Do you have any idea...

[hjmick]

How much a cord of wood is? Not in price but volume? I didn't, but my wife assured me she did when she ordered two of them. Turns out, her information was wrong. Her sister, this should have probably given her pause from the start, told her a cord was 4' wide by 4' high by 4' feet long. My wife ordered two. The reality is, a cord is 4'x4'x8'. That's a shitload of wood.

Now, were we still in California, I suspect we would be burning this wood until the day we died. However, since we currently reside in Albuquerque, it will in all likelihood last only until spring.

[crin63]

As to how long it will last, that mostly depends on the type of wood it is and if it's been seasoned. I bought my mother-in-law a fireplace insert with blower and 2 cords of hardwood. Looks like it will get her through 3 Oregon winters.

[glockmail]

A lot of times they sell wood by the "face cord" which is 4' x 8' by one log wide. Of course then they try to sell you 12" logs instead of 18 or so. Then they load up their short bed pickup and tell you that's a face cord.

And of course its always seasoned, which means that they didn't cut it down that day.

One guy sold me seasoned logs once, which is basically impossible, since the moisture comes out of the cut ends about 1000 times faster than through bark.

[hjmick]

This stuff seems pretty good, though there are a few moist pieces. I'm going to take their word for it that it was indeed two cords as I don't feel inclined measure it.

[Kathianne]

How much a cord of wood is? Not in price but volume? I didn't, but my wife assured me she did when she ordered two of them. Turns out, her information was wrong. Her sister, this should have probably given her pause from the start, told her a cord was 4' wide by 4' high by 4' feet long. My wife ordered two. The reality is, a cord is 4'x4'x8'. That's a shitload of wood.

Now, were we still in California, I suspect we would be burning this wood until the day we died. However, since we currently reside in Albuquerque, it will in all likelihood last only until spring.

Sell it out front, like a kool aid stand! LOL! Smells like 'Christmas'! So what if they sweat? :cool:

[MtnBiker]

Oh, the good old days. I remember going out with my dad and brother to cut down trees, bring them home, stack them, let them dry then split and stack them again. My dad used to say "son this way you get warm twice, once while you are splitting them and again when you burn them", I never quite bought that.

[Nukeman]

Oh, the good old days. I remember going out with my dad and brother to cut down trees, bring them home, stack them, let them dry then split and stack them again. My dad used to say "son this way you get warm twice, once while you are splitting them and again when you burn them", I never quite bought that.SAme here, growing up that was the only way we heated our house. We had a large "Old Timer" double door woodburning stove.

I remember my dad always waiting untill my brother or I had been out drinking the night before to get us up VERY early and cut load split and satack about 3 full size 3/4 ton pickup truck loads. Of course he would have us hold the wood so he could use the chainsaw right beside our heads!!!!:coffee:

The worst part was stacking it in the truck becasue of the cap, you had to stay stooped over the whole time and let me tell you being hung over and bent at the waist lifting wood and stacking it was one helluva way to get over a hang over...:laugh2:

[Kathianne]

Oh, the good old days. I remember going out with my dad and brother to cut down trees, bring them home, stack them, let them dry then split and stack them again. My dad used to say "son this way you get warm twice, once while you are splitting them and again when you burn them", I never quite bought that.

Well I'm probably speaking to different things. Used Christmas trees. Nowadays most communities around here, pick them up and mulch them.

Way back in the olden days, when I was a kid, we had a neighborhood bonfire. The block behind my house. While all could bring their tree, the 'party' was invite only, we were always invited. Around 150 families would bring their Christmas trees the Saturday after New Year's to the empty lot. Most had only 1 tree, but perhaps 30 had two. The light would be lit and for 1/2 hour or so, the sky would be lit with the burnt trees.

Then into the basement the invited would go. Hot dogs, potato salad, and hot chocolate. Everyone wanted to give money, the family refused to take it. The liked the 'community' of the ritual. When the parents of the 'ritual' put their home for sale, the community bought it, +10k beyond the asking price. They sold it for a bit less, but bought the lot, where the trees were set afire. It's still going strong.

[glockmail]

Now we know that the hole in the ozone layer is right over a Chicago suburb somewhere.

[Kathianne]

Now we know that the hole in the ozone layer is right over a Chicago suburb somewhere.

LOL! OTOH seems the repair of ozone hole is perhaps part of the problem. ;)

[cat slave]

I want an outdoor furnace. Anyone got one? Looks to me to be the way
to go especially when one is remote to say the least.

Ive been looking at them for a couple of years but cant get my husband to
get with the program. You can even heat your water with it. A couple
of neighbors have the Wood Dr. and they love it.

[Mr. P]

I've broken many wooden handles splitting wood. I think it's welll worth renting a splitter, especially if yer talkin a cord.

[glockmail]

I want an outdoor furnace. Anyone got one? Looks to me to be the way
to go especially when one is remote to say the least.

Ive been looking at them for a couple of years but cant get my husband to
get with the program. You can even heat your water with it. A couple
of neighbors have the Wood Dr. and they love it.

Get yourself a nice top loading catalytic wood stove like the Vermont Castings that I used to have. It will save you money plus it will look great in your living room. I ran mine all day long, loaded it up before bed and shut the damper down a couple minutes later, and we had plenty of coals in the morning to start it up in the morning with no kindling. My oil burner then ran as supplemental only, and that was in Upstate NY. I used to burn 3.5 full cords in a winter (that's 10 or 11 face cords).

[cat slave]

Well now, thats impressive!

My house is made from pre Civil War logs and I have a couple really high
ceilings where all my heat swoops up to!!!! Heating this place is a challenge!

I feel the need to stop depending so much on the electrical grid!

Thanks for the recommendation though. New York certainly would be the
acid test for a heating system of any sort.

[glockmail]

Well now, thats impressive!

My house is made from pre Civil War logs and I have a couple really high
ceilings where all my heat swoops up to!!!! Heating this place is a challenge!

I feel the need to stop depending so much on the electrical grid!

Thanks for the recommendation though. New York certainly would be the
acid test for a heating system of any sort. Ceiling fans, blowing upward, should help out.

I have a cabin in the mountains of NC with a cathedral ceiling. I use an oil boiler with a zone to a air handler, and I run the air continuously. That plus one ceiling fan keeps the place reasonably even throughout.

[glockmail]

I had one of these in NY:

http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=137

I used that stove for 6 years then sold it before I sold the house, and got a decent price from it.

When I built my mountain cabin I toyed briefly with the idea of buying a new one but decided to go with propane instead. I looked that the Vermont as well as Jotul but the Vermont was a little less expensive. With the propane I was able to go with a direct vent, avoiding a chimney altogether. This saved me at least 7 or 8 grand plus it saves space in the house and reduces inherent heat loss. Plus the flame looks real, it heats instantly, turns off instantly, has a mid-80% efficiency and can be thermostatically controlled if I wanted to. With the propane I don't get the economy of the oil boiler but I use the stove all the time I'm there in the winter anyway, for the ambiance and my dog loves to sleep in front of it.

[cat slave]

Ceiling fans, blowing upward, should help out.

I have a cabin in the mountains of NC with a cathedral ceiling. I use an oil boiler with a zone to a air handler, and I run the air continuously. That plus one ceiling fan keeps the place reasonably even throughout.


Air handler????? Zone????

One high ceiling room has a fan....I do need to get one for the great room
for sure.

[cat slave]

Shouldnt the fan be blowing down....wouldnt that bring the heat down from
the high ceiling? Thats what I thought anyway.

[cat slave]

Wow! Those stoves are actually pretty!!!!!

[SassyLady]

Our county has banned wood burning stoves/fireplaces in all new home construction in my county............air pollution. I have a nice propane fireplace that looks like a wood burning stove.........and it's on a thermostat. We have it programmed to come on at a specific time everyday and warm the house to a specific temp. I love standing in front of it .......... looks and feels just like a wood burning stove. Looks just like one of those you linked to Glockmail.

[Mr. P]

Shouldnt the fan be blowing down....wouldnt that bring the heat down from
the high ceiling? Thats what I thought anyway.

In Winter blow up. It circulates the warm air (that rises) back into the lower part of the room, especially on vaulted ceilings. Where as Blowing down causes a draft an thus a cooling effect.

That switch on the fan (up/down) is there for a reason. :thumb:

[darin]

I picked up a cord from a local nursury. I've had it about a week and have used about 1' high, by about 4' long's worth. I doubt it'll last till Spring. :(

[glockmail]

Air handler????? Zone????

One high ceiling room has a fan....I do need to get one for the great room
for sure.

A boiler can heat one or more zones. These can be different parts of the house, a hot water supply, a heated floor in your bathroom.

An air handler is a fan in a utility space connected by ductwork to circulate air throughout the house. The supply air can be heated or cooled depending on the connected equipment. There is normally an air filter on the return ducts to protect the fan. The filters can also be used to filter out dust in the house.

[glockmail]

Wow! Those stoves are actually pretty!!!!! The enameled ones indeed are. The finish will last forever as long as you don't overheat the stove or wash it while the stove's hot. Its basically a layer of glass and will chip when hit with a metal object. The do make a repair paint for that but its not a great match.

For the wood burner I suggest buying a cheap magnetic thermometer and putting it on the uncoated iron top lid, and use it to monitor the temperature by controlling the intake air valve. Also you need to be careful by closing the damper as soon as possible after you're fires lit and burning well. I never had a problem after 7 or so winters, and running at least 20 full cords (about 60 face cords) through it.

The only drawbacks to these vs. an exterior wood furnace as you suggested are dirt and dust in the house (wood is a dirty fuel, and most of the dirt is just handling it inside the house) and the size of the logs have to be much smaller. As I recall I could feed 18" long pieces but the largest diameter log or split was about 6 or 8 inches. With a wood furnace the only practical size limit is the log that you can't lift.