Reasonable Heating Oil Savings?

[Michael J]

I have been on Wood heat now for 3 weeks. I have a 2600 SF Raised Ranch with a 1200 SF Garage. I keep my garage on 60, and the entry way and my daughters room which is downstairs is on a programmable T-STAT that kicks on prior to her waking up, then off a few hours later and then back on after school and off at night at bedtime. So I am still using oil in the garages 24/7 and what appears to be 75% of the time in daughter room and entry way den.

Not having any heating seasons under my belt I did as best of an analysis as I could and I came up with this:

-5 and above, wood stove handles all SF except the garages.
-6 to about -15, wood stove handles about 2000 SF and oil supplements about 500 SF (den, entry, and daughters room, which is basically basement) still 100% oil for garages.
-16 and colder, wood stove handles about 1500 SF, oil supplements extreme far end of house, and all mentioned above, and oil heats almost 100% of den, entry, and daughters room.

House is an Interior AK house built in 95, sealed as good as humanly possible.

I wonder if this is on par for acceptable wood to oil ratio. I won't really see a difference until next years heating season when we tackle the -40 plus temps. I have a Blaze King Ultra with fan, I also use my ceiling fan to circulate. I am using about 60/40 Birch/Spuce mix. I am getting about 12-16% moisture on the wood. I am averaging about 14 hour burns with a mid-normal range setting.

I know there are some extreme cold pros out there, and if you have the time I would love your thoughts.

Thanks in Advance, Mike

 

[raybonz]

I have been on Wood heat now for 3 weeks. I have a 2600 SF Raised Ranch with a 1200 SF Garage. I keep my garage on 60, and the entry way and my daughters room which is downstairs is on a programmable T-STAT that kicks on prior to her waking up, then off a few hours later and then back on after school and off at night at bedtime. So I am still using oil in the garages 24/7 and what appears to be 75% of the time in daughter room and entry way den.

Not having any heating seasons under my belt I did as best of an analysis as I could and I came up with this:

-5 and above, wood stove handles all SF except the garages.
-6 to about -15, wood stove handles about 2000 SF and oil supplements about 500 SF (den, entry, and daughters room, which is basically basement) still 100% oil for garages.
-16 and colder, wood stove handles about 1500 SF, oil supplements extreme far end of house, and all mentioned above, and oil heats almost 100% of den, entry, and daughters room.

House is an Interior AK house built in 95, sealed as good as humanly possible.

I wonder if this is on par for acceptable wood to oil ratio. I won't really see a difference until next years heating season when we tackle the -40 plus temps. I have a Blaze King Ultra with fan, I also use my ceiling fan to circulate. I am using about 60/40 Birch/Spuce mix. I am getting about 12-16% moisture on the wood. I am averaging about 14 hour burns with a mid-normal range setting.

I know there are some extreme cold pros out there, and if you have the time I would love your thoughts.

Thanks in Advance, Mike

That's a big ranch Mike.. Unless your stove is somewhat central in your home it's tough to spread the heat out laterally.. Plus the outside temp extremes are another issue.. That is one serious stove for sure maybe you need to run her a bit hotter and try to move the heat around.. If you have a hot air heat system maybe you can try running it on fan only and see if it helps distribute the air better...

Ray

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Mike,

So I have to assume as I do, you might have a metal or wood shop in the garages?

And if so what ya making?

Sounds like you will do pretty good with your BK?

I couldn't really tel by the picture,but is that a King or a princess?

Cheers and really looking forward to your pictorial on your hearth build.

Cheers, Hiram

 

[summit]

man, its cold up there, and at -15 below, no stove is gonna do it all for you and still keep it 80 degrees all winter in weather like that. when it hits that cold here, the usual household temp of 70-80 drops to 60-70: One thing I could tell you, however (and I find many people running into this trap), is that just cause you got a big stove so you could load her up and shut 'er down for half a day or more it ain't always gonna keep up for you like that when it gets cold enough to freeze the snot in your nose outside in 10 seconds flat. You gotta open that thing up some , let her wail, and damn the 12+hr burn times. let it run at a good clip for 5-8 and it'll work out better for ya (ya just gotta feed it more often, but cha only get what you put in).

 

[SolarAndWood]

I have to run the stove hard to keep it on 12 hr cycles. I can't imagine what it would take to burn a full load in 5 hours unless you had the bypass open.

 

[begreen]

Seems fairly good. Ranch houses are not efficient from a heating design standpoint. At -40F outside I think I would be living and sleeping in the room with the stove.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I have to run the stove hard to keep it on 12 hr cycles. I can't imagine what it would take to burn a full load in 5 hours unless you had the bypass open.

But you have more square footage and your stove is in the basement???

 

[SolarAndWood]

I have to run the stove hard to keep it on 12 hr cycles. I can't imagine what it would take to burn a full load in 5 hours unless you had the bypass open.

But you have more square footage and your stove is in the basement???

It is essentially a 2300 sq ft rambling u-shaped ranch with an additional 1300 sq ft walk out lower level. Stove is in the middle of the main floor. I doubt I would be able to heat this house from the lower level with a stove.

 

[summit]

I have to run the stove hard to keep it on 12 hr cycles. I can't imagine what it would take to burn a full load in 5 hours unless you had the bypass open.

600 degree stack temps, and heat off the thing so hot it hurts to stand in front of it: thats why I chose a steel stove after running cast.