My issues i have with my current wood burning setup are as follows:
- it's a fire that is inside. I clean my chimney at least once a winter then in the spring to be safe.. yet it still makes me nervous with having two small kids.
Based on my 24 years of experience with a wood stove in our living room, primary heat source for our house, your cleaning regimen indicates you are burning less than well-seasoned wood (too high moisture content to green) and/or are letting your wood smolder and not burn at a sufficient heat level to burn clean. You would benefit greatly and safely by improved burning habits.
- i can only store so much wood inside before i have to go get more for my pile through out the winter months
- i can only store so much wood inside before i have to go get more for my pile through out the winter months.
- i have a log chute in the back corner of my garage and when i throw wood down i need someone else down there to stack it... yet Again
- wood usually has some snow or other moisture on it when i first get it in the house so i can get a mildew smell for a few days till it dries back out.
- there is a mess inside after dumping more wood of dirt and bark and have to clean that up and take all that crap back up the stairs outside to dump in woods.
- emptying ash.....and have to lug it back up the stairs outside to dump in the woods.
- we can at times have a smoke smell in parts of the house simply when opening the furnace to load it.
- i have to load it at least 4-6 times a day.
- on cold nights single digits or below i'm luck if there are coals left to get it going in the morning again
All convenience factors, sound like rationalizations to me, night be important to you, but what about everyone else, from critters to the health of your family and neighbors? Your new stove/boiler choice will burn cleaner, use less wood due to increased efficiency, your wood load inside will last longer with less stacking, less clean-up, less ash [you said this doesn't matter to you anyway], and probably less loading required. In addition, build a wood shed or properly cover your wood to end the snow and moisture concerns. These issues can be largely eliminated with better wood storing and seasoning habits and are totally in your control.
We all need to do our part to sustain the earth on which we depend for everything. A cleaner burning wood stove/furnace/boiler is one thing that makes a difference.
And for a forced air wood furnace that does burn efficiently and has long burn times, take a look a the Kuma Vapor Fire, made in MN, and an outstanding performer.
- it can ONLY heat my house. insurance wont cover me having a stove in my wood shop so i'm forced to burn LP.
So, you new wood burner can't be in the shop either. With an outdoor burner you will be piping in hot water lines to the house and the shop. Follow the advice of Hydronics and redmample172.
Your stated Phase II Cons relate to your habits of burning wood not well seasoned (too high moisture content) or improper burning habits. They are in your control. Trash a stove and it will trash you too. I live in N MN where it gets really cold, wood stove in the living room and a wood gasification boiler with storage in my shop. The chimney for each gets brushed once per year in the summer before the start of the new heating season. The wood stove, other than ash removal and cleaning the glass, never gets cleaned. The boiler gets ash emptied as needed and the firebox scraped once in the summer and then sealed from air/humidity infiltration after the end of the heating season = 1 hour of time.
I can't get insurance for my shop either because the wood burning gasification boiler is in the shop. IMO it is safer than the wood stove in my living room. Fire hazard is near 0. So I save a couple $100/year without insurance which isn't needed anyway.
