Building a new house what wood burner is best

[chads]

I would think in the south ,or the north for that matter,I woud spend a little more on a high efficieny setup good windows, insulation and a mini split and heat and cool with that.
Throw on a mini stove or even gas logs for something to look at once in a while.

I am all electric and my bill runs about 280 in the winter and 140-190 summer in central Ohio.
I dont think it would pay off to install a OWB or a chimney for that little difference.
I don't think I could heat with wood for $150 a month if I had to buy a stove,saws truck,fuel,splitter,tractor etc.
If you want to do wood for hobby or exersize then it changes a bit.
My hobby shop is heated with wood and I use it every time I want to make it warm.
My wood is free when I take trees down at the properties ,it either goes to the dump or my pile, I try to keep the easy stuff and give the rest away if I can,if not it goes to the mulch dump.
My heat pump is about 13 years old I plan to go with a minisplit when the time comes.

Best way to reduce heating cost is to go further south in the winter months, but that would be more expensive than any amount of heat you may use.

Enjoy your new place ,
Chad

 

[Marshy]

People think there is a huge investment in equipment to do firewood but its not the case. I bought a new 60 cc pro-quality saw for ~$550 and a Fiskars splitting axe (x-27) for $50 and just recently the new Fiskars Isocore splitting maul for $80. That's <$700 in equipment that will likely last my lifetime (axe and Mauls are lifetime warrantee). I could have spent less on my saw and still been able to meet my wood needs... Fuel and oil are not significant enough to consider. I can cut to years worth of wood with 5 gal of gas.

I buy log length firewood that works out to be $33 per 1/3 cord (or $100 per cord) and I burn 6 cord per year with a crappy 70's era wood stove. My heating season is about 6 months long so I can say <$150/month is very achievable without having the best technology. At the end of this past season I bought a new Blaze King stove so my consumption will decrease, hopefully in half. It will take quite a few years to pay for itself in fuel savings alone but if I was counting man hours to process the wood then that is a huge savings.

 

[trukn2004]

People think there is a huge investment in equipment to do firewood but its not the case. I bought a new 60 cc pro-quality saw for ~$550 and a Fiskars splitting axe (x-27) for $50 and just recently the new Fiskars Isocore splitting maul for $80. That's <$700 in equipment that will likely last my lifetime (axe and Mauls are lifetime warrantee). I could have spent less on my saw and still been able to meet my wood needs... Fuel and oil are not significant enough to consider. I can cut to years worth of wood with 5 gal of gas.

I buy log length firewood that works out to be $33 per 1/3 cord (or $100 per cord) and I burn 6 cord per year with a crappy 70's era wood stove. My heating season is about 6 months long so I can say <$150/month is very achievable without having the best technology. At the end of this past season I bought a new Blaze King stove so my consumption will decrease, hopefully in half. It will take quite a few years to pay for itself in fuel savings alone but if I was counting man hours to process the wood then that is a huge savings.

Exactly this. You do not NEED a hydraulic splitter, 3 pro saws, 50 hp tractor, etc to do firewood. I currently run a Husky 455 I bought off of CL for 300, several family members gave me mauls, I purchases two fiskars because I wanted to try them (35.00 each at BJs.). your two biggest costs usually are the wood, and the stove. I went with a Jotul f500 because the wife liked it, and it was a simple stove to put out good heat. As far as wood, I have 11 acres with tons of dead and down trees. I am not picky, I will cut and burn whatever needs to be removed.


It all circles back though: if you don't enjoy the process, you will not want to heat with wood. dollar for dollar, wood is cheap as long as you don't include your time in the cost. you do that, you can drive the price right up there with other alternative heating fuels. At the end of the day, I enjoy the work of getting wood, it keeps me active, and it is a great feeling of accomplishment. The heat a wood stove puts off is not matched by any other heating source. wood heat warms everything. floors, furniture, clothing, everything. on top of that, a nice roaring fire on a cold or stormy day provides a beautiful show and a good feeling of self-reliance. If you cant appreciate the intrinsic value, there is no point.

 

[chads]

I tend to agree on the above and still like to cut /split wood. However I don't like stoking the fire a couple times a day every day and my wife would die if I droped something she would most likely be following me with a sweeper bringing the wood in etc.
When I am busy on a project there is not enough time in the day the way it is however if I have time to work in my shop I am not soo busy that I don't have time for stoking the fire .

I used to heat 100% with wood when I was single and rather liked it ,fast forward to today maried with young children my day is pretty full most of the time. I have to take into account the time wood takes.
For me cutting wood is a workout kind of fun and" free" heat for the shop when I am out there also gets rid of trees that have to come down. It works and I like that part of it.
CHad

 

[Marshy]

I tend to agree on the above and still like to cut /split wood. However I don't like stoking the fire a couple times a day every day and my wife would die if I droped something she would most likely be following me with a sweeper bringing the wood in etc.
When I am busy on a project there is not enough time in the day the way it is however if I have time to work in my shop I am not soo busy that I don't have time for stoking the fire .

I used to heat 100% with wood when I was single and rather liked it ,fast forward to today maried with young children my day is pretty full most of the time. I have to take into account the time wood takes.
For me cutting wood is a workout kind of fun and" free" heat for the shop when I am out there also gets rid of trees that have to come down. It works and I like that part of it.
CHad

The days are long in the summer months plus if you haven't split wood under a full moon then you are missing out on a lot of available work time.

 

[AR200]

Thanks for all the replys sounds like the owb wouldn't be a bad way to go. My daughters skin dries out from indoor wood heat, my wife has bad alergys from dust and smoke, the creosote smell that we had in our old chimney from our insert would give us headaches from time to time on hot humid days in the summer. The way we have the chimney designed it looks like it would be hard to clean so I might have to hire someone to clean it, I used to do my own. My wife also was worried all the time of the fire hazzard (I didn't realize it till recently). Will save myself several thousand in not having to build the chimney. No extra cost of separate duct work just the heating coil. The wife is wanting to but in one of those big jacuzzis tubs that she swears she will use a lot so the free heat on the hot water will be nice. With the numbers people are posting on their bills when using it and not it has the potential to pay for itself pretty quick. Already have 3 pro saws, hyd splitter, maul, wedges, so no extra expense on equip. I will put in a gas log fire place in the living room for looks and ambient heat when I want it. This will also allow for mounting the TV above the gas fireplace to allow for good viewing in the whole living room. I know that everyone doesn't agree but. I was about to do away with wood altogether with all the downfalls of the insert for my personal situation. But not ready to hang the saws up yet. I will still put in a heat pump if I get too old to mess with wood or if we are out of town. Is the heat from a owb like a indoor insert heat? Talked to my insurance company and anything other than a insert or OWB will be a extra 10 percent on my homeowners insurance, as long as the OWB isn't under a attached roof to the dwelling.

 

[NSMaple1]

my wife has bad alergys from dust and smoke

OWBs aren't exactly smoke-free, especially if they spend a lot of their time idling. You could actually end up with more, depending on site conditions, air currents & burning habits etc.. Idling will make it, and it will really show up when the boiler comes off idle & burns off creosote that accumulated while idling.

On a couple of other things - low indoor humidity isn't usually a direct result of indoor wood heat, but more-so from air infiltration (insulation & air sealing that could be better) & stack effect, which would likely be happening with other heat sources also. And in the setup you're thinking about, the OWB isn't like insert heat. Insert heat is mostly radiant space heating, while OWB via a HX in ductwork would be like a hot air central heating furnace of any type of heat source.

Also, don't forget to factor in the cost of good underground piping. You should check local, but the good stuff (this is not a place to skimp by using stuff that isn't good) is $10+/foot (Thermopex type). Some find that it balances out with an indoor chimney cost.

After all I've said, I'll add that I'm not saying don't do OWB. Just to be fully aware of everything that will be involved or should be considered. If after all that you still want to go OWB, that's fine - everyone has their priorities & situations.

 

[7sleeper]

Over here the gasifiers aren't anywhere in the living quarters. They are in the basement in a special "heating" room, so the dirt stays down there out of the way. Further the gasifier is a closed system, so "everthing" goes out he chimney.

7

 

[NSMaple1]

Over here the gasifiers aren't anywhere in the living quarters. They are in the basement in a special "heating" room, so the dirt stays down there out of the way. Further the gasifier is a closed system, so "everthing" goes out he chimney.

7

That's where mine is. Right underneath the family/living room. Right next to 660 gallons of storage. And my entire winters wood. Sure is nice being able to slip into my 'slippers' (20 year old Converse - ha) & make heat, without going outside mid-winter. No dust or dirt makes it any further than the floor right around the boiler front. No smoke or creosote - only thing I have cleaned out of my smoke pipe in 4 years is some light ash. Haven't cleaned my chimney in those 4 years, at all. If I did want to have the fire totally outside of the house all together, but still wanted to burn wood, I would put all that stuff that is in my basement, in an outbuilding. (Except maybe for the storage). That would also get me a shed or shop that is heated all winter, and it would be big enough to do other things in also.

 

[Marshy]

Over here the gasifiers aren't anywhere in the living quarters. They are in the basement in a special "heating" room, so the dirt stays down there out of the way. Further the gasifier is a closed system, so "everthing" goes out he chimney.
7

And they are good on emissions too. One of my largest concerns when purchasing a new free standing stove was getting a clean burning woodstove so that my kids are not exposed to the crap that comes out of my current stove. Blaze king stoves offer some of the best emissions rated stoves on the market. I know the Froling line of boilers seem to be top notch also and I'm sure there are others. The Froling boilers have air curtains when you open to the door for refueling so you don't get smoke seepage. Being able to keep the smoke going up the chimney is a great thing when your appliance is indoor.

 

[MountainHigh]

If your wife has allergies to smoke, I'd definitely rethink the Outside wood boiler. Smoke outside can still creep in your windows if you like to keep them cracked for fresh air circulation. Personally I hate breathing recycled air (even with heat exchanger) and always have windows open even on coldest days.

Least amount of smoke is definitely high efficiency gasifier or CAT stove like Blaze King.

I was going to purchase a CAT stove, but because they put so little heat up the chimney, my 2 story home, the large central masonry chimney would not heat up enough. Settled on high efficiency secondary burn stove that still puts up enough heat to warm my radiant heating central chimney when run properly with seasoned wood. Nothing better than viewing a glowing toasty warm fire on cold winter day and receiving hours and hours of gentle heat from the radiant thermal mass chimney.

2500 sq ft 2 story home - 2x6 construction - R20 walls - R40 in ceiling - double glazed windows.
$0 per month for heating (not including cost of gathering wood and my toys (saws), which is a fun pastime I enjoy.
Used to spend $300+/month on natgas bills during dead of winter when kids were little and I was focused on building a business.

 

[AIM]

I've been burning my inefficient, lung killing, environment destroying, OWB for 6 or so years now. I have never pissed off a neighbor, I have never that I recall smelled it in the house, I have frequently burned less than desirable well seasoned wood, and I have never regretted even for a moment having one!
OWB owners have frequently been the brunt of assinine comments by others. All while enjoying clean safe heat. So put in the system you feel will serve you the best. ANY AND EVERY system has a chance to be perfect for any given situation. Evaluate your situation and go from there.
You wanna just supplement your heat? A good soapstone would be great.
You want do a whole house heat with a good efficient furnace and not be sort of tied down? Indoor gassifier sounds good.
You wanna heat your house and maybe more buildings and keep all the mess outside? Then do an OWB.

 

[AR200]

I've been burning my inefficient, lung killing, environment destroying, OWB for 6 or so years now. I have never pissed off a neighbor, I have never that I recall smelled it in the house, I have frequently burned less than desirable well seasoned wood, and I have never regretted even for a moment having one!
OWB owners have frequently been the brunt of assinine comments by others. All while enjoying clean safe heat. So put in the system you feel will serve you the best. ANY AND EVERY system has a chance to be perfect for any given situation. Evaluate your situation and go from there.
You wanna just supplement your heat? A good soapstone would be great.
You want do a whole house heat with a good efficient furnace and not be sort of tied down? Indoor gassifier sounds good.
You wanna heat your house and maybe more buildings and keep all the mess outside? Then do an OWB.

I want to heat entirely with wood. I looked into the indoor furnace but I don't want my insurance to go up 10 percent by putting a furnace in the garage.

 

[AIM]

OWB's are great but yes they do have some drawbacks. (every type has drawbacks)
Going outside to load.
More wood. (generally you cut bigger pieces and split much less so some may argue that it's faster to cut for an OWB)
Not as easy to just leave for vacation or whatever. (I have left for 2 days in the winter without anyone reloading and it was fine.)
(you living in Akansas likely may not have much to worry about in this regard but I'm not familiar with your winter temps)

Don't buy into the often eggagerrated claims of cost of install. I have seen numbers all across the board.
Some guys have gotten $12k + wrapped up while I know others have $7k invested...

The one thing that I think EVERYONE here will agree to.
BUY THE BEST PIPE AVAILABLE!!!!
Not just the best you can afford. The BEST AVAILABLE!!!
If you can't afford the best pipe available then you should rethink your system choice.
(Yep it's that important)

 

[Mives4510]

I have the bigger hawken owb and I love it. It's the same with all the other wood stoves, the better the wood and the more seasoned it is, the less you use. The only thing I would do different is I would build a woodshed that hung over the front of the wood burner a little bit. That way when it's 40 degrees and raining you can be out of the weather a little bit when your feeding it.