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Cublover · 12-12-2011, 09:36 PM

How warm do you have to be to be happy?

If we are at 65 degrees, we're ok. Almost into winter, I've burned a cord of oak and less than 100# of propane.
Usually, I do a ton and 1/2 of coal, 4 1/2 cords of good wood and 400# propane to survive.
I'm not counting shops. Just house.
When I bought this drafty old shack, it took 12 tons of coal and Lord KNOWS how much wood, cause I burned a pick-up load per week! That got me into the high 50's.
New windows and closing off drafts has made a BIG difference!

Thomas · 12-13-2011, 05:10 AM

It would be cheaper if we used electric heat,but Mrs. like wood heat..1 1/2 cords since first Oct...Mrs. like the hose 70-75F.

**Country Boy** · 12-13-2011, 06:45 PM

I have those auto adjusting thermostats in my house (one upstairs and one downstairs) and I have them turn down to 60 by day and up to 65 when I am home. At night they go to 62. We have a fuel oil furnace and hot water heat in the house. Fill the tank (200 gallon) about once a month or every month and a half in warmer winters. The guy comes based on heating degree days, so the fill time and amount vary.

Mickey · 12-13-2011, 08:52 PM

We're keeping the house at 72 during the days and mid=60's over night. Programmable t-stat takes care of things. After winter passes, day time temp will be set back to 70 during the days.

For numerous yrs relied mostly on the pellet stove and during the middle of the winter season it ran 24/7. Only stopped it for 10-15 min about every third day to clean out the ash and clean the glass window. Here at the new place, we have a heat pump and it is a lot cheaper to run it than the pellet stove. We still like the pellet stove for it dry comforting heat.

Last week took another look at energy cost and even with finding some pellets for $165/T, the HP costs about half of the pellet costs. so mostly relying on the HP for our heat.

CL, glad I don't live in a winter climate as cold as you do. Even when we were using the pellet stove as principle heat, only use 2T/yr. House wasn't that well insulated.

**farmertim** · 12-14-2011, 04:47 AM

Sorry guys, basking in the glory of an early Aussie summer.. T shirts and shorts....

Mickey · 12-14-2011, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmertim

Sorry guys, basking in the glory of an early Aussie summer.. T shirts and shorts....

Yes, but how do you resolve Christmas during the summer?

It just seems so wrong to me.

redidbull · 12-14-2011, 03:16 PM

If it were just myself in the house 62 would be fine while at home and maybe 58 or so at night. With my Wife though it is about 68 but a night or when no one is home we do have it go back to around 58 with an electronic thermostat. We have a zero clearance fire place we use sometimes if we are going to be hanging in the living room. I have a vent to the upstairs but it does get chilly up there. We burn oil mostly but have a 2 year old furnace that is pretty efficient. Jim

**farmertim** · 12-15-2011, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mickey

Yes, but how do you resolve Christmas during the summer?

It just seems so wrong to me.

Mickey, it took a long time to get used to hot a Christmas after we came over from England in 1970 but now it is normal I guess. I must admit some of the better meals at this time of year would be fresh seafood like crayfish, prawns, oysters etc
We still have the traditional roasts and ham but many tend to go for the seafood these days..

Cublover · 12-16-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmertim

Mickey, it took a long time to get used to hot a Christmas after we came over from England in 1970 but now it is normal I guess. I must admit some of the better meals at this time of year would be fresh seafood like crayfish, prawns, oysters etc
We still have the traditional roasts and ham but many tend to go for the seafood these days..

I make a KILLER seafood salad! I usually cover the top with crayfish. That keeps the squeemish out of my bowl! They just can't get past them!

dieselman · 12-16-2011, 08:50 PM

we are having an awesome winter here,warm temps and no snow. heat our home with a outdoor hydronic furnace (wood). usually burn 6 to 8 cords per winter to heat our 1100 sq ft home built in the 70's. have diesel furnace back up and electric base board heaters to back that up. had a large wind go through the neighbours yard and wipe out all of his old maples, cut it all up and hauled it home, about 12 cords. awesome heat from this wood. like to have wood on the greener side as it burns hotter.
hope this weather stays all winter, last winter went through 3 tanks of diesel on my ihc 606 and 7ft 3pth blower, so far nothing this year!!, have a good christmas everyone and hope you have a happy and healthy new year........dieselman.

Cublover · 12-16-2011, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieselman

we are having an awesome winter here,warm temps and no snow. heat our home with a outdoor hydronic furnace (wood). usually burn 6 to 8 cords per winter to heat our 1100 sq ft home built in the 70's. have diesel furnace back up and electric base board heaters to back that up. had a large wind go through the neighbours yard and wipe out all of his old maples, cut it all up and hauled it home, about 12 cords. awesome heat from this wood. like to have wood on the greener side as it burns hotter.
hope this weather stays all winter, last winter went through 3 tanks of diesel on my ihc 606 and 7ft 3pth blower, so far nothing this year!!, have a good christmas everyone and hope you have a happy and healthy new year........dieselman.

Same to ya!

Larry in OK · 12-16-2011, 10:33 PM

I installed a wood stove this year. Haven't heated with wood since '85-'86. Mostly I'm loving it. It's a bit of a scramble getting in good dry wood but I'm managing so far. The EPA cert stoves like the wood DRY.
Next year will be a breeze but I got to get there first.

Cublover · 12-21-2011, 11:13 PM

We set a 'personl best'! We are still on the first 100# of propane! Usually, we're into the second tank by 2 weeks by now. The wood is lasting a little longer too. I guess the new windows are paying off.

hanger · 01-05-2012, 08:16 PM

We filled up the propane tank in September but haven't turned on the furnace yet.........we've been burning wood and maybe gone through a cord between the house and garage. The coldest the house has been was 65 and up to 80 a couple times. We have a burm home with 6 inch thick outer walls and black gold insulation. We built the house 3 years ago and it's very efficient..........just cooking breakfast on the kitchen stove brings the temp up 2 degrees

Cublover · 01-19-2012, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanger

We filled up the propane tank in September but haven't turned on the furnace yet.........we've been burning wood and maybe gone through a cord between the house and garage. The coldest the house has been was 65 and up to 80 a couple times. We have a burm home with 6 inch thick outer walls and black gold insulation. We built the house 3 years ago and it's very efficient..........just cooking breakfast on the kitchen stove brings the temp up 2 degrees

Cord and 1/2 gone, 100# propane tank still going!!
Before the new windows, we were on tank #3 by now and wearing sweaters.

CountryBoy256 · 01-20-2012, 09:08 AM

Well, this is my 4th winter heating with only wood heat... Back in Sept. of '07 I went out and bought a HotBlast 1557M Wood/Coal furnace, installed it, and disconnected the dinosaur oil furnace I had. As far as temps in-house go, it's odd, cause with the oil we kept it around 66-68 and was usually in shorts... Now, with the wood heat, if it's not at least 72 it seems chilly, which I blame that either on A)My mind playing tricks on me cause I worry about the wife and kids getting cold, or B) It's such a dry heat, whereas with the oil furnace we had a humidifier built into it.

As far as fuel consumption goes, every year up until this year we've done really good... almost a year ago, I got hurt at work and ended up being layed up for almost 6 months with 3 fractured vertibrea in my neck. Needless to say, I fell REALLY behind on my wood stock-pile, and as I type this, I have my truck warming up because one way or another, I have GOT to get a couple loads brought in from the woods. Hopefully my neighbor is around today so I can borrow his Kubota to get back into the woods, and just leave my truck sitting at one of the gates into the property.

**Country Boy** · 01-20-2012, 08:31 PM

If you have hot air heat, humidity will play a huge role in how warm it feels. Try setting up some stand alone humidifiers around the house and bring that humidity up. I'll bet it will feel much warmer. The moisture in the air helps to transfer the heat from the air to objects in the house (including you). That's why a guy from Colorado said our winter was colder than his even though he had colder temps. They have dry air, ours is pretty humid with all the lakes in my area.

Cublover · 01-22-2012, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Country Boy

If you have hot air heat, humidity will play a huge role in how warm it feels. Try setting up some stand alone humidifiers around the house and bring that humidity up. I'll bet it will feel much warmer. The moisture in the air helps to transfer the heat from the air to objects in the house (including you). That's why a guy from Colorado said our winter was colder than his even though he had colder temps. They have dry air, ours is pretty humid with all the lakes in my area.

We put a 1 gallon tea kettle on top of the pot belly. It helps keep moisture in the air.

mbotticelli · 01-24-2012, 08:04 AM

I've used nearly 4 cord of wood myself, can't beat the wood heat and man do I like my house warm. During the day when I'm at work it gets down around 68 degrees, but when I get the fire roaring the house tends to stay around 75! That's old school man, gotta stay warm

Cublover · 01-29-2012, 05:37 PM

Cut for 4 hours today. I have a fresh load of dead locust and wild cherry.
Just under a cord.
Drove past the DOT cop on the way home! He did a double-take! I was 12" 0ver the 16" sideboards and the snubbers were bumpin!
He would have pulled me over for a weight 'issue', but the tags on that truck have "Weight limit, N.A.!" (I LOVE it!)
The only 'violation' was the tag light is out, but it wasn't dark yet, so the lights were off.
As we were getting ready to finish, I knocked 3 large trees down and bucked them up for the land-owner, then we cleared the brush.
He wanted 'clear cut', I've since convinced him to do a selective harvest and let the nicer trees stand. By taking these ugly trees out, I found some really nice maple that are shaped well and healthy.

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