Fire wood in?

squerly

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Everyone got their firewood in? I've got to finish stacking what I have but I think we're ready. Was a mild winter last year, sure wouldn't mind seeing a replay!

Note: Just looked at my picture and realized that for most people this wood looks to be a little large. We have an outdoor wood boiler so we use a little larger cut than most! :)
 

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squerly

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Ha, yeah it looks like a bunch but the dragon has a healthy appetite when it starts getting cold. Hungry little rascal. But wood is free around here. Well, except for the time it takes to harvest it, cut it, haul it, stack it, etc. (The term "free" is subjective, lol.)

I don't mind though, at 65 it keeps me fit, a project that seems to grow in difficulty as the years go by. :)
 

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squerly

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Looks like it's gonna be -3 here tomorrow! Might be time to toss a couple of logs on that fire!
 

Doc

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Yeah, I'd say, toss a few more on there. Brrrr.

How are you liking the outdoor wood boiler? So do you have hot water heat with radiators and all? Is this supplement or 100% of your heat?
 

squerly

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Liken it fine Doc. It's the primary source of heat as well as domestic hot water. We installed a heat pump at construction time but that was primarily for resell. The next guy might not enjoy cutting wood as much as I. :wink:

No on the radiators, we installed radiant heat tubing in the floors so the OWF heats the water and then pumps it through the floors, keeping the house at the perfect temp. No sound either, it's completely silent.

We also have an indoor wood stove should the OWF break down. I've used it a couple of times and it works well but as with all wood stoves, it's warm next to the stove and cooler the farther away you get. And... you have to haul wood in and deal with the mess. And... you have to clean the ash box. And..... well you get the idea.

Can't beat the outdoor wood furnace. Provides lots of heat and all the mess stays outside.
 

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Doc

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Sounds awesome. I'm considering adding an outdoor wood burner for auxiliary heat. I have plenty of wood available. We have free gas for the time being. Hoping that lasts 20 more years but one never knows.
 

bczoom

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I thought about an outdoor wood burner but nixed the idea when talking with friends who told me how much wood they eat.

It's about -8° here right now. Both indoor wood stoves are running and are maintaining the indoor temp but not rising it.

To keep the mess down, I use 18-gallon Rubbermaid tubs to haul/hold the wood. Fill them (I keep 8 of them in play) outside the back door where I have the trailers full of firewood. Bring them in and set next to the wood stoves. About 95% of the debris stays in the tubs when handling the wood and putting it in the stoves.
 

squerly

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OWB's burn what is necessary to meet your house's needs. For instance, if you have -0- Southern exposure and your house is poorly insulated, then yes, the boiler is going to eat a bunch of wood to keep the house warm. On the other hand, good insulation and some natural help from the sun and your furnace won't have to eat as much wood.

I burn 5-6 cords of wood a year, maybe a bit less. My furnace burns almost 12 months out of the year but for 6 months of that year, it's just idling enough to meet our domestic hot water needs.

I know some people in Canada that burn that much in a month though! So to each his own, it works great for me! YMMV

Great idea on the plastic tubs!
 

bczoom

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If any of you are considering the Rubbermaid tub route, make sure you get the soft plastic ones. The hard plastic ones shatter pretty easily in low temps or if you toss the wood in the tub as opposed to setting it in gently.

Our temps for last week and this coming week are really cold. High in the teens if it even gets that high and lows between 0 and -15°. When you have temps like that in the winter, you do go through a lot of wood...
 
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