Another survey--do you heat 24/7, 100% with your wood heating stove or OWB ? Or, the delta difference "up from" the central furnace set at say 65 F ? And, what is your wood heater....how do you like it ? Inconvenient truth about us : Two wood stoves in two 'wings heating 24/7, maybe 99 % of the heat. One part of the house has a thru-the-wall LP space heater. The other wing a row of electric, hydronic, oil-filled baseboard heaters installed just last Fall for our elder status, just in case. ( We didn't like the air blown heat of mini splits and the $$$ ). Total cords ( real ones ) used is ~ 6-8 cords harvested from the woodlot each year ( Red/Soft Maple, Paper/White Birch, White Ash ). The Birch is scored thru the bark before butt stacking for Spring splitting. What do you have ?
Two stoves, main living area has an insert burning wood 24/7 from October to March. Keeps the house comfortable for most normal winter days (lows around 20°F, highs in the mid 30s). For the cold spells there is a 2nd stove downstairs, multi-fuel. If a short cold spell is expected I burn wood in it. For extended cold spells I use anthracite coal. Nice thing about the coal is that I only have to tend to the stove once or twice a day. If I'm away for the weekend I can set it for a low burn and it will keep the house above 60°F for a few days. If I leave the 2nd stove burning during normal winter days the house gets too warm and uncomfortable. The boiler is set for 62°F just in case I get stuck somewhere unexpectedly. I fire it up once a month just to make sure everything is functional. If the cold spell is going to stay below 0°F for more than a day or two I will also fire it up once each night. This warms up the pipe chase to prevent any freezing in the ceiling of the un-heated garage under the house. I burn about four(4) full cords each season, mainly red oak or hard maple, and about 40 pounds of coal a day when the 2nd stove is in use. KaptJaq
100% OWB. Heats house and domestic water. Starts usually in Oct and stops in mid May at latest. Also have NG forced air furnace for before/ after OWB is in use. Also, have el dorado (drolet) stove in basement for those below zero times that you just want to sit beside a fire! Cottage has Englander stoves; a NC-13 in cottage and a NC-30 in garage. Yeah, typical Yooper here-the garage is larger that the cottage!
After several evolutions/iterations, we're now using an HE nat gas FA furnace and our 30NC split about 50-50. This month will probably be closer to 80-90% wood though. Nat. gas HE FA furnace in the shop/pole building kept about 40-45 most of the time. This is the first year doing that as a test to see if I can/want to afford it.
24/7 burning in my Pacific Energy T5 as supplemental heat, I keep my natural gas furnace set to the mid 60's. Given the layout of my house (split level) and stove location, it's pretty much impossible to heat it with the stove only. Sometimes I still get bummed at my normal gas bill even with 24/7 burning, but then I remember those same bills prior to the stove. Not only was the lower part of the house hardly livable (if the upstairs thermostat was at 67, downstairs would be about 57) but there's hardly any duct work heating it anyway. Now the whole downstairs is kept an easy 70+ degrees and the furnace isn't straining itself.
24/7 with HotBlast furnace hooked into ductwork...in basement utility room near propane furnace..(set at 62*). Started last fall in November. When winter really gets cold -10s and below in January and February, will start the Dutchwest in main living area. So two woodburners choochin along. Yes, lots of wood burnt and lots of reloads, but 77* inside temp when outside is way below zero...Priceless! Last time gas furnace ran, (that I know of) was between Christmas and New Years ....we were in AZ for a week.
1 wood stove per my signature. 100% wood heat when it's below 32 F out. Otherwise I'm wasting good wood by opening doors and windows. usually around 80F inside when stove is running.
100% heat our house with wood and have been like this for 40+ years. Cut all the wood on our own place. Burn from 2.5 to 4 cord of wood per year. Have probably 4 years worth of wood on hand cut, split and stacked. Heating plant is a Woodstock Fireview which is a soapstone stove. A rock! Keep our house around 80 all winter long. Do we like it? Well, is the Pope Catholic? Does a bear .... in the woods? Is the ace of spades black? Does water run downhill?
I can’t give a good percentage 65-75% wood heat from the quad insert. The rest is natural gas furnace. 50 and below we burn and it keeps the entire house in the 70’s. Had additional insulation blown in the attic last year and it made a huge difference. Over 50 outside and it just gets too warm inside not to mention the amount of wood that thing consumes already over 3 cords for the year and the majority of that has been black locust. 6 cords last year but it was a strange year where winter didn’t end until basically May.
Wood stove in basement, mini pellet eater upstairs in LR. Which hasn’t been used but maybe a 1/2 dozen times this year.
The house is 100% wood heat from the Ideal Steel we installed a year ago to replace our old stove. Do have an electric oil radiator in pump room to keep pipes from freezing when temps fall below ~10°F House is small, but inefficient as it's cinderblock with virtually no insulation. Even so, it was 83°F in living room when I went to bed, and 76°F @5AM Fuel oil furnace runs extremely infrequently, mostly to make sure it still works
100% wood heat, switched from owb to Ideal Steel this year and loving it. Gone through less than half the wood, (probably a third of owb consumption, actually) and the house is mid 70s all the time instead of 66. Also allows the wife to get back into the rotation with the smaller splits and indoor stove - she hurt her back a few years ago and I wouldn't let her touch the owb after that except in a handful of emergency situations.
I've been 100% wood for 6 years now. 24/7 Oct thru March or so. House is an old farm house, not insulated well and electric baseboard. I can't afford to run the baseboard. Stove is a Woodstock AS. Truth be known, I am not 100% satisfied with it. My old non-epa stove heated the place a lot hotter, but had a healthier appetite. Still have that stove and it may go back in. On track for a 4 cord year.
100% wood heat for shop & house. EZ Boiler Pro & 3 heat exchangers. Vent less propane backup in the house for emergencies. Temp is whatever stats are set to. Have burned 7 cord so far. Shop takes a lot of heat during daytime hours due to doors up & down all day getting cars in & out.
100 % wood heat for house & shop. Ideal steel in living room & homemade Garn boiler in shop. only wood I burn is hedge.
