Wood heat and high oil prices

[NewToy]

If anyone is considering a new heat pump or are building new check out a geo-thermal system. We built a new place and moved in last August, I just received the highest electric bill since we moved in, it was $103.00. The house is 2100 sf and all electric, we keep the AC at 72 and it has been brutally hot here this year. Our unit is made by Water Furnace but there are lots of them out there. It is the most efficient system there is.

John

 

[arthr31]

ratter,
forget about the fireplace, look at getting a wood stove. Most of the heat from a fire goes up the chimney with a fireplace. However, wood stoves will generate and radiate heat throughout the living area... -Art

 

[arthr31]

hi ejb,

checkout www.heatmor.com for alternatives to the TARM. Which, btw, can you send more info on that unit?

wrt oil prices, if you ask me, we will most likely never see lower prices again. OK, maybe lower than what ppl are signing on for this season (I can lock in with my oil supplier for 2.4999/gal (gee, bargain)), but I don't think we'll ever see below 2.00/gal.

As far as how much do I heat with wood, about 70% or so of my heating season is warmed by wood (late sept thru mid april). It's a lot of work. I'm the only person in my family (wife and two kids under the age of 5) who participates in the "wood project". You have to stay on top of it. Always need clean dry kindling, stocking the wood bin, etc. By December I start thinking about next years supply. By late winter, I"m tired of the whole thing... But, I only spent 600.00 on oil last year, most ppl spent 3x that. But, wood is getting expensive too!

Now, how much wood did you say you had? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif If you want help preparing a wood supply, I'll haul myself, splitter, chainsaws, truck etc. to harvest us some wood!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Slamfire]

I'm gonna bite the bullet this winter and get a corn stove. The price of leftover seed corn don't fluctuate much. I'm pretty much afraid to go into the woods now. We lost a lot of yellow pine to beetles 3 years ago, and what is still standin' is way too dry to be cuttin'. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Egon]

Check on the dual fuel furnace. They may require separate flues for the different fuel.

Egon

 

[ChrisW]

That is the way we are getting ready to go NewToy. We are also in Ohio and are going to use Danco in Springfield. I really like the idea of $100 or so year round instead of $225 like we have now. Geothermal is really the way to go!

Chris

 

[woodlot]

The load I'm cutting right now I bought 6-8 months ago, don't know if the price has gone up since then but I doubt it. I buy 100% red oak which normally costs 55-60 a cord. If you get mixed hardwoods you can usually talk the logger down $5 a cord. Around where I live we have mostly oak hardwood stands and pine. Very little popple. Yes, 10 cords is a semi-tuck load. When I order up a load thats always a question the logger asks "can I get a semi down that driveway?" I don't know how much it weighs, lets just say I don't want it to roll over my foot! I have them unload in a field near the house. I then have to roll logs off the pile and buck on the ground. Then they go over to the splitter and get tossed on a trailer & in the back of a pick-up. Finally they get driven over to the boiler and stacked to dry. Its quite an operation and its the hardest I work all year. I'd like to get all my wood from the woods on the property but right now I simply don't have time to log off that much. Those 2 cords I log myself can take as much time to put-up as the 10 cord delivered.

 

[rswyan]

We had a fireplace insert upstairs. Last fall I moved it to the downstairs fireplace (heat rises right ? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) and burned up all the old firewood we had lying around (the wood lasted until mid-January and definitely helped on the heating bills (natural gas) - and the place was actually fairly warm (used to always seem drafty) I hate being cold in the winter (and real hot in the summer ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

I also had a fairly nice woodburning furnace in the shed - picked up a barrelstove kit and put that in the shed and will move the wood furnace to the house this fall and pipe it into the forced-air, natural gas furnace.

On the firewood I've been clearing a 80' x 100' area in the woods for a polebarn - between that and just cleaning up the fallen deadwood, taking down dead trees, we should be set for wood for the house and outbuildings this year. It's amazing though, how much work it is to fell, buck, and then move the wood to storage. I think if I can spread it out over the entire year it's not so bad.

Once I get it all moved up to the house and stacked if I think I'm going to run low the neighbor who does not use wood to heat with said I can gather deadwood from his place. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Last summer I starting building a 3PH logsplitter - it is basically done except for painting and assembling it.

 

[ratter]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ratter,
forget about the fireplace, look at getting a wood stove. Most of the heat from a fire goes up the chimney with a fireplace. However, wood stoves will generate and radiate heat throughout the living area... -Art )</font>

Is this the "fireplace insert" that folks are talking about? I'm totally clueless when it comes to this stuff....

 

[rswyan]

ejb,

I looked at the Tarm units myself and have held off basically due to the fairly high initial cost - have had other priorities and already have an insert and a wood burning furnace. I really like the technology though .... great idea.

I was originally only considering the wood unit but I think if I eventually go for it I will go with the multifuel unit .... I'll probably wait until the current natural gas furnace needs replaced, as it's a Rheem 90 plus unit (but is probably 15 years old or more)

The other thing that was a bit of a sticker is the heat storage - it's not cheap and I really would prefer to not give up the space inside the the house for it ..... wish they made something that was taller and had less of a footprint.

As far as the work goes, it's not too bad if you can get a couple of people to help .... if you doing it all yourself it is alot of work ... but is good excerise /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Sure sounds like you have a lot of wood available (I only have about 8 acres)

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( at current prices it'll take a min of 4 or so years to break even, but if the price of oil drops and it takes 7-9-11 years to break-even it starts looking like a pretty stupid investment on my end.... )</font>
Yeah ... but if HHO goes to $5/gallon you will look like a frickin' genius. I think it's a pretty safe bet that energy costs are going to continue to escalate .... how quick and how much ... who knows ? But I sure would like to be ready before it happens.