Where To Use a Wood Furnace / How it Works

1. Home

A HeatMaster^SS furnace can tie into your home heating system very effectively. The radiator element can be installed into the existing plenum of your forced air electric furnace as well as the hot water system. Already have or will have infloor heat? No problem, a HeatMaster^SS wood boiler can tie into that as well.

A wood boiler doesn’t replace your existing heating system, it just supplements it. If you feed your wood boiler the electricity or gas heat doesn’t turn on. If you don’t feed the boiler (or don’t have a neighbour, relative, child labour etc. to feed it) then the gas or electric heat takes over till you can feed your wood boiler again.

Have an area that is tough to heat (basement entrance, bathroom, mother-in-law’s bedroom)? We have wall mounted radiators that put the heat exactly where you want it. They look good, don’t take up much space, have a built in thermostat along with a quiet fan and can be mounted just about anywhere.

2. Furnace

Heatmaster^SSoutdoor furnaces come with easy access rear doors that make plumbing and maintenance quick and easy ( you can install yourself, we can do it for you or any mix of the two). Insulated underground RhinoFlex pipe (more info on RhinoFlex here.) enters the rear of the furnace through the floor and connects to the valves with PEX plumbing fittings.

The pump is installed on the supply outlet to push water to the building being heated. You can also adjust your air injection using the dampers on the fan box located on the back wall of the furnace to ensure maximum burn time and fuel efficiency.

3. 3. Rhinoflex Underground Insulated Pipe

To heat your home and/or other structures, your outdoor furnace pumps hot water indoors via Rhinoflex insulated underground pipes. Once the water enters the structure, it travels through traditional heating systems, including a radiant baseboard, a forced-air furnace or a radiant floor system, and then circulates back to the furnace.

Not all underground insulated pipe is created equal, Rhinoflex may cost a bit more but it is guaranteed for 25 years. Part of what your paying for is closed cell spray foam insulation, other pipe is cheaper but uses less insulation.

For every BTU you lose into the ground that’s a BTU not getting to your home and also more wood you have to load in your boiler, cut, haul, stack load etc. Rhinoflex will not lose more than 1C for every 100’ of travel…do it once and do it right.

4. Outbuildings

The HeatMaster^SS system is perfect for garages, shops and other outbuildings. You can use a unit heater (combination heat exchanger and fan) to heat the building as required with a thermostat or tie into in-floor heating or a existing heat exchanger / radiator.

An outdoor furnace is typically installed in your backyard, 25 to 300 feet away from the building or the structure you intend to heat. In most cases you’ll see a reduction in your insurance bill vs. using a wood fired indoor heater (wood stove, fireplace etc.) as with a wood boiler the fire is now outside your home.

If you or your insurance provider has any questions about a wood boiler just give us a call at 204-453-7788.

Did You Know?

In addition to supplying heat and hot water to traditional sources, a HeatMaster^ss furnace can also:

Supply heat for clothes dryers and baseboard heaters
Act as a snow-melt for driveways
Provide an unlimited source of hot water (pools, hot tubs, etc)
Heat livestock structures such as dairy and hog barns