What do you use?

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:39 pm

A little off the gun topic,but with cold weather upon SOME of us

what does everyone use to heat your homes.???????? And how is it working for you?(would you change it if you could?)

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:40 pm

Oddly enough, I use heat to heat my home...

OK, I'll go to my room now....

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:45 pm

OH BOY! Just for that I am cranking it up another 10 degrees

(ya,ya I know I am paying for it)

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:47 pm

Logs and coal us

Nath.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:04 pm

Shorts and tee shirts for us here, sometimes we have to close the windows when the wind blows.

LeverBob · Post by **LeverBob** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:06 pm

200 gals. propane & a wood stove. Use mostly the wood & cook on the stove too.

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:08 pm

Oil here. On the short list is to add a masonary heater to burn wood. I built a small masonary heater to heat my shop/office building, to work out the engineering issues. Got it sorted (it's 75 in the shop right now). A small, hot fire heats the heater, and it in turn heats the shop for several hours AFTER I shut the draft to kill the fire.

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:31 pm

I have 3 heat sources in my place. A heat pump, oil furnace and 2 air tight wood stoves. when the wood is burning nothing else is needed. I get the wood for free, just a bit of exercise which is a good thing. On not too cold days, small stove in the basement keeps the floors warm and maybe the heatpump comes on once in a while. Cold weather larger wood stove up stairs carries the load no problem. Oil comes on when the wood dies out at night and heats the house up in the morning if I'm not up early. (it is on a programable t'stat.)

dkmlever · Post by **dkmlever** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:44 pm

Our main/primary source of heat is a wood stove. I cut and store three years worth (each year is 4-5 cords) at any given time. My house is a berm house so it is pretty energy efficient. My property is enrolled in a forestry agriculture program so i have to cut XX amount each year to improve the forest health. Doing that gives me my wood source (plus I give a fair amount away each year) and it gives me ag zoned taxes lowerig my tax bill by 2/3.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:45 pm

I have a propane heater on a pilot light/wireless thermostat that I keep set about 60 and an electric space heater for each room.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:54 pm

iceman, Can you tell me more about how your heat pump works/ its costs etc effeciency?

shawn_c992001 · Post by **shawn_c992001** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:01 pm

Electric here. I mine the coal that runs the power plant so why not!?!

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:05 pm

Wood only with no 'backup'. Partly "forced-air" - convection to upstairs bathroom; forced via duct to house ends downstairs. Two-tiered intake damper with programmable thermostat to select tier. Furnace is not "jacketed" because I didn't like consequent overheating and warpage of furnace if electric power failed or blower motor went out, but block-walled, steel-ceiling room itself serves as the jacket, with metal fire-door mounted so that lower half of door serves as grille to allow air return. Sprinkler system in furnace room, along with two independent smoke and heat detectors. Triple-wall stainless chimney surrounded by 'closet' with steel walls from furnace room ceiling to roof.

We re-gasket the furnace every few years so it is tight enough you can literally choke the fire out with a shut damper, so it isn't unusual to go 36 hours between furnace 'feedings' most of the winter.

Works just fine....

P.S. the 'overkill' as far as safety is partly due to my own OCD, and partly due to some idiot at the insurance company telling us that they couldn't insure homes heated with wood, because they were too 'fire-prone'. My goal then became to have a furnace room fire-proof enough that you could basically just pile firewood in the room and light it - woodburning furnace 'optional'... They 'inspected' our installation and insured us without any hitches.

NonPCnraRN · Post by **NonPCnraRN** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:10 pm

I use a natural gas furnace here in CA. I have a fireplace I have never used as it draws more heat out than it provides. One of these days I will get a gas firelog that with modern design will actually add heat. Of course every time I have enough money for the firelog it mysteriously disappears for a leverized contraption designed to burn small amounts of smokeless powder and send copper or lead projectiles downrange. Also because of CA clean air regs using a wood stoked fireplace is more restrictive than owning a firearm, if you can believe that. They even passed a law that will limit the size of a TV you can buy. When people complain about intrusive government I just smile and say welcome to the club. Ironically, there is no ban in the summertime so I burn wood in a firepit on the deck. It is the closest thing to a campfire a lot of my neighbors have ever seen. Sad. Very sad. I also found some incense sticks that must have fir tree pitch in them because when you light them the house smells like a campfire built of fir limbs. It reminds me of campfires in the Sierras.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:16 pm

Kerosene in a MPI Monitor 441 heater. Have a wood stove we use occasionally (burn juniper) and an electric house furnace that we sometimes use too -- mostly when the temperature is in the low teens and below 0ºs to keep the underside (crawl space)of the house warm so as not to have the plumbing freeze.

I like the wood stove the best but don't like to cut wood so we use it as a backup.

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:20 pm

Well, we live in a tiny little cabin up in the woods with no electricity even. So for us, its a wood stove only. We also heat our water with wood.

2x22

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:31 pm

2X22 wrote:Well, we live in a tiny little cabin up in the woods with no electricity even. So for us, its a wood stove only. We also heat our water with wood.

2x22

When the stuff hits the fan, Now you guys will make it fine! and also I think Doc AJ will be fine too!

O.S.O.K. · Post by **O.S.O.K.** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:38 pm

electricity = when we actually need to heat the house. Usually the sun is heating the house and I have to use electricity to cool it.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:44 pm

MoDocEd reminded me: I have a decent Kerosene heater, too...It's just that the fuel went up to 4 something a gal, IF you could find it, and that's when I started using the space heaters. The kero will heat the whole house, real warm, on about a gallon a day but it's a PITA to keep lighting it and putting it out every hour or so.....

76/444 · Post by **76/444** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:08 pm

Arizona desert sun,... and for the few hours of cold mornings, a dozen or so time a year, a couple of capsules filled with cayenne pepper with my morning coffee.

wm · Post by wm » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:19 pm

Currently a combination of electric baseboard heaters and natural gas fired forced air furnace. Eventually I intend to add a wood burner and solar units and a wind turbine. My plan is to be independent of any one source so in the event of a disaster I could get by no matter what was available.

You can't take winter time heating for granted in Northern Michigan. Over night temps below zero are to be expected Dec through mid march.

Wm

mklwhite · Post by **mklwhite** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:22 pm

Propane (ventless) fireplace and a heat pump.
Northern Arkansas doesn't get too cold for more the a few days at a time and even then it seldom gets too cold.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:06 pm

Natural gas. I won't ever have any other type of heat again. I've had electric furnaces and wood stoves to supplement, but IMO there's no comparison with NG. Burning wood is more work than I care to do anymore and electric is just too danged expensive.

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:42 pm

Wood the past four years. Oil this year as the house is for sale and wood is messy. www.88unadillaave.com

Rimfire McNutjob · Post by **Rimfire McNutjob** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:55 pm

Heat pump. Of course, it doesn't run much down here.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:39 pm

house has a heat pump, but living area uses a gas fireplace that works very well. On my boat, I have an electric heater.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:31 pm

Here today this morning it was 25 degrees.My part time place I put in a Newmac Oil/Wood Combo furnace. That does a good job and wood is right there(but it is a lot of work)That place is tight (R40 ceiling/R19 walls/Anderson argon thermos etc.)Its almost too tight.Now the other place is a year built 1890 14 room/high ceilings/older tall narrow windows(32)and it has a Oil Furnace.If using just that and keeping it at least 68 degrees it takes at least 1000 gallons a year.When the oil was getting high couple years ago I used a Pelonis disc furnace in the dining room(kind of cheating because that is where the thermostat is.So the furnace only used 530 gallons but you have the extra 70@electric only for those 5 months($350)but better than extra 500 gallons of oil say at $3-$4 @gallon.Last year I bought a Harman P38 wood pellet stove.So last year I used the Pelonis till Nov 6,(1 month)$70 and 3.5 ton of Hammer Pellets@$200 a ton and used 40 gallons of oil.so $70+$700+$90 = $860
I just started that Harman yesterday and with these temps it runs 34hrs on 1 bag,Probably will move back to the other place next year(tired of paying $280 to hunt on my own place etc)So I might put one of those up there???Wife thinks that's a waste because we have a lot of woods.But up there I might use say even 3 ton(that a area of 4X8x6high)thats it.wrapped and nice and bagged.Dont know if it is worth cutting all the wood for the Newmac???Even when it is cold 1 bag a day and clean it(20mins)every 3-4 weeks???
Its just interesting what every one uses.In the winter at the other place I use a Pelonis furnace set at 50 degrees from now till end of March(drain the pipes and add RV antifreeze to the drains/toilets? Hey you have to go the the bathroom then up there go in the woods or in the grass(no one can see ya)

Dont trust the furnace when not there, oil gun/nozzle could plug and dont want the house possiblt sooting up or going way cold!I have a special dedicated electric line to the Pelonis and it sits in the middle of the hardwood floor in dining room on a cermaic 4x4 slab.It works very well for that so far.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:14 am

Natural gas, and wood when we are allowed to burn it, provides the small amount of heat needed to warm our home. We have a catalyst insert in the old fireplace, but many days are no burn ones. Our gas bill runs as high as $25 during the months when then temp falls into the 30s overnight. Gas runs the water heater, central heat, and the range. All else is electric, the bill for which might reach $70.

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:30 am

Madman4570, My heat pump is an older Lennox I bought when I worked for them. It is basically a reversable refrigeration system. In the summer it removes the heat from inside the house and puts it outside. In the winter it removes the heat from the outside air and puts it inside. There is a good amount of heat availabe in outside air. I turn mine off at around 15 deg. F. In theory you get approx 2 to 3 times the energy (heat) than what was consumed (electricity) to run the pump. The most critical part of the system is the air ducts. If not sized right performance suffers. My electronic t'stat watches performance of the heatpump and decides if the oil furnace is needed or not. If I remember right it is looking for a 1degF change in room temp in 10 or 15 minutes if that doesn't happen it is cold out and it brings on the oil. Hope that helps.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:23 am

Up here in Central Maine, I burn mostly pellets, with oil as a backup and for hot water.
I'd like to get rid of oil entirely, but the propane hot water setup isn't cheap. Most of the
oil I burn now is for hot water. The pellets heat the house beautifully; the only complaint
I really have is that it does dry the place out a bit. Those little ceramic space heaters
are very efficient at taking the chill off of a room, too.

I heat the garage with wood. Mostly I heat with deadfall and old pallets, although I am
thinning out some of the trees on my land, too. Maybe a cord or two a year to do the
garage.

No burn days?! We'd have an armed revolt in Maine if they ever tried that up here......

-Stretch

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:28 am

Electricity, it's cheap and easy. I used wood for years.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:42 am

stretch, which make pellet stove is yours? How many ton do you use(I use a tad over 3 ton)

76/444 · Post by **76/444** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:58 am

stretch wrote:Up here in Central Maine, I burn mostly pellets, with oil as a backup and for hot water.

The pellets heat the house beautifully; the only complaint
I really have is that it does dry the place out a bit.

-Stretch

For the dryness, get yourself an old fashioned tea kettle, one of the large ones, and just fill with water and leave it on the heater.

dr walker · Post by **dr walker** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:09 am

No heat neccesary down here. We only had one freeze last winter.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:12 am

dr walker wrote:No heat neccesary down here. We only had one freeze last winter.

YA/ YA/ YA/ rub it in!----- dr walker

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:16 am

We use a Monitor 441 (burns #1Diesel) and a Glacier Bay wood/coal stove. The Monitor will heat our home by itself till it gets to about 40 below. Not bad considering the square footage.

When I am not on the road, I keep the woodstove going so I have a place to set the pot-o-beans

Not many things more comforting than a woodstove with a Dutch Oven sitting on top!

My well and water system is located in the same room as the heaters so we are pretty bullet proof when it comes time to hunker in and wait out the cold snaps, even if we loose power.

I am constantly dragging home wood it seems. I never seem to go hunting but go woodcutting with the rifle along. Better MoJo thataways.

I drag home a truckload of lump coal from Healy now and then and use it when it hits the minus fifty and below mark.

My best, keep the tootsies warm and the bean pot going,

Scotty

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:19 am

Okay,

After hearing that I almost feel like how dr walker feels about the cold??

Holy Cow!

44magHunter · Post by **44magHunter** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:50 am

We use a good ol' wood burnin' stove.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:00 am

44magHunter wrote:We use a good ol' wood burnin' stove.

MADE-- IN THE GOOD OL' USA/ FUEL-- MADE IN THE GOOD OL' USA/ PROVEN-- IN THE GOOD OL' USA!

I LIKE YOUR STYLE!

Paladin · Post by **Paladin** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:28 am

On the farm we have natural gas as I got lucky enough to buy a place with free gas so heat, water heater and barn is heated with gas. House in Charleston has natural gas with heat pump put in last year while I was in the sand box, ovens are electric, water, and stove is gas.

2X22 · Post by **2X22** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:35 pm

madman4570 wrote:When the stuff hits the fan, Now you guys will make it fine! and also I think Doc AJ will be fine too!

That is the plan!
2x22

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:43 pm

You fellers oughta see the pre-heat systems for my vehicles. Got cords hanging out the front as big as the electrical service wire. In times of no electricity I use the ol stovepipe and propane weed burner. Works good till minus 40 when the propane gells. Even a Herman Nelson type space heater has to be pre-heated in the house in those temps.

Some days it is hardly worth it to attempt to do anything but get enough wood inside to pre-heat it enough to burn

pharmseller · Post by **pharmseller** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:13 pm

Heat pump using hydro electricity.
Pacific Northwest and all.

P

meanc · Post by **meanc** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:25 pm

Down here in Florida we just turn off the air conditioner.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:01 pm

Wood for heat and a wood cook stove and kerosene lamps for back up if the grid goes down. danny

horsesoldier03 · Post by **horsesoldier03** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:14 pm

Man, its NOV already and I still had the AC on today. My house keeps a good temp most of the time and is pretty friendly on my gas / elect bills. Mainly we use just the regular furnace. In the event that doesnt get it done I have an oil filled space heater that does an awesome job and is also economical. In the event of NO ELECTRICITY, I have an 8K generator which can be hooked up to my fuse box and a kerosene heater.

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:48 pm

Ele. heat pump down to 30 degrees then the propane kicks in.
Also have a wood burning fireplace and a wood pile that's
50' long and 6' high.

jb

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:24 am

I prefer not to use any heating or air conditioning, and one of the joys of living in Southern California is you rarely need to use heat. I have it pretty good in that my neighbors like to use heat so my apartment is warmed up from their heat.

Two or three times a year it gets cold enough for me to roll out my handy electric oil-filled radiator. Those things are great, mellow heat, not like space heaters, and even on the lowest setting will gently warm a big room all by itself.

When I lived in San Diego my apartment had no A/C, and the heater was a little thing stuck in the wall that had less power than most blow-driers. Yet it was enough for the occasional overnight chill (defined as anything below 60 degrees).

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:09 pm

Right at this moment it is 7 degrees with NW winds at 30mph(Gusts over 40mph)
That little Harman P38 is set to about 2.8 (goes to 6)
Using one bag per 24hrs at this rate.How can you beat that.
Sure beats hauling wood. So far this year have only used 40bags

Stove cleaned once on 12/26 had about 3 qts of ashes,that's it.

Well, 1.3 hours later it's now 80 inside,dialed it back to 2.3

Wonder what it would do on 6 ???

Rexster · Post by **Rexster** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:23 pm

Puppy dogs. I used to call one the "bottle doggie" because she was like a portable, self-heating hot water bottle.