Woodburners sound off!

[philbert001]

So, I have burned wood in a modern, fan forced, 64% efficient fireplace as my primary heat source for the last 3 winters. I have a 500 gallon tank for my propane furnace, but I only burned 16 gallons last winter! (Thermostat for furnace set at 59 and a whole lot of splitting Ash and Oak! All other appliances are electric!)

 

[pitbulld45]

How bout some pics too? I have one at my parents I need to get some time.

 

[mom45]

We don't turn the furnace on. We have a large Vermont Castings stove with the catalytic combustor in the basement for our main heat source with a smaller Vermont Castings stove on the main floor for when we get too cold. The man cave and the garage both have wood stoves as well. We use about one tank of propane a year for the water heater, dryer and stove. Lots of firewood...thankfully, we have a plentiful supply on our property and a big splitter so we don't have to use the splitting maul anymore.

 

[Yeah]

I burn wood mostly, though owing to not being home much to tend a fire I went through quite a bit more propane than you last winter.

The Heatmor burner I have here claims something like 75% efficient, though I have never measured it. I have an indoor stove made by Wittus at another place and the thing produces a ridiculous amount of heat while going through very little wood.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I've got one of those in my house. Lopi Endeavor, 72,400 btu/hour, 2.2 cubic foot firebox. With double wall chimney pipe, the clearance is less than 12 inches to the drywall.

Had it for three years and heat about 1700 square feet with it.

 

[churchmouse]

Franklin. I took it out of a customers house and he had hardly used it. He wanted the space.
It heats about 1200 SF and is capable of much more. The addition has gas log fireplace.

 

[philbert001]

Very nice guys! I want to go to wood stove, ASAP, but I figure I'll wait till my kids are old enough that they aren't certifiably "Special"!
As of now, I have a BIS 2.0 High efficiency fireplace. I live on 1.5 wooded acres, and I have probably 3-5 years worth of Ash I've cut down in the last 2 years from the Ash borers! Also have a 4 foot diameter red oak that came down in the big wind, summer of 12'!
I like free(Ish) heat!

 

[mom45]

Oops...forgot the pictures.

This is the basement stove.



This is the one in the living room (obviously not in use since it had greenery setting on it).

 

[churchmouse]

Very nice guys! I want to go to wood stove, ASAP, but I figure I'll wait till my kids are old enough that they aren't certifiably "Special"!
As of now, I have a BIS 2.0 High efficiency fireplace. I live on 1.5 wooded acres, and I have probably 3-5 years worth of Ash I've cut down in the last 2 years from the Ash borers! Also have a 4 foot diameter red oak that came down in the big wind, summer of 12'!
I like free(Ish) heat!

Lessons learned in the per-suite of "Free-ish" heat
The stoves are expensive. The flu materials are ridiculous expensive. The set up is a lot of work if you do it all yourself and if you pay to have it done oh boy.
OK. Stove is set and safe.
Now, wood. I have 3 saws. I used to have 4. I have a trailer to haul the wood. I have halves in a spliter. I have probably 4 ax's and 2 mals (sp). I was going to my sisters place and her hubby and I would pull downed trees out with "His" Kubota. Cut them down with the saws (fuel/blades/gloves and a lot of aspirin) then we split it and divided it. I would load it up. Drive the 35 miles back to my house and unload it. I built (2) lean too's this summer that hold 2 Ric's each. That is a lot of treated lumber/screws/tools/time/beer.

I have no freaking idea how much I have invested but when someone asks how I like my "Free" heat I want to punch them in the face.......
This year the BIL decided his health was more important than "Free" wood so he is not dragging/cutting/splitting anymore. Last winter near killed us both.
So now I am buying wood. I still use my truck to drive 20 miles out to buy it. I load it and do the drive/stack thing. I have 3 saws that are just sitting. 2 are 1 year old 55cc 20" bar units that throw chips. I have to say tha at near 65 years old the buying thing aint so bad.
Free my Butt/.....

 

[philbert001]

Lessons learned in the per-suite of "Free-ish" heat
The stoves are expensive. The flu materials are ridiculous expensive. The set up is a lot of work if you do it all yourself and if you pay to have it done oh boy.
OK. Stove is set and safe.
Now, wood. I have 3 saws. I used to have 4. I have a trailer to haul the wood. I have halves in a spliter. I have probably 4 ax's and 2 mals (sp). I was going to my sisters place and her hubby and I would pull downed trees out with "His" Kubota. Cut them down with the saws (fuel/blades/gloves and a lot of aspirin) then we split it and divided it. I would load it up. Drive the 35 miles back to my house and unload it. I built (2) lean too's this summer that hold 2 Ric's each. That is a lot of treated lumber/screws/tools/time/beer.

I have no freaking idea how much I have invested but when someone asks how I like my "Free" heat I want to punch them in the face.......
This year the BIL decided his health was more important than "Free" wood so he is not dragging/cutting/splitting anymore. Last winter near killed us both.
So now I am buying wood. I still use my truck to drive 20 miles out to buy it. I load it and do the drive/stack thing. I have 3 saws that are just sitting. 2 are 1 year old 55cc 20" bar units that throw chips. I have to say tha at near 65 years old the buying thing aint so bad.
Free my Butt/.....

Well said CM!
Luckily my neighbor is also a wood burner, and he has gotten us permission to cut dead ash in several local woods! He has the wood boiler setup, running through his polebarn, then into his house! It's awesome, but again, the cost is far beyond my means! Maybe one day!...

 

[shibumiseeker]

I own 150 acres of wood and a sawmill. Most of my heat is through various wood stoves and furnaces. And I burn wood in self defense, otherwise it piles up. We burn about 150 gallons of propane a year mostly for cooking and water heating and I am working on eliminating that.

 

[WilsonMD]

Vogelzang add on wood furnace. Lots of wood, lots of work, but wife likes seeing the thermostat numbers at 72 and above. She once had it to 80 degrees when it was in single digits outside. I can usually find free wood, and the gas bill is same as summertime. We will see how long my previously injured back will hold out...

 

[philbert001]

My furnace is my only propane appliance. I'd love to eliminate a few electrical devices next!

 

[ghitch75]

outdoor wood boiler.....in-floor radiant heat....

 

[philbert001]

outdoor wood boiler.....in-floor radiant heat....

Very nice! Looks about like what my neighbor runs, but his goes through several fan forced radiators throughout his shop/house.
That's my goal for sure! If only my kids would stop eating so much, I might be able to afford it!

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Yeah, free it isn't. My stove ran me around $2500 and just the chimney pipe was $1000 for the good stuff. I installed it myself, which the insurance company didn't like, but I invited them to crawl up into the attic and inspect it if they wanted to. Once I started cutting wood, I decided I needed a new saw and got a nice Stihl with both a 20" and a 16" bar.

Right now, wood has been easy to come buy with the ash borer just this year moving through our area, but my idea to split everything by hand might have to be re-visited. I had the money to get a splitter, but I bought a Ruger Mini 14 instead, oops. But the exercise is good for me. The real problem is that I don't have a truck, but my son is good enough to take the time and help me. Tomorrow we plan to make a run and take down a couple more ash trees (then go shooting on Sunday rain or shine).

 

[atvdave]

I have a Lopi freedom bay insert.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

I've got one of those in my house. Lopi Endeavor, 72,400 btu/hour, 2.2 cubic foot firebox. With double wall chimney pipe, the clearance is less than 12 inches to the drywall.

Had it for three years and heat about 1700 square feet with it.

We have one of the Lopi Endeavors as well. I've owned quite a few stoves in my day and this is one of the best I've ever put wood in. Great stove. And ya the low clearance is awesome too.

 

[churchmouse]

Yeah, free it isn't. My stove ran me around $2500 and just the chimney pipe was $1000 for the good stuff. I installed it myself, which the insurance company didn't like, but I invited them to crawl up into the attic and inspect it if they wanted to. Once I started cutting wood, I decided I needed a new saw and got a nice Stihl with both a 20" and a 16" bar.

Right now, wood has been easy to come buy with the ash borer just this year moving through our area, but my idea to split everything by hand might have to be re-visited. I had the money to get a splitter, but I bought a Ruger Mini 14 instead, oops. But the exercise is good for me. The real problem is that I don't have a truck, but my son is good enough to take the time and help me. Tomorrow we plan to make a run and take down a couple more ash trees (then go shooting on Sunday rain or shine).

Now that is a plan. I would love to do that on Sunday....the shooting part.............................

The truck is a huge part of the wood burning experience.

 

[tradertator]

I grew up with an old King wood stove, and miss it more and more the older I get. Especially putting my wet boots next to it at the end of the day, and waking up to them being warm and dry in the morning. But churchmouse is right about it not being "free" heat. Tons of work, money, and mess. I remember being excited when dad bought a log splitter thinking it was going to make it easier. WRONG. Just meant we split more wood and he would sell the extra towards the end of winter when everyone was running out. A buddy of mine has a huge wood boiler setup that he loads with the skid steer, definitely the way to go if you have the cabbage and what I hope to have someday.