Need some home heating feedback: Wood boiler or fireplace insert?

[Duds13]

Northern N.Y.,we get real winters here.I cut and burned wood for myself and my parents,30 cords per year on our property.Wood itself was free ,the rest not!
I replaced my wood stove with a Vermont Casting propane unit(38K) ,primary is forced air oil.That was 25 years ago and don't regret at all.Plus with the propane stove,it works if we loose power.
My son as an out-door boiler,again wood is free outside of labor,gas,tractor ect.He burns at least 30 cords per year.
There are more efficient units but they require dry wood and cost 2k more.
If you have neighbors smoke may be a problem.
One of my sisters tried a pellet stove;big mistake;they switched to a propane boiler.
As you get older;wood looks a lot less appealing.
Put your money into insulation I.M.H.O.

30 cord a year????

 

[Rustyiron]

Burning wood (and saving big) is the equivalent to hunting and thinking that your saving at the grocery store.
It's the other "rewards" Moss mentioned above when you measure the additional value.
I heat with wood and a 80* house and all the hot water I want with no concerns for the wallet is my motivation along with Moss's.
(Inside the house wood gasification boiler)

 

[rbstern]

Burning wood (and saving big) is the equivalent to hunting and thinking that your saving at the grocery store.
It's the other "rewards" Moss mentioned above when you measure the additional value.
I heat with wood and a 80* house and all the hot water I want with no concerns for the wallet is my motivation along with Moss's.
(Inside the house wood gasification boiler)

The "how you value your time" analogy is often a bit too soft for my liking. Those are rabbit holes I prefer not to go down.

This is easy: I'm processing a cord or two of firewood per year. Another couple of cords will take me another couple of days of something I enjoy doing. In the process, I can probably save a couple thousand bucks a year in propane, which will eventually pay for the upgraded appliance I need to leverage the energy in the wood.

Making it more complicated than that doesn't seem useful.

 

[MossRoad]

The "how you value your time" analogy is often a bit too soft for my liking. Those are rabbit holes I prefer not to go down.

This is easy: I'm processing a cord or two of firewood per year. Another couple of cords will take me another couple of days of something I enjoy doing. In the process, I can probably save a couple thousand bucks a year in propane, which will eventually pay for the upgraded appliance I need to leverage the energy in the wood.

Making it more complicated than that doesn't seem useful.

If you think a cord or two of firewood will save you a couple thousand bucks a year on propane, I have to ask how much are you paying for propane? Seems very, very high.

 

[rbstern]

If you think a cord or two of firewood will save you a couple thousand bucks a year on propane, I have to ask how much are you paying for propane? Seems very, very high.

1 cord of firewood BTUs = 215 gallons LP BTUs. I'm probably using about 600 gallons of LP to heat my house. $3 per gallon, roughly.

I'm already burning a bunch of the wood in a very inefficient fireplace that, while great for ambiance, sucks at actually heating the house. The same firewood, plus some unknown additional quantity (guessing a cord or two), in an efficient heating appliance, would dramatically cut the need for propane.

Even if it ends up being 3 or 4 cords, that's fine. My math has a lot of rounding errors. For the sake of discussion, roll with it?

 

[Rustyiron]

Making it more complicated than that doesn't seem useful.

In a direct answer, I agree 100%
People are either a wood burners or not, with hundreds of life variables making that decision for them.

 

[rbstern]

In a direct answer, I agree 100%
People are either a wood burners or not, with hundreds of life variables making that decision for them.

Well said.

 

[EddieWalker]

... I currently heat with propane which is about 400 month! I want to supplement that with either a high efficiency wood stove insert or outdoor wood burning boiler to reduce propane costs.

...There is a dual sided gas fireplace centrally located between my kitchen and main living area that we don't use. The main living area has very high cathedral ceilings.

I believe the location of my current fireplace would be great for a stove insert.

Propane and Natural Gas stoves burn at a consistent temperature that's easy to manage. There is very little heat that goes up the chimney, which means that the chimney isn't always built with the best pipe out there.

The amount of heat created by a wood fire varies a lot depending on the type of wood, and how much wood you put in there. I think I read somewhere that an oak fire inside a wood stove can get to 2,500 degrees or more. It's very easy for my wood stove to get so hot that it's uncomfortable in my house and we have to crack a window or open the door to the garage to cool the room down.

If you decide to install a wood insert, you have to be 100% sure that your chimney pipe is designed to handle the heat from a wood stove.

 

[MossRoad]

You'll also most likely have to run it by your insurance company, too.

 

[hosspuller]

Our house was built in 1965 with a fireplace. A stove is more heat efficient, but an insert is what we have. It's a Pacific Energy that's very efficient & clean burning. The biggest difference between a boiler and my insert is the entertainment value of watching the fire through the glass door. There have been many nights asleep in front of the insert.