Hardy Wood Stoves

Hardy wood stoves are stainless steel outdoor wood furnaces that can be used to heat your home, auxilliary buildings, and even a swimming pool. The company has been around 30 years and is credited with being the original company to produce the outdoor wood furnace.

How are they different from indoor wood furnaces?

Simply put, you use them outside! The are installed on your property away from the house. You feed the furnace twice a day and it heats water which is sent into your house through insulated underground pipes. The water circulates through heat exchangers, radiant floor tubing, or radiators and it provides your house with heat and hot water.

They are a good option for anyone that has a free supply of firewood and wants to save on their heating bill.

Advantages

Safety
You no longer have to be concerned with chimney fires in your home. This is a big advantage because you still get all the benefits of wood heat without the risk.

Cleanliness
No more dealing with messy firewood inside of the house. It also eliminates the need for you to store wood indoors, which when done improperly, can lead to mold and bug problems.

Save Money
As long as you have access to cheap or inexpensive firewood, a Hardy Wood Stove will save you money on your utility bills. No more buying oil and smaller electric bills, depending on your current heating method.

Disadvantages

Amount of Wood
If you are solely using an outdoor furnace to heat your home, you're going to burn a lot of wood each year. Obviously, this will vary widely based upon your home, but be prepared to stock up on firewood.

Slave to the Job
Realize that you'll need to load up the wood stove twice a day. Even in bad weather, you need to head outside to keep the house warm. This isn't a big deal to some folks, but if you're not accustomed to it, be prepared. This is about the only negative part about having the furnace outside rather than in the comfort of your home.

Smoke
Outdoor wood boilers are notorious for creating lots of smoke. This can be a problem because of the low height of the chimney. Especially on low pressure days, smoke tends to hang on the ground.

Also, the initial designs of outdoor boilers led to inefficient burning causing the excessive smoke. Luckily, Hardy Wood Stoves are among the companies recognized by the EPA as having newly efficient stoves that create far less smoke than their predecessors.

Recommendation

Hardy is a respected name in outdoor wood furnaces. I've never owned one myself, but I've heard positive things about their products. Outdoor wood furnaces simply aren't a good fit for everyone. But for the right person, a Hardy wood furnace is worthy of consideration.

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