I am an old fella with a new to us P&M OWB. Up until last year we had been heating with wood stoves, fireplace inserts etc. Electric backup... We are heating two houses and burnt about 8-12 bush cord total each year, depending on the severity of the winter.
A year ago we got a used P&M and hooked it to one house. So impressed that I am moving it over to where I can pipe in BOTH houses. Last winter I had a young tenant who didn't mind tossing around 30lb blocks but he may be leaving. I have cancer that has spread to some bones and are not supposed to lift more than 10-15lbs.
This getting old thing has been going on for a while and each year I refine my splitter a bit more until now I can reduce those 30lb blocks to 6x6 size with no problem.
I know that one selling point of the OWBs is the huge size of the fuel pieces, but am I loosing much by filling it with wood stove size pieces and just letting the controls do their thing? I know it won't boil over as long as I remember to close the ash drawer. Learned that pretty quick.....
A year ago we got a used P&M and hooked it to one house. So impressed that I am moving it over to where I can pipe in BOTH houses. Last winter I had a young tenant who didn't mind tossing around 30lb blocks but he may be leaving. I have cancer that has spread to some bones and are not supposed to lift more than 10-15lbs.
This getting old thing has been going on for a while and each year I refine my splitter a bit more until now I can reduce those 30lb blocks to 6x6 size with no problem.
I know that one selling point of the OWBs is the huge size of the fuel pieces, but am I loosing much by filling it with wood stove size pieces and just letting the controls do their thing? I know it won't boil over as long as I remember to close the ash drawer. Learned that pretty quick.....
