It's soooo nice to be heating with wood!

[Cbird14]

Hell yeah!!! I love knowing I won't see a truck with a 1075 placard number showing up in our driveway this winter. The 500 gallon is full from a summer fill and hoping it won't need a fill for a good year and a half - two years.still use it for the cooking stove and dryer. We keep our house at a constant 71-72 and our bedroom is 5 or so degrees cooler. Perfect sleeping. Like spidey said if I'm cold n wet ill crank it up to around 80 and warm up.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yup, wood heat just gets in your blood (or thins it out, not sure which?) We used to burn about 100 gall. of oil per mo. keeping the house at 68* daytime 65 at night. When I started with wood heat I started shooting for 70* all the time. The next year it crept up a bit, 71-72, now we have been at 72-73 most of the time. Not good! I mean, I work outside a lot, if I get too used to those temps I'm afraid I'm gonna get wussified, have to move to Florida!
This all started with just a stove in the basement, then switched to an add-on furnace, that was exchanged for the wood/oil furnace we have now. I pulled our gas logs out of the fireplace this past fall, (anybody wanna buy some nice gas logs ) and a wood stove installed (shoulder season heat, wife was on board too! )
Like I said, this wood heat thing gets in your blood!

 

[andydodgegeek]

I have a portage and main OWB and I love it. I used to be a propane delivery guy and you just wouldn't believe how much some people spend on heating there homes. Several customers with 1000 gallon tanks needing fills every 3 weeks!!! 600-700 gallons at 2.39 per gallon!!!! Ouch!!!!

 

[savageactor7]

Since it wasn't specifically mentioned I'll just add that with a wood stove it's nice to be able to retreat to a cooler room too.

Now on face value that sounds pretty ridiculous but some people around here like it so hot that it becomes uncomfortable. With an even oil or gas heat I'd have to deal with temp all through the house but thankfully a wood stove provides the solution we can all be happy with.

 

[NSMaple1]

Hopefully next year or shortly there after I will be heating with wood. My wife is against a wood stove or insert. Makes the room to hot and doesn't want the kids to get burned, so we are going to most likely get a OWB. I know the pay back is about 4-5 years with a OWB at current prices, but when oil prices continue to rise, I'll be saving alot of $ even if I have to buy wood once in a while.

Figuring out a payback can be kinda fuzzy. Factor in the comfort side of it & it skews even more. I'd estimate that in our case, figuring out what we would have spent for oil in a winter & how warm (cool) the house was with that, I'd have to start by multiplying that by close to 1.5 to get to how warm & comfy the house is kept now with the wood.

 

[ppkgmsy]

We heat soley with wood. I'm comfortable in long johns with the house around 60, my wife likes 70. For the sake of domestic bliss and tranquility, we compromise at 69.

 

[Fred Wright]

We ditched the gaslog heater when propane hit $4.00 per gallon. We got an $800.00 bill. I disconnected the thing and pulled it next day. It really didn't keep the whole house all that warm anyhow. I cleaned it up and sold it on CL to an older fella who said he'd been cutting firewood for over 30 years and couldn't do that anymore. He's got the propane bills now.

Our forced air "heat" source is a heat pump... and you know how useless those things are when it gets really cold out. $400.00 average monthly electric bills all winter. It was time to get a wood burner and prefab chimney. That was 3 years ago; it's already paid for itself in reduced electric costs and no propane bills.

 

[PEKS]

73 is fine for me..

 

[dave_dj1]

I stand by my original statement and the title of this thread! With the temps dipping below zero it's 69 in the house right now, zero out. I don't mind if the oil burner has to kick on occasionally tonight, I will sleep well knowing that I am not running it too much so far this winter.
Stay warm,
dave

 

[740jsmayle]

We bought our new to us home in late March in the first month we spent $500 on propane keeping it 65 . Installed the add-on and it's 0 w/wind chill outside 78 inside. WOOD HEAT IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!! I think the furnace will pay for itself this winter

 

[dave_376]

its 68 here on the 2nd floor, 74 first floor. I need a bigger stove/insert. Maybe next year, I would like a BK king or a super sized version of a Progress Hybrid.


OHHH Yeah its 12 F outside

 

[apn73]

Hopefully next year or shortly there after I will be heating with wood. My wife is against a wood stove or insert. Makes the room to hot and doesn't want the kids to get burned, so we are going to most likely get a OWB. I know the pay back is about 4-5 years with a OWB at current prices, but when oil prices continue to rise, I'll be saving alot of $ even if I have to buy wood once in a while.

Do a compromise with her, put a pellet stove on her side of the house and a wood stove on yours. I assume "yours" is the garage or basement; I'm married myself so I hear you talking. Luckily my wife is an even bigger cheap skate than I am and loves the wood. It's 0 here and I've got it up to 74 in the stove room, but I'm cheating a bit, we've got oil as a back up and that thermostat is set at 65. The stove is on one side of the house, so other side gets pretty chilly. We typically leave it at 60, but the stove needs a little help in these temperatures.

I'm a big history buff and I got to thinking about an event that was going on 69 years ago, that was the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) of WWII. Take the outside conditions that we're talking about and now imagine having to pick up a rifle and survive out there with people trying to kill you. Thank you to all you veterans out there that sacrificed so much for us spoiled brats sitting in our cozy 75 degree houses, it's a debt that we'll never be able to pay back.

 

[howard270]

I love my wood heat. We bought this house in the Fall of 2011. It is very tight and pretty well insulated. First thing I did was install a wood burning insert in the fireplace. Has a propane central furnace and propane water heater. Previous owner stated they usually had to fill the propane tank once before winter and twice during the winter.

I only used 25% from January 2012 through August 2013, and my house has been staying around 74-75 degrees. I sometimes open the door to the attached garage and heat it too if I plan on working on my saws.
Ceiling fan in living room with insert is on reverse and low speed to circulate the air and a small fan blows cold air from hall/bedrooms into living room to move heat back there. Back bedrooms are usually 71-72 degrees.

 

[stihly dan]

0* outside temps in the middle of a blizzard and the bedrooms are 68* and every other room is 72* with the basement at 66*. They are at the temp I set them to. Just loaded up with wood so It will stay that way till 10 am. "Priceless" even tho its free.

 

[Mad Professor]

-7 F outside 72 F in the stove room. Have two fans circulating air and the rest of the house is all > 65 F.



Oil burner just comes on when I need hot tap water for a shower, I heat lots of the water for cooking and cook on the stove too..

 

[ijon1]

I have a portage and main OWB and I love it. I used to be a propane delivery guy and you just wouldn't believe how much some people spend on heating there homes. Several customers with 1000 gallon tanks needing fills every 3 weeks!!! 600-700 gallons at 2.39 per gallon!!!! Ouch!!!!

What model Portage and main boiler do you have? Also are you happy with it. I am thinking about changing out my old boiler in the spring.

 

[kybaseball]

Love the free wood heat!!! Just got up for the day and it is 3 degrees outside but a nice toasty 73 inside the house.
I can hear a whining sound coming from my neighbors house I think it is the electric meter turning so fast with the heat pump not keeping up!!! LOL man has said several times I wish we would have got us a OWB.

 

[andydodgegeek]

What model Portage and main boiler do you have? Also are you happy with it. I am thinking about changing out my old boiler in the spring.

I have the ML36. This is my second winter with it and so far I like it. Can't think of anything bad to say about it. I did all of the install my self and it works perfectly. I heat my home (2400sqft) and shop (30x40') and hot water. I'm in Minnesota and its cold, hardly been above 0 for several weeks. I burn red oak, a good fill will get me near 16hours run time. I would recommend a portage and main.

 

[NSMaple1]

Man, I'm feeling sorry for those on low & fixed incomes who are relying on fossil fuels or electricity for heat this winter. It's been a brutal one so far - not just for fuel costs, that's way bad enough in itself, but the hardship from long power outages too. I hope everyone makes it through OK.

 

[ijon1]

I have the ML36. This is my second winter with it and so far I like it. Can't think of anything bad to say about it. I did all of the install my self and it works perfectly. I heat my home (2400sqft) and shop (30x40') and hot water. I'm in Minnesota and its cold, hardly been above 0 for several weeks. I burn red oak, a good fill will get me near 16hours run time. I would recommend a portage and main.

Thanks, I am thinking about the brick lined Portage and Main.