New here, but not to (more) self sufficient living

[justin_case]

Forum doesnt have a introduce youself section so as I just signed up I will post a bit of intro here.
I have power, but am selfsufficient with solar, wind, and back up generators. I heat with wood, and love it, built my own home, and use rainwater year round. I garden, and have a small green house that lets me extend the growing season.
Anyway, thats enough for now I am off to read more posts, of particular interest to me is woodheating systems especialy owner buit(lots of creative people out there), electric power, both generation and conservation. Any blogs from people doing simillar things make for good reading so feel free to point them out.

Thanks

 

[Marianne]

Welcome!

I'm a wood heat, passive solar kinda gal. We have the parts to build/experiment with a VAWT and Rocket Mass Heater... too many projects, not enough time here. We also built/still constructing our place. I don't know if any one person has a blog about these kind of projects, but I bet Joel can come up with some!

 

[the funny farm6]

from iowa

 

[Joel_BC]

I'm a wood heat, passive solar kinda gal. We have the parts to build/experiment with a VAWT and Rocket Mass Heater... too many projects, not enough time here. We also built/still constructing our place. I don't know if any one person has a blog about these kind of projects, but I bet Joel can come up with some!

Marianne is too kind. I feel flattered, but the best I can do, really, is just point out a few items & people.

We have a section on DIY, so do go through that. And you could put a couple terms like wood and heater or stove into our forum's Search function and probably come up with some posts or threads worth looking at - possibly from several of the subforums here.

One of our members, Paul Wheaton, does a lot of research into the technologies and methods of sustainability, and rocket-stove mass heaters has been one area of particular interest for him during the last year. So do a Search into Paul's posts. (By the way, Paul also has a Youtube channel where he posts audio-visual results of his researches.

Other keen minds, among our members, in the technology department include k15n1 and doc gonzo. I don't mean to be leaving out mention of other people who are posting valuably on these subjects, but these ones just came to mind right off the bat.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Welcome from Texas!

 

[BarredBuff]

 

[Hinotori]

 

[justin_case]

Thanks for the welcome, and Joel we are from the same general area, though my part is I think colder,-20 when I got up this AM. Yes I will chew through the posts, and see whats up. My interests are more to the efficient wood stoves/heaters, Massonary heaters (kit form), and types like that.
I have stumbled across sites on the net regarding those rocket heaters but what i found was a lot of claims and talk but little fact. I am a fact, measure, compare, check then verifiy type guy, and those advocating such a stove seem to dissapear, or get all twisted out of shape when it gets to facts, that kind of killed my interest in them, and left me suspitious.
I cant imagine a better system than what I have now, though am always open to how others do things. I burn 3 cord of birch a year. Thats to heat my home (1000square feet) and hot water (roughly 70 us gallon tank). I fire it up mid/late oct,and it doesnt go out until spring (roughly end of March/april). So 6 months on 3 cord to keep my house toasty warm through a Canadian winter isnt bad. I always want to do better ofcourse so I am always looking at how others are doing things and hopeing to find tips that will help me tweek the system further. Thinking about adding window insulating panels for the winter stuff like that. Anyway back to reading for now, and I will check out that DIY section you mentioned.

 

[Beekissed]

Welcome to the forum....LOVE the screen name! That is efficient heating with only 3 cords and I'm with you on the rocket mass heaters. Was planning on putting one in this past spring but changed my mind for pretty much the same reasons you stated.

We have an old barrel stove and have used these for years here but I have used other stoves with more fuel efficiency.

Sounds like you've got it goin' on with the SS and can't wait to hear more about your home and see some pics if you have them.

 

[justin_case]

I do have pics,not the most organized guy, and often forget to take picks when building things, but if your interested I will throw up a few. like those heaters I found a lot of questionable, misleading info at the electrical end when I started down this path 10-15 years ago. I always question everything now, and its saved me wasting my time, and money. Yes I am getting good economy with my wood heater, part of that reason is the heaters construction.It has a by metal temperature control that burns the whole load of wood at a steady even heat. No hot then cold just steady even heat at whatever temp you want, and it burns large unsplit logs 20 inches long up to 9 inches in diameter. Less cutting and very little splitting(only if over 9 inches). Dont have many pics on this computer but do on another and will post them when I get down to the DIY section.
Here is a pic of a short section of chimney I built that has a door on it that I can swing open

, and then stick my head in and look up to check the condition of the chimney.The next pick shows how it looks looking up from inside

. This is way better than having to climb up on a snow covered roof to check things out. then A pic of my wood heated hot water

tank.