morningwood
ArboristSite Lurker
Wife and I have a 1500 sq ft ( possibly 2000 in a few years ) modular ranch in Central Ohio with a crawl space. The house is insulated very well and we currently heat with propane and wood. We live in a rural area ( closest neighbor is 1k feet away ) and have 25 acres of woods.
We burn wood when the temps are below 40F. The house gets too hot with the wood burner when the outside temps are above 40F. Current wood burner is a EPA Certified Vermont Castings Large Dutchwest stove which will generally keeps the main area of the house around 74F without breaking a sweat. Since it is a a ranch we have a issue pushing warm air to two of the rooms even with in the wall fans and ceiling fans running 24 x 7.
We currently burn around 2 - 3 cords of hardwood per year and around 100 gallons of propane a year. Hot water is electric.
I have been looking at OWB's for the past few months to heat our house, 800 sq ft woodshop, along with DHW. I am currently leaning towards a CB 5036. I like the Woodmaster but I have gotten four prices from three different dealers which does not give me the warm and fuzzy. :monkey:
Plus / minus list to follow:
+
-
The plus list definitely out weighs the minus list but for some reason I am still not one hundred percent sold on the idea. I have yet to meet a person who has one who does not like it. I am however sure by spring they are tired of feeding the monster as we all are.
The wife and both agreed if we buy one this is the year we are going to get one due to the prices finally coming down. If the economy turns around I am sure they will be very expensive again next year.
I realize I will be heating about fifty percent more square feet by heating the woodshop but cutting 6 - 8 cord of wood a year by myself sounds like alot of work. My other thought is to buy about 3 cord of wood a year. I can get 3 cord split and dropped off for around 275$.
So my question is, am I nuts thinking a OWB is a good idea when I already have a stove that is paid off and it does not burn alot of wood ? I have calculated my payoff at around five years if we just burned propane one-hundred percent of the time. Payoff in the current situation is around ten years.
Sorry for the long winded post.
Thanks,
Scott
We burn wood when the temps are below 40F. The house gets too hot with the wood burner when the outside temps are above 40F. Current wood burner is a EPA Certified Vermont Castings Large Dutchwest stove which will generally keeps the main area of the house around 74F without breaking a sweat. Since it is a a ranch we have a issue pushing warm air to two of the rooms even with in the wall fans and ceiling fans running 24 x 7.
We currently burn around 2 - 3 cords of hardwood per year and around 100 gallons of propane a year. Hot water is electric.
I have been looking at OWB's for the past few months to heat our house, 800 sq ft woodshop, along with DHW. I am currently leaning towards a CB 5036. I like the Woodmaster but I have gotten four prices from three different dealers which does not give me the warm and fuzzy. :monkey:
Plus / minus list to follow:
+
- All of the mess is outside
- Less splitting
- Hot shower in the morning
- Sleep through the night during the winter {BIG}
- Come home to a warm house
- Cat's will not have to come into the house when it is really cold out
- Only load twice a day
- Might be able to use woodshop during the winter
- Save 750$ a year between insurance, DHW, and propane usage.
-
- Cut alot more wood by myself {BIG}
- Cost to buy and install system.
The plus list definitely out weighs the minus list but for some reason I am still not one hundred percent sold on the idea. I have yet to meet a person who has one who does not like it. I am however sure by spring they are tired of feeding the monster as we all are.
The wife and both agreed if we buy one this is the year we are going to get one due to the prices finally coming down. If the economy turns around I am sure they will be very expensive again next year.
I realize I will be heating about fifty percent more square feet by heating the woodshop but cutting 6 - 8 cord of wood a year by myself sounds like alot of work. My other thought is to buy about 3 cord of wood a year. I can get 3 cord split and dropped off for around 275$.
So my question is, am I nuts thinking a OWB is a good idea when I already have a stove that is paid off and it does not burn alot of wood ? I have calculated my payoff at around five years if we just burned propane one-hundred percent of the time. Payoff in the current situation is around ten years.
Sorry for the long winded post.
Thanks,
Scott
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