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| Ahh...Nothing like the sound of chainsaws and barking dogs to start your day . . . |
1) I have more access to wood than I do propane. (Actually, I love my propane people; but I don't love when the stuff gets rationed, which happened 2 years ago, which sent me on a search for alternative heat sources, lest it happen again.)
2) I live in a rather drafty home. No. Let me restate that. I live in a VERY drafty home, what's more, the flow patterns for heat and air are funky, because it's a renovated church, meaning gaps in the windows leak air, settled floors leak air...Trust me. It's drafty, and a fortune to heat in the winter months.
3) With every sustainable, alternative option I exercise, I feel a bit better about my life. Don't ask me why. I would not call myself a prepper. But it is increasingly my experience that the more I can simplify...the more I can entertain a "sustainable" alternative, the more I have to give to the things I love and the causes I care about. This alone makes the sustainable journey a fascinating one. (Plus, I love to learn, so there's that too.)
The learning curve is now on overdrive, as I have now begun the search for wood-burning alternatives, only to find "There are many." What's more, everyone's situation is unique so what I share on my journey here may NOT be ideal for you. (I'm learning there are a lot of specific things to look into. I had no idea just how many variations there are on what clearly goes back to the dawn of time, which is humanoids warming their bodies by way of fire.)
For starters, the tree in the photo had died (which makes me very sad, as it was a beautiful oak, but it got overtaken by poison oak, making it susceptible to a fungus, so there was that as well). For the past 2 years I have watched its slow decline, which was sad enough. But now, it serves to remind that everything has new life in it if you shift your perspective, so I reached out to my country-bumpkin pals who know how to do these things and now we have....firewood! (Nothing to inspire the search for wood-burning options like a wall of firewood, now neatly stacked and waiting for winter.)
For reasons I do not know (I must've heard an ad) I had my sites set on an outdoor, wood-burning furnace. I had researched the components. Gone to visit a few. But when it got down to it, and I was told the thing had to be 25 feet away from my house AND any trees (I have a lot of trees), this began to look like the way I would NOT want to start a winter's day. So my search reverted to "indoor" units.
For those who've not gone through this journey...welcome to mine. Indoor units are as varied as the individuals who seek them out, but the first order of business is "furnace or stove" (there is a difference. If you're like me and have been using the terms interchangeably, well...get ready to change.)
Stoves--come in a vast range of adorable assortments, from cast iron square things to pot-bellied cute things. The sit in the middle of your home and they heat the area they are situated in to high heavens and if you opt for blowers and such, can be directional. (So far I'm thinking this is not ideal for me, but they are awfully cute.)
Furnaces--can tie into your central heat and air options (if you are, like most people, living with such modern day conveniences) and can be routed to your duct-work, meaning you have an alternative (even if you choose to stick with propane when it's not being rationed). In other words, there are full blown furnaces for first time home-buyers who want to really start rugged...and there are component furnaces..."add ons" as some call them...that allow you the option of heating with wood or whatever else you had in mind. For me, (as of this writing) this is looking to be best.
For those who have made this decision already, I welcome your thoughts and feedback. For those living with decisions they wish now they had not made, I welcome your insights as well, as I plan to document throughout this journey for the sake of others contemplating the same.
Should be an interesting winter...I'm big on planning ahead. Stay tuned.
OK Karlen, I'm sorta on the same journey. However, you've enlightened me. I didn't know there was such a thing as a wood-burning "furnace". I only knew of stoves.
ReplyDeleteI've been renovating a little 1946 one-story farm house for what seems like a hundred years.The house has no insulation in the walls, is freeeezing and drafty in the winter and also has a propane furnace. There's nothing really wrong with the furnace but I figured I could burn wood in the basement in a stove and heat a good portion of the house more efficiently. My friend Chris in Mt. Juliet has a wood burning stove that heats his entire log house and he thinks I could do the same.
So, I'm curious about wood furnaces and where you've seen them. I was planning to buy a stove and try to have a blower somehow direct the heat to the existing duct work but your wood furnace idea intrigues me. Brand names and where to buy would help. Thanks, -PJH (Hughesmedia1 at gmaildotcom)