That's an indication that the insulation is poor and heat loss is high. The stove is providing continuous btus so that loss is not as apparent.
Wood Stove Philosophy of use - What's yours??
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When we purchased our house 37 years ago, the sellers had recently installed an Allnighter Mid Moe. I had limited exposure to wood stoves but we said what the hay, lets give it a try. The seller left us about a cord of wood and took the other 5 cord or so with them. We both enjoyed the warmth and saving on oil. Wood procurement was a learning adventure. About 20 years ago we replaced the allnighter with a jotul 3cb. The allnighter was a good stove and heater, the jotul is like a good friend. It's just getting broken in after 20 years of 3-4 cord per year. Recently added a small pellet stove to our expanded dining area. We do like our open flames.
I grew up with a pellet stove and enjoyed the warmth and watching the fire as a kid. Fast forward to my mid 30's (now) and we have a one year old girl who like her mom prefers to stay nice and warm on these cold winter days (5F this morning).
My philosophy is to warm the house exclusively with wood heat, burn the cleanest fires I can and make use of all of the downed and dead trees in the forests nearby. Just came inside a few minutes ago and there's nothing like that warm air when you walk in the door and see the fire running. With these modern stoves its great to have minimal smoke from the chimney, I honestly wouldn't be as excited about wood burning if the chimney was a smoky mess.
All of the gathering, splitting, stacking, cutting, etc... is built in exercise. Tooling around with the chainsaws is just icing on the cake.
My philosophy is to warm the house exclusively with wood heat, burn the cleanest fires I can and make use of all of the downed and dead trees in the forests nearby. Just came inside a few minutes ago and there's nothing like that warm air when you walk in the door and see the fire running. With these modern stoves its great to have minimal smoke from the chimney, I honestly wouldn't be as excited about wood burning if the chimney was a smoky mess.
All of the gathering, splitting, stacking, cutting, etc... is built in exercise. Tooling around with the chainsaws is just icing on the cake.
I love the efficiency that a new stove provides. And I love that the chimney stays nice and clean (I've gotten about a tablespoon out of my chimney this year, just cleaned again last week). I see no reason why I would ever go back to an old stove. But there's something I miss about the sight of smoke curling up out of the chimney. And I always enjoy the whiff of wood smoke in the air, especially on a winter day after a snowfall.
Nostalgia from growing up rural I suppose. There's still plenty of older stoves in service here. Just not at my house.
diverscale
Member
I had a medium wood stove in my current house and previous house, which I used only when it was colder outside, to get the energy bill down, and for when we wanted REAL heat (I feel electric heating does not provide the same heat for the same house temperature).
Though, since the beginning of winter, with the new bigger wood stove purchase, mission was to heat solely on wood, which I am accomplishing very well, and having real WARMTH in the house. all winter long. I also have to sit in front of the fire starting with my drink every evening, it just ends a day of work perfectly.
I love saving on heating cost even considering I pay for my wood.
Though, since the beginning of winter, with the new bigger wood stove purchase, mission was to heat solely on wood, which I am accomplishing very well, and having real WARMTH in the house. all winter long. I also have to sit in front of the fire starting with my drink every evening, it just ends a day of work perfectly.
I love saving on heating cost even considering I pay for my wood.
No, not really, house is insulated well, 2 x 6 walls, good insulation in the ceiling. When it' below 10 degrees the house is cold and dry, dew points are low so it feels cold, FHA is instant heat but it doesn't linger like bbhw or steam heat. Maybe in your climate it's ok but in the northeast BBHW or radiant is the way to go. When I built I didn't know any better but if i build again I'll know.
Grew up with wood heat in a big old, drafty house.
Now I'm the caretaker for a property, and the free house is big, old, and drafty.
They give me a salary and pay all living expenses, the least I can do is heat the place with wood.
My wife and kids more or less, live in the stove room all winter, I like the exercise of harvesting the wood myself
Now I'm the caretaker for a property, and the free house is big, old, and drafty.
They give me a salary and pay all living expenses, the least I can do is heat the place with wood.
My wife and kids more or less, live in the stove room all winter, I like the exercise of harvesting the wood myself
My BIL built his house in 1980 with a tightly sealed, staggered 2x4 wall (8" insulation). in NY. They heat most of the time with a home built masonry pizza oven/wood stove. Very steady low heat is all they need. When it gets really cold they fire up the wood boiler which feeds hydronic air handlers. There's no radiant heat source in the house.
Mainewoodchucker
Member
I have an unheated 18x20 addition that is our living room ( tv , stereo , etc ) . I put my wood stove in because I am clearing land and other than labor my wood cost is zero . It heats my living area as well as the rest of the house and saves me a ton on oil . Oil usage has been cut in half , and at $3-4+ a gallon , that means a savings of around $900-$1400 a heating season . Have less than $700 invested in stove, hearth, chimney . Paid for itself first year .
Beside all that , I grew up with wood heat and just love the way it feels and enjoy getting outside and working up the wood .
Beside all that , I grew up with wood heat and just love the way it feels and enjoy getting outside and working up the wood .
Well maybe not zero . . . unless you are cutting, bucking, hauling and splitting entirely by hand-power. For me there's always the cost of fuel for the saw, splitter, ATV and truck . . . although these items are on the low side compared to buying oil at $2.39 a gallon.
In addition to the fuel there is also the cost for purchasing these tools and maintaining them. If tractors or atvs are used for hauling then that expense has to be amortized too. Add personal injury protection gear and beer and this starts to add up quickly.
RobbieB
Feeling the Heat
Hehe, yeah!
The most expensive fish you can buy is the free ones you catch yourself. On your boat docked at the marina.
The most expensive fish you can buy is the free ones you catch yourself. On your boat docked at the marina.
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
The warm and cozy feeling a wood stove gives you on cold nights. Second, my wife says it’s not the same heat that a stove gives. Finally the great feeling of getting the wood to keep my family warm and not an outside company I have to pay.
That said I suspect Woodchucker and I would agree that even with those costs knowing that our labor has a huge impact on dictating the cost of heating our home (i.e. the more we work the more fuel we have and less oil we need to buy vs. having no control over the price of oil). . . knowing we have heat regardless of whether the power is on or not . . . and realizing that many of these tools are used for other purposes as well (I had a chainsaw well before I was burning wood to cut up branches . . . had an ATV for trail riding and work around the house . . . etc) make burning wood a better and perhaps cheaper option in the long run for us.
Mainewoodchucker
Member
Yup, had the tools before the wood stove. Tractor was supplying mowed lawn, snow blowed drive , carting gravel etc . Now it is my ATV that I use for the same as well as trail riding , ice fishing etc . Chainsaws have always been around and last 2 were gifts ( so no cost there lol) . Split with a Fiskars as well as have a small electric splitter . BUT, just got the DR electric kinetic splitter . $500 for that and if I split 10 cord of wood , that is $50 a cord . I am sure it will split much more than that .
Gas for saws is negligible . Same with the ATV . Overall not a lot of expense into my wood . But plenty of labor . I do agree there is some cost but it does pay off . Much rather work on my wood than to work at my job , just to pay someone else for oil .
Claybuster
New Member
My stove purchase (Regency F2400) was to supplement the oil bill. I cut oil consumption by 50%. I wanted a fireplace insert but my wife likes the fireplace so had to go with a plan B, basement stove. A insert would have been the better option in my opinion but needed to keep the peace. I had to go with a new outside wall chimney system opposite side of the house which obviously added to my cost. Running the same stove now for about 12 years and it has paid for itself.
This is what I was going to reply with. The biggest ticket items that my dad and I use for wood cutting either would have been bought anyway, or, in the case of the tractor, was inherited. But, the tractor gets used just as much for other purposes; plowing the garden, snow removal, yard work. Many of the firewood specific items we have were pretty inexpensive. Dad homebuilt a splitter 25 years ago; he cobbled enough parts that the only 'new' items are the lovejoy joint between the pump and motor and the control valve. The cart for the ATV is scrap steel and plywood from a re-roof job. We would own ATVs even if we didn't burn wood.
The chainsaw is the only expensive item that's directly tied to firewood acquisition. I've been spoiled with pro-grade saws in the past; I don't want to own a homeowner saw. And with the amount of wood that we process (usually about 15 cords a year), it's somewhat justified. But, we financed the purchase of said saw by cutting logs out of dead ash trees and blowdowns. I used a McCullough Powermac PM610 for that process that I hope I never have to go back to.
heavy hammer
Minister of Fire
I grew up burning wood, it would seem odd to just pay the utility company to heat my house. My grandparents heated with wood my parents still do, so it just fit. Plus I love wood heat, working outside in the winter takes it out of you. A hot stove is worth it weight in gold on those cold winter days. I enjoy processing firewood, now that I have a tractor with a grapple it's even better. It's a lifestyle!
Grew up burning wood, more out of necessity I think. My folks built the house with baseboard heat, then electrical bills went through the roof so they switched the open fireplace to an insert. They got tired of that (or it broke, not sure) and switched to heat pump but again the cost drove them back to wood - an OUTDOOR wood furnace that tied into the existing ductwork of the house (A/C was still central electric). That also happened to coincide with my being old enough to keep that behemoth full - funny how that worked out! I still remember getting up in the middle of the night as a teen to load that thing outside - I probably swore to never burn wood "when I grew up." But boy did it heat the house well. The floor registers in that house were metal and you couldn't stand on them when the blower was running - it would burn you through your socks. The vinyl floor even turned brown around the registers. Eventually the internal firebox became too brittle and developed too many holes to be welded shut so they switched to natural gas central heat. They still have that, 25+ years later, but burn wood in the open fireplace to keep the gas bill down.
I apparently inherited the wood gene from them, because I can't imagine NOT burning wood in the winter. In our current home we have natural gas heat but burn wood for ambiance in an open fireplace. We're building a new house though on acreage with heat pumps, and we've installed a Quadrafire 7100 to supplement those HPs. The new house isn't even done yet but as soon as it was in the dry we started building fires in the 7100 every weekend when we were over there working.
My wife also grew up with heat pumps and a wood stove in the basement and loves wood heat. It's just in our blood.
I apparently inherited the wood gene from them, because I can't imagine NOT burning wood in the winter. In our current home we have natural gas heat but burn wood for ambiance in an open fireplace. We're building a new house though on acreage with heat pumps, and we've installed a Quadrafire 7100 to supplement those HPs. The new house isn't even done yet but as soon as it was in the dry we started building fires in the 7100 every weekend when we were over there working.
My wife also grew up with heat pumps and a wood stove in the basement and loves wood heat. It's just in our blood.
I burn because I like the heat, I like the independence of it, and it's one of the few ways in modern life that I can be tied to the earth and the seasons. There's something very satisfying to me about cutting, splitting and stacking the wood properly. Caring for the stacks, keeping them dry, taking care of the tools required. Plus, it's a nice visual testament to the fact that you aren't lazy. There's an old saying in Maine about the measure of a man being taken by the straightness of his wood stacks...
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