Jules083
ArboristSite Operative
I'm going on my third winter heating with wood and I'm learning as I go, but there's a few things that I've asked friends about and keep getting different answers. Right now I'm heating an old, half falling down, and uninsulated farmhouse. I'm having a log home built next to this one, should be done in March or April. I'm heating with an Energy King freestanding forced air wood furnace. Sorry for asking a list of questions, I would like to get this cleared up soon as I am planning things like woodsheds, furnace locations, and the like.
I keep hearing some people talk about being able to store wood in their basements. Isn't there an issue with bugs? I would love to have a few weeks worth of wood in my basement, but I don't want my house eaten. My new basement will have a 6' wide entry door, so I have the ability to back my wood trailer right into the house. I have unlimited options here.
I was planning on parking the loaded trailer under the porch and re-loading it as needed. The basement door is under a covered porch. Storing inside would be much better, without the bugs.
What's the best thing to do on the days that a full blown raging fire isn't needed? The first two winters I would either choke the fire down, or keep a small one burning. A choked down fire seems to build creosote in the chimney, and a small one needs fed very often. This week I have been building one good fire a day, and letting it heat the house up then go out. It works but leaves for some chilly mornings. 54 degrees when I woke up, I let it go out too soon. I suppose I could turn the oil furnace on, but I don't want to. I'm thinking that when I move into the new house having things like windows that don't leak will help the house hold heat in longer.
I hear about people on here talking about burning pallets. I can get as many as I can burn, all year long, within 20 minutes of the house. I've been told before by 'experts' that pine plugs up chimneys. Any truth to this? I plugged up my chimney once but I was burning a combination of pallets and very green locust. I know the locust probably did most of the plugging, I don't know what the pallets contributed.
Last question is wood shed building. I currently have an old falling down woodshed that only holds enough wood to tease me into thinking I have enough to last for a while. If you were 28 years old and wanted to build a quality, low maintaince, long lasting, and well thought out woodshed, how would you do it? Any good ideas you wish you had thought of? I'm thinking 10'x16', 3 sided, elevated floor to promote air flow. I am going to have a lot of used lumber when it comes time to tear the old house down, so it's going to be cheap to build regardless of the size. I was thinking set treated 4x4's and build it pole barn style, using the floor joists from this house for the floor of the shed. It will sit on the side of a small hill, so ideally there would be a floor of some sort. There's a termite problem here and anything that hits the ground is sawdust within 2 years. Lost 2 barns and am currently living in a half eaten house.:msp_sad:
Thanks for all of the advice, I appreciate it. Hopefull once I figure out what I'm doing I'll become a contribuiting member of this forum, it seems to be a great way to waste an evening.
I keep hearing some people talk about being able to store wood in their basements. Isn't there an issue with bugs? I would love to have a few weeks worth of wood in my basement, but I don't want my house eaten. My new basement will have a 6' wide entry door, so I have the ability to back my wood trailer right into the house. I have unlimited options here.
I was planning on parking the loaded trailer under the porch and re-loading it as needed. The basement door is under a covered porch. Storing inside would be much better, without the bugs.What's the best thing to do on the days that a full blown raging fire isn't needed? The first two winters I would either choke the fire down, or keep a small one burning. A choked down fire seems to build creosote in the chimney, and a small one needs fed very often. This week I have been building one good fire a day, and letting it heat the house up then go out. It works but leaves for some chilly mornings. 54 degrees when I woke up, I let it go out too soon. I suppose I could turn the oil furnace on, but I don't want to. I'm thinking that when I move into the new house having things like windows that don't leak will help the house hold heat in longer.
I hear about people on here talking about burning pallets. I can get as many as I can burn, all year long, within 20 minutes of the house. I've been told before by 'experts' that pine plugs up chimneys. Any truth to this? I plugged up my chimney once but I was burning a combination of pallets and very green locust. I know the locust probably did most of the plugging, I don't know what the pallets contributed.
Last question is wood shed building. I currently have an old falling down woodshed that only holds enough wood to tease me into thinking I have enough to last for a while. If you were 28 years old and wanted to build a quality, low maintaince, long lasting, and well thought out woodshed, how would you do it? Any good ideas you wish you had thought of? I'm thinking 10'x16', 3 sided, elevated floor to promote air flow. I am going to have a lot of used lumber when it comes time to tear the old house down, so it's going to be cheap to build regardless of the size. I was thinking set treated 4x4's and build it pole barn style, using the floor joists from this house for the floor of the shed. It will sit on the side of a small hill, so ideally there would be a floor of some sort. There's a termite problem here and anything that hits the ground is sawdust within 2 years. Lost 2 barns and am currently living in a half eaten house.:msp_sad:
Thanks for all of the advice, I appreciate it. Hopefull once I figure out what I'm doing I'll become a contribuiting member of this forum, it seems to be a great way to waste an evening.
