I switched from wood to propane NF

[jimmer]

16 hours ago, SirCranksalot said:

Here's a trick I use when cleaning out: I lite up some paper or cardboard in 1 corner. It creates enough draft up the chimney to take most all the dust with it. I don't get much dust at all when loading.

 

I'll try that!

[Sinker]

On 12/11/2017 at 4:26 PM, pics said:

I have a tree company that supplies me for wood.. They text me the address and I go pick it up. I bought a splitter from Canadian tire for a grand and so far my buddy and I have split 20 face cords.. I have a high efficiency wood insert but they don't seem to heat like a wood stove can.. Either way the gas fireplace upstairs and the insert downstairs has the house warm enough that the furnace is still turned off.. 

Thats a great contact to have. I can't seem to find one lol. 

 

S. 

[Old Ironmaker]

I have seen wood stoves and inserts in the States that have a NG burner in the unit to light the wood. I have never come across a unit like that here. Does anyone have 1?

[pics]

On 12/14/2017 at 9:17 AM, Sinker said:

Thats a great contact to have. I can't seem to find one lol. 

 

S. 

If you call the tree companies, they may have a call list that they will put you on...I will be looking for more in the new year even though I have 2 more years worth of wood....You never know when a good thing will come to an end....

[dave524]

I had a tree removed due to storm damage a month ago, they piled it on the side street( corner lot) and it was gone in 3 or 4 days with an add on KIJIJI , even though it was Willow . I had to call when it was gone and he took the add down.

[Mister G]

1 hour ago, dave524 said:

I had a tree removed due to storm damage a month ago, they piled it on the side street( corner lot) and it was gone in 3 or 4 days with an add on KIJIJI , even though it was Willow . I had to call when it was gone and he took the add down.

Good campfire wood.....

[ch312]

On 12/10/2017 at 7:47 PM, irishfield said:

 

OI, the dried limb shed pile (40' long x 6.5' high) and the 5' high x 8' long 6 rows behind a single sea can are gone.. that was last years burn! About 5.3 bush cords.

 

Jeez, we get blasted by the wind from fields on 3 sides and still only use what you have stacked at the end of the sea cans all winter. I could care less how much propane costs, if I used that much wood I wouldn't mind spending the money to heat with propane. How or why do you use so much wood? 

Last year I spent $80 on hardwood 3x3's to heat all winter and had a 3' square pile left. This year, all free trees from Kijiji and I was even paid to remove some. Those 3x3's are awesome as they're dry, clean, and stack nice and tidy while producing extremely little ash.

[irishfield]

3 zero clearance fireplaces in the house (5700 sq ft), 2 that we use and that I barely let go out and a wood stove in my 1800 sq foot work shop. As noted earlier, a bush cord of wood costs me about 5 bucks in gas/oil and chain wear .. and a lot of work that keeps me in shape. I could cut wood everyday for the next 2 months and just keep up with the dead falls and diseased trees in our hardwood forest.

[ch312]

19 hours ago, irishfield said:

3 zero clearance fireplaces in the house (5700 sq ft), 2 that we use and that I barely let go out and a wood stove in my 1800 sq foot work shop. As noted earlier, a bush cord of wood costs me about 5 bucks in gas/oil and chain wear .. and a lot of work that keeps me in shape. I could cut wood everyday for the next 2 months and just keep up with the dead falls and diseased trees in our hardwood forest.

I hadn't considered more than one fireplace being in the house. Is that 5700 sq ft the footprint of your house or total living space with all floors combined? Between cutting, splitting, stacking and moving the firewood indoors combined with maintaining said fireplaces, you're likely nearing full time weekly hours to heat the house. A lot of work, but I would hate to see the propane or oil bill if you heated that way. 

 

Have you used propane or oil to heat the house? Just curious what that amount of wood translates into one of the other heating fuels to heat for the winter to compare costs. 

[irishfield]

Oh, I have a 125,000 BTU oil furnace in the house too, wood just keeps the consumption/bill down a tad. In the shop I have an electric 6KW heater that keeps the shop at 48F (60F when I have TIG work to do) and I stoke the stove while I'm working out there and just before I quit for the day.

Combined.. 2 story + full basement that has about 45' of windowed walk out to the yard. Sure wood's a PI TA, but it's good exercise and for me at least basically free. A bush cord cut, split and piled is about 8 hours work. So a Fall/Winter's burn is about a FULL weeks worth of work on the original piling to dry and the wife has always been right there beside me piling. Once it's dried for 2 years, we put a bush cord at a time into the basement and that does two things. Adds a bit of moisture to the house and it dries the wood out completely for burning. We're about half way through our second house loading. Those go pretty quick, load the Kubota bucket from the pile, drive to the sliding basement door and re-pile inside. If we ever finish off the basement (been in the house 20 years) not sure what we'll do... lol

Fireplace maintenance to date, a door rope on 2 out of 3 for a better seal. Nothing else. We've inspected, video'd, etc the two insulated chimney's on the Napolean zero clearances and we have ZERO issues and they've never had a cleaning brush down them since installed in '96. I was on the roof last Fall with a 10 million candle power looking down both stacks to see zero creosote build up in the top 30' or so and my 12' inspection camera from the bottom showing the same. Chimney from basement is 40' long and main floor 30', both running side by side through a chimney enclosure to the last 2.5 feet of stack. Don't smolder a fire and burn good wood, and thing stay simpler. I also use a couple of the "CSL"  creosote "logs" each season that help clean the chimney.

That said, my old shop stove (that came out of my grandmas parlour in Gooderham)... I throw the 25' of chimney away about every 5 years. It goes through the shop wall and from there as soon as the smoke hits the cold pipe its creosote city!

Edited December 18, 2017 by irishfield

[Sinker]

By burning wood I save about $60/month on my gas bill. 

I'm not saving much money, but I like having a fire, and i enjoy the work cutting/splitting/stacking. There is nothing like walking into a wood heated home in my eyes. Its just a different kind of heat that I love. 

I load a bush cord at a time into my basement through a built in chute into my basement about once every 4-5 weeks, depending how cold it is, and how much I'm home. If someone is in the house, the fire burns 24/7.  I use 3-4 cords a year, mostly oak, some maple and ash. 

Gas bill right now is about $80/month with a gas hot water tank, and heating. 1500sq/ft split level bungalo with finished rec room where the wood stove is. 

S.