Being self sufficient

[seriousbill]

Oh, I should add that our woodstove is Amish-designed and built, a Brunco. We definitely have that smoky smell

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

What you want is a wood burning masonry heater. Heavy heat mass, small burn twice a day, uses outside air for combustion and recirculates the smoke for more heat gathering. Unless the temp goes down below 20 degrees for a few days it is all the heat we need in the winter. And it has an oven so I can prepare most meals with it if I need to.

(The problem is baking bread - it tastes great, but to bake on Monday you need to start amping the temp on Saturday nite! And in the summer! yeesh, cook outside!)

 

[KierBri]

ok, so it IS possible to have a wood stove and not get a smell? my son and i have asthma and just can't deal with it. we're fine with a pellet stove, but that kind of defeats the whole self-sufficent thing (esp. when we have 18 acres of woods).

 

[skeeter]

Quote:
we had a wood stove insert in our fireplace,it would heat the whole house pretty well with some fir or pine and a big chunk of oak

 

[morelcabin]

Our woodstove is a soapstone tiled stove, and I must say that I am really impressed with it's heating capeabilities. Fill it up a you will get an 8 hour supply of heat if you turn in the dampers, and for a full 4 hours after the wood is burned away it still radiates heat into the house. We heat a 1200 square foot houe with it and have it in the basment.
Another thing I like about it is the safety factor. It won't burn you if you fall against it like a cast iron stove will. It never gets singing hot. The downside is that you would never be able to boil water on it, or fry eggs, if you needed to cook on it as well you would need to use a roast pan on it and it would be equivalent to a kind of slow cooker.

 

[1acrefarm]

I just traded some laying hens and a duck for a wood/coal stove. I have been meaning to get a woodstove because my fireplaces are very inefficient. I had a time with help (three people besides myself) getting the stove in my truck though. I took parts off to lighten it and I bet it still weighed close to 500 pounds. In the past my wood stoves went outside in the summer to save space. Once this one is in it is staying.

 

[dangerouschicken]

Growing up in Oregon, we only had a woodstove to heat our house. It was always so hot you could just wear a tshirt, until about 4 in the morning, when the logs would finally burn down to ashes. Then you'd get up freezing your backside off! Luckily, my mom would get it up and going again at about 6:30 or 7am.

We only have DIESEL

in our rental house, but we also have a fireplace. Even though it is not as efficient as a woodstove, we still use it a lot. The DIESEL is just too horribly expensive.



OH and I have asthma and a woodstove never bothered me, but the fireplace sometimes does.

I love that I'm growing oodles of food and keep chickens and goats, but I'll never grind flour.

We just got a grain mill for our Kitchen Aid and we love it! Grinding your own is really no big deal. And the bread comes out AMAZING!​

 

[me&thegals]

Quote:
Good for you--so well said! I actually feel bad for my much younger brother who grew up in my parents' more affluent years. He does not know how to deny himself of things he cannot afford. We learned it well our entire childhood and I'm so glad for that now!

 

[me&thegals]

Quote:
Yes to both

We have a 2-story home with a woodstove in the basement. It is our only source of heat and keeps us all toasty (including the kids on the 2nd floor) unless the temp drops below about 10 degrees. Then, we also use our fireplace insert (answer to 2nd question) and the whole house is cozy. The insert does not draw room air to the outside. It has a fan that blows back into the room. Don't know any more of the mechanical details... Just that they both do an amazing job!

ETA: I just want to second some of the great points. Open floor plans are perfect for wood heat. We have an open stairway from basement to main floor, wide open kitchen/dining/living rooms on main floor, vaulted ceiling and loft to upstairs, all perfect for moving heat.

There is no smell at all with inserts or super-efficient, smoke-reburning woodstoves.

Ours gets hot enough on the surface to boil down our maple syrup sap each spring and to keep a kettle of humidifying water on all winter.

 

[hulahens]

I agree with 1acrefarm! A good inspiration for me is www.pathtofreedom.com and my family is striving to do what they are in our own way!
Aloha from the Big Island of Hawai'i