Stove, furnace or new hobby

[KTLM]

Hi all. Been learning on this site for a couple of years. Great resource. So here goes. I've always been one to be out cutting. My kids kept the wood burned with sledding parties and family events but since they are growing up my woodpile is also. Thought of a stove but the house is not good for airflow. Also looked into a wood furnace. I would need to line an existing chimney (30ft.) and buy a stove or furnace + install costs. It is tough to justify $ as we have forced air NG. 2300 sq. ft plus the basement decently insulated in west Pa. One reason to go forward is my frozen wife refuses to set the thermostat at a comfortable level. To cheap to pay the gas Co. Does the urge to cut and burn ever disappear or is the investment justifiable. Opinions? :coolsmirk:

 

[bogydave]

Tough question.
House not good enough air flow.?? Maybe an OAK (Outside Air Kit ) if you like the wood stove route.
Seems to always be a way to make a woodstove work well & use some of that fire wood you got stored up.

Worst case; You can alway sell fire wood to pay the Gas Co more.

I bet you'll elect to burn wood. Shop around, get some bids & ideas from stove dealers.
74°f inside is kinda nice when the furnace is set for 66°, & it's 20° outside. (Furnace don't run & you give less$$ to the gas Co.)
Not being cheap, being self reliant.

*****Warning***** you think you are addicted to cutting wood now. NOT!, . Wait till the stove is in, then things get serious.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Wives tend to question the sanity of woodburning, untill the heat comes rolling into the house. 10 cords of dried hardwood is a bunch & at least $2,000+ worth of wood. Get a stove & burn it, Randy

 

[Fsappo]

Ya aint gonna save much money burning wood, but doing so taps into something deep within the soul of a man.

 

[Hunderliggur]

I figure I save $2 for each hour my boiler runs. Doesn't sound like much until you add up how many hours there are in the month. My backup is Propane. At that rate, Ihave about a 4 year payback on the system. And more self reliance.

 

[Tennman]

Similar situation here. My right hand man, my son, will be in college next year and now see approaching a shortage of "cheap" labor. So my plan has been modified. I can still save as much as $500-600/month burning split wood I purchase vs heating with propane. If I had to burn only what I cut and split for a large house, not sure I could keep up. Don't know what firewood costs in your area, but even if I purchase 50-70% of my wood I'm still ahead and can bring wood in from our property on my schedule. I still enjoy the whole process which is good because this is not a trivial commitment.

 

[Fsappo]

Ya aint gonna save much money burning wood, but doing so taps into something deep within the soul of a man.

When I say you wont save much money, I am comparing wood to a high efficiency natural gas furnace or boiler.

 

[rombi]

Propane company that we rent the tank from have been "warning" me that they are going to pull our tank because don't use enough to justify them renting it to us.
The guy that drops off the propane is a burner as well so I think he has keeping us on the down-low.
I just dropped $900 on 11 cords of log wood but my friend just pumped in $850 to top off his propane tank so for what it is worth, I would rather have more control of how I spend my money.

 

[KTLM]

Thanks for all of the replies. It appears that people have their own individual reasons for heating with wood. So, even if I would only break even, financially, at least the house would be warm and I would have a legit reason to be taking the saw for a walk. At least I know I'm not crazy for considering wood heat. Wife is still not convinced but she is warming up to the idea. In the meantime I will be kicking around the stove vs. furnace thing. -5 deg. at the present time here. Should have started thinking about this sooner.
Thanks again, Kevin

 

[bogydave]

I will be kicking around the stove vs. furnace thing. -5 deg. at the present time here. Should have started thinking about this sooner.
Kevin

You have been thinking (kicking the can) about it for a while.
Don't let us push you into something you really "want to do", you'll blame us then.
We don't want blame, we want 1 more, "possessed" wood burner/cutter that understand how good
it feels to look at a pile of processed fire wood, ready to use. Enough to get thru a winter. & smile to yourself, when no one is around.
****A warm house even if the power is out in a December ice storm.
**** Thermostat set on 65 but the house is 72 & it's -5 out, & the furnace hasn't run for weeks
**** A reason to "have to" work in the woods
**** a reason to talk about chain saws, chain types & splitters, with those who know & understand
**** a reason to show a picture of a few cords, & let us ogle, drool & admire it with you
**** a reason to brag about 5 cords of 2 years seasoned & "ready", & you think "bring it on, Winter!, Im ready"
**** a credit with the gas Co. "you've overpaid & they owe you some back"

You really don't want to join this "obsessed' bunch, HA HA

You already have! LOL

 

[stee6043]

I was able to justify my install in spite of having natural gas heat. Total payback is right around the 5 year mark.

One thing to consider regardless of what type of unit you may choose is the amount of wood required. Cutting wood for the occasional bonfire is a whole bunch different than cutting, splitting and stacking 3-8 cord of wood a year in advance. A cord of wood is a lot of work for a weekender (which I am). To get one of these units to be financially justifiable you shouldn't plan on running it when it's convenient, weekends, nights, etc. She needs to heat the house 24/7 for as much of the heating season as possible. To do that you have to plan your wood well in advance...