Heating home with wood while at work.

I've burned with some pretty sketchy stoves over the years, one was a $99 Taiwanese cast iron Parlour stove that I got so red that you could almost see through it (note to self, don't load it up with apple wood).
Now with my current stove, it's so reliable that I don't worry about it at all. I worry more when I let it go out, than when it's burning.

 

I didn't turn off my central gas heater every morning before going to work.

Unlike a gas burner, oil burner, or even electric heat, a wood stove isn't going to add more fuel (electricity) to the mix if you leave it alone. Aside catastrophic failure, the stove is only going to maintain temperature or get cooler once it is loaded and the burn has stabilized. (assuming the dog doesn't turn up the air control)

Fire that you can see in the wood stove in the living room is not inherently more dangerous than an oil fire out of sight in the basement.

All of that said, your stove should be a source of not only physical warmth but also emotional comfort. If it makes you nervous to have it burning when you aren't there to watch it, it isn't anybody's business but yours.

 

Well said Bert.

 

I've never thought twice about leaving a fire unattended. But I was raised with wood as the only source of heat. I've also never had a stove that would run away with itself, nor would I.

 

Ditto, you hear every year about people going to sleep and never waking up too from gas/kerosean furnaces.

I heat wood stove only. Old earth stove 7-8 years in a row i can't keep track, with no fuel other than wood and electricity for hot water. There was one emergency this winter where I needed to leave for a for days, I wish I had fuel tanks just in case.
Maybe this summer I'll buy and install them......

 

Our wood stove is viewed as the primary source of heat for the house. 1750sq ft.

There is a brand new fuel oil burner/furnace that comes on when we are away for a few days. Thermostat is set at 57 degrees.

I have no problem with loading the stove up at night, to have a nice bed of coals in the am. We leave it lit and running is we leave for the afternoon. Been doing that at this house for 25+ years.

I feel comfortable with the setup, and burning practices. Fresh batteries in all smoke and CO detectors. I like waking up!

 

I started heating with wood 3 winters ago when I bought my house. I asked the same question on another forum because it was foreign to me out of camping in cabins. I got the all clear and have been burning overnight and while I'm away from the house. The first few nights and days away I was a little nervous. You end up getting over it.

First year was an old cast iron stove. By the second year I had a Woodstock IS and it's so controllable that I walk out of the house with confidence. I'd say most modern stoves combined with a proper set up should allow you to walk out and not look back. If you choose otherwise it's your decision. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

I've never heard any englander 28-3500's running away. That's what I'll be using. Plus you can remove the slide air control cover and turn the air 100% off of you wish. That's an option I guess.

 

I grew up with my parents burning wood. My father was an excavator-not a lot of work in the winter and my mother a homemaker. They were seldom away from the house more than a few hours in the winter.
I burned wood the first year I lived in my current home. I did not feel comfortable because, as a coach and teacher I would often be away from the house 12-14 hours at a time. I stopped burning.
My current schedule as an administrator features about the same time away. I do plan on installing an OWB for all the reasons previously listed when I build my new home.

 

Owb is the way to go if you're nervous. I can get ten hours on mine even in the very coldest weather we see here (negative teens sustained with quite a bit of wind whipping through the field) if I do my job loading correctly and keeping the thermostat inside conservative.

I'm all about getting a big indoor stove to replace this when it grenades, but the wife's best friend growing up lost her house (and nearly her life) to a negligently operated stove, so she's always been against the idea. Guess we'll have to see how it shakes out.

 

An owb is not out of the question here but I'm just wondering, why would you want to go inside after this one grenades? Is it a hassle? Burn more wood? Messy?

 

I can't speak for BigPapi but "(negative teens sustained with quite a bit of wind whipping through the field)" would be enough reason for me to want the stove inside!

 

I have had my OWB since 1998 it replaced a indoor wood furnace and previous to that I had a wood stove in the house I would not go back. I load my OWB every 24 to 36 hours unless it is below 0*F.

 

When it's cold enough, I keep my stove going 24/7. I load it before I go to work. I load it when I get home from work. When I leave for bowling, I load it. I load it before I go to bed. I reload it 3:00 a.m. (sometimes) LOL. The way my stove installed, the only way something could happen is if the fire were to roll out onto the floor somehow.

 

First thing is that I'm nervous about the ability to buy a "simple"owb fresh off the assembly line with the epa doing their thing. Aside from the actual fire box, I can make any necessary repairs to this one myself, and it is a brutally simple system. Seems that these are being eliminated by regulation in favor of more efficient - and complicated units.

The next thing is that it's simply a pig. The longer we live here and the more wood I hoard, the more dry and efficient I can make the burning, but even with relatively dry wood I'm into it for at least ten cord per year, conservatively. I know a newer, more efficient owb or gasser would help with this, but the expense and complexity might be deal breakers for us.

Lastly is simply the ambiance, if you will. It would be nice to come inside after blowing snow or otherwise working in the outdoors and warm my feet by a hot stove.

All that said, there are MANY positives to the owb that I wouldn't like to give up, and make me thankful that we have it. I can burn anything, I can regulate the heat with a thermostat, the house heats evenly, the free hot water is nice, etc.

 

Lol! Yeah, it can be a little chilly during reloads sometimes! I don't usually mind that part too much, but there have been a couple times when I thought about just firing the oil burner...

 

I use my stove as the primary heat source and I keep it going 24/7 the best I can. I reload the stove before leaving for work and when either my wife or myself get home we get it going again. I've got a fireview so it can burn for quite a while. But I also use an IP security camera pointed right at the stove, just to make sure I pulled that bypass handle up!

 

You see this will be the case for me with a wood furnace OR a owb. My basement even tho is unfinished, I have no stairs. The little lady that built my house didn't want steps to the basement. So even then, I'll have to go outside and around to the side of the house, through the basement doors to do a reload. It sucks at 6am in the snow and my yard is sloped down that way. That's why I had my mind on a owb. I don't have to have a new heatmaster G-100. There is a local place is that has built them for 40 years and they are around $2900 for a 500 gallon. One thing, they ARE NOT EPA certified. So I don't know. I heard that if you bought it before the cutoff you were ok. Anyone know?

 

There is just one area in the home but it would have to be an open hole in the floor with a hand rail and my wife shut that down lol