Heating My House - Options Thoughts Suggestions ?

[Nifty]

A few thoughts:

I think central furnaces are a lot more because the entire system is so much less efficient (ducts, blowers, etc.) and you have to have electricity to move the large fans to move all the air around.

Regarding general costs, see the calculators here:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/
http://www.woodpelletinfo.com/calculator/

Both show that at $200 - $300 per cord (which we'd have to pay) that gas is cheaper. Wood would have to be $175 a cord to break even at $0.98 per therm for gas.

I don't really have access to free wood, but even if I did, I'd have to rent a splitter, split, stack, haul, etc. which has costs and dangers involved.

So, I'm kinda back to square one.

 

[Blackbird]

Clean air days?? What a load of crock. Of all the things that are harming the planet and they choose that???


We have a corn/wood pellet stove at home. It keeps the house warm enough all winter but I wouldn't suggest one (if you are trying to be SS) simply because you would have to rely on purchasing wood pellets and/or corn.
We mix both corn and pellets together to make it more efficient, having a grain farmer in the family helps but my mom and I decided that if we could, we would have gotten a wood stove instead, simply because wood is free (with the woods surrounding us) and if we needed to purchase it, it's fairly cheap.

A wood pellet stove also requires electricity to run the auger that distributes the wood/corn from the storage bin in back to the burner in the front.

 

[Denim Deb]

A few thoughts:

I think central furnaces are a lot more because the entire system is so much less efficient (ducts, blowers, etc.) and you have to have electricity to move the large fans to move all the air around.

Regarding general costs, see the calculators here:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/
http://www.woodpelletinfo.com/calculator/

Both show that at $200 - $300 per cord (which we'd have to pay) that gas is cheaper. Wood would have to be $175 a cord to break even at $0.98 per therm for gas.

I don't really have access to free wood, but even if I did, I'd have to rent a splitter, split, stack, haul, etc. which has costs and dangers involved.

So, I'm kinda back to square one.

I have 2 different kinds of splitters. Here's a link to the one http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07183520000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3, and here's a link to one similar to the other one http://www.harborfreight.com/7-ton-log-splitter-97113.html. They're both well worth the money.

 

[murphysranch]

Hey, don't be surprised BB. In Calif, you cannot build a home anymore with a real fireplace. And for those who have traditional fire places, you can only burn them on burn days, or vice versa (not burn them on designated days). Polution, you know....

 

[Nifty]

Well, until I decide what to do I'm just gonna keep using our old and inefficient wood stove:

 

[Wannabefree]

Well, until I decide what to do I'm just gonna keep using our old and inefficient wood stove:

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/2_fireplace-stove-burning.jpg

That's what I'm converting to this year! I can't wait to get it installed...we need it now :/

 

[Nifty]

I STRONGLY suggest against one like in the picture!!! It is asically a "campfire in a box" and is super inefficient.

The new stoves are a bit more expensive but, if you plan to heat with wood, you're much better off getting one of the new stoves that has a secondary burner! Basically you get a lot more heat and produce a lot less pollution for the same amount of wood.

www.englanderstoves.com has models available at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

 

[freemotion]

I have to agree. We just got rid of our old, inefficient stove and the new one is heating the entire house on very little wood. Sure, we haven't hit real winter yet, however, the difference is startling. With the old stove, we could burn that thing full blast and we still froze, huddled on the couch a few feet away. Most of the heat went right up the chimney. We kept the door open on it all the time we were home to get it even hotter. We went through a LOT of wood (at least a large wheelbarrow-full a day) and still shivered. It cost us about $2000 to heat our 1400 sq ft home last winter.

On a very cold fall day....20 F in the AM and up to the 40's later, windy and rainy and damp....3 five gallon pails of wood keeps us toasty all day long. The thermostat has been OFF since we got it. I suspect we got way too much wood at 6 cords, but we got what we did based on running out by the end of Feb or so last year.

This stove will pay for itself by mid-winter. I thought it would take the entire season to pay for itself, but I hadn't counted on selling the old piece of junk for half what we paid for the better one!

 

[Blackbird]

It's funny how heating has evolved, isn't it? Growing up my mom said they used to heat up silverware, rice pads, water bottles, etc. on the wood stove they had, and wrap them in towels to put by their feet at night. Of course by the time they woke up in the morning it would be freezing in their rooms.

 

[SKR8PN]

Clean air days?? What a load of crock. Of all the things that are harming the planet and they choose that???


We have a corn/wood pellet stove at home. It keeps the house warm enough all winter but I wouldn't suggest one (if you are trying to be SS) simply because you would have to rely on purchasing wood pellets and/or corn.
We mix both corn and pellets together to make it more efficient, having a grain farmer in the family helps but my mom and I decided that if we could, we would have gotten a wood stove instead, simply because wood is free (with the woods surrounding us) and if we needed to purchase it, it's fairly cheap.

A wood pellet stove also requires electricity to run the auger that distributes the wood/corn from the storage bin in back to the burner in the front.

Even with a wood stove....Unless you live in a one room house, you still need electricity to run fans to distribute the heat.