| Shaver Outdoor Furnace is one of the oldest builders of
outdoor wood furnaces in Northern America. We have a simpler, nicer
looking furnace that's made to stand the test of time. We have a tried and true 34 year old design, we believe we have the best - and certainly
the best price by far.
We are located in Salem, North Arkansas and know all about
cold temperatures. We heat our own 5,000 sq. ft. home with a Shaver Outdoor Furnace.
|
| What is the Shaver outdoor wood
furnace? |
| It is a safe and efficient way to heat your home with wood. The Shaver furnace is designed to look like a nice storage building and is
installed outside, away from the home or building being heated. Having an
outdoor furnace eliminates smoke, pollution and wood debris within
the house. A water jacket surrounds the large furnace firebox and the heat
is transferred from the wood fire to the water.
|
| How does the Shaver heat my home and water? |
| The heated water is pumped to the home or building through insulated
underground pipes. A water-to-air heat exchanger or direct circulation
conveys the heat into the home's forced-air furnace, boiler, or radiant
floor heating system.
It can also supply hot water to the water heater to provide
domestic hot water. This allows for normal thermostatic control of
temperatures for safe, even, comfortable heat.
|
| What are the advantages of the Shaver
outdoor wood furnace? |
| An outdoor wood furnace won't affect
your indoor air quality and can alleviate respiratory and allergy problems
caused by burning wood indoors
The Shaver removes fire hazards from your home or building because all
of the burning takes place outside.
No more dark sooty walls and bugs either!
Thermostatic control provides your home with even, steady heat.
The Shaver Furnace means easy maintenance and fewer parts requiring
service. You don't need costly electrical gadgets and features to cause
problems down the road. This is a proven design of over 34 years! Keeping it
simple and efficient, is our motto.
Current owners of the Shaver are also using up to 25 to 50 percent less
wood compared to other heating alternatives. Since the Shaver can burn
larger pieces of wood (up to 30" long) it will dramatically reduce
the time spent preparing the
wood. Costs for large round timbers are also less than for
smaller split wood. You can get this type of wood for $90 a cord compared
to $120+.
|
| What is the BTU rating of your furnace? |
| 163,500 BTU on the 165 model.
|
| Is wood burning bad for the environment? |
| A wood heating system is the right choice for the increasing number of
consumers who are concerned about our environment. Wood is a totally
renewable resource, which, when burned, results in no net carbon dioxide
increase. Carbon dioxide is a part of the natural plant-growth cycle and
occurs naturally when trees are allowed to rot on the forest floor.
On the other hand, fossil fuels release carbon dioxide when burned
which otherwise would stay trapped in the earth. This causes a net
increase in carbon dioxide, which is believed to be responsible for the
heat-trapping "greenhouse effect." So when heating with wood
versus fossil fuels, you actually achieve a net reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions.
In addition, cutting firewood has a pruning effect on forests, which
allows new growth to flourish. The wood you burn will likely come from your
local area. It's not imported and not subject to price increases due to
events outside your control, as is the case with oil and natural gas.
Many times the owners have land with fallen trees throughout the
property.
|
| How long will the furnace last? |
| The life of your furnace depends upon proper maintenance. With proper
maintenance your furnace will give you many years of dependable service.
|
| How long is the warranty? |
| The standard warranty is a 20-year pro-rated warranty PLUS a 5 year ON-SITE Warranty
- including parts and labor
on the entire structure.
The electrical parts such as the pump and fan have a one
year manufacturer's warranty.
|
| What can I expect to pay for an outdoor wood furnace? |
| Total prices will vary depending on the shipping location but our prices start
at $4477 for the Shaver 140.
|
| Why is the water jacket so
large? |
| Many stoves do not have enough water capacity and tend to cycle too
often. You load the stove with wood and fire it. With a small water
capacity, the water reaches set point temperature and the stove shuts
down. The Hardy™ just has 100 gallons in their base
model and 130 in the next model up! You still have a good load of wood in
the firebox that sits there and smolders.
The Shaver Outdoor Furnace has a large water tank capacity, so you can
burn the total load of wood with good draft, burn and efficiency.
More water also means more capacity (available BTUs) and the water
doesn't have to be heated as much either.
|
| How heavy is your furnace? |
Our furnaces weigh in at about 1600 lb, which is a testimony as to
how much steel is built into the furnace. The Hardy H2 furnace only weighs
650 lbs. The Hardy H4 is only 850 lbs. Weaklings by comparison.
|
| Won't the firebox burn out? |
| The Shaver Outdoor Furnaces are made with heavy gauge steel and will
never rust out. We have NEVER had one rust through. Can you imagine a piece of metal
.400 (4/10th of an inch) thick ever rusting though? (many boilers out there are only
2/10"
thick).
Since water surrounds the firebox, the metal can only get up to 189
degrees, since that's the maximum temperature of the water. The extreme thickness of the
metal we use in the firebox helps avoid stress cracks as well.
|
| Is this furnace (boiler) pressurized or non-pressurized? |
| The Shaver Outdoor Furnaces are non-pressurized and do not boil. They are
atmospheric vented, which means they are totally safe.
|
| Is there a lot of heat loss when the unit is outside and it's below
32° F? |
| The units are highly insulated to avoid heat loss. There is double insulation
in the roof. All insulation is vinyl backed. PLUS we use state-of-the-art
Solargaurd!
|
| Can I connect the
Shaver to a forced air heating system? |
| Yes, 90% of all installations are connected to existing forced
air heating systems. This is the easiest to install except for a
free-hanging unit in a garage or shop. Hooking to existing Hydronic and
boiler systems is also very easy.
|
| I only have baseboard electric heat, how can I use the
Shaver? |
| Many people with electric baseboards choose to install radiant floor heat
in the basement or crawl space, between the floor joists.
|
| Can I heat my domestic water with the
Shaver? |
| Yes, our system circulates potable hot water in a closed system, between
the outdoor furnace and the hot water heater. This keeps the hot water refreshed,
hot and ready to go at all times. No outside heat exchanger is needed!
Most people find they save $30 to $60 a month heating their water with our
furnace.
You will need to buy a 2nd pump for this function. It is mounted
indoors on the hot water heater.
|
| Can I connect the
Shaver to a pressurized heating system? |
| Yes, you can. You can connect directly to the existing
system by depressurizing it or the heat can be efficiently transferred from one system to the
other by the use of a water-to-water heat
exchanger.
|
| Should I consider radiant heat? |
| Radiant heat installed under new or existing floors (via the crawlspace
or basement) can be a great way
to heat your home. Radiant floor heat is a very efficient way to
transfer heat, since heat rises and it's oh so nice to have a warm floor!
However, it is important that you design the system
correctly.
Many people with electric baseboard heaters opt for this
method.
|
| Can the Shaver heat my pool and/or spa? |
| Yes, you can heat your pool, hot tub and spa.
Remember that smoke output will be greater in the summer and plan
accordingly.
This is not advisable in neighborhoods where other houses are close by or
where your furnace is close to your home.
|
| Can I heat more than one building? |
| Yes, the Shaver Outdoor Furnace has the ability
to heat several buildings from one location.
|
| Can I use an outdoor wood furnace if I live in town? |
| A wood furnace may not be the best choice in densely populated urban areas
where pollution already puts excessive
strains on air quality. Smoke can also overwhelm your neighbors if they
are close by and the
wind blows the wrong way.
However, in small town and rural areas,
wood makes good sense. If you choose to install your Shaver furnace in a
densely populated area the stack height should at a minimum exceed the rooflines of
existing homes.
|
| How often do I have to fill it up? |
| We put wood in our furnace at 8 AM and 8 PM. - 2 times a day. It all depends on the size of the house, the
quality of the wood and where you have your thermostat set - as well as
how well the building(s) is insulated. Also are you heating hot water?
Don't
believe exaggerated claims of 72-96 hours! This just isn't possible
except if heating a pool or hot water in the summer!
|
| Does the furnace come fully assembled? |
| Yes. The furnace is delivered to you ready to install and we help you
every step of the way
|
| Can boilers explode? |
| The Shaver Outdoor Furnace is a non-pressurized unit which totally
eliminates this possibility. The water never boils so steam pressure is
never generated.
|
| Do these furnaces need to be near the house? |
| We recommend that the Shaver Outdoor Furnace be within 100 feet of the
house. Claims in product brochures and manufacturer's
websites that these units can be 500 ft from the house are totally
unbelievable. It is hard to see much heat energy being left after a run of
500 ft. even with underground temperatures of 60-65 degrees below the
frost line.
While it CAN be done with larger Pex Pipe and a bigger,
faster pump
|
| Do I have a choice of colors? |
| The Shaver Furnace is available in TWENTY different colors FREE, to be sure it
will compliment the exterior of your home or match other buildings. We
have RealTree™ Camo now too! |
