Posted on 10/20/2011 4:03:34 PM PDT by Chickensoup
Just bought a new old woodstove for my ground floor. A Vermont Castings big one. Have a Big Jotul on the first floor. Planning on burning two and a half to three cord this year. Have an extra cord for margin.
So, what kind a wood stove do you use?
We need to sleep sort of cool at night. Toasty warm is too warm. Just enough to take the edge off the cold.
No, but thanks for asking. We starting building/prepping 6 years ago...and it is a very lovely place to live.
http://naturalgasdetector.net/
Here’s a start. Sears even has them.
http://www.sears.com/search=natural%20gas%20detector
Got a new house with central air and heat. Can I put in a wood stove? Propane costs are killing me.
We have had one of those wonderful outdoor wood furnaces!
No muss, no fuss, no smoke, no bugs, no ash mess and all the hot water the grandkids can use.
Best of all, you only fill it once a day! Or even less if we want to go away or a couple of days. Just turn it down a bit.
We even keep it running well into so spring just to heat the water.
Uh, $200/CORD? That’s a 4x4x8? Here in MI You can get nice dry hardwood delivered for $100/$130? cord.
We figure that 18 ricks (face cords) in the shed will run us to March and Maple-syruping time.
We are fortunate that we have 20 acres of mostly hardwoods to thin and cull for timbering every 15 years or so.
It just seems to be the rotation of nature that a few years ago we had to cut a bunch of cherry because of a beetle infestation. Ths year the heat and humidity set off the Dutch elm disease again. Before that, we had a bad windstorm that took out and topped off a bunch. Nature just keeps providing....
We added one of those outdoor woodstoves to our last house...a 1912 parsonage that had been remodeled and insulated, very similar to a large farmhouse. We went through 14+ cords/winter, had them delivered by semi in 8’ logs, all oak, that I needed to buck. We paid $50/cord. But was I’m getting too old for the annual work involved. 14 cords is a depressingly large pile of logs to buck.
But like I said the shiny stainless interior of the chimney stays very clean, any little bits of creosote at the seams will dry up, flake off and fall down. They are a little pricey but not hard to install and you can put it right in the center of the house where it does the most good.
I’ve used kerosene for years until the price went too high. I was looking into wood stoves and stumbled upon a video showing a “rocket stove” with a “mass heater”. If one can look past the hippie element, these seem like a pretty good idea. Plenty of video online under the search terms.
BTW, I also have central propane heat. With a wood stove I can stay warm with the house at 60-65 (55 in the farthest BR) by sitting by the stove. With just propane, I would feel cold even at 70. That’s the difference between radiant heat which enters your body as photons and forced hot air which bounces off your skin and dries the skin which cools it off.
Best ever has was a a big old Ashley (made in SC) because it kept us warm in Alaska when times were hard.
Currently have an Osborn, it does OK.
Jotul. We’ve had it since 1986, probably burn about 2 cords a year through it. Have a full chimney liner and our chimney sweep always says the chimney is fairly clean, no creosote build up. So it burns good and hot.
Tend to burn oak and ash.
Re: Can I add on wood heat? We did!
Best move we’ve made.
See my prior post.
The they just hooked the Boiler furnace to run through the gas frunace heat exchanger. Best of both worlds. Cheap heat all winter but if you want to go away for more than say 3 days, you’ve got the gas back-up or early spring or fall when it just isn’t worth firing up the “big” boy.
One could always build a fireplace using oil shale stone, and then burn the house down like some eary settlers did in CO, WY and UT.
Mid-size Vermont Castings here. Takes 18” chunks.
We have 9 acres of mature hardwood that coughs up 4-5 cords a year nice usable firewood. Unfortunately, #1 son enlisted a couple of years ago so I’m doing it myself now. I either drag, cut or split for an hour or so a day which is enough.
My pile is the smallest it’s been at this time of year, ever. That bugs me. A big stack of seasoned oak, beech and hickory this time of year is more soothing to me than a fat IRA. I won’t get caught short again.
Nothing better than a toasty wood stove and a nightcap when the wind is howling and it’s 5 degrees out.
I have a Korean made potbelly that I keep outside in front of the cabin. I burn junk mail mostly, but in the Tx. wintertime, I chunk some mesquite and oak in there and it makes for a pleasant evening of star gazing or sitting or whatever. It radiates very well, and it was free. The cats and dogs seem to like it better than the fire pit.
I remember seeing the bio-brick on WFSB, thanks for the reminder. That would handy when I can’t get out to the wood stack.
I double-checked with the retailer who said unlike pellets, which usually have to be purchased in bulk and in advance of the cold season, they always have Bio Bricks for sale - good news!
No sense of smell? Man o Man I use to have the perfect dog for you
TT
***** “I’m in the process of moving from Massholeachusetts to Texas and plan to leave my wood stove behind.” *****
Yessir we have yet to invent the wood powered air conditioner
TT
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