apartment.

ALL of these parts are available from us a great prices and best of all they are high quality parts!

For Pool and Spa Heaters, see
www.outdoorwoodfurnaceboiler.com/outdoor-wood-burning-furnace-pool-heater.htm

Sales and Customer Service for installation PARTS 828-687-4074 or e-mail:  

Many garages or shops use an air handler like the one below.

 

CLICK on PICTURES for a BIGGER IMAGE

Typical Heat Exchanger that is installed in the supply plenum
or ductwork (the run that goes to the vents in the different rooms).

Pre insulated Pex Pipe for outdoors - underground

What's nice is that you have 4 Pex lines for heating 2 extra your hot water heater.

This also gives you a fill or supply line for your outdoor furnace.
The 4 Pex pipes are surrounded by insulation
- THREE and FIVE WRAPS of insulation with a black pipe around that.
That's 66% more insulation than triple wrap pipe!

Heat loss: 3-wrap/1.5 degree and 5-wrap/0.62 degrees

For best results and less heat loss (less wood burnt) always bury Pre-insulated Pex pipe underground, below the Frost Line. 2 x 1" All pipe wrapped FOUR times with insulation as opposed to being only wrapped 2 and three times by Our competitors - and many use Chinese (junk) Pex!
	2 x 1" and 2 x 3/4" $6.75/foot Pre-insulated Pex pipe for outdoors. Made to be put underground. Totally insulated with  FOUR wraps high-density polypropylene foil foam insulation.
$5.39/foot
Includes 4-wraps of high-density polypropylene foil foam insulation surrounding the PEX tubing and placed in a 4” heavy-duty UV protected drain tile.

Outdoor Furnace Dimensions

 Recommended Dimensions for Concrete Pad

 Ignore the 45 degree angle shown, if you are getting pre-made insulated Pex from us!

Shaver Pro Series 140  -  48" x 114"  Suggested pad size

Shaver Pro Series 165* -  48" x 120"  Suggested pad size

Shaver Pro Series 250   - 48" x 136"  Suggested pad size

Shaver Pro Series 290   - 48" x 144"  Suggested pad size

Shaver Pro Series 340   - 48" x 154"  Suggested pad size

You only need the 45 degree angle when you are making insulated Pex yourself inside a Pex pipe.

Shaver Pro Series 165 model holds 170 gallons of water.. 
Other models have up to 300 gallons of water.