Who Heats with Wood ?

[OLD CHIPMONK]

If I had the room ( large backyard ) would loveto build an outside boiler (wood fired) then install baseboard heating inside my home. So simple & elegant. Put some anti-freeze in the lines & ready to go. Comfortable, smoke-less heat all winter long. Probably wouldn't have to stoke but twice a day. Oh well, food for thought.

 

[Marklambert61]

Heat

Love my Heatmor OWB have propane for back-up but is never used...I would like to find away to get the clothes dryer off the propane...Its the only appliance I cant ween off the fossil fuels.

 

[charkan]

2200sq ft with owb plus my hot water buy propane for cookstove and hot water in summer

 

[ray benson]

95% wood, only use gas furnace spring and fall if its too warm to "light-up".

Same here.

 

[spike60]

Pretty much all wood when I'm home to feed the stove. (Quadrafire 3400)

Oil furnace does the hot water and is set @ 52 when I'm not here. I keep the bedroom cool for sleeping but use an electric heater to keep the bathroom toasty for showers. Also sometimes use one upstairs here in my office. On really cold nights, single digits and below zero, I'll let the heat run a little bit to keep the system warm.

Question for some of you guys with no back-up heat: What kind of burn times do some of your stoves have? (I'm not refering to the OWB ones. I know they can go for a couple days). I would hate to have to worry about the stove going out with no back up. How do you guys handle this situation?

 

[abohac]

I have two propane backups in a 3300 sq ft house but heat 98% with a Woodmaster. Have Floor heat in garage and basement. Have two more Woodmasters at my Dad's. He heats 1800sq ft house and 400sq ft farm shop with floor heat. Dad has electric back-up but never uses it.

 

[krazyvan]

#3 1000 sq/ft. home heated with wood stove, natural gas furnace backup.

 

[AngelofDarkness]

I hate a hard time keeping the upstairs warm, the front bedroom is downright freezing, but nobody lives up there so I kind of don't care.

If I had better windows I could keep the house a lot warmer and burn a lot less wood.

 

[kah68]

# 3, just started buring with my Pacific so I estimate 50% wood this year, will be nice to use 1/2 the oil I used last year.

Kirk

 

[Lignum]

#1 for 3 years now. I turn on the old oil furnace just to make sure it works now and again.

 

[JackD_ME]

What's an "oil furnace"???:greenchainsaw:

#1, 100% wood heat from the biggest Consolidated Dutchwest they made! This old 1820's mill-house has little for insulation and I burn 'tween 8 & 10 cord per year.

 

[hanko]

What's an "oil furnace"???:greenchainsaw:

#1, 100% wood heat from the biggest Consolidated Dutchwest they made! This old 1820's mill-house has little for insulation and I burn 'tween 8 & 10 cord per year.

wow you mus thave that baby just a cranking. i have the medium dutchwest in my shop which is 1200 sqft, i do have a dense pack spray in foam insulation package, but wow 10 cords.

 

[cuttinstuff]

#1. Heating 2500 sq feet with an Osburn 2400 free standing. We have gas forced air but dont use it.

 

[logbutcher]

I hate a hard time keeping the upstairs warm, the front bedroom is downright freezing, but nobody lives up there so I kind of don't care.
If I had better windows I could keep the house a lot warmer and burn a lot less wood.

Hey Angel, it's no wonder that bed is freezing. Look at your regs for women .

Question for some of you guys with no back-up heat: What kind of burn times do some of your stoves have? (I'm not refering to the OWB ones. I know they can go for a couple days). I would hate to have to worry about the stove going out with no back up. How do you guys handle this situation?

Most New England homes had and some still have "summer" rooms and "winter" rooms. In winter part of the house is closed up and not heated, to conserve heating wood. Most homes in N. America centrally heated are heating plumbing in usually empty rooms--it's our lifestyle. Northern European homes usually do not centrally heat, with bedrooms often unheated with large down comforters. No birth control problem.
Our place was built in two parts over the years: the original weekend part had no plumbing, then we built a "real" place with flushes and plumbing added on. There's a wood stove in each part. A LP space heater (Empire thru-the-wall non-electric) will carry the 1100 ft² addition to 50 F if we're gone for more than a day in winter. The original no plumbing wing is shut off with sliding pocket doors and foam sheet insulation from the addition. It goes down to outside temperatures fast without heat; no problem. The 24 ft² original wing is a basic cape with cathedral ceiling with a non cat Jotul Oslo stove, R11 walls and R19 roof--not much nowadays. The addition was designed around a VC Encore cat. I prefer the cat for efficiency and long burn, but the "VC" quality needs work.

Jack from Maine: you got your work cut out. Why not tighten the house up ?

 

[logbutcher]

Apology to A.S.

OK, the annual Who Heats With Wood Poll

1. Use 100% wood heat with wood stove(s), no fossil backup.

2. Use 100% wood heat OWB, no backup.

3. Wood heat (stoves or OWB) about 50% to 75%, use ____ fossil fuel.

4. Intermittent wood heat < 50% of the time--weekends or romance--
use the thermostat mostly.

5. Zero % wood heat: it smells, pollutes, kills trees, too much effort, rather
give my $$$$$ to the Saudi Royal Family.

Yes, the Poll option should have been used. Will next time. It is tough to teach the ole dog......

 

[JackD_ME]

Jack from Maine: you got your work cut out. Why not tighten the house up ?

Because it's a dirt floor basement and a spring/well is down there. Too much moisture most of the year. I have rebuilt a lot of the downstairs in this 3000 square foot house and it has R-11 and some areas blown-in but I'm hoping to build a new place this spring on our 125 acres! I'm hoping to sell or rent this old dog!
Also, the stove is in the south end, hard to drive heat to the north!

I always try to stay a year and a half ahead of my personal wood.

 

[olyman]

95% wood, only use gas furnace spring and fall if its too warm to "light-up".

same here--has to get somewhat cold before starting the wood furnace!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[olyman]

I'm 90% wood. Propane is set for 68 for the females in the house just in case. Hot water is still on propane. Gas man was here and toped me off the 24th and only put 135 gal in and was he pi$$ed. The last time he was here and put anything in was July and that was only 150 gal.

toooo bad for the gas man--dont you just hate it when they cant make excessive profits??????????????

 

[logbutcher]

Because it's a dirt floor basement and a spring/well is down there. Too much moisture most of the year. I have rebuilt a lot of the downstairs in this 3000 square foot house and it has R-11 and some areas blown-in but I'm hoping to build a new place this spring on our 125 acres! I'm hoping to sell or rent this old dog!
Also, the stove is in the south end, hard to drive heat to the north!
I always try to stay a year and a half ahead of my personal wood.

We're in the middle of one of those AlGore snowstorms again--time to diddle online.
What town are you in Jack ? Kinds of wood you got ? 10 cords/year !!! Whew.
Dirt floor basements: we had one in a similar old place in northern Massachusetts in another life. :monkey: A friend builder recommended to cover as much of the dirt floor with thick plastic to keep the moisture out of the upstairs; worked well, cheap and easy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

If you're in Blue Hill tonight, our band is playing at the Last Night program.

 

[bowtechmadman]

4,000sq ft house and have strictly heated w/ Woodmaster 5500 OWB past three years...heat and domestic hot water.
Do have an oil boiler as back up...hmmmm does fuel oil go bad? Tank if full and the oil in it is 3 yrs old now. Should I get a hand pump and start pumping it into my old Mercedes diesel?