questions on heating (wood/oil combination?)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Anyone use a wood/oil furnace? what do you think of them? we had an oil furance that died this fall,we were thinking of a 2 fuel or outdoor wood furnace{we used our 2nd chimney for a 2nd woodstove} I like the idea of having back up to the woodstoves. All the pipes are still in place for hot water base board heat,the domestic hot water has now been hooked up to an electric heater. any input would be great. Hoot any ideas?

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), December 10, 2000

Answers

Response to questions on heating

We use fuel oil as our main heat sorce, only because I"m alergic to wood smoke. Then we have propane for back up heat, space heater types, since you don't need electric to use them and third I do have a wonderful wood heater tied into current forced air fuel oil system in case oil prices get to high. I quess i'd just have to learn how to sneeze and whipe my runny eyes.

I think it's a good idea to have other sorces of energy.

-- hillbilly (internethillbilly@hotmail.com), December 10, 2000.


Response to questions on heating

Kathleen Sanderson gave us the site for a do it yourself outside furnace.If interested let me or her know.I bookmarked the site.

I'd go with the outside,for the same allergy reason, or if a furnace ,in a basement with an outside air supply, at the least.There was a huge outside Taylor available used locally,from a Mennonite greenhouse operation,but we decided it was just too big.But they liked it alot-they were just moving out of state.

We have a wood heater that we are putting in the work shop,with a short duct to the house for supplemental heat,as my solution,at this house anyway.The old house will prob. have in floor piping and the outside furnace.Keeps the wood dirt and all outside as well.So if you already have the piping,that's great.

Hillbilly-agree on having alternate heat-Here an alternate heat source to electric would be absolutely necessary,as you can be without electricity for up to a week.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 10, 2000.


Response to questions on heating

Renee! I've worked on the bifuel/multi-fuel heating systems for several years and was not impressed with the performance of'm. Wood/Propane fired, in fact. I also have been known to work on the wood/natural gas furnaces too. I've found over the years they were [at least the ones I worked on] neither great for either fuel! The gas burner was a power burner [endshot or injector] and was forever gettin clogged up with ashes and creasote from the wood burner attatched close by. If I were to do it I would get the outside wood burnin furnace and hook to your existing hydronic system and also heat your domestic water via heat exchanger connected to the outside of the water heater. Do you still have the old oil burnin boiler hooked up yet? If so it could probably be used as part of a holding tank for the outdoor furnace/boiler. If this is clear as mud email me direct and I'll try and walk ya though it. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), December 10, 2000.

Response to questions on heating

Renee, we have a Charmaster, wood/oil furnace. Has one fire box that the wood and oil both burn in. I have never had any trouble with the iol burner clogging up. They sell an adapter to pre-heat hot water also. My dad put one of these in his house about 20years ago, and it is still going strong. When we moved to NW Wisconsin, the house we bought had a 30 to 40yr old oil furnace, and it was on its last legs. The repair guy said it was in good shape, but he could not get parts if anything broke. We limped through the first winter with it heating the basement and the wood stove in the living room heating most of the rest of the house. I installed the Charmaster in the spring with the help of a couple friends. One of them also put one in his house after seeing how well they worked. He has the model that has a fire place on the side of the unit so you can enjoy that while you heat your house. I looked int the out side units, but found that they are wood hogs. They will do a good job heating the house, but from what I was told, take more wood. Drop me a note if you would like more information.

Steve

-- Steve Collins (collins@cpinternet.com), December 11, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ