Heating Question

[goathill]

Not sure that this is what you're asking about but have you looked into rocket mass heaters stoves for burning wood? We built one in our greenhouse in one day. It uses very little wood, has a mass element to retain and release heat slowly and evenly, and has almost no emissions, just steam and a little co2. I growing tomatoes, summer squash, and green beans in my greenhouse even with below freezing temps. If we had the place to build one into the house we'd do it in an instant. These aren't the same as just rocket stoves which are meant for cooking, although you can cook on these too.

I'm in love with rocket mass stoves! We don't really have a place for one in our house, or it'd be done already. We are building an additional living space on our land sometime next year and it will have a rocket mass stove. I'd love to see some pictures of the one in your gh if you have some.

 

[Snowypinesridge]

Agreed! Rocket stoves are the only way to go....Now if I could only get a little time and money to build one in our aquaponic greenhouse!

 

[GrannysRoost]

When did we get a DIY section?

Cool!
I have had every form of heat known. Electric in 1 house, Oil, Natural gas, wood, heat pump.. Hands down wood heat feels the best. It's nice to know that if the power goes out, you won't freeze to death - which is important when you have temperatures that can get to -40 in February.
Right now we have wood as well as electric if we are feeling lazy. Wood is not for those who don't want to work for it. It take a lot of time. I'm sure you know this. We've lived in this house since April, and I've finally mastered the art of making a fire. It's so toasty warm when it's going. The heat feels very inviting. Like a blanket wrapping you after a long day's work.. However.. I hate waking up cold.. If you have only wood - you will wake up cold unless you wake up to feed the fire. When you get home from work it is freezing! I also do not like that very much

I think the most energy efficient heating we had was the heat pump. They are expensive though, and it was a lot of upkeep. At least for our heat pump...

Curious if when you get home and its freezing, what do your canned goods or any liquids in the house?

 

[Haunted55]

Just because you don't have gas to the house doesn't mean you can get one of the smaller gas heaters that hang on the wall and use a grill gas bottle. I do this in an uninsulated greenhouse and it works great. In an insulated house you'd be fine until you can get the chimney taken care of. I have wood heat here, both stove and furnace for the colder months. I also have a gas fireplace that uses bottled gas. That was one purchase that was the smartest I've ever made. In the Fall and late spring, running your wood fires can lead to problems in the chimney with creosote. With this, I put it on when I want to warm things up and then just shut it off. No over heating and no chimney concerns. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Haunted55]

When did we get a DIY section?

Cool!
I have had every form of heat known. Electric in 1 house, Oil, Natural gas, wood, heat pump.. Hands down wood heat feels the best. It's nice to know that if the power goes out, you won't freeze to death - which is important when you have temperatures that can get to -40 in February.
Right now we have wood as well as electric if we are feeling lazy. Wood is not for those who don't want to work for it. It take a lot of time. I'm sure you know this. We've lived in this house since April, and I've finally mastered the art of making a fire. It's so toasty warm when it's going. The heat feels very inviting. Like a blanket wrapping you after a long day's work.. However.. I hate waking up cold.. If you have only wood - you will wake up cold unless you wake up to feed the fire. When you get home from work it is freezing! I also do not like that very much

I think the most energy efficient heating we had was the heat pump. They are expensive though, and it was a lot of upkeep. At least for our heat pump...

Your stove doesn't go 8 hrs? Have you tried the wood blocks they sell at TS? I have a wood furnace in my greenhouse and if I know I am going to be away for 8 hrs or more a couple of them thrown in with the wood will keep the fire for 12 hrs or more.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I grew up in NE Ohio and most of my family still resides there (Carroll County), mostly in large old houses that seem to have been built before insulating exterior walls was the norm. Depending on the configuration of your house and the overall square footage, a single woodburner may not adequately heat the entire premise. We use one here in SE Louisiana for a 2000 sq foot home, but it doesn't get that cold for that long for us.

Even though most of my relatives in Ohio have fireplaces, most of the ones who live "in the country" have pretty much all installed outdoor wood or coal furnaces (free standing little metal building that pipes the heat from the wood into your existing heat and air equipment). Most of these units can be used to heat water as well as being able to adapt them to using heated flooring. These are much more expensive initially, but may be a better investment in the long run. I know they come in various sizes, one of our friends who lives in Holmes County Ohio is a break-away Amish and he uses one to heat his 6,000 sq ft home and all his hot water during the winter.

As to the rocket mass heaters, we are looking into building one for our garage and greenhouse areas. That, along with solar water heaters, is on my "to do" list. Their is a board called Permies.com that has quite a bit of information about them as well as several other useful ideas.

Oh, and as to your short term heating issues. Lots of folks up your way use the electric Ceramic Furnaces, or Amish Furnaces. They don't run your bill quite as high as most other electrical heaters. We got one called Dr. Heater off eBay that will keep up with around 600 sq feet and doesn't run the bill too badly. Also, you can make passive heaters with some pop cans (or gutter materials), wood, glass or plastic, and wood. Google pop can heaters or solar furnace and you will find a ton of information. These are installed over your windows or as larger units on the south facing side of your house. They do a fair job during the day when the sun is out, leaving your only need for supplemental heating at night.

 

[FCLady]

we use one of these... a biomass furnace to heat our home-based business building. We have a wood burner in the basement and acres of woods.
That's the only reason we haven't installed one in the house. The Superior Biomass Furnace is a multi-fuel furnace able to burn corn, cardboard pellets, agri-pellets and such diverse fuel as cherry pits.

http://www.ja-ran.com/superior.php

Superior Biomass Furnace is a multi-fuel furnace able to burn corn, cardboard pellets, agri-pellets and such diverse fuel as cherry pits.