So we left the house on Tuesday around 1230 and came home Wednesday around 1230. In that 24 hour period the fire went out and the outside temps dropped to 26*. We have no backup heat source so obviously when we got home it was quite cold inside. The first thing I did was get a fire going but and now I feel like the house is fighting back its taking a while to get it all warmed back up I had to close off the front of the house in an effort to get some hot air to the back of the house last night. After all of this I have come to the conclusion that its time to get a back up heat source that can run while were gone for an extended period of time.
Yes, back up heat is a must. Even short periods away from home can cause problems in the best of situations. For instance, yesterday the low was supposed to be -10C. At 7:30 AM it was -19F....a huge difference. Add wind to that, and a house cools quickly. Doesn't take very long to have freezing pipes....If you are going to be away from home in the winter, backup heat is a necessity. Even if you are home, it is an insurance blanket...you can have an injury or illness that makes it hard to bring your firewood in, etc.
Minisplit. Others will have more info on these. We did something similar on Christmas eve. We left the house @ 6:00 pm, and got back Wed. about the same time. I hate using the DV heater, but my nephew stayed at the house to watch the dogs, so I turned it on the lowest possible setting. Made fire before we left, and he had fires while here. The house was toasty @ 72° when we got home. I turned it off when I got home. Temp was supposed to go down to 3-4, but went down below zero after we left. Nice to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it. Should only cost an extra $10-20 or so on the next gas bill. Maybe less.
I have two electric space heaters and a propane infrared, as back up. I haven't used them yet thank goodness.
Im thinking about a heat pump I need a new AC system and ductwork so Im looking into just getting a package with a heat pump. I have electric baseboard throughout the house but its all been disconnected and Im not about to hook it back up and run it. The first year we were here we ran a few of them and I had $300+ electric bills Im interested in the mini splits Ill have to do more research on them. Im pretty sure propane is out of the equation sonce I pizzed off the local propane company by refusing to pay rent on their bottle when I told them to come and get it they said there would be a fee for that so I told them theyre not getting any money from me and if they want the tank they can come find it on the street or at the scrap yard. They sent someone to get it a couple days later while I was at work and I havent heard from them since.
We've basically gone for well over 30 years with no backup. However, we do have 2 little ceramic heaters that we could use and did one time. They won't give a lot of heat but enough to keep water pipes from freezing. But I can see where something like a pellet stove could be handy for those times that you need to be away. Warming the house after it cooling off does take some time and the larger the home, the longer it will take because not only the space but all the objects it has to heat. When we returned from DC last month to find no electric and, of course, we did not have the wood stove going, the house was a bit chilly. But the house raised 20 degrees in temperature in a relatively short time (no, I did not time it). When we went to bed it was 70 in the house. When we got up the next morning if I remember correctly it was 75. Over the years we have found very few times that we felt a backup would really be nice but as we age, we think more and more about a backup and possibly a pellet stove might be in our future but we're not ready for it yet.
I love my wood eater, but it's a secondary heat. It really helps the Pellet furnace out by super heating the basement air and the furnace distributes it upstairs via the registers. Pellet stove is just like a furnace (or can be a furnace/boiler). The vent doesn't need to go above the roof of your house, can be installed in numerous places, keeps the house a even temp, kicks on when heat is needed, and off when heat isn't. And best of all, they can be had for cheap on CL if you look and jump on a good deal. Buying pellets is still much cheaper than LP or Oil. I was spending about $3,600 a year in LP. Switched to pellets (pellets only for about 3 years) and used about 4-4.5 ton a season. At around $200 a ton, that's $800-$900 a year or about a $2,800 savings. Now that I burn wood as well, I only burn about 2.5 ton a year and around 3 cord of wood. As long as you meet the Manuf recommended height clearances (12"-24") from the ground and clearances to windows or doors (4' in most cases. Some stoves are 18" if an OAK is used). Here is my 2 set ups. Freestanding upstairs we use in the shoulder seasons or for an added bump up in temp, furnace is used for colder weather. Here is the upstairs stove (Enerzone) and it's exhaust. The OAK is integrated into the venting. It's a 4" vent inside, and the air is drawn around it (O.D. Is actually 6") which preheats the incoming air and only leaves one hole in your wall, as opposed to 2 holes. And here is the Furnace. It has a 4" vent as well, but has a separate OAK. This is the cats meow. Dealer close to me has a close out sale on 2 of them. One used (showroom) and one brand new (old stock). I picked mine up for $2,000 on CL 3 yrs ago and it came with duct work, venting, and back draft dampers. Love it.. This one just makes clearance from ground by a few inches, but it's legal.
Dex does the pellet furnace tie into your main duct work throughout the house that the AC uses? How well does your upstairs heat Im heating about 1800-2100 sq ft? Ive been seriously considering switching out to just pellets as Ive been having a very hard time with wood collecting, splitting, stacking and getting it all seasoned properly. I know the biggest problems Im having with the stove are because of the wood but thats also the biggest problem Ive got right now.
IMO., Back up heat important . When I'm home the wood stove does the heating. Vacation time, the NG furnace keep the house at 60°. House plants survive. If I'm away & the wife has problems, she has two heat sources. NG pretty cheap here, so if she runs the furnace, that's ok. But she loves wood heat & can handle the stove no problem. Not sure if wood is my back up or the NG furnace is. Maybe neither, both are used as needed, to fit our needs. But having 2 ways to heat the house is a good feature. one works with pure man power, you have to be home to burn wood & the other is automatic for times when we're away or for some reason we're not burning wood.
Yes, the furnace uses existing HVAC and blows air through the ducts upstairs. I am heating 2,180 upstairs and my basement (thats open to wood stove and pellet furnace) is probably around 1,000. So we'll over 3,000 sq ft and the furnace does a great job. I also use the wood eater for added Umph! There are several different Manufacturers of Pellet furnaces. Some are better than others. There is also a couple freestanding units that have the ability to have a couple 4" or 5" ducts run off of them. So you get 33% of heat in the stove room and then you choose 2 rooms that you want the other 33% (x2 or 66%). For furnaces, look at the Harman PF-100, Fahrenheit Endurance, St. Croix Revolution or St. Croix 050-SCF. For freestanding (with duct ability), look at Enviro Maxx (pellet only), Enviro Maxx-M (multi fuel), Enerzone Euromax, or Drolet eco-65 (The Drolet and Enerzone are both made by SBI. The Drolet is much cheaper, and can do about the same as the Euromax.) Euromax and the Enviro Max X's are dealer only. Where the Drolet can be found in the Northern Tool catalog. (On sale for $1,999 at certain times of year). If you wanted a large freestanding (no duct), then any quality unit 50,000 BTU and above should do. Harman P-61, Harman P-68, Quadrafire Mt. Vernon, Enerzone Eurostar, Enviro M-55 (Steel or cast versions) and there is several others. Fuel is readily available and no need for 3 years worth. Any more info, feel free to PM.
I have three levels, wood, coal, & oil (soon to be natural gas). Normal around here is the wood insert. Small but I can easily get 8 hour burns. Normal winter weather it keeps the living areas in the low 70s, bedrooms in the upper 60s. If it is a really cold spell I burn wood in the wood/coal stove downstairs to help it out. Next level is the wood/coal stove. If we are going away for the weekend I load it up with coal and run it low. It will burn for 36 to 48 hours, not hot but the furnace that is set at 60° does not kick on. And finally the furnace. Other than monthly testing it has not run for heat in a couple of years. It is here if we need it. With any backup heat source it is important to test it on a regular schedule. They do deteriorate if left cold. I would not want to click on the furnace as I walk out the door for a week only to come back to a cold house & frozen pipes due to a clogged fuel filter. KaptJaq
