"Transitional" Wood Stove Heating

Peacock · #1 10/03/06, 10:38 PM

So...we've got wood. We've got a new fireplace insert. We also have a full tank of heating oil, but I have this crazy idea that I'd like to attempt to make that tank of oil last all winter. Last winter, a tank full lasted two months. That's awful! Our furnace is old and not that efficient - gosh, that's over $200 a month just for heat. Burn the free fuel, save the oil!

Also...ahem...our furnace needs a little servicing, replacement of gaskets and such...and if we don't use it...

My fireplace is in the lower level of our bi-level home. With the stove cranked up, I know that the room it's in won't exactly be the most comfy living space - it'll be summertime in Texas down there. I hope it heats the rest of the house too. We'll see. I haven't had a chance to find out yet.

Question right now is this -- if your only heat source is a wood stove (not a cook stove -- one just for heating), how do you deal with "transitional" times like fall and spring? Days when you really only need the heat from midnight to mid-morning, and then only something to take the chill off a little. Doesn't quite seem worth starting a fire, but the other option is running the furnace, and I'd rather not. I have been, though.

Do you use other options then? Electric space heaters? Propane? Just dress warmer and deal with it? And then what's your criteria for deciding it's time to load up the stove?

Bearfootfarm · #2 10/03/06, 10:43 PM

Propane is great for quick heat but you can also just build a small fire. You dont have to fully load a stove to use it. Also, using ceiling fans will make a HUGE difference in the comfort levels. Set an oven thermometer on top of your stove and it will help you regulate your fires more efficiently too

rambler · #3 10/03/06, 11:08 PM

Just a note - in your other message you indicate you have an oil 'boiler' - that is different than a 'furnace' actually, and may make a difference in the replies you get.

You don't have to fill your wood stove, just put in a little?

Start it any time you want, like an hour before bed - will give you the heat you need for the evening. Kinda cool in the morning, but start a fire early, crawl back in bed for an hour.....

Different types of options, depending what you need. It's all timing, trying to get the heat when you need it, and not too much when you don't.

--->Paul

comfortablynumb · #4 10/03/06, 11:28 PM

I dunno what your asking.. if its to cool I build a fire, if its warm I open a window....

lol

Peacock · #5 10/03/06, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

Just a note - in your other message you indicate you have an oil 'boiler' - that is different than a 'furnace' actually, and may make a difference in the replies you get.

You are correct; I should have specified this. If we had a traditional oil furnace, it would be no big deal to run it for a couple of hours to take the chill off. But as a boiler, turning it on is actually a kind of committment! You heat up the boiler, and you will have heat in the house for the next couple hours whether you need it or not. And it does take a little while to get up to temperature, it's not instant - though I have been really impressed by how quickly it does produce heat. Kind of wasteful just to make it comfy while you get out of bed and have a shower.

OH...I might also add that I'm heating 2500 sq. ft. Not a mansion, but a pretty good size space. Bi-level. Living rm/dining rm/kitchen/bedrooms above grade, family room/office half/below grade. The central stairway is the only "vent" for the exchange of hot/cold air.

MELOC · #6 10/03/06, 11:33 PM

i am embarrassed to say that this drafty old house required a tank a month last year. also, the kitchen woodstove was fired most of the time.

seedspreader · #7 10/04/06, 12:32 AM

We have an oil fired FURNACE (not boiler) and when we moved in here (February '05) we went through TWO TANKS to get us through May. Yikes, scared me (and my house ISN'T super drafty either) So I installed the Wood Burner, one that has been in our family for over 20 years. We heated the WHOLE house (1800 s.f. with about 1200 of that spread out on the first floor) with just the woodburner. Zero Dollars spent on Oil. Now that said, I did buy a new woodsplitter, but I figure it should pay for itself this winter. So yeah, I would have spent the same amount on oil, but I woulnd't have owned the splitter which is a lifetime investment.

We certainly haven't had to fire it up this year yet, heck it's only been in down to the fifties (high 40's a couple of nights) and even now, I have the overhead fan on in the kitchen where my laptop is on the counter. When it's a bit chilly, we where sweaters, always wear socks. I am HOPING to get to november without firing it up, but we shall see...

kitaye · #8 10/04/06, 05:19 AM

Sweaters, slippers, and blankets. If it is really damp inside we will start a fire and burn only one load of wood. To circulate the air we have a passive vent near the roof and an oscillating fan in the doorway.

Alice In TX/MO · #9 10/04/06, 06:30 AM

We heat only with wood, but we are here on the Texas Gulf Coast, which means we have fewer heating days than most of the members of this board.

In the late fall, if it's chilly in the mornings, but predicted to warm up, I might make biscuits for breakfast instead of building a wood heater fire. Because of our home's insulation, that's enough to warm the living areas of the house till solar heat kicks in.

There have been cold mornings that we've built a fire and then had to open a door when it gets too hot in the living room, but that's no big deal.

Our natural gas bill runs about 15 dollars a month all year round because we haven't used the central heat unit since 1980.

I do have an itty bitty electric heater in the master bathroom because it's the farthest room from the wood heater.

cfabe · #10 10/04/06, 07:10 AM

If you only need heat from midnight to morning, just throw another blanket on the bed and wear a sweater when you wake up. If you're not satsified with adjusting to the temperature, use a small space heater in the room where you need warmpth.

Last winter I was living in my mom's big drafty old house alone, I left the central heat on 50 to save on natural gas, used a lot of blankets at night, got up and off to work quickly in the morning, had a space heater blowing in me when i came home for lunch, and built a fire in the stove in the evenings to warm up the family room area. It did require a little adjustment to my normal routine, but it was either that or spend $500 a mo on gas, so that's what I did.