Heating with wood burners/fire places only?

[wyoDreamer]

That purple hue makes it look radio-active, lol!

We had 2 woodstoves in Wyoming and burned over 8 cord of ponderosa pine every winter. We had a furnace, but only used it as back-up heat. Many nights I got up around 2 am to stoke the fire. My bathrobe has the burn marks to prove it, lol.
The first couple of years we were out there, we drove 2 hrs west to get Lodgepole pine. Dh split that stuff with a splitting maul and I stacked it. We bought a small limbing saw for me to use, he would cut a tree down, then as he cut the next tree down, I would limb the first and stack the branches out of the way. He would chunk the first tree as I limbed the second one. Then I would move the chunks of the first tree and stack them in the trailer when he chunked the second tree. repeat until too tired to think, then do 2 more trees.
then, I met a nice lady that had a whole bunch of beetle killed pine that she let us cut up and haul off for free. She lived 8 miles away. We became good friends and helped her with projects quite often. Her husband had died a couple of years before we met her, so I think she enjoyed having a handyman she could consult with.

Here in Wisconsin, we installed a pellet stove insert into the old fireplace. We went with pellets because our land is pasture and field, very few trees, and DH decided he didn't want to cut firewood for the rest of his life. He thinks we are going to get old.

 

[Britesea]

We bought a little grate that fits in a wood stove and will burn pellets. We use that during the evening, then add chunks of wood to keep the fire going longer into the night. It's nice, but I didn't want a pellet stove because they need electricity and I'm all about low-tech.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's awesome!

 

[CrealCritter]

I've always wanted to try and heat with wood. Our Amish friends heat their entire house with one huge wood stove and when I say stove I mean a stove or oven.

The inside of their house is a open floor plan like you would expect to see in a warehouse. There are rooms yes but no doors. Of course the "bathroom" is outside also and is heated with one small wood heater.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I miss the activity of cutting firewood - but not enough to actually go out and do it in 90 degree weather. Maybe this fall we will cut up a couple dead oaks for wood for the fire pit.

 

[Denim Deb]

We do most of our heating w/a wood stove. We should have gotten the next size bigger. I much prefer it to any other type of heat.

 

[sumi]

@Beekissed please tell me more about that stove? That thing looks like it can WORK!

I currently use one of the fancy glass door types that get sold commercially. It looks a bit like this, with the chimney coming out the back:

I found it helps if I open the doors every so often to let the heat out into the room, but then I have to watch it, because the logs spit the odd spark out and I don't have a fire guard. Those things I found also block a LOT of the heat from the fires.

 

[Beekissed]

This stove is what is known as a barrel stove and they sell kits to convert a steel barrel into a stove. Our kit was manufactured by a company that went out of business in the late 70s, by the name of Sotz. The only company I know that sells the kits now is called Vogelzang...their kits don't fit as tightly to the stove and the doors are a little more loose as well, so may leak air a little.

The Sotz kit we have was bought in the 70s and we've been using it ever since...no slop in the make and fit of the door at all. The stove can take a huge load of logs if desired and can hold a fire for a couple of days while dampered down. We put a goodly amount in it each night, close the dampers and those same logs are in there the next morning except they are almost pure charcoal, so you open those dampers and a very hot fire ensues. It keeps the house warm all night and still has a huge bank of coals to have a roaring fire when you open the dampers the next morning.

It's not lovely but it's a workhorse, for sure. With the ability to damper it down and the airtight design, it saves on wood a good bit.

For steady heating, holding a fire so you never have to restart one, for shear BTUs it's the best bargain for the money spent. The current barrel we are using cost $15...the Vogelzang kits cost around $50-$60 nowadays.

 

[sumi]

I wonder how difficult it would be to convert a barrel yourself… I know a few DIY types that would love to make something like this.

 

[Beekissed]

I wonder how difficult it would be to convert a barrel yourself… I know a few DIY types that would love to make something like this.

Not hard at all. My 81 yr old mama did the last two stoves by herself...about 20 yrs in between barrel changes. Just got to have a way to cut the barrel and then drill the holes to screw the kit onto it.