Heating With Wood Thread - Another homestead mouth to feed.

[roadkill]

I hauled some seasoned mesquite up to 10,000' above sea level in September, because another guy was bringing ribeyes. I must admit, it seemed to burn cooler at altitude. The steaks were as good as ever. Grilling time was much extended though. Just some info for digestion.

Less oxygen at altitude

 

[Vaquero]

Less oxygen at altitude

Cap'n obvious

 

[vmax]

Good exercise too.

Heating with wood heats you up several times

 

[Vaquero]

Heating with wood heats you up several times

Yes sir.

 

[vmax]

I went in with a buddy and we bought a big hydraulic log splitter
one of the best things I;ve done
I own several chain saws, Stihl is the brand I like and have proven to work for me for 20 years

Did you clean your chimney pipe out real good before this winter?

 

[matefrio]

Did you clean your chimney pipe out real good before this winter?

Yes,

Before we purchased the house I could tell the setup of the furnace was not to code. I think there was less than 12in between it and the wall and the flu was run at strange angles to keep it against a wall and it even touched a wall at one point where they'd just thrown up some drywall behind it. Really it was a major concern it was installed in a way I could tell it was wrong.

The health of the whole A\C system was a major concern as well. They had about $3,000 worth of work done to bring things up to code and gone though before we signed on the house. I think it was one of the things that pissed off the former owner as she was really pissy closing day.

Found a pic before they made things right. Yep, that's the exhaust flue that gets super hot rubbing up against a thin piece of metal braced by some fiberglass insulation..

 

[matefrio]

New setup. Boxes are at least 24 in away from stove. Flue is straight up and heating pipe is bent to go into the furnace.

 

[texasnurse]

Don't know all that fancy furnace talk, got a fireplace, only use it below 40; not very often.


Sent from my iPhone?

 

[satx78247]

To All,

Those in San Antonio (& perhaps in other TX locations) would do well to check out www.craigslist.com for FREE trees for fuel. = In the last week, I've seen a large oak tree & 2 large pecan trees that were already cut-down & cut into pieces for loading.

yours, satx

 

[Rebel]

Apparently I should've hit refresh on this page before replying.

 

[Rebel]

Yes,

Before we purchased the house I could tell the setup of the furnace was not to code. I think there was less than 12in between it and the wall and the flu was run at strange angles to keep it against a wall and it even touched a wall at one point where they'd just thrown up some drywall behind it. Really it was a major concern it was installed in a way I could tell it was wrong.

The health of the whole A\C system was a major concern as well. They had about $3,000 worth of work done to bring things up to code and gone though before we signed on the house. I think it was one of the things that pissed off the former owner as she was really pissy closing day.

Found a pic before they made things right. Yep, that's the exhaust flue that gets super hot rubbing up against a thin piece of metal braced by some fiberglass insulation..

Well shoot, I would be mad too if someone demanded that a property I was selling actually passed inspections and be up to code. Incredible...

 

[grasshopperglock]

Yep. Have an idea for one. Huge issue is home owners insurance doesn't always think they are safe.

Oops. *Rocket Mass

Build it small. I'd figure the heat radiation off the chamber would be enough. All the other plumbing can get routed outside. Done right, I'd think, there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[vmax]

How do you get the wood down to the basement?

 

[matefrio]

How do you get the wood down to the basement?

Storm door is just to the left.

 

[vmax]

Sweet

 

[Whistler]

I heat my house in the winter with a wood stove, have a gas furnace but it's old and uses propane like it's free. My biggest problem is circulation, it's 55 in the back room and 85 in the room with the stove. Have a tall fan in the corner behind the stove, seems to help some. I like oak, hot fire, less ash to deal with but hackberry, elm, maple, anything I find on the place that's not a conifer. (Having tech issues, will post a pic when sorted)

Second the hydraulic splitter sentiment, splitting enough wood with a maul is a lot of work and it's high on my list of future purchases. Also have the problem with the stove not accepting 'standard' splits and one of the reasons I cut it myself, I like a small hot fire which requires a lot of care and feeding, holdover from my smoker I suppose.

On a related note have a huge oak that fell out back but no idea how I'm going to do anything with it, has to be at least 4' or better across the trunk. Fell on the west fence of course and I have no equipment anywhere close to big enough to remove it despite it being mostly rotted. If I do manage to cut it up not sure how I'll move it, use the loader on the tractor maybe but it's not very big.

The problem with just using what I scavenge out back is starting to become an issue in that I don't want to fell anything healthy and most of the rest is too rotten to burn, just smolders. The neighbor to the east was smashing down some trees with a giant loader the other day, maybe he'll let me cut that up and (if I'm really lucky) use his loader to move that big oak off the fence so I can rebuild it. Unfortunately his teenage son has created a bit of a rift due to my intolerance of his shenanigans (like shooting Tannerite targets 50' from my chicken house) and that may not work out.

edit; that covered bucket behind the stove is for ashes, always use a metal container as there may still be a hot coal or two hidden among the ashes. The foil pans underneath are for sweeping up the accompanying debris. The kettle is for humidity of course

I like to use a chemical flue cleaner during the season, just a scoop over a good bed of coals helps prevent accumulation and flue fires - scary. That's the small plastic container in the back left of the pic. Off season I have a brush I run down from the top of the stove pipe, I just do it while I'm up there cleaning the gutters anyway.

 

[Fishhooker]

I grew up with wood heat- I didn't have the luxury of electric/gas heat until my first apartment in college.

As tempting as it is to stack the wood right up close to the house, don't do it. It houses/attracts all sorts of critters and bugs that will find their way indoors. We always had a wood box inside the house. Usually enough wood for 1-2 days. Having the box near the fireplace gives the added benefit of drying out wood that may have soaked up some rain/snow.

We usually had a mix of hard and soft woods. Cedar and Lodgepole pine split like butter, but burn up pretty quick. Oak and walnut are horrible to split, but burn long with a lot of heat. We'd use the soft wood to get the fire rip-roaring, then start feeding it hard wood once there was enough coals to burn it well. Often times we would toss in a few good-sized chunks of coal if it was a particularly cold night.

Thermal powered fans can help circulate the air.

https://www.amazon.com/4-Blade-Powe...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PXJ4WR1QNJ5XMDQ0Z6ZG

Another nice trick is to put a large dutch oven full of water on top of the stove. As it boils it increases the humidity in the house which helps retain some heat.

 

[Coiled]

http://www.leveraxe.com/en/

Search ebay / Amazon, etc.

 

[Whistler]

That thing looks like it'd be hard on the wrists with the violent twist on impact... anybody use one?

 

[Coiled]

Not me, I happened to see it while surfing and remembered the thread. I see your point but like many things we do, you'd develop a rhythm / efficiency that is comfortable.