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Last winter we really felt like we were going to be in a world of hurt, like many, with the price of oil threatening to go to $5.00 a gallon or more, jobs being cut everywhere, and little hope things would turn around. We put in a wood stove large enough to heat most of the house. We also put in new windows in the entire house ( our place was built in the 40's).
We saved a lot of money despite the high oil costs and have never been more comfortable in our house! It was so nice to go out and plow a big storm and come in to a toasty warm house, knowing we were burning much less fuel than we did in 2007. The wood heat was excellent! We saved enough money that we can pay for next winters oil ahead of time and have no payments all winter long next year! We're planning to install a new boiler and burner system which can potentially save us an additional 40% on fuel over the 22 year old unit we currently run. Plus we already have all of next winter's wood cut, split and drying out!
How did you make out last winter and will you make any changes for this winter? You know these low fuel prices won't last....the oil companies got the taste of big bucks last year....
I couldn't decide which way to go; solar vs. outdoor wood boiler. I waited too long, and then had to wait almost 3 months to get my outdoor boiler. I wish I had done that several years ago. I installed it at the end of December, and haven't burned more than a couple of gallons of oil since then. I had planned to let it go out this summer, as I had heard horror stories about them being a smoky nuisance in warmer weather, but it has been great. I use 2-3 sticks of wood a day, and unless the damper is open, there is barely a wisp of smoke. Even when it is heating, the smoke doesn't last but a couple of minutes. I couldn't be happier... Now, I do have to go cut next winters wood..... Gives me something to do on the weekends, and keeps the atv trails clear of junk wood.
We burned through 4 cords of wood and 10 drums of woodchips.
It was okay.
I want to setup some greenhouses and stack the cords in them from now on. To keep them dry and ice free.
We have already re-filled the drums with woodchips, just need to cut and stack 4 cords and we are ready to go again. I think that I have about a cord of logs drug out from the forest already. So we are part way done.
The outside boilers are great you can load them once a day and they can take up to 4 ft lengths. Good idea Forest a lot of old farm houses had wood sheds. Used to be the place you had to visit as a kid when getting disciplined. We didn't have a wood shed but my parents did and when I was bad they would say "your in the wood shed now".
I have about nine cords in the round that need splitting from last year. I'm shortly getting a permit for another 10 cord to go out and grab this summer.
We burned through 4 cords of wood and 10 drums of woodchips.
It was okay.
I want to setup some greenhouses and stack the cords in them from now on. To keep them dry and ice free.
We have already re-filled the drums with woodchips, just need to cut and stack 4 cords and we are ready to go again. I think that I have about a cord of logs drug out from the forest already. So we are part way done.
We burned about 5 cords last winter.( I like it warm) The greenhouse idea for the wood is a good one forest! I had to bust apart icy wood after the ice storm we had. Our stack was outdoors, covered with a tarp . I use the front end loader to bring about 5 buckets over to the garage at a time and stack it in between the bays. It gives us about a week's worth of wood and we can still get the car and truck in out of the weather if need be.
I've heard some comments made concerning heating with wood, that it's messy and time consuming and that it makes your house smell like smoke. Yet when I did the research on the new wood stoves they made it seem like none of that is an issue. I have no problems with mild smokey odor and messy and time consuming is in the eye of the beholder, I guess, but I would love some opinions from people who have newer wood stoves........ There's so much wood in Maine, it's a shame not to take advantage of a renewable resource!
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I have no problems with mild smokey odor and messy and time consuming is in the eye of the beholder, I guess, but I would love some opinions from people who have newer wood stoves........
There's so much wood in Maine, it's a shame not to take advantage of a renewable resource!
