Who heats their home totally with wood??

[Verynycegirl]

Okay, It is Dec 1st and I still have managed to not buy oil. My house is about 1800 sq ft and my goal is to try to heat my home with just my woodstove this winter. Is this a realistic goal? I guess I should mention I live in Massachusetts....so our winter's can be quite cold. Do any of you in colder sections of the country heat just with wood?

Tracy

 

[saichele]

It can be done, and used to be done routinely. We heated about 95% with wood in central Michigan, but a few days a year when the lows were in the -10's, the furnace kicked in overnight because the house went below 55.

On the other hand, 100 yrs ago (or even 50 yrs ago), having the house at 55 wasn't nearly the hardship we perceive it to be today. Just meant it was 45 or 35. So if you don't mind being cold occasionally, definitely. If you want every room to be >70, it becomes a lot harder unless you really build the house around the idea of heating with wood (good insulation, central wood furnace, wood stove near the center of the house, layout good for circulation).

Steve

 

[babalu87]

We plan on it (Middleboro, MA)
I hope to not buy oil till Spring but I do use it for hot water
As soon as the paint on the wall cures its all systems go
Friday night will again me warm and snuggly here

 

[BrotherBart]

We heat 2800 sq. ft. with wood. Have for years. Like I said in another post a while back I went to check the heat pump one day and it had died from lack of use and old age.

We are in Virginia and it gets its share of cold here.

 

[Verynycegirl]

We plan on it (Middleboro, MA)

Hey babalu87,

We are neighbors....I live in Plymouth

Tracy

 

[Corie]

we heat our entire house with coal (or wood, depending on the time of year)

We have no central furnace, or anything like that to kick back on. If the stove is out, or not burning well we are COLD, end of story. Last weekend, someone didn't shake the coal down hard enough before bed and it turned itself into a slow burning banked fire. Woke up to 48 degress upstairs and 52 downstairs. Certain family members were not pleased, but that's a part of heating with a solid fuel sometimes.

 

[Bushfire]

We also plan on it (Willington, CT / 2000sf., including finished basement), unless we go away for a few days and will then need to turn the furnace on to keep the pipes (and cats) from freezing.

 

[Roospike]

Wood only here 24/7 . 1800 sq ft two story 100 year old house . ( remodeled ) Got that PE Summit kicked into high gear this week. lows in the teens all week , highs in the 30's Our whole up stairs stays 70-72. din room/front room 73-75 ( has the wood stove in there ). Kitchen 72-73. Computer room/office 72 . back room 70. den 72 deg. "EDIT" this is done with 3 Ceiling fans and one stove blower. I could loose the stove blower to do this but need at least one Ceiling fan .

 

[bruce]

2000 sq ft raised ranch all heated with wood, 3 fills a day and good to go always 72-74 upstairs little hotter in basement with wood stove, we have electric baseboard heat and rairly use it , my olnly elecrtric bill over 80$ is in summer with a/c on

 

[Eric Johnson]

3,000 square foot old (140 year-old) house in upstate New York State. Central heat with an inside wood-fired boiler located in the barn, plus all domestic hot water. Have a natural gas backup, but never use it. More work when it's below zero and we burn a lot of wood over the course of a heating season, but this year we'll probably save $5,000 on the gas bill, which to my mind makes it all worthwhile. That and the pleasure of being energy self-sufficient where heating is concerned.

 

[Corey]

Put me down for 100% wood. 1600sf. ranch house w/ basement in eastern Kansas. So far, have only lit the pilot on the furnace for 1 week because I was out of town on business and I told the wife that if she didn't feel like stoking the fire, she could just hit the gas. She reported that she enjoyed the warm coziness of the fire and it made her think of me while I was gone, so she didn't even use the furnace...ain't she a jewel!

Corey

 

[Chas.]

We mostly heat 3100sqft. with wood. House was built 2001 and done so most efficiently. Heating with a 44 elite, and when real cold we fire up the quad 2700i. Keeps the house, well... toasty.
Located on eastern end Long Island in New York. Use about 5 cords of wood a year.

 

[Todd]

I have'nt turned on the furnace yet this year. I try to heat 100% wood, but usually in Jan I'll leave the furnace on at 68, and it may run a couple times in the morning.

1800 sq ft ranch including basement, open floor plan.

 

[wg_bent]

Well, I'm trying. So far, it hasn't gotten lower than 16 degrees, and the Osburn 1800i has kept up. Kept every room at least 68. I suspect that if temps went lower the oil burner would need to help. The problem was that the LR was 78.

I never expected it to do any better. Rated capacity is 1800 sqft and house is roughly 2200, so I think I'm just about right with it.

If I had the ideal house for heating with wood I'd be more than happy to do what ever it took to heat 100% with wood.

 

[Dan in Little Rock]

Our house is about 1400 sq ft, built ca. 1880. We have a gas stove in the bathroom, but our primary source of heat for the open floor plan is a Pacific Energy Artisan wood stove. (We have a one of those oil-filled electric radiator-looking things that we sometimes use in the converted attic bedroom.) There is just something about wood heat that we love. Most recent gas bill: $16.90

 

[Roospike]

Our house is about 1400 sq ft, built ca. 1880. We have a gas stove in the bathroom, but our primary source of heat for the open floor plan is a Pacific Energy Artisan wood stove. (We have a one of those oil-filled electric radiator-looking things that we sometimes use in the converted attic bedroom.) There is just something about wood heat that we love. Most recent gas bill: $16.90

Untell now i didnt know Pacific Energy had the "Pacific Energy Artisan wood stove" what is it rated for square footage? Also i would like to add we have gas in our bathroom too ........ ? .............Sorry , i had to say it.

 

[davemich]

I heat my 1800 SF Cape Cod with anthracite coal. Never turn on the furnace except if it gets below -5 or so or if the wind is really howling. I live in Lake Michigan in SW Michigan and the wind off from the lake gets fairly nasty but last year I believe the firnace kicked in twice while my Hitzer insert was on. Went from $70/month on the budget plan with our gas company to $20/month this year!! This is my second year with the insert.

 

[drizler]

We heat our 1400 sf ranch in N NY completely with a multifuel corn / pellet stove located at one end of the house. The oil burner is set at 50 as a backup for whan the stove happens to go out either from a void in the corn ( on low settings) or just running out. Our only real use for oil is the boiler for hot water and that itself takes about 100 gallons every 4 months or less. We keep most of the house 65- 62 a lot of the time which is fine once you are used to it. Time to take a step back and live in the past I guess...........
There are 2 big secrets of buying oil that gives you an edge. Shop around for the best price, you don't owe these guys anything. Buy it in the summer when its cheaper.. Thats hard to do lately but still effecitve. Join up with a local co op if you have one. We have one here locally and its a decent savings. Got mine locked in all year to next June at @ $2.14 with the first deliver being $1.98. We went and busted into the savings spent $1200 and filled up both tanks and a couple barrels. That hopefully will last up to two years. Stay away from the automatic delivery stuff as they love to deliver when its cheaper. Even the coop plays games. A friend of mine ordered some a couple weels befrore the price deadline expired. They delivered late then tried to charge him the much higher price till he raised hell with them. Strange how standing up for yourself makes a difference.

 

[Rick]

I heat a third of my 4200 sf house with wood in Connecticut. My house is laid out a bit strange, the main house has been added on to twice, once on either side, so it has 2 wings. I don't even use one of the wings, not yet at least. Plenty of room without it, no sense heating and cooling it for nothing. I've saved 800 gallons of oil this year with the stove, and I don't expect another delivery so that will be the final number.

Rick

 

[babalu87]

We plan on it (Middleboro, MA)

Hey babalu87,

We are neighbors....I live in Plymouth

Tracy

Hi neighbah!


Sitting on 6+ acres South of 44 and East of 495
Heating a 34 X 26 Cape (faces North and plenty of windows and 2 sliders on the South side)
Mix of Hardwood (not much Maple) and BIG Pines
Cut stacked and split 1 n 1/2 cord today (found a NICE White Oak that when cut into logs had radial cracks ready for splitting!)
One or two more weekends and I can start on 2006 wood
Have more dead standers
They are TOUGH on chains, glad I bought the JIG

Soon it will be time to get ready for next season

The Jonsered was SCREAMING today :coolsmile:

 

[Verynycegirl]

My house is only on 2 acres....which is not too bad for Plymouth. But my friend owns 28 acres in Rochester so he has TONS of wood! Should take me a few years before I can use up all of his! Sounds like you had a fun day cutting & splitting.

Tracy

 

[Dan in Little Rock]

Untell now i didnt know Pacific Energy had the “Pacific Energy Artisan wood stove” what is it rated for square footage?


The Artisan was discontinued a couple years ago. I believe it is rated for 1200 sq ft, which is roughly the size of the living space we heat. I chose it because of the really tight clearances, especially for a corner installation. I also have a Jotul 118 box stove, but if I had installed it, the stove would have been sitting out in the middle of the room.

 

[Mich-Man]

Our son does it regularly in your territory - Montpelier Vermont area - has a 2-story cabin just about your size; got tired of running the propane furnace and this year and last has run his Vermont Castings 20-so age non-cat burner alone; feeds it in the morning before leaving for work, then upon arriving home, then before bed. When he is out of town has friends feed it. Very do-able in your area, just needs dilligence to keep it fed and running and supplied with wood. Good luck.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Just doing a little math in my head (usually not a good idea) I come up with an estimated savings averaging $25 per day by burning wood instead of gas. That's $5,000 divided by 200 heating days. Some days I'm probably saving $40 or $50, and some days only $10 or $15, but in the end, it should work out to close to the $25 per day estimate. Thinking about that always perks me up when I'm tending the boiler.

I should note that I get my wood for free, so all I'm out is (a lot of) labor. But it's a labor of love and keeps me in shape, so I'm allocating a total of $0 for my labor.

 

[babalu87]

I should note that I get my wood for free, so all I'm out is (a lot of) labor. But it's a labor of love and keeps me in shape, so I'm allocating a total of $0 for my labor.

You should actually allocate to the positive for your labor
Do you know what a desk jockey pays in gym fees to stay in shape