Outdoor wood furnace

[mideastrider]

I been looking into maybe getting an outdoor water furnace or water stove. Different companies call them different names. I’ve been checking them out on the net and there all kinds and makes of them. They are not to widely used down here. I think they maybe more in use up north. I would like to know if anyone is using them and how they like it.
I have used wood to heat with in the past so I know about cutting wood and feeding the stove. But what other issues are there both good and bad? Do they save that much money? Are they easy to maintain? What’s the life span of a good unit? Was it a good investment?

 

[Offroadr]

My FIL has one and swears by it. They feed it once a day in the winter unless its bitter cold and then its twice a day. They use much less wood than a stove or fireplace. just make sure you have a backup (propane, etc). They do not like to ever let the fire out in order to make sure the lines dont freeze which is an issue if you leave town but I would think there has to be ways around that. They do save a ton of money not burning propane during a midwest winter. If we were not in a subdivision I would have one for sure. You can also heat your hot water and run floor heat if you have that with them.