charlz
Elite Member
For the tougher stuff on the heat exchanger tubes etc I just use a wire brush. For the lighter stuff on the back panels, walls etc. I sometimes just use a wet rag, obviously the stove has to be pretty cold before you can do that.
Firewood versus Pellets
- Thread starter HillStreet
- Start date
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forgeblast
Elite Member
Wjmst what about a brush from a cooking store, like the high temp silicon ones?
fordmantpw
Veteran Member
Hmmm, maybe a brush like you use to clean off a BBQ grille? I use a paintbrush too, but when it's hot, I just use the metal scraper that came with it to scrape the burn pot.
jymbee
Platinum Member
Very well stated-- and my thoughts precisely. I'm fortunate enough to have all the wood I could ever burn on our property along with more than enough machines & tools to process it. I also enjoy all aspects of using firewood-- from felling, to hauling, to splitting, to stacking-- not to mention it's one of main reasons to venture outside in the winter around here.
We do have a conventional oil/hot water system but with the wood boiler add-on the we use very little fuel oil all winter.
We do have a conventional oil/hot water system but with the wood boiler add-on the we use very little fuel oil all winter.
There are nice things about pellet stoves, but ... it's sort of removed from traditional rural wood heat conceptually.
The need for wood pellets adds a layer of supply and cost that you don't have much control over. In that sense, it's just another fuel like propane, electric, etc. Since I own plenty of wood for fuel (as long as I pay the taxes :laughingit seems counter-productive to invite in an uncontrollable unknown.
dave1949
Super Star Member
Thanks. Yep, there is that self-reliance thing to consider if the situation allows.
We only burn a little over one cord a year. What we need for the winter gets stacked in the attached garage. I keep the wood split a season ahead, so by the time I bring it in, it's dry and the bugs have died or deserted it except for a few spiders. Chainsaw, FEL bucket, and splitting maul. DIY firewood doesn't get much easier than that.
I would definitely gear-up if I were doing more wood. At our old house, I used ~4 cords per year and did that with a chainsaw, wheelbarrow and splitting maul. The trees were close to the house, but I don't think I be up to that anymore. :laughing:
Scooby074
Super Member
I burn solid wood in a woodstove now.
For my next place im going with some sort of wood boiler, likely one outside the house envelope, either in a garage or more likely an outbuilding.
A wood gassifier like a Froling S4 or maybe an Empyre Elite for solid wood will likely be what Id get but the Euro Chip boilers really interest me from a lack of handling standpoint. Once the wood is chipped thats it. And it can be moved by tractor bucket. No manual labour.
Froling makes a chip boiler, the T4 Overview of wood chip and shaving boiler up to 150 kW plus there are lots of other Euro makers and some NA manufacturers like Portage and Main.
PM likely would be a cheaper cost upfront, plus its components are more off the shelf and would be easier to find. Might be in the lead, although it is significantly larger than the Froling, perhaps too much so.
For my next place im going with some sort of wood boiler, likely one outside the house envelope, either in a garage or more likely an outbuilding.
A wood gassifier like a Froling S4 or maybe an Empyre Elite for solid wood will likely be what Id get but the Euro Chip boilers really interest me from a lack of handling standpoint. Once the wood is chipped thats it. And it can be moved by tractor bucket. No manual labour.
Froling makes a chip boiler, the T4 Overview of wood chip and shaving boiler up to 150 kW plus there are lots of other Euro makers and some NA manufacturers like Portage and Main.
PM likely would be a cheaper cost upfront, plus its components are more off the shelf and would be easier to find. Might be in the lead, although it is significantly larger than the Froling, perhaps too much so.
Scooby074
Super Member
The Froling T4 is the high tech option. It can burn both chip and pellet.
dave1949
Super Star Member
Jason, where would you source the chips from? Or, would you plan on making you own?
The chip bin/hopper in the first video looks susceptible to moist chips freezing into a clump that wouldn't slide down into the grate.
The chip bin/hopper in the first video looks susceptible to moist chips freezing into a clump that wouldn't slide down into the grate.
How to ensure that you have dry chips has always been my second question... My first has always been wondering how uniform the chips need to be.
If I went that route it would heat my house, garage, and possibly a small greenhouse, and the chips would mostly come from my own property.
Scooby074
Super Member
Dave,
We have over 100 acres of woodlot. I could certainly make my own IF I had a large enough tractor to run a large enough chipper to make this practical. Of course there is a cost to buying this gear... That could be a dealbreaker. One good thing is that it is easy to handle after chipping, requiring only a dump trailer to move it the 75 miles from the woodlot to my house.
In europe they have guys with large tractors/trucks with the proper chippers who function as contract chippers for your house and business. You order the hardwood, and they come chip it and blow it into your bunker. There are HUGE trailer mounted pulpwood chippers here, but to have them set up for small batch contract chipping would not be cost effective let alone the fact that they would not be easily able to get up close to your home with their equipment
The other option would be to buy woodchips that go to the local pulp mills from established producers. Is that a viable source? I dont know. I havent broached the subject with any of the local woodchip producers.
Freezing chips could be an issue in the bunkers like shown on the PM video. With an open bunker a tractor could be used to go in and break up any blockages or frozen chips. The other option would be to have the chip bunker in conditioned space. At the sawmill, The boilers were powered by hog fuel and sawdust. Freezups were pretty rare and the bunkers were basically open with no heat.
Ideally Id love to be self sufficient like this gentleman. The idea of mechanized handling is what leads me down the biomass/woodchip line of thinking.
