Long time lurker, first time poster. This post looked like a good one to jump in on. Grew up burning wood, so the move to wood was not a huge deal. My stove is in my barn next to the house. There are 2 pipes that go thru the barn floor, under the ground, and then back under the house. One is piped into the furnace, the other is direct vented into the living room.
Because I work in the barn often, it is nice to have it heated by the wood stove. Radiant heat from the stove keeps it about 55-60. If I want it warmer, I open a vent on the plenum. Big savings on kerosene for the salamander.
The stove was free, my brother bought a home that had a 2 yr old add-on burner and did not want the hassle. His laziness is my gain!
Most of our wood is slabs from a sawmill a few miles down the road. It is clean and rarely has any bark on it. Because the mill cuts only hardwood for furniture makers, they throw out some really nice slabs that aren't dimensional. So along with firewood, I have salvaged a lot of really nice wood to use for projects. At $10 a truckload, I figure it will take about 150-200 bucks for what we will need. Everything so far has been cut with a miter saw.
I will be cutting some trees up for some larger stuff. I can only get about 4 hours at the most on a load of wood. I hope this will keep it going overnight. I have access to several large lots that have been logged and have lots of tops to clean out. Michigan has also been hit hard by the emerald ash borer, so an incredible amount of trees are dieing off. I think there will be free wood for a long time to come.
Last year we burned about 1300 gals propane for the winter. That is keeping the house at 62-64 degrees. Since we use gas for cooking and the dryer there will still be some gas use. I started the wood stove Dec. 3rd. Since then we have used 5% by the gage out of a 500 gal tank. The furnace comes on for a few hours in the morning once the house cools down, but it does not run too long.
It is kind of funny, we have kept the house colder for several winters. Now that it is 70-75 my wife is complaining about how hot the house is. I think the menopause has a bit too do with it, but I will keep that to myself. I figure we will save at least $1500 this year.
When the tax return gets here, I will be buying a new saw. What do you guys think I should get? Kidding, just kidding. I let the wrong guy work on my 2065, so now it is a boat anchor. I have been rubbing on and talking sweet to a 2171 that the dealer has. It is going to go to a loving home next month!
Sorry about the length of the post, just has a bunch to say. In case no one has mentioned it lately, you guys are a great source of information.
...........As long as you can lift em
