If money was of no concern, and fuel was unlimited...

[FionaD]

Wait, are you saying the Neanderthals weren't a separate. species of human that went extinct?

They're definitely still hanging around Sauchiehall street in Glasgow late on a Saturday night

Speaking of our ancient relationship with fire - and slightly off topic for a minute - I wonder if anyone here has seen the movie 'quest for fire'? Made at least 25 years ago....

 

[xman23]

I would likely have a wood stove at the cabin on the ski mountain. I may get lazy and not run it for all the heat, but it will get used to warm the bones after a day on the slopes.

 

[Simonkenton]

Neanderthals were a separate species, and they did go extinct. For many decades the great debate among anthropologists was, "Did the Neanderthal Interbreed with Modern Man?"

I mean, if you know anything about male sexuality, you know what happened. Thirty five thousand years ago in Europe, a couple of Modern Man hunters come across a couple of cute, [or ugly] Neanderthal gals having a sponge bath down at the creek, what do you think happened?

Through the science of dna it is now known that the Neanderthal and Modern Man did interbreed. All people of northern and western European ancestry have some Neanderthal dna.

So, the Neanderthal didn't really go extinct, he still lives in us and I, for an example, am 3 percent Neanderthal.

 

[begreen]

So, the Neanderthal didn't really go extinct, he still lives in us and I, for an example, am 3 percent Neanderthal.

I thought so...

 

[AnalogKid]

I would interpret this question based on my current home and set-up, just with the scenario that cost was of zero concern.

I would still burn wood. I would however likely worry a little less about being prepared with enough seasoned wood for the upcoming burning seasons.

Wood heat just can't be beat. Even if the house is 70* by using my oil fed forced hot air, or 70* by virtue of the woodstove, the wood heat is just so much warmer. Not too sure why, but it is.

Another large contributing factor is; burning wood actually helps me enjoy winter and the colder months. This is my 3rd year heating with wood. Before I started, I absolutely hated winter. Now with the addition of the woodstove I actually look forward to it and enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to opening the pool and cutting grass too, but winters now are just so much more tolerable.

Everything else like the exercise attained, the time being outdoors, and the using of a clean renewable energy is all just a bonus.

Burn on!

 

[Ashful]

...would you still run wood as your heat source? If not, what would you use?

Heating with wood is not financially advantageous to us, but we still do it. It's satisfying work, and I like the look and feel of having the stove(s) going all winter. I would be much better off, financially but not spiritually, if I spent the same time managing our earnings and investments.

 

[brothermarkinter]

If money were no object.....

I would prefer to heat my home primarily with radiant hear from a high efficiency NG boiler and zero HVAC. It is my goal to move somewhere that does not require AC. Here in Texas we have been using our AC for the past 2 weeks now in December. It is insane and a bit depressing.

That being said I will always want wood heat of some kind in the house. There is just nothing that compares to the heat from wood and having a toasty fire to watch while in a pensive state

 

[mopar440_6]

If money were no object, the house would be on a geothermal setup with a massive outdoor boiler and about 10,000 gallons of storage tied in to heat the house and my 50x60 shop. And I'd probably still have a couple small stoves or inserts in the house just for the "pretty" factor and the ease of throwing a lot of heat into the room in a short amount of time if needed (backup). I grew up with a wood stove, went 10 years without, and now have one again. I don't think I'd be able to go back to not having one. Although wood has never been my primary heat, nothing compares to the peace of mind of knowing that, should the furnace quit, a warm house is only a match and a few sheets of newspaper away. Hopefully with the pending upgrade to a relined chimney and a proper modern stove, I may be able to begin using wood to heat the house more often...

 

[Bigg_Redd]

...would you still run wood as your heat source? If not, what would you use?

No.

I'd use the electric baseboard heaters that came with my house.

 

[alforit]

No.

I'd use the electric baseboard heaters that came with my house.

hahaha ............I love it

 

[Swedishchef]

No.

I'd use the electric baseboard heaters that came with my house.

LOL. NOw that is some blunt truth from a forum member. Gotta respect that.

Andrew

 

[NJ_Burner08002]

I just went to wood as a secondary heat source. I for one wanted to save some money and become more energy independent And bedsides saving money I am also a lot warmer. Heating bill last month was only 29.00. And I also see it as a game where I can get free wood on Craigslist. Being warmer and saving 200-300 a month makes me happy.

I like burning wood just in case the power goes out. Won't freeze to death.

 

[Andy S.]

I'd go geothermal with a massive NZ6000 fireplace for fun and a 100kW generator for backup.

 

[northwinds]

Speaking of our ancient relationship with fire - and slightly off topic for a minute - I wonder if anyone here has seen the movie 'quest for fire'? Made at least 25 years ago....

Thanks for making me feel so old. I saw it when it first came out. My college roommates thought the dialogue was lacking, but the love scenes were worth the price of admission.

 

[djblech]

I would most definitely burn wood. I look forward to standing in front of the stove and letting the heat soak into my bones all summer long. Having more time to put up firewood during the year without the pesky need to make a buck would be nice. I do not like temps much above 75* so going south is not an option.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I like saving money burning with wood but the bigger reason I do it is because it's a renewable resource and even if I buy wood I'm paying a local guy instead of a billion dollar oil company. I'm all about supporting the local guys when possible over big corporations. So yes, even if I was wealthy I think I'd still burn wood for heat, still have my own vegetable garden (probably even bigger if I had more money), still hunt and fish and enjoy the outdoors.

Same here. If I had more money, I'd just hire somebody to do the grunt work of lugging and stacking and bringing it in for me every couple of days. And then I'd get fat from lack of exercise, but it might be worth it.

 

[Flatbedford]

I'd have better equipment and more wood stoves. I'd also turn up the thermostat if I felt like it.

 

[Ashful]

...even if I buy wood I'm paying a local guy instead of a billion dollar oil company.

Those billion dollar oil companies are owned by local guys. We're called shareholders.

 

[Toploader]

I would still burn wood because it's a quiet and very satisfying way to heat, it's one of the few activities we have left that connects us to nature instead of separating us. I love watching the fire and the radiant heat and the stove as a focal point is something I prefer to a uniformly warm house.

 

[mass_burner]

Wood heat just can't be beat. Even if the house is 70* by using my oil fed forced hot air, or 70* by virtue of the woodstove, the wood heat is just so much warmer. Not too sure why, but it is.

Not singling you out, but I hear this often here, that for some reason or another wood heat is if a better quality than other fuels. I'll tell you, the previous owners of our home installed a buderus oil burner in 2008, and the entire house has 12" finned cast iron base-ray registers, circa 1956. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get the house up to 70d from 58 and the heat is even and very comfortable.

Oil is expensive; wood is cheaper once break even is met. I have no illusions.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not singling you out, but I hear this often here, that for some reason or another wood heat is if a better quality than other fuels. I'll tell you, the previous owners of our home installed a buderus oil burner in 2008, and the entire house has 12" finned cast iron base-ray registers, circa 1956. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get the house up to 70d from 58 and the heat is even and very comfortable.

Oil is expensive; wood is cheaper once break even is met. I have no illusions.

Gotta agree . . . I love my woodstove and its radiant heat after being outside snowmobiling all day is the cat's meow . . . but in terms of overall heating in the home . . . going with hot water baseboard heat with the oil boiler is pretty hard to beat for its consistent heat throughout the entire home with no one room being cooler or notably hotter than the others.

That said . . . the oil boiler's thermostats will stay at 60 degrees . . . since I am still too cheap to want to burn up the dinosaurs when I have plenty of wood.

 

[Toploader]

Not singling you out, but I hear this often here, that for some reason or another wood heat is if a better quality than other fuels. I'll tell you, the previous owners of our home installed a buderus oil burner in 2008, and the entire house has 12" finned cast iron base-ray registers, circa 1956. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get the house up to 70d from 58 and the heat is even and very comfortable.

Oil is expensive; wood is cheaper once break even is met. I have no illusions.

Well all opinions are legitimate and I'm sure that an evenly heated warm house is what is preferable to most people but there are still many people, and I'm one of them, who would choose wood over other heating systems even if money were no object. Wood heat offers a lot more than just heat to those who appreciate it and no one ever said "I'd still have an oil furnace and baseboard heaters for the ambiance".

 

[Tenn Dave]

Big open natural stone fireplace for setting the mood - in floor radiant heat for comfort.

 

[byQ]

Money is no concern, hmmm, I would try to build a self sufficient heating-cooling-air flow house. The house would have "brains" - that is, computer programs where house systems communicated with each other and adjusted to the changing environments. This is kind of what is done in Germany with those passivehaus designs.

I would start with an open floor plan, and have the house passive solar thus collecting the southern sun. Also I would like to have some sort of system that opened thermal shutters to several south facing windows - ie when the sun's out windows are letting sun rays in and when the sun goes down these shutters automatically cover the windows.

Next I would have a huge steel tank centrally located in the house, like half buried and the other half in part of a stairwell. This tank would hold hot water. Hot water would be used for radiant heating via a slab or water radiators.

The hot water for the tank would come from 3 sources, 1) roof mounted water solar panels, 2) a geothermal system, 3) water coils inside a masonry heater. The "brains" would tell me when to burn wood, and would know when to collect energy from the geothermal and water solar panels.

I'ld also like PV solar panels and a wind mill integrated into the "brains" for electricity. So heating would come from passive solar thermal mass, masonry heater, and water radiant floor or radiator system. And a "brain" would automatically control the heating requirements of the house, and the "brain" would be able to tell me when it wanted the masonry heater fired up for internal house heat and to send hot water into the tank.

 

[Swedishchef]

Money is no concern, hmmm, I would try to build a self sufficient heating-cooling-air flow house. The house would have "brains" - that is, computer programs where house systems communicated with each other and adjusted to the changing environments. This is kind of what is done in Germany with those passivehaus designs.

I would start with an open floor plan, and have the house passive solar thus collecting the southern sun. Also I would like to have some sort of system that opened thermal shutters to several south facing windows - ie when the sun's out windows are letting sun rays in and when the sun goes down these shutters automatically cover the windows.

Next I would have a huge steel tank centrally located in the house, like half buried and the other half in part of a stairwell. This tank would hold hot water. Hot water would be used for radiant heating via a slab or water radiators.

The hot water for the tank would come from 3 sources, 1) roof mounted water solar panels, 2) a geothermal system, 3) water coils inside a masonry heater. The "brains" would tell me when to burn wood, and would know when to collect energy from the geothermal and water solar panels.

I'ld also like PV solar panels and a wind mill integrated into the "brains" for electricity. So heating would come from passive solar thermal mass, masonry heater, and water radiant floor or radiator system. And a "brain" would automatically control the heating requirements of the house, and the "brain" would be able to tell me when it wanted the masonry heater fired up for internal house heat and to send hot water into the tank.

Now that's someone who has thought about this before. lol

ANdrew