types of heating/question and answer thread (how much, house)

[flycessna]

thought we could have a thread that deals with the variety of ways to heat our homes this winter.

Anyone use or know about "outdoor furnaces" like an outdoor wood furnace or coal furnace? t This would be a forced hot water type system.

The coal sounds interesting to me because of the cost and having it outdoors might mean less mess.

[RANGER.101ST]

they are great.i have one.the one i have now i have had for about 10 yrs the one befor this one i bought used and had that one for 5yrs.mine is a larger one 300gal 400,000 btu becouse i heat the house ,wood shop,and truckshop,the trick is to keep your heat up dont let the fire die off to much.from what i understand the new ones are much more eficiant than the old ones.65-80% depending on the quality of wood.some times its not fun when its 20below but you only need to do it 2 times a day.i done a cost estimet a cpl yrs back.if i was to just heat the house and nothing else i could heat it with 5 1/2 cord.for oct-mar.but my home is well insulated . all my bros and sisters have them.my younger bros house isnt verry well insulated and his owf is a wood hog.you will lose some of your heat through the ground so make sure that the line is well insulated.if you have any moor ???? pleas feel free to ask.

[flycessna]

thanx ranger. what do you know about the coal furnaces. do they burn longer? 2 times a day seems like a lot....especially if your gone for few days.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by flycessna

thanx ranger. what do you know about the coal furnaces. do they burn longer? 2 times a day seems like a lot....especially if your gone for few days.

i dont know a whole lot about the coal furnace.i fill mine two times a day becouse i dont pack it if i was to pack the wood to it it will go two days.i started doing it that way but every other day id forget to put wood in it so i got in the habbit of twice a day.my wife likes it. its realy easy to use.most of the time i wasnt home so dw done all the loading she knows that stove inside out.

[RANGER.101ST]

ok i was reading up on coal one tone of coal = 1 cord of wood +/-.the stoves are some what the same what i like about the coal is you can get a hopper feeder and wouldnt have to go near itfor a week unless the power went out.then you have to feed it with a shovle.its a little cheaper than wood 137 ton compared to 175 to 220.

[flycessna]

thats what I was hearing about the coal was that you didn't need to fill it as often.

I suppose there probably is a pellet verson also that would have a hopper feeder.

Can you burn pellets, or those new bio bricks?

the bio bricks (compressed sawdust) I have heard burn very hot, longer, and cleaner than wood.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by flycessna

thats what I was hearing about the coal was that you didn't need to fill it as often.

I suppose there probably is a pellet verson also that would have a hopper feeder.

Can you burn pellets, or those new bio bricks?

the bio bricks (compressed sawdust) I have heard burn very hot, longer, and cleaner than wood.

I like the idea of the compressed sawdust bricks. I'm thinking of trying a pallet of them this winter. The interesting thing about them is they can make them out of anything that burns. Sawdust, wood chips, leaves, dried grass, all sorts of stuff. There could be a new industry in Maine just rounding up leaves and compressing them into fuel bricks! Every dump or recycling station in Maine should install a collection station where people could dump their leaves into a rolloff bin and send them to the fuel brick maker.

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by Maineah

I like the idea of the compressed sawdust bricks. I'm thinking of trying a pallet of them this winter. The interesting thing about them is they can make them out of anything that burns. Sawdust, wood chips, leaves, dried grass, all sorts of stuff. There could be a new industry in Maine just rounding up leaves and compressing them into fuel bricks! Every dump or recycling station in Maine should install a collection station where people could dump their leaves into a rolloff bin and send them to the fuel brick maker.

OMG, that reminds me of when I was a kid and had to make newpaper logs. My dad bought this log rolling hand crank machine thing and everything. I wonder how much heat they'd put off.

I hadn't heard of the the sawdust bricks. What do they stick the stuff together with?

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Moxie

OMG, that reminds me of when I was a kid and had to make newpaper logs. My dad bought this log rolling hand crank machine thing and everything. I wonder how much heat they'd put off.

I hadn't heard of the the sawdust bricks. What do they stick the stuff together with?

I believe it is just high pressure that sticks everything together. Something like 10,000 pounds per square inch.

[Boomerang]

The one thing I know for sure that will be heating me this winter is long underwear

Are the sawdust bricks similar to those fire starter thingies that seem to be held together with paraffin? Or...?