Friday, November 16, 2012

Heating with Wood

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Oh my, how I wish we had a fireplace ... or a wood stove .... or even an outdoor furnace .... anything to be self-sufficient by burning wood and heating our home.  Our plans were to put in a wood stove this past summer but it just didn't work out.  My absence from home, really put a dent in our 'building/adapting our heat source' agenda.


Before my marriage to my dear hubby, I had a wood pellet fireplace installed in the basement of my home.  It was wonderful.  The heat that it expelled was amazing and oh so cozy.  It heated my 1200 square foot home with ease and was simple for this single woman to maintain, load and clean.  


Heating with wood has it's advantages.  Wood is a renewable fuel, it is widely available in our parts and in most of North America and in some cases, and for some it can save you money.  If you live in a forested, rural area and you own a chain saw, trailer and/or truck, you could process the wood yourself.  However, if you have to buy split wood and have it delivered, the savings will not be substantial.  This fuel cost calculator might help you determine if heating with wood would help you financially.  If you take into account all the time and energy need to cut, haul, split, stack your wood, savings drop substantially but if you consider the work as a 'personal weight reduction program' instead ..... well then you would be benefiting two ways from heating your home with wood.  You also become less dependent on fossil fuels and more self-reliant.


The disadvantages include but are not limited to; difficult and costly to obtain if you do not have access to free or cheap wood.  Wood is bulky and storage can be a problem.  Firewood must be seasoned for at least 3 months.  When burning wood in the home, fires must be properly prepared, tended and cleared.  Fires can be dangerous and many fireplaces leak smoke into the home.  Fireplaces are difficult to seal for air infiltration on the inside and for water leakage from the outside.  They also must be inspected regularly for tar and soot build-up.  


One has to remember that the type of wood burned, whether it be softwood or hardwood will determine the energy efficiency.  Softwoods burn quickly whereas hardwoods, like oak or maple, have less resin and burn longer and slower.   The amount of moisture in the wood determines its fuel value.  This is why firewood needs to be seasoned.  


Over the winter, we will look at installing a wood heating system in our home once again.  From all the information I have read, it seems shopping for one is best when done in the spring.  Retailers are more accommodating on prices when the season is over and they are looking at a dry spell over the summer.  Now what do we buy?  Do you have a wood burning stove/fireplace in your home?  Do you like it?  Do you have any advice for us?  We would appreciate any and all!  All these photos have been taken at our neighbor Dave's property.  He burns wood in his home and is ready for the long winter that will soon be upon us.  So lovingly and carefully chopped and stacked.

So for now I will dream of a wood stove, the beauty of  the natural wood fire, of the warm spot in the house to gather around on cold evenings.  I will dream of security knowing that we will be warm and comfortable if the power grid fails in the middle of winter and of being set free from our energy supplier who only cares about our money.  In time, I hope all my dreams come true.

I hope you have a great day and remember to give your loved ones a hug!

14 comments:

  1. In our previous 975 sq.ft. home, we ran a pellet stove in the basement. It was so efficient and warmed the whole house. We've also had wood burning stoves as we have a wooded lot ... free wood!! But now we love our clean, simple, throw the switch, gas fireplace which warms our whole upstairs. We've gotten too old to cut, split and haul. I do miss the smell of wood burning tho.

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    1. Oooh, you know what I am talking about with the pellet stove! They are just wonderful. Gas fireplaces are great as well, unfortunately we live too far out in the country with not gas lines even close. Lucky you! :0)

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  2. We used an outdoor wood stove built by my hubby for 20 years, had the advantage of free wood, the last 5 years we had to buy wood, the cost was not worth continuing, we now use a heat pump for our 1400 sq ft house. I do miss the sight of smoke and the smell of wood

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    1. Oh Mimi, you were so lucky to have the advantage of your own wood for so long. Wood has become expensive, hasn't it? I hear that heat pumps are quite efficient! Thanks for stopping by. :0)

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  3. Good Afternoon Debbie, My daughter, Danielle, has an open fireplace and when she first moved to the house, was so excited to "light her first fire" that she made the mistake of making a fire with unseasoned wood. Well it "sputtered and splattered". She didn't know what she had done wrong, so she rang her dad (as girls do) to ask what was wrong. He explained what she should do. She has now learnt that the wood has to be seasoned and she loves her open fire place. I haven't had one for years. It would not be prudent for us to have a wood burning stove (although I'd love one) as we would have to buy-in the wood. I hope your dream comes true and you are able to buy your stove next year. Have a lovely day, Best Wishes Daphne

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    1. Thanks Daphne. It sounds like Danielle did the right thing by calling Dad! LOL. I would have probably done the same thing..I am so glad she enjoys it..I would too! Have a wonderful weekend. :0)

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  4. Right on! We are looking at a wood burning stove now and so far its been tough cause there are so many out there.Fortunately we got trees on our property that needs to be cut so I think it will be fine.

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    1. Yes, Ann we have trees that need to be cut as well. We also have an endless supply of trees all around us. Let me know when you find one! :0)

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  5. Hi! I found your blog through the Blog Hop, and I'm now your new follower :)

    Laura
    http://casetadepaper.blogspot.com.es/

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    1. Thanks Laura, so glad you joined in and stopped by!

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  6. Like you - I am more than VERY interested in getting a wood stove or next thing to it to put into our cheap fireplace. Let me know what you find out!! There are some high energy with low smoke stoves now that will burn wood for up to 20 hours on one batch of wood. So I've heard anyway!!

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    1. Oh Treehugger, I didn't know about the high energy low smoke stoves! Thank you so much for that info. I will definitely let you know what I find out. Thanks!

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  7. We are looking to get a wood burner for our cabin. We have lots of trees to cut and have started cutting some and stacking the wood even though we haven't got a stove yet. Since our cabin is going to be very small we have looked at getting a cookstove that we can cook on as well as heat with. There is a stove place in Vermont that makes a nice one called a bunmaker. It has a little oven below the actual fire. I think we are going to go for a Princess model though. We stopped at our Amish friends home and they showed us theirs. It's not too big and only a little bit more expensive than the bunmaker plus there is a dealer not too far from our cabin so maybe just have a delivery charge but not a large shipping cost. I can do my canning on it too. Can't beat that with a stick LOL ;)

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  8. I didn't know that wood burned differently.. duh! I would love to have a wood burning stove too. We have a pellet stove, it's nice because it is set with a thermostat and comes on and off automatically. Pellets cost us about $5.00 a day and the stove keeps the whole downstairs warm. It cuts our heating oil bill in half ~ which is a huge help.

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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! I love reading all of them. Have a wonderful day.

Debbie

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