TradEddie said:
Highbeam said:
What I need is up for discussion. In a perfect world I could have my woodburner as well as an alternative but in my small home with a single hearth I must choose one or the other. That is why I am seeking information on alternatives.
Perhaps I could add a gas stove in a less central hearth location. Would the heat travel?
Why do you need an alternative? If you have no alternative, the ban does not apply. If you buy an alternative, you will have to follow burn bans. Nobody is being forced to buy anything new, or scrap any existing system, but if you do have an alternative system, on days when pollution is most serious, everyone is being asked to pitch in and help reduce the problem. Keep the stove.
TE
I have electric wall heaters in each room that make up my current "alternative". This high cost alternative is dependable but is not cheap. I suppose everybody with a hair dryer or portable electric space heater has this same alternative. The burn bans usually occur when temps are very low and last several days. On principle, I have not used them for years. A couple of the heaters have become disabled so I am able to claim that I have no alternative to wood heat, sorta.
Mini splits are perfect except the indoor unit is remarkably stupid looking. The standard indoor units can not be flush mounted in a ceiling for aesthetics. Have you ever seen one that is any more attractive than mounting a microwave to the wall? I do appreciate the low outdoor operating temps and the efficiency of the modern minisplits. They are not common. Maybe I should see if any of the good brands have come out with an attractive indoor unit. I did stash a 30 amp 220 volt line in the attic for a future well that I could use.
Even though this is not the intent of the thread.... Burn bans in my area are not appropriately administered. My wood burning is not part of the problem being encountered in the inner city 40 miles away. The clean air folks acknowledge this but since they only have one or two sampling stations per county (in the deep city) they ban burning county wide which effects those of us way out (over a hundred miles) on a mountain where the air is clear. I am not interested in being a part of the solution but I find it wise to comply to prevent the hassle of being fined by some revenue generating enforcement guy.