Wood stove heat

Dang squish, you guys light up early. I'm at least a month and a half out from that. Even then it won't be every day
 
We may turn around here temp wise and I won't have to burn for a bit again. As it is it'll just be a few hrs a night for now, otherwise the damn furnace is kicking on. My dad is to blame, I can actually hear money burning in the natural gas furnace when it lights off.
 
It seems natural gas is so cheap now that even though I have lots of wood it is more expensive to split it and stack it than just turn on the furnace. I love wood heat but economically it doesn't make as much sense as it did a few years ago.
 
Squish, an earlier post of yours has me curious. What's the logic that pellets should be free? Are you just saying that firewood is so much better?
 
It's 44 here in McCall, Idaho...I'm parked in front of a free wi-fi, whilst uploading images from yesterday. Sunrise isn't fabulous so Im not missing much. Forgot and left the inverter on all night, charging my electric cooler and two camera batteries all night. lucky I have two batteries--the truck barely started. i could use a fire, but none are too be had...well besides firing up the backpacking stove or turning on the engine....on my way in a few as soon as the last images upload to facebook.

Here's the pics https://www.flickr.com/photos/rbtree/albums/72157674043861736

On my way home from the Boise ISA conference and TCC...Some of those images are here.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rbtree/albums/72157672721921910
 
woodworkingboy said:
Squish, an earlier post of yours has me curious. What's the logic that pellets should be free? Are you just saying that firewood is so much better?
Click to expand...

Yes I believe wood to be superior and wood is free here, so that's why I'd said I'd only use pellets if they were free too. Already with my sweep business I've received calls of stuck augers and whatnot with pellet stoves. Overly complicated devices with not a lot of good service help available, in comparison to a wood stove. Free firewood permit allows you to scavenge dead wood/trees from all forest service lands up here. That's why I'm amazed at Kevin's assertion that natural gas is cheaper. Here I go get a free permit, can spend a day in the woods burning minimal fuel in a pickup and a saw and voila. Free heat, that's far superior to natural frigid gas.
 
I should point out that up here natural gas is far from cheap. I'd be staring down the barrel of $200+ a month through the winter at least. It just increased something like 12% here too, like a week ago.
 
Thanks for explaining. I think with pellet stoves, which at least over here seem to be gaining in popularity, improvements in how they work and durability will come with greater sales and competition. A friend of mine that sells stoves drops off catalogs. I'm not interested in purchasing one, but I think he likes to see his stack go down. Almost all the pellet stoves he sells are out of Europe, possibly better advancements there.
 
I've read up on a bunch of them. I see the convenience, somewhat of just loading pellets. But I'm not sold. Most I'm aware of require power and a supply of pellets. So you're tied to the grid still, and at the mercy of businesses who need to turn a profit. Totally not my thing. They gained popularity here for awhile and then levelled off. I don't service/clean pellet stoves at all. To much of the 'technology' is manufacturer specific and a well known issue for sweeps is getting called to service a pellet stove and then being told afterwards that they must have messed something up as it's not working properly. When in actual fact it may not have worked properly before the cleaning call and now you're caught up in 'fixing' it. Lots of expensive little control boards, fans, and whatnot. Not my cup of tea at all.

My neighbours who are good friends of ours just bought one, beautiful appliance. I hope it works out well for them.
 
squisher said:
...That's why I'm amazed at Kevin's assertion that natural gas is cheaper....
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Yes. Hard to imagine someone in the tree business not heating with wood. It is more than free, people pay us to take it! Plus I love wood heat.
 
Exactly!

I've fired the furnace up a couple of times recently.
Once the buffer tank is heated through it'll last us almost a week at this temperature.
Been an unusually warm fall, though.
I can still ride the BMW home from the dojo at night wearing just a jacket. Normally I'd need extra pants, a heavy sweater and have the heated handles turned on.

This is so enjoyable, I hope it lasts a while.:)
 
Squish are you still liking that PE stove? I have been trying to source one but our local dealers say they have issues and the company is terrible with warrantee work
 
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