Wood stove add ons..any one have one from TSC

[Buster]

Charlie- I believe around here if you cut the trees down yourself you have to get a permit but if you are just getting dead fall you can haul it off. I will have to make sure before I go get it but it seems like a good plan.

The river bottom stuff is all free because it's private. Cottonwood isn't the best stuff to burn but there's lots of it and it's free.

 

[wilds of pa]

Buster is cotton wood soft type, i dont think we have cotton wood here in pa were im at..lots of maple & red, white, pin oaks, yellow birch, box elder, dog wood, black gum which is a real pain in -- and a few other types..

Charlie

 

[Buster]

Yes, cottonwood is a soft wood. It doesn't burn really hot and has a moderate amount of ash. But, if you have enough of it, it will keep your house warm all winter. Easier on my chainsaw too.

 

[HobbyChickener]

My hopes with out out door version is because they are water driven I can split one out and heat my shed too! Nothing like a warm place for cold beer and football in the winter!

 

[geareduplyn]

Charlie, I'm going to weigh in here since I have heated with wood my whole life, plus I was once a semi big time fireplace insert, and woodbuning stove manufacturer. I see no reason why you couldn't heat your house completely with one of the TSC furnaces if you have the wood. When I was young (along time ago) wood fired furnaces were common in the Midwest. There was usually a wood storage area in the basement where 4 or 5 cords could be stacked because these things would really suck up the wood. Except for well below 0 weather we usually took care of the fire twice a day. As to cottonwood, it and Box Elder are two of the worst for heating. With todays better insulated houses and more efficient wood burning furnance designs wood heating is a very viable way of heating if the Air Pollution people will leave you alone.

 

[Darin115]

I have a outside water stove. It is made by Hicks in Mt Airy, NC. It was the best money I ever spent. It is located 75' from my house in a shed and the hot waters pumps underground to a heat exchanger in my duct. The return fans blows thru the heat exchanger and heats my house. It also heats our hot water. We never run out of hot water.

I paid $4000.00 for it new and installed it myself. It took 2 days to install but was not much trouble.

Before my power bill was $350 each month in the winter. Now it is around $125.00. It paid for itself in 3 years.

If you do not like to cut wood you should not consider buying one. I enjoy it and it gives me something to do after deer season goes out and before fishing starts.

Some people frown on this type of stove. They say they are not efficient and cause too much smoke. I am positive it does not make too much smoke. No more than a chimney in a house. My buddy has one in town and has neighbors close. He heats his pool in the Spring and Fall and also his house and hot water. If it had excessive smoke his neighbors would complain.

I burn about the same amount of wood each winter now as I did in my old house with a wood stove located in the living room.

If I go out of town I simply turn down the thermostat for the stove and turn on the heat pump thermostat. I will build a fire in the stove so the water will stay hot and will not freeze. The stove holds heat for a very long time if it is not in use. I have never had a problem with it freezing.

Darin

 

[HobbyChickener]

Darin

Do you have any dislikes for the model you have? How much space are you heating with it? How big of a peice of wood will it hold?

 

[rooster0209]

There are a few people around here who have the outside woodstove version and they love it. One guy heats his whole house and hot water with the wood stove. When he built his new house, he used the same thing. He wouldnt change it at all.

If it werent for the constant chopping of wood, DH would go that route. We have thought of a corn stove for the living room. Or even a small wood stove

 

[wilds of pa]

Thanks for all the input all

box elder is from or should i say in the maple family and you can actually tap that type of tree for making maple syrup. However i don't tap it or the birch which is also tappeable..I cut them down and burn them..

i try to follow guide lines on how to manage my small forest..what trees to remove and what not to..

I know for the outside type furnace here in the township we live in they now passed a law on them, you must have approval from the township to put that type in here.

everybody using the outside type, do you have an alternate way of heating water or must you keep wood going right through the summer months??

Darin how deep did you dig down to bury your piping etc on the job..our frost line reg is about 4 ft under..

Charlie

 

[Darin115]

My house is 2200 square feet on the first floor. I also heat my basement with it as well. It is also 2200 square feet. I have the 1000 gallon version and it really has no trouble at all keeping it at 72 degrees or whatever I set the thermostat on.

I typically build 1 fire each day. I build it at night. I can build 2 each day but it is pretty much wasting wood inless it is very cold or my wife washes clothes in hot water.

I do not remember the overall size of the fire box. It will take wood up to 36 inches long. I split my wood with a wood splitter and split up some that is small and some very large pieces. The large pieces burn longer. I place a few small pieces on the bottom and fill the remaining space up with larger pieces. It will burn green wood or dry wood. It really does not have a preference. In the Summer I built 1-2 fires a week to keep up with hot water demand. I burn cardboard, scrap wood my FIL gets off of job sites. Whatever I have laying around. Pretty much anything can go into this thing. My buddy works at a saw mill. He delivers dump truck loads of scrap wood and dumps them in my yard. Most of it is ends off of rough cut lumber. Works great in the Summer, Spring and Fall. Also good to start fires.

I would not heat with anything else. You can actually feel warm air coming from your vents instead of cool air from the heat pump. It is just as warm as gas heat and much much cheaper. The mess is away from your house and god forbid if you ever have a fire you will not have to worry about burning your house down. No bugs or ashes in the house either.

If mine went bad today I would order another immediately.
My wife's entire family heats with them. You can also hook up solar panels to them as well. I do not have them though.


Darin