Alternative heating

[JonnyReb]

 Hey guys,   just wondering how many of you use some form of heating besides the button on the wall. Unless it's hooked to a geothermal heatsink, then it's worthy of mention     I've not used my central heating yet this year and don't intend to, instead i've been cutting firewood here and there and purchased a large amount of chunk coal last year,have now run the jotul freestanding woodstove for about a week straight now. It was just used sporatically until this point but i think it's going to pretty much stay cold till spring, i'll be cutting more wood tomorrow.  When my wife and i first moved into our little house in the woods about 15 years ago, it had no heating system at all, and we used nothing but the jotul for the first few years until some renovations were done and central air/heat installed. Those were great times when the woodstove was a gathering place for the evening, that was lost, along with $75.00 power bills when that darned central unit was put in. So this year i'm going back to some nice warm pollution creating carbon fuel, and will enjoy sub 125.00 power bills till spring, instead of the $300.00 ones i got last year.  Been putting a good bit of work into really sealing up the old place to, hopefully it will make a big difference, It's toasty as can be right now, i've sure missed that woodstove.  So how are ya'll saving some money this year by alternative heating methods? Would love to hear tricks, tips or ideas you've used to stay "off the grid"  J

[a1Bogey]

Reb,  I certainly feel for you trying to heat a older house.   My son's house is 2 story, built in the 30s.  Very high ceilings and no insulation.  Windows that seal so poorly that when the wind blows it will put out candles.  $600. to $900. dollar heating bills.   He tried to also heat with wood but it was too much work.  He has pretty much given up.   Now the propane just roars.  Wish I had the answers that would be reasonable in the cost area. But I do know and understand your situation.

Bogey

[JonnyReb]

  $600. to $900. dollar heating bills. 

  HOLY MOLY!!  Thats a bit excessive. lol. I certainly feel for him.
 Mine built in the 30's too, very solid and have been reinsulated for the most part. There are storm windows over the original windows so that stays pretty tight. Our house is little to, about 1500 sqf and the woodstove does the trick just fine down into the teens, which is as cold as it gets here. I wish i had put in one of the woodstove/water heater combos that go in the yard.... they look like a porta jon but with a smokestack. Between that and a solar unit to give some light and run the small appliances, you could almost quit writing the power co. checks altogether. Now if i could just get my wife to start washing the clothes on a washboard and to cook over the fire...    not a chance..  J

[Rico14]

Reb,  I certainly feel for you trying to heat a older house.   My son's house is 2 story, built in the 30s.  Very high ceilings and no insulation.  Windows that seal so poorly that when the wind blows it will put out candles.  $600. to $900. dollar heating bills.   He tried to also heat with wood but it was too much work.  He has pretty much given up.   Now the propane just roars.  Wish I had the answers that would be reasonable in the cost area. But I do know and understand your situation.

Bogey

Have you son go to Costco and pick up a couple of the Presto Heat Dishes. They're around $50. They give off lots of heat. They are parabolic heaters, not designed to heat up an entire room, but when pointed at you, keep you nice and toasty. He can take them from room to room. He won't have to try to heat up the entire house anymore.

[zzyzx]

We live in a 100+ year old farmhouse with lath and plaster walls and virtually no insulation. We heat with Corn. StCroix corn stove which will also burn wood pellets, cherry pits, wheat, rye and other grains. Corn is what we use and have a neighboring farmer auger 300 bushels into the grain bin in the fall for us.

First winter after buying the place was fuel oil. Second winter, corn stove. We heated the house the second winter, All the corn and the Stove, for what the two coldest months the winter before cost for fuel oil alone.

Third winter I had chipped paint, caulked loose areas, primed and painted the house. Much tighter and used less corn for heating by about 20%. This winter I have knocked out lath and plaster, taken out the 3/4 inch 'insulation' and put in P2000. Two one inch layers between the studs and one inch over the whole wall on the studs topped with sheetrock. Can feel the difference already and are ready for winter. North Dakota winters can get cold and the new insulation is making a difference in how high I run the heater already. It has only gotten down to 17 degrees and the house is warmer and tighter. The P2000 is wonderful and so easy to install. Really stops air flow in and out and can be put up so easy it is almost no work.

Out of a bushel of corn I end up with a klinker, an ash cake of 8x3 inches and about 3 inches thick. That is all. Very little ash and no wood burning smell. Sweet smell from the corn burning. Very nice and a lot of heat. Best of all for us is we by our corn locally, from neighbors. Very clean and everyone benefits. I sift it and use the cracked corn at the bird feeder with the whole kernels burned for heat. We have a propane wall burner as well by the wellpipe for emergencies. If the power goes out for a week we won't have frozen pipes.

Go to     http://www.IBurnCorn.com     and you will find a forum like this one.

I looked lonig and hard at cornburners before buying the St Croix. We really like it, just bought another for the basement. They work well, very little maintenance and they really pump out the heat. For our old farmhouse, it works great. Heats two stories just fine and even does so in 40 below zero weather. When it hits 20 below we have it on high and use a bit under two bushels of Corn in 24 houjrs. That is about $6.00 at last years prices and about $8.00 this year. Less expensive than electric, propane or fuel oil. We seldom have it on high unless it is bitter cold out so usually use less than the maximum burn. We heated the last two winters on 400 bushels total. You can do the math on it, it works well for us.

[JonnyReb]

 Thats the kind of stuff i was hoping to hear,  very informative, thanks for sharing zz.

   (minus 40??)  thats crazy.

[daved]

I have a large Clayton wood fired forced air furnace that heats my 30x40 shop, with a duct running out to my winter chicken house to keep my girls warm :-).  I thought long and hard about how to heat that space, since it's primary use was going to be a wood shop, it made sense to heat with wood.  Got a deal on this furnace, an acquaintance was selling his house, and the mortgage company wanted nothing to do with a wood fired appliance in the basement.  Paid $300, they currently sell for close to $3000.

Haven't fired it up yet this year, it's been unseasonably warm this fall, overnight temps have just barely dipped below freezing a handful of times.  But the long range forecast is for a nasty winter in my part of the country, so I just got in another 4 cords of nicely seasoned red fir, with the 6 cords I have left from last years log load, I should be in good shape.  BTW, I don't expect to actually burn that much, the 6 I had would have been fine for a normal winter, but I've had to scramble for firewood before, don't want to do that again!  Digging out frozen wood buried in snow is NOT my idea of a good time.

The only downside to burning wood in my shop is that I have to be very careful with solvents.  It draws combustion air from in the shop, and I've yet to come up with a good way to change that.  So no Formica projects in the winter for me, and the gas cans stay outside.  Other than that, I've been really happy with it, it'll take a 28" log, and I can easily burn all night on a load, as long as it doesn't get TOO cold, as in sub-zero.  And even though the temperature in the house and the shop are the same, it just feels better in my shop.  Later.

Dave 

[JonnyReb]

 Thats cool Dave, i love the idea of a forced air wood heater and your right, something about them just feels better than any electric or gas fired heater, must be the radiant qualities of the stove itself, brings out our caveman forebearers in us, heat on the front, cooler behind, just like sitting around the campfire.  I admire your setup, sight unseen, anyone who has a 30x40 shop, a woodstove, 6 cords of firewood, guns and chickens is a well prepared guy, thanks for sharing.  J

[yote300wsm]

Jonny, be careful of burning straight coal without a cast iron grate in your in your stove. Coal burns hot enough to melt cold steel grates. Found that out the hard way. Throw a little in with your wood after it gets going good and you will be OK. In my dad's shop ( 40X60) we use a comb of oak, coal and a used motor oil drip. Really makes the wood and coal go a lot farther.

[JonnyReb]

 Thanks yote, i appreciate that mention. The jotul stove i use is a swedish made cast iron stove that is built to handle coal. Even so, i just noticed this year(15-16th straight) some small cracks in the inner cast fire liner plates. I'll have to check into replacement plates eventually. I never burn more than a 2-3 lb chunk at a time, mixed with seasoned oak. I do find that it burns hotter than the wood and of course much longer. That motor oil drip sound VERY interesting to, great idea,  J

[JimH]

I got the sweet love of a good woman and since the boys went off on their own, certain parts of the house stay pretty warm.   

[JonnyReb]

  Sounds like alternative heating to me Jim, congrats on finding a way to stay warm and have fun. Have you found it to be cost effective   J