Who Else Heats with a Wood Stove?

[dennishoddy]

I heat my shop with propane and a central heat unit, but if I'm going to be out there for awhile, I'll start up the double barrel stove.
It has a propane burner in it for start-up, so I throw a gallon of wood pellets in the bottom, load it with wood and let it burn.
Bottom drum will get a dull red on occasion, but it will turn the 1200 sq ft shop into a toaster oven.
I have the stack off of it today to replace a section.

 

[nofearfactor]

I wish we did at our house here, have central units. Like Clay I have a wood pellet stove at my place up in northern CA and it works great for a small Aframe cabin with loft. Its not a big chore to maintain and keep clean, I am on my 2nd auger tho, but it works great and is pretty economical especially when youre only there 4 months of the year and stacking wood in the fall hasnt been done. You get what you pay for too, the cheaper bags of pellets suck.

 

[vvvvvvv]

Hmmm, isnt there a market for selling bois d'arc for bow making and such?

Probably. But it's also one of the most efficient heating woods.

 

[Mr.Glock]

We do. Wood Stove Insert, tied into the Central Heat System of the House. Also have a built in Humidifier to add moisture as needed to stave off the dryness that burning wood creates. Toasty and Warm when we run it.

 

[_CY_]

IMHO no self respecting prepper should be without a wood stove!!!

it's the ONLY place one has control of their heating bills. in Tulsa one still has to pay the minimum $30 per month for natural gas, even if you use little like myself. a tank of propane would last me a long, long time and be available if power went down.
been thinking of switching to all electric to avoid natural gas minimum charges ...

 

[nofearfactor]

^^^^ We bought a house in Stillwater for the kid and her 2 friends to live in while she's going to school, its all electric, all they had to do was pay their bills and maintain the place. The wife went to visit for a weekend and said they werent running the heater except at night and only when its really cold because they couldnt afford the bill. They all 3 have jobs and I know they are paying for some of their school stuff but they should be able to afford to run the danged heater. Maybe they need a wood stove.

 

[_CY_]

^^^^ We bought a house in Stillwater for the kid and her 2 friends to live in while she's going to school, its all electric, all they had to do was pay their bills and maintain the place. The wife went to visit for a weekend and said they werent running the heater except at night and only when its really cold because they couldnt afford the bill. They all 3 have jobs and I know they are paying for some of their school stuff but they should be able to afford to run the danged heater. Maybe they need a wood stove.

+100 .. get those kids a wood stove!

get hooked up with a tree trimming company and they will bring the wood to you. they get paid to haul off wood and always need a place to dump wood. just make sure you only accept Oak or other hardwoods.

but the catch is usually trunks of wood will be quite large. so you've got to be able to handle larger diameter wood, including splitting. wood is free but the labor is NOT.

keep an eye out for used Buck Stoves which has the highest resale values. naturally a new Buck Stove are easy to find at Buck Stoves, 43rd Memorial in Tulsa. they don't come up very often used but if you see one for sale .. jump on it!

 

[CHenry]

CY, not everyone is an extremist "prepper" and I would have to go a long way to find wood to cut and it would not be free. Keeping warn is third on my list if the SHTF. The fact is the world isnt going to end tomorrow and you wont have to heat your hours off grid for more than a few weeks if there is (and there always is) an ice storm or such.
A real prepper isnt worried about heating the house in bad times but rather making a fire on the go. A wood stove is not the ideal situation for everyone. Diversity is a great thing.

 

[dennishoddy]

Probably. But it's also one of the most efficient heating woods.

We have discussed this in the past If I remember right. Osage Orange/bois d'arc has the highest BTU per ton value of any wood out there.

If anybody wants some, I have 20 some acres of it. Your welcome to take any or all. Be well seasoned by next fall! I'll even help.

 

[_CY_]

CY, not everyone is an extremist "prepper" and I would have to go a long way to find wood to cut and it would not be free. Keeping warn is third on my list if the SHTF. The fact is the world isnt going to end tomorrow and you wont have to heat your hours off grid for more than a few weeks if there is (and there always is) an ice storm or such.
A real prepper isnt worried about heating the house in bad times but rather making a fire on the go. A wood stove is not the ideal situation for everyone. Diversity is a great thing.

NO way!

you really don't have to be a prepper to heat with wood, but it sure falls in line with being self sufficient as possible.
most folks that heat with wood are cheap ass like me .. wood is the lowest costs possible to heat your home.

usually wood is delivered to my house for free by a tree company that taking down a HUGE Oak nearby. tree companies love have a place they can dump huge trunks without driving all the way to the green dump. saves them $$$ in fuel and manpower being able to dump a load closeby. but you've got to have big chainsaws/hydraulic splitter to deal with rather large trunks that could be 4-5ft diameter.

a wood stove has one of the fastest pay backs of any investment, especially if you were lucky enough to find a quality brand wood stove used. problem is when a used Buck stove come up for sale, they are gone pretty darn quick.

in some SHTF situations .. your best bet would be to stick put at home, that is if one doesn't have a hiddy hole somewhere remote.
but that hiddy hole would have a wood stove!

nothing wrong with pellets as some folks just don't have the time to deal with wood. just that plain ole wood has the lowest costs of operation and is renewable.