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Burning wood

Started by chet, August 23, 2005, 09:53:11 PM

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dave7191

We heat with wood but do have a back up of a propane furnce  use about 80 gallons a year to heat and cook with
Dave

Greg

Heat with oil furnace, forced air, plus a small basement woodstove.

Lately have been seriously looking into dual fuel furnace (oil/wood) from yukon-eage.

Anyone got one?

Greg

mike_van

Greg, about 10 years ago I took the wood stove out upstairs & bought a Harmon wood/coal  boiler - best move ever.  It's plumbed into the oil boiler, if the wood fire gets too low the oil comes on & I just cringe -  >:(  All the mess is in the basement now, no more carring wood through the house, and best of all - "free" hot water from Oct - April.   
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

moosehunter

crtreedude,
Where were you in Ithaca? I live about 12 miles south of the city, near Arnot Forest.  My shop is 3 miles south of town on rt 13. When were you here? My dad was a IPD officer from '65 to '87 or '88. Seems like he knows everyone!

We started burning wood last year. Only used about 75 gal. of fuel as back up, mostly when we were in Canada snowmobiling.
mh
"And the days that I keep my gratitude
Higher than my expectations
Well, I have really good days".    Ray Wylie Hubbard

breederman

1oo% wood. Our furnace is a combo wood, coal, oil.The oil burner hasn't had four full tanks through it in almost twenty years,none in the last ten or so.Never could sleep with it running because the sound of money burning would wake me up out of a sound sleep! :D Tried burning coal once I ain't smart enough to make that work. :( 
  We may burn a little oil now as we leave for Lynchburg Va.In the morning to take the last of the girls to college,so mom and I might have some time to get away this winter.With all three in collage now it is going to get mighty quiet around here!
Together we got this !

Arthur

We only use wood for heating during winter only and normally only at night or first thing in the morning.

Current temps are 0c to 10c at night and 25c plus daytime.  Kids complain that their rooms are cold in the morning at at bed time so we are looking at a woodburn oven with back boilder so we can heat our water and central heating by wood.  Normal hot water is solar with electric backup but with a back boilder we should not need any electric except pumps.

We have so many heads on the ground (about 500 tons) not being used I feel its criminal but we cant give the wood away.  Firewood is only AUD$60 per ton here so its not worth doing.

Im contemplating a woodburn steam generator to supply us with all our electric but cant find one good enough at the moment.

arthur

Slabs

Hey Tom, You might like this-un.                    


It's bratwurst cooking in Old Smokey.  Fixin to start the 16th season with it.  The heat goes thru water pipes to baseboard heaters with an exchanger ahead of the electric hot water heater.  Fuel is primarily blackjack oak but yard trash, junk mail and even dead cats ain't out of the question.  It's in an underground room built alongside the house that also serves as an inclement weather entrance and storm shelter.


Later note:

For you guys talking about the different heating systems, especially wood, I wanted to note that my rig is homebuilt.  An old Federal Boiler bought at Air Force surplus yard and modified for wood is the heart and copper/aluminum baseboard radiators bought from the heat place.  Had a heating engineer figure out the heat loads/radiator lengths  from my (home drawn) plans when "I" built the house.  Use old salvaged water heater thermostats glued to the boiler for control and safety.  1/12 hp circulator but 1/25 might work even up to the third floor.  Can control the circulator by air thermostat or remotely from the bedside.  Timer likely to follow.  The hot-water exchanger is also homebuilt from copper pipe.  Had to machine out the reducers to make the co-axial fittings.
Slabs  : Offloader, slab and sawdust Mexican, mill mechanic and electrician, general flunky.  Woodshop, metal woorking shop and electronics shop.

Tom

The sausages on wood sounds good.  I'm not so sure about the yard trash and dead cats though.  Would the cat hair impart a peculiar flavor? :-\

Slabs

Dead cats are only a heating option.  Cooking fuel is limited to green water oak.  Maybe charcoal of mesquite chips on rainy summer days such as the ones we were almost scheduled for next week.
Slabs  : Offloader, slab and sawdust Mexican, mill mechanic and electrician, general flunky.  Woodshop, metal woorking shop and electronics shop.

Tom

OH!   ........whew!  :D

mike_van

Thants where the dead mice out of traps go here! Lots of BTU's in that mousey fur!!!!! :D
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

Slabs

Sorry Y'all

I should have made a new reply to get this thread bumped up to a "today" response instead of modifying the one above.

Forgot to mention that I also made a "wet" grate to hold the wood.  That's what the pipes are for in the lower left of the brat-cookin picture.  Water circulation in the grate strips off a few more BTU's and keeps the temp of the grate down so it doesn't burn out.  I'm running about 10 psi static on the system and it goes up to about 17 at 200 degrees.  At 15 psi the boiling point of water is up about 250 degrees.  Keeps it from thumping like an old still.
Slabs  : Offloader, slab and sawdust Mexican, mill mechanic and electrician, general flunky.  Woodshop, metal woorking shop and electronics shop.

Arthur

The only heating we have so far.



arthur

fishhuntcutwood

My fall and winter electric bills went from $200+ to $30 a month when I started using wood alone.

So needless to say, I burn wood.

Jeff
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whitepine

Have heated with wood only for over 20 years tried propane for two years darn thats cold a friend said its the same just set the thermostate at 90 degrees and it feels like wood heat????
Around here I have heard people afraid of using tamarack as they say it burns out the grates in a stove? I  burn it no problem but have brick linned stove. I have been selling firewood last 4 or 5 years and run accross this complaint anyone else ever hear of it?

tnlogger

no but when i was selling wood done here people wanted all hickory after the first yr they decided mixed was fine after they burnt their stoves out .  :D :D
gene

whitepine

If my memorey serves me I did some research on ashing carbon for  precious metal recovery and wood burns at 800F and the coals to 1600F seems to me unless you force air into the coals should not be a problem for cast iron???

Timberwerks

Anyone ever burn Horse Chestnut?  I can get a large tree dropped off here if it's something worth while.

Dale

hydro2

I use to use an inside wood burner. Built a new home and started using gas for about 6 years.  Last year a put in a Hardy outside unit and heat my place and my folks.  I have not looked back.  Love the outside unit. 
353 Husky
Husky 372XP
030 Stihl
Mahindra 4035
Speeco Log Splitter
Hardy Outside Wood Stove

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