Home heating totally with wood

Wood Shed · November 29, 2019, 01:05:18 PM

How many can say they heat their home totally with wood? I have since 2006 but having retired recently my wife and I plan to spend the coldest part of the winter elsewhere. I have at least three neighbors about my same age that did burn wood doing the same now. I guess change happens, always.

47sawdust · November 29, 2019, 05:47:43 PM

My wife and I both in our 70's.We heat entirely with wood ,cook stove and parlor stove.8 cord a year which I skid,buck split and have help with the stacking.

hedgerow · November 29, 2019, 06:42:27 PM

I am semi retired. Quit working in town two years ago and just farm now. We heat totally with wood. Had a leak on the Garn started last Dec and shut down in May and back up in July first time it was off in 10 years. If I had my way we wouldn't be around here in the winter and the propane would keep the pipes from freezing or I would just winterize every thing. Wife is still working in town and says she is not retiring any time in the near future. Guess I will keep feeding the Garn and working in the shop for the winter.

upnut · November 29, 2019, 06:54:18 PM

We are wood only, and have been for 30+ years. The biggest change has been our personal thermostats. Years ago, if the sweat was dripping off my nose the wife was just comfy. Now, when I'm about right she is opening windows and running a box fan to cool down....The kids like to warm up by the wood stove when they come home, tough to do with a forced air furnace. Hauled up another load today, failure is not an option...

Scott B.

Wood Shed · November 29, 2019, 07:34:56 PM

hedgerow,

You mentioned if you could leave winter behind you would "just winterize everything". That got me thinking as one of my neighbors said he drained his OWB and leaves his propane furnace set high enough to keep the pipes from freezing. We have taken winter vacations the last three years and just left the back up fuel oil boiler run set about 60 degrees with the circulator running to keep the OWB from freezing but I worry about a furnace failure that may cause the OWB to freeze. Wish I could just winterize everything and leave with a lot less to worry about. Could easily drain the OWB, but would that cause damage to my fourteen year old CB 6048 sitting empty?

bluthum · November 29, 2019, 07:52:55 PM

I've heated entirely with wood and passive solar exclusively for over 40 years. big deal. However my parents at 90+ and late 80's heat a large house exclusively with a wood stove and big wood cook stove. True gumption, that.

thecfarm · November 29, 2019, 08:16:29 PM

All wood here. Been that was since 2002. We did heat with oil the first 2 years.

lxskllr · November 29, 2019, 08:21:19 PM

If I was in the country, I certainly would. lately, I try to keep most of the heat by wood, but I'm not here to keep the wood stove going all day. Thermostat's on 48°, and it hasn't come on yet this year. Probably will if it gets cold.

bulldozerjoe · November 29, 2019, 09:08:33 PM

alll wood here, i do have propane back up..... But it never turns on

gspren · November 29, 2019, 09:09:38 PM

Wood Shed, I use boiler antifreeze in my OWB since we shut it down for 7-10 days every month through the winter while we go to our DE house, works great!

As to heating entirely with wood, we did for years while we were working but now that we are retired I'm too busy, I sometimes think I need to hire someone to help me be retired. :D

chet · November 29, 2019, 10:19:26 PM

42 years of totally wood here. Going ta hafta bite da bullet someday and install propane backup, yup someday :D

Pine Ridge · November 29, 2019, 11:14:07 PM

Quote from: upnut on November 29, 2019, 06:54:18 PM
We are wood only, and have been for 30+ years. The biggest change has been our personal thermostats. Years ago, if the sweat was dripping off my nose the wife was just comfy. Now, when I'm about right she is opening windows and running a box fan to cool down....The kids like to warm up by the wood stove when they come home, tough to do with a forced air furnace. Hauled up another load today, failure is not an option...

Scott B.

Same way here, i'm just right and she's got ceiling fans on and front door open, we heat with a fire chief outdoor forced air furnace and have a propane furnace for backup, hope i never have to use the propane furnace again.

trapper · November 29, 2019, 11:16:33 PM

use propane 2 weeks a year when we are on vacation. Leave outdoor furnace pump on and the water in the outdoor furnace stays at 40 degrees

Wood Shed · November 30, 2019, 08:21:27 AM

After reading all of your comments I am leaning towards just draining the OWB until we return in the spring. I am sure not having to keep the OWB warm the rest of the winter will be better economically and less stress on my 25 year old backup fuel oil boiler. Even if the fuel oil boiler fails we do have a heat pump that I will leave turned on as a last resort to keep the house plumbing from freezing. As thecfarm (I think) once said "its just water" and I can easily drain it and refill when I return in the spring.

gspren, you mentioned using OWB antifreeze, I am going to check that out too.

Thanks for all of your comments. Wood Shed

hedgerow · November 30, 2019, 10:16:56 AM

Wood Shed
I guess I don't see the harm in draining your OWB. I probably wouldn't drain my Garn as it has 2000 gallons of water in it and I have 3000 gallons in another tank both are spray foamed and in a building that is spray foamed in my one pole building. I have a lot invested in chemical treatment. My lines to the house have antifreeze in them as I run heat exchangers and the water stays in the Garn barn. A small milk house heater in that building would keep the Garn from freezing. Even if my wife retires from town I don't see her wanting to go south for the winter. She likes the snow and the holidays around here too much. If I had my way my house would have wheels and when the cold started I would be heading south and wouldn't be back until it was time to plant corn.

Hilltop366 · November 30, 2019, 10:43:06 AM

You use to be able to get low temperature auto dialler so when your heat went out it would call you. Search Freezealarm.

lxskllr · November 30, 2019, 12:54:37 PM

With the caveat I don't know how an OWB works at all, one concern I'd have with draining the system is it causing seals(if there are any) to fail. Seems like things that should either wet or dry should always be wet or dry. When you change their state, bad things happen.

ButchC · November 30, 2019, 06:08:24 PM

100% wood here. We do have propane forced air backup that has never run other than every fall I run it to be certain it still works if needed.

dave_dj1 · November 30, 2019, 06:38:59 PM

All winter with wood here, I do run the oil hot air furnace in the spring and fall to take the chill off as needed though.

thecfarm · November 30, 2019, 07:13:42 PM

@Wood Shed yes that was me. I think I was talking about topping off the OWB and it would overflow.

Hilltop366 · November 30, 2019, 07:41:26 PM

All wood heat here since I built 2001. Tarm indoor boiler with in floor radiant. It has a second door that was designed to put a oil burner on (open wood door then close door with burner) but I have never installed it.

My insurance company was not sure about no backup.

"What are you going to do if the power goes out?" Plug in the inverter and still have heat.

"What are you going to do if you go away? I have three family members with in a mile.

gspren · November 30, 2019, 10:11:23 PM

Regarding anti-freeze, I ran my boiler without it for a few years and now I have used it 7+ years and the only downside I see is cost. My P&M holds about 100 gallons so for this area I bought a 55 gal drum plus the water for about a 50/50 mix, I have noticed absolutely no change in performance. If your boiler is a lot larger than that the cost could get crazy. I believe the one I use is Cryo-tec, probably spelled that wrong.

Iwawoodwork · November 30, 2019, 11:08:28 PM

We have heated with wood only using a Craft stove fireplace insert since 1991, just this year replaced the original blower fan, stove easily heats the main floor about 1500 sq. ft. When temp get into the 20's or lower I fire up the wood stove in the lower daylight basement to take the chill off. The house was built with ceiling heat (worthless and very expensive) that has not been used since 1991.We have enough wood on our 6.5 acres to keep supplied without buying any. we also live in a much milder climate are than many of you in the northern parts of the U.S. The last couple years I have hired a helper to help me fall, buck and move the wood from the hillsides to the wood storage area, in fact we just bucked up about a 1/2 cord today as we already had it on the ground. This is about 90% Doug fir and 10% oak.

breederman · December 01, 2019, 07:59:24 AM

We have used wood only for 30 years in a indoor hot air furnace. It has an oil burner in the same fire box as the wood that was never reliable when brand new. With retirement heading my way at breakneck speed I have started thinking about a propane back up furnace so we can chase warmer weather once in a while when the snow starts getting deep.

barbender · December 01, 2019, 01:03:13 PM

I'd have no qualms with draining my Heatmor owb down and leaving it sit, if needed. There's really nothing to go wrong. I'd be most concerned that it got drained completely. I just run straight water in mine. However, for the scenario the OP is describing I'd take a hard look at antifreeze. However, heating antifreeze (not the same stuff as automotive) isn't cheap when you're looking at systems that take several hundred gallons.