Outdoor Wood Furnaces?

[hobbychickener]

Who has them?

Who uses them?

What are the ups and downs for the ones that you use?

Anyone ever bult their own? what would you change if you had to do it over?

Ultimately - Is it worth the time and effort?

 

[plucky]

We have a Hardy stove, which was already installed on this property when we bought it.

We really like it, but it does have some drawbacks.

Positives - it does keep the house really warm, and ours is tied in with the hot water heater (most are, I think). The fire not only heats the house, but the water, too. We can have all sorts of company and not run out of hot water. Thanks to the stove, our electric bills in winter are very low.

Negatives - In my opinion, you only REALLY save money if you're cutting your own wood, depending on the cost of wood in your area. In our area this year wood is pretty cheap ($25/rick). Even so, the colder the weather is, the more wood it eats up. This is all also going to depend on the stove you get, quality of insulation in your house, etc.

Also, you can't count on it for heat if your electricity goes out, since it does require juice to pump the heat inside.

Another negative - you have to go outside to fill it. Maybe a small inconvenience, but it sure is tough to get out of a nice cozy bed on a frigid morning to check the stove! (It does get you nice and awake, though)

We're not the only ones who like ours...we have several friends and neighbors with them, and the general concensus is that the positive outweighs the negatives.

I hope that wasn't confusing as mud.

 

[hobbychickener]

I have thought about the no elect no pumped heat but i have an all electric house so I am SOL either way (thank goodness for the generator!).

Cutting the wood is not a problem. You wood is a little cheaper than it is around here. We are 35-40 a rick.

I have been looking at the hot water adapter and think it is probably worth the while, though you would only us it in the winter as the stove wouldnt run year around?

Our house is only about 10 years old so ins and such is pretty good still.

How long will it last - the fire - as far as 1 filling with wood goes?

Anyone Else have any thoughts / Opinions?

 

[sylvie]

My DH wants one that would take wood or coal.
Here the firewood is $100 per rick, not always good quality, either. We cut our own most of the time but this winter has been so cold beginning in November that we went through what would normally take us through the end of February.
The snow is too deep to cut and haul more right now, which is why he wants coal. He figures we'd have a good load stockpiled for times like this.
I'm beginning to think multiple heat sources would be the way to go for the future.

 

[reinbeau]

What is a rick? Around here we buy it by the cord, 4x4x8'.

 

[sylvie]

What is a rick? Around here we buy it by the cord, 4x4x8'.

4x16"x8, also known as a face cord. It is 1/3 of a cord. Some think they are getting a half cord by buying a rick but that's not so.
In Ohio rick is not a legal term, but used extensively.
I never see cords offered for sale in my area.

 

[reinbeau]

Cords, face cords or half cords is what we buy/sell around here. We buy tree length if we buy it at all, I've got enough hardwood around here to last for years down in Hanson, but up in Maine we heat solely with wood. Tree length only.

 

[freemotion]

I have heard that you can burn pine and wood that is not quite as seasoned and not worry about creosote because there is essentially no...or not much...chimney. Is this true? And that the wood can go into the stove in very large chunks, meaning less splitting chores.

My dad was very excited when they first started appearing in Northern Maine. They are outlawing them in many communities in MA, though. People here see the wood smoke and think it is worse than using fossil fuels just because they cannot see the poisoning of the environment so readily....

 

[reinbeau]

It's mainly due to people burning junk wood 9i.e. pine) spewing billows of smoke that they're being declared illegal in MA. You need room to have one, you can't live in a neighborhood on 1/4 acre lots and have a wood burning furnace without smoking out everyone around you. I'm not against them, that's just been the case around here with a few I've read about in the newspaper.

 

[sylvie]

If you already have one will it be grandfathered in so you don't have to quit using it? We have that here for woodstoves that are non compliant with the catalytic converters.