I grew up in the mid-west and we heated out house with wood. We had 70 acres and lots of woods. It is not free. Every fall was cutting trees, spitting wood and building wood piles for the winter. It help to build that farm boy work ethic. It was a blessing to live on a farm.
I grew up in Northwestern PA. We only had one wood pot belly stove to heat our house. Hey when I was a kid I thought 50 degrees inside was warm. Sometimes we would wake up with little snow drifts inside the house where the air leaks where. That was back in the 1970s when we were all taught in school that global cooling was going to kill us all. That and global thermal nuclear war.
Much different than the common narrative now... global warming and all that jazz. They were right though, the future of the earth is cold 🧊 Cars emissions are just plant food 🌱 haha
My dad used to tell me about waking up in the morning with hoarfrost on on the nail-heads inside the house. These Arkansas hillbillies didn't have any heating. I spent a night in a dry log cabin down-slope from my dad's childhood place and it was 18F inside the next morning. The water jugs had frozen and I was eager to get back to the farmhouse where there was warmth and hot coffee
Since I work for an HVAC company I highly recommend a regular free standing wood stove in the house. Boilers are complex = expensive to repair and replace!! Everyone should have a 2nd backup heating system that can run without electricity.
When I was about 7 years old, my mom taught us to LOVE a wood fire! Every time the power went out, we were so excited: we busted out the oil lamps and settled down in front of the fire place, mom taught us to cook simple meals & we all sat together eating & talking until it was time for bed. As we got older, she got a cast iron insert with a blower that allowed her to heat the house, but it was harder to see the fire....we eventually got rid of that. Now I live in a condo, but i'd give anything to have that experience again.
Something different but ive found this kinda intetesting to relax with. U tube teravibe midievalapothecary shop and new bliss ancient library room relaxing thunder and rain sounds.
@@dz-pg5dy I love all the ambiance TH-cam channels, from the normal fireplaces to Harry potter libraries and so on. Call me a dork but I think it's awesome all the different places or ambiances available.
@@dz-pg5dy I love all the ambiance TH-cam channels, from the normal fireplaces to Harry potter libraries and so on. Call me a dork but I think it's awesome all the different places or ambiances available.
I just had an insert installed and night and day difference. Best thing I have done to be able to have the comfort of knowing I can heat my entire house now!
My woodstove was made in 1902. Played $200 4 years ago for it. I'm 57, been heating with wood most of my life. I have always cut n split my own wood. My issues are that I don't want to denude my 25 acres so will start buying firewood. Also that due to my health I can no longer split wood by hand. And ... Bothers me that it takes 100 years to grow a tree, but only a few minutes to cut it down. I plant several trees for each tree I cut down.
I was going to say that just forest management on my 46 gives me more than enough to burn, mill and use for an occasional campfire. The forest is remarkably resilient to harvesting. Just the power company left enough for at least a year of heating. If you talk to an arborist company that works in your area they will gladly dump wood on your land.
@@hillbilly4christ638absolutely on tree service companies dropping firewood! They drop off 5 years worth of firewood in about a few weeks to a month’s time. At least… that’s what my company could so quickly accumulate.
growing up in the sixties we had a wood cook stove in the kitchen and a larger wood burning stove in the living room. after doing chores at night i would open the oven door, put a piece of fire wood in it, put my feet on it , and read a book. life was good.
I have fond memories of curling up by the wood stove in the early mornings as a kid. Looking to replace my propane fireplace with a wood stove. Propane isn't cheap anymore!
A good video. I would also note that before you install a wood stove, have a proper load bearing floor to handle the weight. Cast iron wood stoves are exyeremely heavy. Also, add stone tile flooring and walls (up to a certain height) because they are important and greatly reduce a potentil fire issue. While most wood stoves are built with double walls, they do emit heat, that could ignite certain wall and floor materials. You can cook from a woodstove.
We love our wood stove. Just installed it. It’s gorgeous and so easy to use. During a snow storm with no power it kept our house around 60-67 degrees and I cooked eggs and bacon and heated up soup on it! We have so much wood so we have at least a few years of free heating.
We have a woodstock soapstone. Been using it for 10 years, it makes winter bearable. Wouldn’t be without one. Highly recommend! Woodstock Soapstone Co.
Wood moisture is an audible characteristics. You can listen for tone when you bang it. It can be burned sooner if stored and dried properly, not under a tarp as he showed. Air circulation is critical.
This fire pit is one of a few covered pits that is on the list th-cam.com/users/postUgkxAU9pOCSV9Y5JprooHvfxTpOrt4hx8uRM of approved products for Disney Fort Wilderness. The product served its purpose well and provided excellent fires throughout the evening. We were able to open the door and do s'mores, but I had to be careful because the handle was a bit hot on occasions. Additionally, I wish they had replaced some of the standard nuts with lock nuts in some places. We lost the door handle after just a couple of days of usage. Not a deal breaker, just a recommendation. I still give it 5 stars.
Mom and dad as well as family have had wood stoves and wood fireplaces all through me growing up. That giant stone fireplace you mentioned is my favorite part of the family cabin. I’m buying my first home (rented it for years) and that’s one of the first things I intend to do is install a wood stove to help with heat costs. With gas prices as they are, I could pay off the incurred costs within 3 years and then have nearly free heat (I love wood cutting so it’s not even a chore for me). Like the video, nice job
We have had several wood stoves inserts in various houses we lived in NE USA. We have a Blaze King now and at first used it as our others for heat and ambiance. It burns so efficiently it’s best at almost a smolder with a nice glow and occasional ignition of the off gasses. I appreciate your thorough guidance.
This was the most informative video on wood burning fireplaces that I have found, especially about the HO insurance, I never would have known this, this is the first thing people should check into before anything else. Thank you very much.
I really like my 30,000 BTU Mr Heater. I have 2 propane small tanks on a regulator that will switch back and forth. My floors are warm my chair is it warm my cables alarm everything is warm was just the pilot light even when I have a pretty cold outside to use because the house is insulated pretty good and it’s a ventless system and there was already a kerosene fireplace in the house when I bought it and we changed it to Propane it’s working really great I don’t have to do anything but carry these and exchange them at the local grocery store they cost about $19 and some change to replace here in Texas really really like it oh the whole thing cost under $200 and I’ve had them on two weeks and you can’t even tell that the propane. Oh it hasn’t lost hardly anything in the tank. It’s very efficient. It has an oxygen sensor to shut it off if any issues arise. And I don’t have to buy wood or have the spiders or mud in the house walking in and outside to add wood at inopportune times. Also no cleaning out the Wood Stove. I really like the warm Heat
Sat down with my State Farm agent this morning. Provided him with documentation concerning the stove that I want to purchase, plus information concerning the dealership that’s working with me, and who will also be responsible for the installation. Two things were very positive to him; the fact that the stove will be my secondary source of heat, and it’s being professionally installed. He was perfectly fine with the project. He did specify that they require protective flooring around the stove. Otherwise, State Farm was ok with what I’m doing. He did say that he’ll need to inspect the project upon completion. I’m in south Mississippi.
Insurance companies, ever-stricter codes, and the false Church of the Climate Crisis (the first two will be tools of the third one) will take away all woodburners soon enough.
I had the exact same stove that you're sitting rather kneeling beside and it worked miracles. In the early 1980s it cost about 1200 dollars I managed to drop my gas heating bill up in Indianapolis Indiana from about $150 down to $32 in the middle of winter so it was definitely worth it. At the time it still was quite expensive but I got it was never disappointed that it was airtight I could adjust the flame which I did and of course if you use hardwood good hardwood and your justifying you can make the fire last all night. In a previous house I had a wood burning fireplace small and it was used not for heating but for the ambience and for romance. When I got the wood stove it was incredible I was able to open up the front and have basically a fireplace if I wanted it I could close it it would be airtight and also attach a blower system to it cuz it had that tubes that went through. Also the pipe inside my house from the stove up to the chip insulated pipe was single wall so it dissipated heat into the atmosphere at my house too
Great video. Very clear and simple to understand for new wood users. One observation is that most, if not all the new 2020 EPA certified stoves do not have a rear vent application. But a lot of products allow a minimum rise of 2 feet off the stove top before exiting the home. This allows you to have a clean out on the outside of the house. Rule of thumb is to use 2 x 45 degree elbows instead of a 90 degree elbow. Also make sure your outside chimney is well insulated. New stoves are so efficient they leave very little heat to warm the chimney system. So a good well insulated chase is more efficient and a lot better looking. Great video keep up the good work.
@@HealthAndHomestead You will be glad you don't have a rear vent. I've been heating with woodstoves my entire life and the best installs, if your room allows for it, is straight up to the chimney cap. No bends. Less smoke spillage, better draw, less creosote. This is especially important with more modern woodstoves. If you are burning seasoned wood properly, you won't get enough creosote each year to worry about. Of course, as you pointed out, it can build up really fast too but that is a sure sign you are doing it wrong or your stove or install is defective. A straight install has the added advantage of being able to use a bright flashlight to inspect it. If it's clean as a whistle, no reason to sweep it. A good install with good wood can heat years of burning all winter long with no cleaning necessary. I was heating with a 1980's EPA woodstove and going through 3 cords of wood/winter. I switched to a Blaze King catalytic and, using the same types of wood, my consumption dropped to less than a cord/year. And the house stays more consistent temperature. With the old stove the house would go from too hot to too cold and I would need to build up to three fires a day. Now one fire is still burning 24 hours later so I don't have to re-light it. I just rake the coals to the center and fill the firebox again. Once/day. This is with low btu softwoods.
@@ZipZoomZip I'm considering a blaze king (king model) I'm wondering if I can have a nice, pretty fire if I want it. I know that utilizing the cat will give me a super efficient fire for many hours, but it won't be the traditional large flame that we enjoy viewing. This might be a deal breaker for my wife. If I run the stove without engaging the cat will it give me that nice fire or does that hurt the stove?
@@beentheredonethatoriginals5673 You don't want to run a catalytic stove without engaging the cat after getting a good blaze going because they are not designed for a clean secondary burn and the cat bypass is not designed to run that hot for long periods - you will burn up the bypass seal. You can get a nice fire ambiance with the cat engaged but your fire will only last two to three hours instead of 24 hours or longer. And you might get too hot. This might shorten the life of the cat too. If your primary purpose of a woodstove is to have an occasional ambience fire, I recommend one designed with a clean secondary burn in mind (non-catalytic). You still might get too hot but you won't be wearing out a catalytic converter prematurely.
I am new to this channel. I have heated with wood for 40 years. The fellow is generally informed (and well intended) however he is not completely correct on all points. FYI. Modern "cookstoves" have much larger fireboxes. I have no less that 12 stoves around the farm, and cabin. ...woodburners, cookstoves, coal, wood...etc. I know these things inside and out. Insurance regs will be be mandated by federal govt to make older ones "outlawed" ...just a matter of time
We bought an old farmhouse this year that used to have 3 pot-belly stoves for heat. They had been taken out and a fuel-oil furnace was installed in the 80’s. We figured the cost with prices so high this year that we would be spending $800-$1200 per month to heat out home. That’s just way too much. Bought a wood burning stove and put double-walled pipe up the old chimney. We have 5 acres with plenty of free firewood. Thank God took care of that problem.
It seems to warm me many times. All those times and then some more. Dragging it from one area to another. Stacking. Bringing it to the house in a wheelbarrow. It is the heater that just keeps heating:)
I went over 20 year without having to clean my stove pipe. Just always burn a hot fire. Now you will have to replace stove pipe about every 15 to 20 years. But that was also burning everyday from October to April every year. I burned over a cord a month of wood.
I love heating with wood, my uncle used to heat with wood when I was a kid. Hell I loved splitting and hauling the wood also. Something about the smell and visual effects that always calmed the psychy.
@@HealthAndHomestead … I had a home in Huntington Beach California about one mile from the beach. In winter it gets chilly and I put a beautiful wood stove in with a huge hearth. My wood source was chopped up pallets that I would bring home in my pickup. The pallets are made of hardwood and that stove just loved them. Really miss that stove
Great video and information! We have heated our home (exclusively) in northern Utah with a Blaze King woodstove for the last 18 years. We have a furnace but haven't used it in all that time and we currently use a Blaze King, King 40 woodstove. Our home is 2 story at 2200 square feet. We cut our on firewood from public land, burn apprx 6.5 cords from mid Oct thru mid May and our costs for heating our home annually is around $300. During waking hours the house temps are 72 to 77 degrees downstairs (hotter upstairs) and when we wake in the morning the temp is usually no less than 67 degrees in January. We load our stove full of wood around 9 pm and get 12 to 16 hrs of burn time depending on time of year. So we only have to load our woodstove twice a day. The main negatives are: more dust in house from burning and our house gets a little messy from bringing in firewood which is stored outside.
Thanks for your helpful post. Here I am, wondering if a Blaze King is worth the investment (cost!) in NC. We don’t get as cold here, but I still need heat for 4 mos out of the year. Additionally, I plan on living in this house for another 17-20 years. So……hmm. Food for thought!
@@joannc147 to me it was worth the investment. I bought the BK, King model as it was the biggest available but it is the only source for heat in my home (that I use) which is approx 2100Sq feet. If it is not your sole source for heat and you want to just supplement your heat, I would consider the Princess model. To give you an idea, I load my stove full twice a day, once at night 10pm and then once in the afternoon 1-2pm then regulate the temp with the damper on the stove. I have done this for 18 years without using my existing heater to heat my home. I have a 2 story home with bedrooms on 2nd level and have to keep the doors shut to keep the rooms from becoming to hot at night. Hope this is helpful.
@@nobodiesbuzness thank you, that is indeed helpful info. I have a ranch, 1500sf and full electric heat. I’ve got portable propane heaters for emergency use….but I’m looking to have a wood stove ready to cover me 100% in case something stoopid takes down the grid. “Princess” just sounds too darn adorable, doesn’t it? (🤣how do they get men to buy that model?)
@@joannc147 haha..everyone needs a princess!! FYI: the upstairs of my house does not have any forced air heating and each room has it's own electric Cadet wall heater for heat source. With the blaze king, we have not ever used these heaters except for the bathrooms for showering. Now my wood burner is in a central location for upward heat transfer to the upstairs. Winters here can get into single digits and sometimes below zero. Downstairs, the far corners of the house is a little colder but only a few degrees and i do not believe a Princess stove should have any problem heating your ranch style home. In years past, losing power during storms was an issue in our area but we were never without a heat source. I hope it works out for you!
I have a Woodstove stool that I made from a rip cut piece of black cherry when I was 19, 13 years later I still sit on the stool I made every evening and morning to stoke the fire. Very calming
We are in the UK and have reverted from a gas fire back to an open hearth. One thing that's been forcibly brought to my attention is the high moisture content of Elm- rivalled only by Larch, Spruce, Pine- (which you wouldn't really bother to burn) It really needs seasoning for twice as long as the other hardwood i've been using......finding a standing long-dead Elm that has been murdered by Dutch Elm Disease is actually an advantage in this respect, as you can fell it in the knowledge that it's already dried to a certain extent. Elm spits like a bastard if it's still too moist, not good even with a spark guard- some of them were finding their way through the guard in our case.
As a fire wood supplier can I correct your thinking? The wood specie mentioned is fine if seasoned in the correct way, that is cut split and stored in a poly tunnel whereby the high solar heat combined with ventilation creates an accelerated seasoning in a fraction of traditional methods. Parting shot it’s years since I’ve seen a living Elm more than two or three years old before succumbing to the disease.
@@christophernunn943I agree. Wood burners in the Pacific northwest often exclusively heat with pine. Trees should be felled while the sap is down and seasoned properly. The main reason not to burn pine is if other species are available. Higher BTU per volume equals less time processing. Even then softwoods are preferred for getting a fire going, or for short hot fires in the shoulder months. Cheers
One advantage of a wood stove is that you have a "hot spot" in the house where you can warm up after being outdoors in the cold. Hang your wet mittens/gloves above it and put your wet boots on the floor next to it.
If you decide to go with a wood stove, just buy the Blaze King. I was skeptical of their clams before I bought it - not any more. You will burn 1/3 less wood for the same amount of head in a Blaze King. Let me repeat that, 1/3 less hauling, stacking and seasoning of wood to heat your home. Another advantage of the Blaze King is when you place a log in the stove, it goes way down inside the stove. The advantage here is you won't have ash spilling out of your stove after burning for a few days. Yes, a Blaze King will cost more - because they're more than worth it.
I absolutely agree, 24h + on a load. Thermostatically controlled air turned out to be a killer feature. You can burn in a much broader range of temperatures, so in the shoulder season you can use it without trying to make smaller fires.
1/3 less wood than an old inefficient stove yes. 1/3 less wood than an other properly sized modern woodstove not a chance. I have used many stoves including a blaze king and they all have their strong points. But I saw absolutely no wood savings going from a regency to a blaze king
Good video thanks. I would add one point to the exhaust pipe mentioned at the end : yes it's more practical to clean when it's outside, but thermally it's more efficient to have it inside, as it also contributes to heating up the room
And you’ll have more build up inside the flue. Horizontal sections of flue are also a really bad idea, again because of build up and also leaking at the joints. We’ve had a wood burner for 14 years and the flue has never needed cleaning. It has a straight flue and I run it at maximum when I first light it until whole unit is up to temp (fans kick in). This helps keep the flue clean.
I'm in the UK and last year we decommissioned our gas boiler and went over to a woodburning stove due to the cost of natural gas...our house has never been so warm ...yes it's takes work to clean and tend the fire but for us wood is free ....takes me back to the day's growing up on the farm ... My mum and dad still use they're Rayburn and morso squirrel every day for cooking and heating...this whole debacle with Russia means woodburner's are in incredible demand this year.
I can imagine the demand must be super high right now. I am with you on the nice warm house. We are as warm as we want to be in the winter with the wood stove. For us the main other option is propane. It is expensive to heat the house that way.
I have a Serra 2200 that I had bought in 1982, still working, we heat with wood, got ride of our oil heat because we weren’t using it, bought a heat pump in 2019, used it a few times in 2019, haven’t used it since. Only for back up😎
We had a fireplace when we lived in Texas, near the coast. When the February storm hit back in 2021 we had a hard time keeping just the living room above 50 degrees, we hung blankets over the doors to the rest of the house to keep the heat concentrated. Here, now, in Colorado we built a small house (910 sf) and installed the smallest "real" wood stove that we could find and it will roast us out if we put too much wood in it. It was 6 degrees yesterday morning and it was 60 degrees after an entire night without adding but one log. I got a fire going that morning and let it go for the rest of the day and the stove was still warm that afternoon. Nothing beats a wood stove for output.
Menard sells a creosote spray bottle you spray the inside of the interior of your stove or the wood your using and it flakes the creosote off the pipes real well.
Great video! I plan on installing a mid-20th century Husqvarna 3026 wood-fired stove eventually, as that fits age-wise with the house and I want a non-electric backup with our increasingly unstable electrical grid, and its house heating capabilities are a nice bonus. In addition to that I'll have an insert in the old, open fireplace to increase efficiency, safety, and tidiness. In a place like semi-rural Sweden, wood burning makes a lot of sense
I feel a wood stove is by far the best. And you can get oven attachments as well. I've had my current one since 2001. I had ones before, but they were thin metal which burns out quick. My two I have now, at the time I bought one for my business as well.. They are made of cast iron. And it was one of the best investments I've ever made. I routine have the sides cherry red. I've also have burned oil in them. They are fantastic. Back to the oven options. 1. you can use a Dutch oven on top or in them..I've done both. 2. you can buy oven attachments that go right on top, or around stove pipe. 3. you can make a oven out of sheet metal ( only use steel, DO NOT USE GALVANIZED) GALVANIZED Can put off toxic chemicals. As in my case because I burn very hot fires. it would be 100% putting of that green smoke which is toxic. Also never buy a GALVANIZED Wood stove. Or use GALVANIZED stove pipe for a wood stove.
Have been heating with wood off and on since 1992 and in that time the most important thing in wood heat is having the densest hardwoods at no more than 20 percent moisture wet wood will creosote build up and could cause a chimney fire always clean your chimney once a year...and as well being able to source it yourself is where you will save the most these days local hardware stores are charging $150 plus tax for a facecord which is ridiculous have plenty of red oak and birds maple on the property is what I burn most of the time and bit soft wood on the days that are warmer than 20 Fahrenheit either way good video
I have this exact same wood burner. I load it up before bed, and it burns 8 hours. There is something amazing about heating with wood. Additionally, you can cook on it 🙂
Summer and I’m watching this lol! One important point is that you should have a carbon monoxide alarm (AND smoke alarms) installed if you have any combustion occurring in your home. A few weeks ago our carbon monoxide alarm stated beeping so I went to change the battery and discovered it was supposed to be changed at the latest by 2019, so our wonderful landlord promptly bought and installed a new one even though there is no rush since we will not use our stoves for a few months now.
I had my gas fire disconnected which was in front of the chimney breast for flue purposes. A plumber friend advised me to smoke bomb my chimney & then check out my attic for an smoke that might leak from the chimney. I had to repoint the brick work to the chimney in places then repeated the smoke test again, then had the chimney swept. I built an ornamental brick fireplace with heat resistant fireplace tiles & then got myself a cast iron multi fuel stove. There's nothing better than having a real fire, even if it's confined within a stove, bellissimo 😜
These stoves have their place, but a real game changer is the side by side wood furnace. You burn wood but have a electric heat backup. The best thing about this set up is that one central fan distributes heat from either system using the same furnace ducts. The firebox also preheats the water before it moves on to the water heater. My house is over three thousand square feet and we keep it nice and toasty. I know I am saving at least two thousand a year on heating costs - probably more.
Been running a wood stove for 20 years as my sole source of heat. We're on 34 forested acres now so no lack of fuel. I've been spacing the trees and burning up tge unwanted trees for my firewood source. It's a win win!
This is a fantastic primer. I sort of inherited my Fisher stove, and had to give it a lot of TLC before it was ready to burn. I never imagined the chimney would cost as much as it did!
You don't want a chimney on the outside of the house. It won't get hot enough to produce enough draft which is what a good woodstove needs to run efficiently. A chimney built on the inside, with brick and clay flue liner or a double wall stainless steel type is much better.
Thank you for the excellent video. I really enjoyed. I been contemplating getting a wood stove for many years now and never pulled the trigger first because of how expensive the whole installation process is, second because I didn't want to make the investment into mobile home that I currently live in, and I been in for the last 6 years. This year I made the realization that me moving into a better home worth of the investment of a wood stove is going to take a little longer. So, instead of waiting for the perfect situation, I have decided that I want to enjoy the experience now. I find it funny that when you are young you always postponing for the future, but when you start to get old, you realize what every you don't get to enjoy in the immediate future, you won't get to enjoy it later so your sense of urgency changes drastically. I live in the south with very mild winters so I won't get out of it the use that most people do up north, but still, we go through a good 60 days here of cold temperatures and it will be really nice to be able to enjoy the experience. I can only afford an entry level stove like the one you have, but the money required for the chimney is what is holding me back, I can't believe that those pipes and the celling kit are so expensive. Looking forward to the experience. I will be doing most of the work myself, although I am thinking of hiring someone to do the roof stuff. It is a shame because I just put a brand-new metal roof and now, I am going to cut a hole in it. Let the shopping begin. If anyone know of any good deals and the best place to buy online everything that is needed, please comment on a reply.
Jotul 121 if you can find one on marketplace or eBay it's old school no nonsense no fire bricks and 12+hrs on a load isn't unheard of. Great stove we had one in our lake cottage that thing worked amazing even on the below 0 days. My advice is find one of those clean them up and refurbish them if they havent been already and go that route.
There was a book back in the 1970s, I don't recall the name of it But it covers everything, even kinds of stoves, nicely illustrated, easy to use, I ddf love to find a copy of that book.
On the farm we have a wood burning cooking stove, it was lit when my dad woke up at 5am, before he went to milk the cows, when he was finished he would come in to a cooked breakfast, mum used it to cook lunch and dinner that night so it kept the house warm all day, if I was to buy a wood burning heater again it has to be a double burning heater, Im happy to have my reverse cycle air conditioner.
Grew up with just wood heat. It wasn't a fancy thing but you could rely on it going atleast 8 hrs when you loaded it up. Used to call our biggest chunks of wood "all nighters".... Why does that sound dirty now that I'm older
My parents were back to nature folks in the 80s. Too late to be hippies and too early for the modern off grid. When I hear people talking about wanting to live off the land, homesteading, etc the wood stove is the first thing I bring up. Do you want to drag wood up to the house when it’s freezing and there’s a foot of snow? Do you like getting a full nights sleep or do you want to mind a fire all night? And you can apply that to every aspect of life, just increase the time and hassle of maintaining the property by 3 to 10 times for everything.
The best kind of stove is Round, typically made from 61" - 20" Pipe about 24" long. Round stoves don't need efficiency-robbing Fire Brick, (to keep the corners from splitting open), because Round stoves heat & Cool more evenly. With no brick inside, they put off a LOT more heat, and the fire tends to fall into itself to give a much more complete burn.
Grest video. My wife and I just purchased 2 Drolet 1800 Escape stoves. Can't wait to get them installed and say goodbye to my gas company and monthly bills. Plus, we have a well and septic so we also will not have any more water and sewer bills which increased every year in NJ. We finally made the move partially off the grid into northeast PA. I only regret that I didn't do it sooner.
As I see it the two best options for heating your house with wood is either a big and heavy masonry heater placed centrally in the house or a indoor wood boiler placed inside the house in a dedicated space with a separate entrance. You can also include a heat exchanger for water to the masonry heater.
The tricky thing seems to be that you kind of have to build the house around the heater rather than retrofit the heater into an existing house. Consider looking into rocket mass heaters. Masonry heaters are just mass heaters that use expensive bricks. Normal mass heaters are not as cost-prohibitive. Rocket stoves use very little wood, but the air-fuel mixture is such that it gets complete combustion and produces it's heat very efficiently. It seems to dry out the air a bit, though, so it'd be best to keep a kettle of water on it. Building the oven into the mass heater, and putting a bed on top of a different section of the mass heater is also a great idea.
Masonry heaters and rocket mass heaters aren't a viable option for most existing structures. The major downsides are the extreme mass, installation cost and they often invalidate insurance coverage. In new builds, a masonry heater would be a good option but would need to be constructed in a way to allow for maintenance and repair. The foundation would also need to be designed to allow for the added mass. A wood boiler would likely be a better option. For a majority of existing homes, wood stoves and inserts provide numerous advantages at the cost of some efficiency. Soapstone stoves are a good option for adding thermal mass in this setup.
Finnish we heat the sauna with wood basically a woodstove surrounded by rocks. In the house we use a pellet stove mostly because a pellet stove will run for several days/filling.
11:50 Depends. We burn predominantly lodgepole, doug fir and ponderosa (CO). If split and stacked between rows of trees with lots of sun and wind exposure, in a low humidity climate, those splits dry to 20% or less in around 3 months.
I solved my heating problem by building a duct from my living room out around a burn barrel and back into my living room. All I do is throw some wood in the burn barrel, light the fire and then inside the house I have a standard box fan that blows air through a tunnel. The air goes out and circles the burn barrel, which is about 500 degrees Fahrenheit up to close to 1,000 depending on how big the fire is and the air comes back into the house. It doesn't take very long to warm things up and when the house gets warm enough, I just turn the fan off. If I lose power, I have a battery backup with a 12 volt blower and enough stored electricity to last an entire month.
Thanks for the video Wouldn't you have more creosote buildup on the inside of the pipe if it was running outside most of the way up? Wouldn't the hot pipe out in the cold air cause moisture that would cause the foot to stick to the inside of the pipe? Another thing is if the stovepipe is outside you don't get all that heat from the stove pipes that you get when it's going up in the house. If you live in a cold climate it's going to take a lot of wood to heat your house people need to be prepared for that and have a place to store the wood and have the ability to get it.
I have a brick chimney that runs outside. I sweep It after every 2 cords burned. I only have a little bit of soot and never had any creosote. If you're burning seasoned dry wood and burning it efficiently , you will have no issues.
Flue temperature is one issue, but creosote build up has a few other factors. Dry wood is the key. However, damping the stove down for long periods of time is also risky. Every morning you should get a good hot fire going, and then damp it down where you need to. But don't just have a smoldering, weak fire going all day. Even seasoned wood burning this way can cause creosote.
@@robinhoman8594 Yes. Every morning I get a good hot fire going and then damp it down somewhat. Since my 100-year-old home is drafty, I don't damp it down very much, so we load the stove a few times during the day. I do one final load in the evening and damp it down a bit more than normal, so that I don't need to bother lighting it again in the morning. Then get a good fire going once again.
You don't have to use an insert with a fireplace. You can also use a free-standing stove if the opening is closed off and stove pipe passed through into the chimney.
Excellent presentation… Thank you! If you can explain the flue and draft concept would be great… I personally want to have a larger flue pipe so it can allow for soot not to catch fire. And also to radiate heat.
"Lopi Endeavor" I was going to do what you did, go to Home Depot/Lowe's buy one of those big box store wood stoves. Then old school Craigslist came to mind. I ended up purchasing a very well maintained Lopi Endeavor wood stove for $600. That stove brand new costs around $3,000. I was fortunate to purchase a pristine high-end wood stove at a fraction of the cost, this Lopi will outlive me= I will be able to pass it on to the next generation.
Congratulations. That was a great find. I tried the same thing but ended up buying new for not much more than a used. But it sounds like you have gotten a great find. Enjoy the wonderful warmth.
What I did with damp wood is , I put it on top of the stove, there is enough heat to cook and it will dry it out within a day or less. Cat convertor save you wood and pollution, but not money. If you ever have to replace one, you know what I mean and they do not last long.
1. A wood-burning stove is a way of life but wood makes you good. 2. Among many good tips and guidance, here is one that only experienced people know. If you fire with spruce and pine, help yourself by NOT buying a wood-burning stove with a glass door. The resin sticks to the glass and it's a battle to keep it clean. If you fire with hardwood, there is almost no soot and what is there, you can quickly clean with paper dipped in water, if necessary. dip the wet paper in some ash. Best regards, Danelove.❤
Longest Blaze King is like 40hrs, so not even 2 days. I assume that if you are getting up at 5:45am it is because you want to. Most modern stoves that have the secondary burn baffles will go for 8-10 hrs depending on the size of the wood stove. Unless of course you are going to bed at 8pm. Biggest thing with them is the efficiency. I just got one that is 72000btu, non catalytic, will go for 10hrs, and runs about 72% efficient, has cut my wood consumption pretty much in half. Replacing an older model catalytic (like 20+yrs old, not really sure how old as it was in the house when we moved in), that was only about 42000BTU. About 1700sq ft house.
Check out our Patreon page www.patreon.com/healthandhomestead If you want to see the wood stove or the moisture meter look up above in the description. Multiple people have asked me about my wood stove.
Great video with useful information. We have a Buck stove and love it. I built a brick pizza oven some years ago which is fired with wood so some of our cooking is done in the brick oven.
I raised my family, wife and three kids. Ranch style home, on a wood burning stove. Plenty of wood available. We all stayed warm. Side loader made in Austria , four bedrooms home. Wish I had that stove now, kids grew up moved away, divorced and let the stove go with the home.
I've been running an outdoor wood burner for 17 years. I also have an electric backup. Heating with wood is great...if it's free, or cheap. If you have to pay a tidy sum, then is just for pleasure.
It might be expensive if you have to pay for all the wood. I am not even sure because we use our own. I am guessing buying it might often be for the experience.
If you are in Amish country look at their wood stoves. They are typically built better than other manufacturers and don't have the problematic catalytic converters or even after burners on them. Plus they are much less expensive.
I have. 400 sq ft cabin. You can't get a small stove that burns more than a few hours. I'm planning on living in it so I must have one that burns at least 8 hours. Another thing to consider is you can't put in a used woodstove because of insurance and epa standards which change almost every year.
Yeah 400 square feet is a bit difficult to have a fire run a long time unless you regularly feed the fire. The EPA standards don't change on wood stoves that often. (more often than I would like though.) And once you get them in you are generally grandfathered in even if the standards change. In most places anyway.
I am happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing, that really helps. We just watched a video with you last week about a criminal/bandit who's life was changed by AWR I believe. It was powerful. Blessings on your work.
You can DIY. If you prepare seriously for country living, you will have to master DIY skills. And lo, a cooking stove made of brick with rocket outside and access for cleaning ashes also outside, but air inlet regulator inside. Add water warming coil, but my favourite is water can heater and transfer yourself to a can upon the shower. Its no so comfortable but also less investment than a central heating. If you have a 2nd floor, make holes in the ceiling that you can tap more or less for heat regulation.
Heating with wood stove for about 40 years in a small town in cold WVA. . Nothing keeps you warm as a nice fire and a soft woman .Burn 24 /7 in winter in perfect clean house . Takes a lot of work to keep it clean . Burn low and slow so I need to keep the chimney clean. Clean it the first of each month ,same time clean the glass with cheap oven cleaner . Work and belong at a small local golf course . Get most of my fire wood free from downed trees . Burn all kinds of free wood stove don’t care.Have a 5 ton elect splitter .Work for what I need .stay safe ,stay warm. Love my wood stove. ,
Just about every winter when it was the coldest I would lose power. Got a wood burner and problem solved. They guy that bought my house took it out. Was told soon after that he sold the house for less. I warned him not to punch holes in the foundation and took away the entrance to the front door that faced the lake.
Thank you for interesting rendition my friend ,can I say taking the flue pipe directly out through the wall is a bad idea. An internal chimney whatever its guise will radiate heat and retain its running optimum temperature . Going directly outside can run the risk of a cold chimney with all the problems that can bring. Another point not mentioning is bringing indoors some firewood and stacking safely near stove to further dry before use and raise the temperature too improving its combustibility. Here in UK winter humidity is often ninety% + which means it can never be truly dry affecting stove performance.
Both great points. I have a cockroach’s in my wood pile so bringing them in the house doesn’t work for me. But for many, you are right, that is a great option.
Im impressed on how clear your glass stays especially after low burn all night ,,My Lopi turns black ,,and ye my wood is always seasoned it is an insert but that shouldn't make a difference I don't think
I grew up in the mid-west and we heated out house with wood. We had 70 acres and lots of woods. It is not free. Every fall was cutting trees, spitting wood and building wood piles for the winter. It help to build that farm boy work ethic. It was a blessing to live on a farm.
It is free of monetary cost with those resources. My time is free for my own upkeep and comfort.
@@TeutonicNordwind gas is not free
I grew up in Northwestern PA. We only had one wood pot belly stove to heat our house. Hey when I was a kid I thought 50 degrees inside was warm. Sometimes we would wake up with little snow drifts inside the house where the air leaks where. That was back in the 1970s when we were all taught in school that global cooling was going to kill us all. That and global thermal nuclear war.
Much different than the common narrative now... global warming and all that jazz. They were right though, the future of the earth is cold 🧊 Cars emissions are just plant food 🌱 haha
Yes. Those days. Lol
Same here, minus the little snow drifts!
Same, same, except NE PA. Used to look out the windows in October and have to scrape the frost to see out. Why do I miss that?
My dad used to tell me about waking up in the morning with hoarfrost on on the nail-heads inside the house. These Arkansas hillbillies didn't have any heating. I spent a night in a dry log cabin down-slope from my dad's childhood place and it was 18F inside the next morning. The water jugs had frozen and I was eager to get back to the farmhouse where there was warmth and hot coffee
Since I work for an HVAC company I highly recommend a regular free standing wood stove in the house. Boilers are complex = expensive to repair and replace!! Everyone should have a 2nd backup heating system that can run without electricity.
When I was about 7 years old, my mom taught us to LOVE a wood fire! Every time the power went out, we were so excited: we busted out the oil lamps and settled down in front of the fire place, mom taught us to cook simple meals & we all sat together eating & talking until it was time for bed. As we got older, she got a cast iron insert with a blower that allowed her to heat the house, but it was harder to see the fire....we eventually got rid of that. Now I live in a condo, but i'd give anything to have that experience again.
What a nice experience and memory to have. All the best.
Something different but ive found this kinda intetesting to relax with. U tube teravibe midievalapothecary shop and new bliss ancient library room relaxing thunder and rain sounds.
@@dz-pg5dy I love all the ambiance TH-cam channels, from the normal fireplaces to Harry potter libraries and so on. Call me a dork but I think it's awesome all the different places or ambiances available.
@@dz-pg5dy I love all the ambiance TH-cam channels, from the normal fireplaces to Harry potter libraries and so on. Call me a dork but I think it's awesome all the different places or ambiances available.
That sounds so amazing. Love it .
I just had an insert installed and night and day difference. Best thing I have done to be able to have the comfort of knowing I can heat my entire house now!
My woodstove was made in 1902. Played $200 4 years ago for it. I'm 57, been heating with wood most of my life. I have always cut n split my own wood. My issues are that I don't want to denude my 25 acres so will start buying firewood. Also that due to my health I can no longer split wood by hand. And ... Bothers me that it takes 100 years to grow a tree, but only a few minutes to cut it down. I plant several trees for each tree I cut down.
Grow a birch grove, and Juniper, for heating, mature much faster
With 25 acres you should be able to easily heat your home. Weed out the smaller trees that will stunt the growth of the bigger ones.
Plant some poplar. In 10 years you can get great firewood
I was going to say that just forest management on my 46 gives me more than enough to burn, mill and use for an occasional campfire. The forest is remarkably resilient to harvesting. Just the power company left enough for at least a year of heating. If you talk to an arborist company that works in your area they will gladly dump wood on your land.
@@hillbilly4christ638absolutely on tree service companies dropping firewood! They drop off 5 years worth of firewood in about a few weeks to a month’s time.
At least… that’s what my company could so quickly accumulate.
growing up in the sixties we had a wood cook stove in the kitchen and a larger wood burning stove in the living room. after doing chores at night i would open the oven door, put a piece of fire wood in it, put my feet on it , and read a book. life was good.
I have fond memories of curling up by the wood stove in the early mornings as a kid. Looking to replace my propane fireplace with a wood stove. Propane isn't cheap anymore!
A good video. I would also note that before you install a wood stove, have a proper load bearing floor to handle the weight. Cast iron wood stoves are exyeremely heavy. Also, add stone tile flooring and walls (up to a certain height) because they are important and greatly reduce a potentil fire issue. While most wood stoves are built with double walls, they do emit heat, that could ignite certain wall and floor materials. You can cook from a woodstove.
Whew getting ready to purchase wood burner freestanding and there you were! Thanks so much for your wisdom and information Bless you!
We love our wood stove. Just installed it. It’s gorgeous and so easy to use. During a snow storm with no power it kept our house around 60-67 degrees and I cooked eggs and bacon and heated up soup on it! We have so much wood so we have at least a few years of free heating.
There is really nothing that compares to heat from a stove. It's just different... In a great way!
We have a woodstock soapstone. Been using it for 10 years, it makes winter bearable. Wouldn’t be without one. Highly recommend! Woodstock Soapstone Co.
Wood moisture is an audible characteristics. You can listen for tone when you bang it. It can be burned sooner if stored and dried properly, not under a tarp as he showed. Air circulation is critical.
This fire pit is one of a few covered pits that is on the list th-cam.com/users/postUgkxAU9pOCSV9Y5JprooHvfxTpOrt4hx8uRM of approved products for Disney Fort Wilderness. The product served its purpose well and provided excellent fires throughout the evening. We were able to open the door and do s'mores, but I had to be careful because the handle was a bit hot on occasions. Additionally, I wish they had replaced some of the standard nuts with lock nuts in some places. We lost the door handle after just a couple of days of usage. Not a deal breaker, just a recommendation. I still give it 5 stars.
Mom and dad as well as family have had wood stoves and wood fireplaces all through me growing up. That giant stone fireplace you mentioned is my favorite part of the family cabin. I’m buying my first home (rented it for years) and that’s one of the first things I intend to do is install a wood stove to help with heat costs. With gas prices as they are, I could pay off the incurred costs within 3 years and then have nearly free heat (I love wood cutting so it’s not even a chore for me). Like the video, nice job
We have had several wood stoves inserts in various houses we lived in NE USA. We have a Blaze King now and at first used it as our others for heat and ambiance. It burns so efficiently it’s best at almost a smolder with a nice glow and occasional ignition of the off gasses.
I appreciate your thorough guidance.
from my experience blaze kings are the best stoves.
This was the most informative video on wood burning fireplaces that I have found, especially about the HO insurance, I never would have known this, this is the first thing people should check into before anything else. Thank you very much.
Exactly
I really like my 30,000 BTU
Mr Heater. I have 2 propane small tanks on a regulator that will switch back and forth.
My floors are warm my chair is it warm my cables alarm everything is warm was just the pilot light even when I have a pretty cold outside to use because the house is insulated pretty good and it’s a ventless system and there was already a kerosene fireplace in the house when I bought it and we changed it to Propane it’s working really great I don’t have to do anything but carry these and exchange them at the local grocery store they cost about $19 and some change to replace here in Texas really really like it oh the whole thing cost under $200 and I’ve had them on two weeks and you can’t even tell that the propane. Oh it hasn’t lost hardly anything in the tank. It’s very efficient. It has an oxygen sensor to shut it off if any issues arise. And I don’t have to buy wood or have the spiders or mud in the house walking in and outside to add wood at inopportune times. Also no cleaning out the Wood Stove. I really like the warm Heat
I use my woodstove as a supplemental heat source. I absolutely love it
I am sitting by my fire now. I love it also.
Sat down with my State Farm agent this morning. Provided him with documentation concerning the stove that I want to purchase, plus information concerning the dealership that’s working with me, and who will also be responsible for the installation. Two things were very positive to him; the fact that the stove will be my secondary source of heat, and it’s being professionally installed. He was perfectly fine with the project. He did specify that they require protective flooring around the stove. Otherwise, State Farm was ok with what I’m doing. He did say that he’ll need to inspect the project upon completion. I’m in south Mississippi.
Great to know State Farm will allow it. With the name farm in the Title you would hope they would. Thanks for sharing.
In my state of MI you are not allowed by code to have only wood heat.
Insurance companies, ever-stricter codes, and the false Church of the Climate Crisis (the first two will be tools of the third one) will take away all woodburners soon enough.
Same in Kentucky. Although there are some odd measurements to keep the stove in code. I have the insert version.
That's good. I have State Farm. Did they raise your insurance rates?
Actually very nice job. One of the most complete wood heat videos I’ve seen on TH-cam. I’ll share this video with anyone that asks me.
I had the exact same stove that you're sitting rather kneeling beside and it worked miracles. In the early 1980s it cost about 1200 dollars I managed to drop my gas heating bill up in Indianapolis Indiana from about $150 down to $32 in the middle of winter so it was definitely worth it. At the time it still was quite expensive but I got it was never disappointed that it was airtight I could adjust the flame which I did and of course if you use hardwood good hardwood and your justifying you can make the fire last all night. In a previous house I had a wood burning fireplace small and it was used not for heating but for the ambience and for romance. When I got the wood stove it was incredible I was able to open up the front and have basically a fireplace if I wanted it I could close it it would be airtight and also attach a blower system to it cuz it had that tubes that went through. Also the pipe inside my house from the stove up to the chip insulated pipe was single wall so it dissipated heat into the atmosphere at my house too
Great video. Very clear and simple to understand for new wood users.
One observation is that most, if not all the new 2020 EPA certified stoves do not have a rear vent application. But a lot of products allow a minimum rise of 2 feet off the stove top before exiting the home. This allows you to have a clean out on the outside of the house. Rule of thumb is to use 2 x 45 degree elbows instead of a 90 degree elbow. Also make sure your outside chimney is well insulated. New stoves are so efficient they leave very little heat to warm the chimney system. So a good well insulated chase is more efficient and a lot better looking.
Great video keep up the good work.
Thanks Alan. I did not know that about the rear vents not being on the 2020 spa certified stoves. Good to know, thanks for the info.
@@HealthAndHomestead You will be glad you don't have a rear vent. I've been heating with woodstoves my entire life and the best installs, if your room allows for it, is straight up to the chimney cap. No bends. Less smoke spillage, better draw, less creosote. This is especially important with more modern woodstoves. If you are burning seasoned wood properly, you won't get enough creosote each year to worry about. Of course, as you pointed out, it can build up really fast too but that is a sure sign you are doing it wrong or your stove or install is defective. A straight install has the added advantage of being able to use a bright flashlight to inspect it. If it's clean as a whistle, no reason to sweep it. A good install with good wood can heat years of burning all winter long with no cleaning necessary.
I was heating with a 1980's EPA woodstove and going through 3 cords of wood/winter. I switched to a Blaze King catalytic and, using the same types of wood, my consumption dropped to less than a cord/year. And the house stays more consistent temperature. With the old stove the house would go from too hot to too cold and I would need to build up to three fires a day. Now one fire is still burning 24 hours later so I don't have to re-light it. I just rake the coals to the center and fill the firebox again. Once/day. This is with low btu softwoods.
@@ZipZoomZip I'm considering a blaze king (king model) I'm wondering if I can have a nice, pretty fire if I want it. I know that utilizing the cat will give me a super efficient fire for many hours, but it won't be the traditional large flame that we enjoy viewing. This might be a deal breaker for my wife. If I run the stove without engaging the cat will it give me that nice fire or does that hurt the stove?
@@beentheredonethatoriginals5673 You don't want to run a catalytic stove without engaging the cat after getting a good blaze going because they are not designed for a clean secondary burn and the cat bypass is not designed to run that hot for long periods - you will burn up the bypass seal. You can get a nice fire ambiance with the cat engaged but your fire will only last two to three hours instead of 24 hours or longer. And you might get too hot. This might shorten the life of the cat too.
If your primary purpose of a woodstove is to have an occasional ambience fire, I recommend one designed with a clean secondary burn in mind (non-catalytic). You still might get too hot but you won't be wearing out a catalytic converter prematurely.
@@ZipZoomZip thank you - this is great info for me. I certainly want as little physical as possible, so 1 fire per day? SOLD!
Thanks Chad. We have been heating with wood the last two years. You are right, there is nothing like it! Keep up the good work my friend.
Thank you. I love it. I am ten feet from the fire right now. They are great.
I am new to this channel. I have heated with wood for 40 years. The fellow is generally informed (and well intended) however he is not completely correct on all points. FYI. Modern "cookstoves" have much larger fireboxes. I have no less that 12 stoves around the farm, and cabin. ...woodburners, cookstoves, coal, wood...etc. I know these things inside and out. Insurance regs will be be mandated by federal govt to make older ones "outlawed" ...just a matter of time
already in Ontario unless install yourself, companies can’t install if over ten yrs old
Fantastic informative video, only thing is that you didn’t mention is the more pipe/chimney inside your home the more heat you get
We bought an old farmhouse this year that used to have 3 pot-belly stoves for heat. They had been taken out and a fuel-oil furnace was installed in the 80’s. We figured the cost with prices so high this year that we would be spending $800-$1200 per month to heat out home. That’s just way too much. Bought a wood burning stove and put double-walled pipe up the old chimney. We have 5 acres with plenty of free firewood. Thank God took care of that problem.
I added extra length to the pipe outside back in april, because I wasn't getting a good enough draft, so now its above the roof line
Wood heat warms you TWICE, you get very warm when you cut, split and stack it and then when you burn it.
It seems to warm me many times. All those times and then some more. Dragging it from one area to another. Stacking. Bringing it to the house in a wheelbarrow. It is the heater that just keeps heating:)
I went over 20 year without having to clean my stove pipe.
Just always burn a hot fire.
Now you will have to replace stove pipe about every 15 to 20 years. But that was also burning everyday from October to April every year. I burned over a cord a month of wood.
I love heating with wood, my uncle used to heat with wood when I was a kid. Hell I loved splitting and hauling the wood also. Something about the smell and visual effects that always calmed the psychy.
Yeah, you are absolutely right. There are so many joys of heating with wood. For sure.
@@HealthAndHomestead … I had a home in Huntington Beach California about one mile from the beach. In winter it gets chilly and I put a beautiful wood stove in with a huge hearth. My wood source was chopped up pallets that I would bring home in my pickup. The pallets are made of hardwood and that stove just loved them. Really miss that stove
Great video and information! We have heated our home (exclusively) in northern Utah with a Blaze King woodstove for the last 18 years. We have a furnace but haven't used it in all that time and we currently use a Blaze King, King 40 woodstove. Our home is 2 story at 2200 square feet. We cut our on firewood from public land, burn apprx 6.5 cords from mid Oct thru mid May and our costs for heating our home annually is around $300. During waking hours the house temps are 72 to 77 degrees downstairs (hotter upstairs) and when we wake in the morning the temp is usually no less than 67 degrees in January. We load our stove full of wood around 9 pm and get 12 to 16 hrs of burn time depending on time of year. So we only have to load our woodstove twice a day. The main negatives are: more dust in house from burning and our house gets a little messy from bringing in firewood which is stored outside.
Thanks for your helpful post. Here I am, wondering if a Blaze King is worth the investment (cost!) in NC. We don’t get as cold here, but I still need heat for 4 mos out of the year. Additionally, I plan on living in this house for another 17-20 years. So……hmm. Food for thought!
@@joannc147 to me it was worth the investment. I bought the BK, King model as it was the biggest available but it is the only source for heat in my home (that I use) which is approx 2100Sq feet. If it is not your sole source for heat and you want to just supplement your heat, I would consider the Princess model. To give you an idea, I load my stove full twice a day, once at night 10pm and then once in the afternoon 1-2pm then regulate the temp with the damper on the stove. I have done this for 18 years without using my existing heater to heat my home. I have a 2 story home with bedrooms on 2nd level and have to keep the doors shut to keep the rooms from becoming to hot at night. Hope this is helpful.
@@nobodiesbuzness thank you, that is indeed helpful info. I have a ranch, 1500sf and full electric heat. I’ve got portable propane heaters for emergency use….but I’m looking to have a wood stove ready to cover me 100% in case something stoopid takes down the grid. “Princess” just sounds too darn adorable, doesn’t it? (🤣how do they get men to buy that model?)
@@joannc147 haha..everyone needs a princess!! FYI: the upstairs of my house does not have any forced air heating and each room has it's own electric Cadet wall heater for heat source. With the blaze king, we have not ever used these heaters except for the bathrooms for showering. Now my wood burner is in a central location for upward heat transfer to the upstairs. Winters here can get into single digits and sometimes below zero. Downstairs, the far corners of the house is a little colder but only a few degrees and i do not believe a Princess stove should have any problem heating your ranch style home. In years past, losing power during storms was an issue in our area but we were never without a heat source. I hope it works out for you!
@@nobodiesbuzness Thank you! Again, that’s helpful info for me.
Sincerely, Princess Joan. 🤪🤪
I have a Woodstove stool that I made from a rip cut piece of black cherry when I was 19, 13 years later I still sit on the stool I made every evening and morning to stoke the fire. Very calming
We are in the UK and have reverted from a gas fire back to an open hearth. One thing that's been forcibly brought to my attention is the high moisture content of Elm- rivalled only by Larch, Spruce, Pine- (which you wouldn't really bother to burn) It really needs seasoning for twice as long as the other hardwood i've been using......finding a standing long-dead Elm that has been murdered by Dutch Elm Disease is actually an advantage in this respect, as you can fell it in the knowledge that it's already dried to a certain extent. Elm spits like a bastard if it's still too moist, not good even with a spark guard- some of them were finding their way through the guard in our case.
As a fire wood supplier can I correct your thinking? The wood specie mentioned is fine if seasoned in the correct way, that is cut split and stored in a poly tunnel whereby the high solar heat combined with ventilation creates an accelerated seasoning in a fraction of traditional methods. Parting shot it’s years since I’ve seen a living Elm more than two or three years old before succumbing to the disease.
@@christophernunn943I agree. Wood burners in the Pacific northwest often exclusively heat with pine. Trees should be felled while the sap is down and seasoned properly. The main reason not to burn pine is if other species are available. Higher BTU per volume equals less time processing. Even then softwoods are preferred for getting a fire going, or for short hot fires in the shoulder months. Cheers
One advantage of a wood stove is that you have a "hot spot" in the house where you can warm up after being outdoors in the cold. Hang your wet mittens/gloves above it and put your wet boots on the floor next to it.
Very true. I am warming up in front of it right now.
That’s if you can get around the dig sprawled out by the heat! 🤣 So cozy!
If you decide to go with a wood stove, just buy the Blaze King. I was skeptical of their clams before I bought it - not any more. You will burn 1/3 less wood for the same amount of head in a Blaze King. Let me repeat that, 1/3 less hauling, stacking and seasoning of wood to heat your home. Another advantage of the Blaze King is when you place a log in the stove, it goes way down inside the stove. The advantage here is you won't have ash spilling out of your stove after burning for a few days. Yes, a Blaze King will cost more - because they're more than worth it.
I absolutely agree, 24h + on a load. Thermostatically controlled air turned out to be a killer feature. You can burn in a much broader range of temperatures, so in the shoulder season you can use it without trying to make smaller fires.
1/3 less wood than an old inefficient stove yes. 1/3 less wood than an other properly sized modern woodstove not a chance. I have used many stoves including a blaze king and they all have their strong points. But I saw absolutely no wood savings going from a regency to a blaze king
What’s the price on one of their inserts? Couldn’t find it on line
@@jimmiemacd3603 you need to go through a dealer for pricing
@@benholler1389 I don’t want to do all that, o want to know how much someone else paid
Good video thanks.
I would add one point to the exhaust pipe mentioned at the end : yes it's more practical to clean when it's outside, but thermally it's more efficient to have it inside, as it also contributes to heating up the room
And you’ll have more build up inside the flue. Horizontal sections of flue are also a really bad idea, again because of build up and also leaking at the joints. We’ve had a wood burner for 14 years and the flue has never needed cleaning. It has a straight flue and I run it at maximum when I first light it until whole unit is up to temp (fans kick in). This helps keep the flue clean.
I'm in the UK and last year we decommissioned our gas boiler and went over to a woodburning stove due to the cost of natural gas...our house has never been so warm ...yes it's takes work to clean and tend the fire but for us wood is free ....takes me back to the day's growing up on the farm ... My mum and dad still use they're Rayburn and morso squirrel every day for cooking and heating...this whole debacle with Russia means woodburner's are in incredible demand this year.
I can imagine the demand must be super high right now. I am with you on the nice warm house. We are as warm as we want to be in the winter with the wood stove. For us the main other option is propane. It is expensive to heat the house that way.
I have a Serra 2200 that I had bought in 1982, still working, we heat with wood, got ride of our oil heat because we weren’t using it, bought a heat pump in 2019, used it a few times in 2019, haven’t used it since. Only for back up😎
Been heating with wood 50 years the wood stove we use we can also cook on in case of a power outage and it's an osburn stand alone
I think you should come to Finland to see how fireplaces should be done...
Jep 💪
Now I will have to google "fireplaces in Finland"
We had a fireplace when we lived in Texas, near the coast. When the February storm hit back in 2021 we had a hard time keeping just the living room above 50 degrees, we hung blankets over the doors to the rest of the house to keep the heat concentrated.
Here, now, in Colorado we built a small house (910 sf) and installed the smallest "real" wood stove that we could find and it will roast us out if we put too much wood in it. It was 6 degrees yesterday morning and it was 60 degrees after an entire night without adding but one log. I got a fire going that morning and let it go for the rest of the day and the stove was still warm that afternoon. Nothing beats a wood stove for output.
Menard sells a creosote spray bottle you spray the inside of the interior of your stove or the wood your using and it flakes the creosote off the pipes real well.
Great video! I plan on installing a mid-20th century Husqvarna 3026 wood-fired stove eventually, as that fits age-wise with the house and I want a non-electric backup with our increasingly unstable electrical grid, and its house heating capabilities are a nice bonus. In addition to that I'll have an insert in the old, open fireplace to increase efficiency, safety, and tidiness. In a place like semi-rural Sweden, wood burning makes a lot of sense
Sounds like you have a good plan. I lived in Norway for a bit. I have always wanted to go to Sweden, but never made it. Maybe someday.
I feel a wood stove is by far the best.
And you can get oven attachments as well.
I've had my current one since 2001. I had ones before, but they were thin metal which burns out quick.
My two I have now, at the time I bought one for my business as well.. They are made of cast iron. And it was one of the best investments I've ever made.
I routine have the sides cherry red.
I've also have burned oil in them.
They are fantastic.
Back to the oven options.
1. you can use a Dutch oven on top or in them..I've done both.
2. you can buy oven attachments that go right on top, or around stove pipe.
3. you can make a oven out of sheet metal ( only use steel, DO NOT USE GALVANIZED)
GALVANIZED Can put off toxic chemicals. As in my case because I burn very hot fires. it would be 100% putting of that green smoke which is toxic.
Also never buy a GALVANIZED Wood stove. Or use GALVANIZED stove pipe for a wood stove.
Have been heating with wood off and on since 1992 and in that time the most important thing in wood heat is having the densest hardwoods at no more than 20 percent moisture wet wood will creosote build up and could cause a chimney fire always clean your chimney once a year...and as well being able to source it yourself is where you will save the most these days local hardware stores are charging $150 plus tax for a facecord which is ridiculous have plenty of red oak and birds maple on the property is what I burn most of the time and bit soft wood on the days that are warmer than 20 Fahrenheit either way good video
You are right. If you can source it yourself you save a ridiculous amount of money. All the best.
I have this exact same wood burner. I load it up before bed, and it burns 8 hours. There is something amazing about heating with wood. Additionally, you can cook on it 🙂
It is nice isn’t it. I like it way better than central heating. Cooking is a great plus. Blessings.
Summer and I’m watching this lol! One important point is that you should have a carbon monoxide alarm (AND smoke alarms) installed if you have any combustion occurring in your home. A few weeks ago our carbon monoxide alarm stated beeping so I went to change the battery and discovered it was supposed to be changed at the latest by 2019, so our wonderful landlord promptly bought and installed a new one even though there is no rush since we will not use our stoves for a few months now.
I had my gas fire disconnected which was in front of the chimney breast for flue purposes. A plumber friend advised me to smoke bomb my chimney & then check out my attic for an smoke that might leak from the chimney. I had to repoint the brick work to the chimney in places then repeated the smoke test again, then had the chimney swept. I built an ornamental brick fireplace with heat resistant fireplace tiles & then got myself a cast iron multi fuel stove. There's nothing better than having a real fire, even if it's confined within a stove, bellissimo 😜
Living north of canada , wood stove is a must! I heat my house only with my drolet ht-3000. Cost me 700$/year for a 30×32 house and basement.
These stoves have their place, but a real game changer is the side by side wood furnace. You burn wood but have a electric heat backup. The best thing about this set up is that one central fan distributes heat from either system using the same furnace ducts. The firebox also preheats the water before it moves on to the water heater. My house is over three thousand square feet and we keep it nice and toasty. I know I am saving at least two thousand a year on heating costs - probably more.
but if power outage and no fan how does it distribute
@@sm-hi7jt
Convection.
Been running a wood stove for 20 years as my sole source of heat. We're on 34 forested acres now so no lack of fuel. I've been spacing the trees and burning up tge unwanted trees for my firewood source. It's a win win!
This is a fantastic primer. I sort of inherited my Fisher stove, and had to give it a lot of TLC before it was ready to burn. I never imagined the chimney would cost as much as it did!
You don't want a chimney on the outside of the house. It won't get hot enough to produce enough draft which is what a good woodstove needs to run efficiently. A chimney built on the inside, with brick and clay flue liner or a double wall stainless steel type is much better.
Thank you for the excellent video. I really enjoyed. I been contemplating getting a wood stove for many years now and never pulled the trigger first because of how expensive the whole installation process is, second because I didn't want to make the investment into mobile home that I currently live in, and I been in for the last 6 years. This year I made the realization that me moving into a better home worth of the investment of a wood stove is going to take a little longer. So, instead of waiting for the perfect situation, I have decided that I want to enjoy the experience now. I find it funny that when you are young you always postponing for the future, but when you start to get old, you realize what every you don't get to enjoy in the immediate future, you won't get to enjoy it later so your sense of urgency changes drastically. I live in the south with very mild winters so I won't get out of it the use that most people do up north, but still, we go through a good 60 days here of cold temperatures and it will be really nice to be able to enjoy the experience. I can only afford an entry level stove like the one you have, but the money required for the chimney is what is holding me back, I can't believe that those pipes and the celling kit are so expensive. Looking forward to the experience. I will be doing most of the work myself, although I am thinking of hiring someone to do the roof stuff. It is a shame because I just put a brand-new metal roof and now, I am going to cut a hole in it. Let the shopping begin. If anyone know of any good deals and the best place to buy online everything that is needed, please comment on a reply.
Jotul 121 if you can find one on marketplace or eBay it's old school no nonsense no fire bricks and 12+hrs on a load isn't unheard of. Great stove we had one in our lake cottage that thing worked amazing even on the below 0 days. My advice is find one of those clean them up and refurbish them if they havent been already and go that route.
Sounds like a great option. I lived in Norway for a bit and that was the first place I saw a Jotul. It was fantastic.
12 hours? This real...isn't that a smoke dragon. How long with no smoke? 121 is pretty.
Man you really cover a lot of bases. Great video, thanks
There was a book back in the 1970s, I don't recall the name of it
But it covers everything, even kinds of stoves, nicely illustrated, easy to use, I ddf love to find a copy of that book.
On the farm we have a wood burning cooking stove, it was lit when my dad woke up at 5am, before he went to milk the cows, when he was finished he would come in to a cooked breakfast, mum used it to cook lunch and dinner that night so it kept the house warm all day, if I was to buy a wood burning heater again it has to be a double burning heater, Im happy to have my reverse cycle air conditioner.
Grew up with just wood heat. It wasn't a fancy thing but you could rely on it going atleast 8 hrs when you loaded it up. Used to call our biggest chunks of wood "all nighters"....
Why does that sound dirty now that I'm older
My parents were back to nature folks in the 80s. Too late to be hippies and too early for the modern off grid. When I hear people talking about wanting to live off the land, homesteading, etc the wood stove is the first thing I bring up. Do you want to drag wood up to the house when it’s freezing and there’s a foot of snow? Do you like getting a full nights sleep or do you want to mind a fire all night? And you can apply that to every aspect of life, just increase the time and hassle of maintaining the property by 3 to 10 times for everything.
The best kind of stove is Round, typically made from 61" - 20" Pipe about 24" long. Round stoves don't need efficiency-robbing Fire Brick, (to keep the corners from splitting open), because Round stoves heat & Cool more evenly. With no brick inside, they put off a LOT more heat, and the fire tends to fall into itself to give a much more complete burn.
Uh, no. That's not how it works. Fire brick serves multiple purposes. And round is not an efficient shape for stoves.
Grest video.
My wife and I just purchased 2 Drolet 1800 Escape stoves.
Can't wait to get them installed and say goodbye to my gas company and monthly bills.
Plus, we have a well and septic so we also will not have any more water and sewer bills which increased every year in NJ. We finally made the move partially off the grid into northeast PA.
I only regret that I didn't do it sooner.
That stove has done us well. Congratulations on your move. I hope it goes well for you.
Sounds like a great setup. I hope it goes well for you. It is nice to save money on all those bills. Blessings on your property.
As I see it the two best options for heating your house with wood is either a big and heavy masonry heater placed centrally in the house or a indoor wood boiler placed inside the house in a dedicated space with a separate entrance. You can also include a heat exchanger for water to the masonry heater.
The tricky thing seems to be that you kind of have to build the house around the heater rather than retrofit the heater into an existing house.
Consider looking into rocket mass heaters. Masonry heaters are just mass heaters that use expensive bricks. Normal mass heaters are not as cost-prohibitive. Rocket stoves use very little wood, but the air-fuel mixture is such that it gets complete combustion and produces it's heat very efficiently. It seems to dry out the air a bit, though, so it'd be best to keep a kettle of water on it.
Building the oven into the mass heater, and putting a bed on top of a different section of the mass heater is also a great idea.
Soapstone stoves are similar to that idea. Highly recommend.
Masonry heaters and rocket mass heaters aren't a viable option for most existing structures. The major downsides are the extreme mass, installation cost and they often invalidate insurance coverage.
In new builds, a masonry heater would be a good option but would need to be constructed in a way to allow for maintenance and repair. The foundation would also need to be designed to allow for the added mass. A wood boiler would likely be a better option.
For a majority of existing homes, wood stoves and inserts provide numerous advantages at the cost of some efficiency. Soapstone stoves are a good option for adding thermal mass in this setup.
Finnish we heat the sauna with wood basically a woodstove surrounded by rocks. In the house we use a pellet stove mostly because a pellet stove will run for several days/filling.
11:50 Depends. We burn predominantly lodgepole, doug fir and ponderosa (CO). If split and stacked between rows of trees with lots of sun and wind exposure, in a low humidity climate, those splits dry to 20% or less in around 3 months.
I solved my heating problem by building a duct from my living room out around a burn barrel and back into my living room. All I do is throw some wood in the burn barrel, light the fire and then inside the house I have a standard box fan that blows air through a tunnel. The air goes out and circles the burn barrel, which is about 500 degrees Fahrenheit up to close to 1,000 depending on how big the fire is and the air comes back into the house. It doesn't take very long to warm things up and when the house gets warm enough, I just turn the fan off. If I lose power, I have a battery backup with a 12 volt blower and enough stored electricity to last an entire month.
Thanks for the video
Wouldn't you have more creosote buildup on the inside of the pipe if it was running outside most of the way up? Wouldn't the hot pipe out in the cold air cause moisture that would cause the foot to stick to the inside of the pipe?
Another thing is if the stovepipe is outside you don't get all that heat from the stove pipes that you get when it's going up in the house.
If you live in a cold climate it's going to take a lot of wood to heat your house people need to be prepared for that and have a place to store the wood and have the ability to get it.
All really good points. I think you are right.
I have a brick chimney that runs outside. I sweep It after every 2 cords burned. I only have a little bit of soot and never had any creosote. If you're burning seasoned dry wood and burning it efficiently , you will have no issues.
Flue temperature is one issue, but creosote build up has a few other factors. Dry wood is the key. However, damping the stove down for long periods of time is also risky. Every morning you should get a good hot fire going, and then damp it down where you need to. But don't just have a smoldering, weak fire going all day. Even seasoned wood burning this way can cause creosote.
@@sylviaknutcecily do you set a hot fire in the am and cycle high and low through the day? Any recommendations for when you go to bed? Thanks!
@@robinhoman8594 Yes. Every morning I get a good hot fire going and then damp it down somewhat. Since my 100-year-old home is drafty, I don't damp it down very much, so we load the stove a few times during the day. I do one final load in the evening and damp it down a bit more than normal, so that I don't need to bother lighting it again in the morning. Then get a good fire going once again.
You don't have to use an insert with a fireplace. You can also use a free-standing stove if the opening is closed off and stove pipe passed through into the chimney.
Makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing.
My stove pipe enters the chimney 16 inches above my mantel by way of a 10 inch clay tile .
Excellent presentation…
Thank you!
If you can explain the flue and draft concept would be great…
I personally want to have a larger flue pipe so it can allow for soot not to catch fire. And also to radiate heat.
"Lopi Endeavor" I was going to do what you did, go to Home Depot/Lowe's buy one of those big box store wood stoves. Then old school Craigslist came to mind. I ended up purchasing a very well maintained Lopi Endeavor wood stove for $600. That stove brand new costs around $3,000. I was fortunate to purchase a pristine high-end wood stove at a fraction of the cost, this Lopi will outlive me= I will be able to pass it on to the next generation.
Congratulations. That was a great find. I tried the same thing but ended up buying new for not much more than a used. But it sounds like you have gotten a great find. Enjoy the wonderful warmth.
I have natural gas heat and keep my temp control set at 60° to keep my bill low, so 67° sounds toasty warm to me.
installed mine with the drop and super easy cleaning. however, did go up inside the house about five feet first to capture that heat.
What I did with damp wood is , I put it on top of the stove, there is enough heat to cook and it will dry it out within a day or less. Cat convertor save you wood and pollution, but not money. If you ever have to replace one, you know what I mean and they do not last long.
How long have the Catalytic converters last you? I have never used one.
Your right life doesn't get any better than that! 🔥🔥
For sure.
1. A wood-burning stove is a way of life but wood makes you good.
2. Among many good tips and guidance, here is one that only experienced people know. If you fire with spruce and pine, help yourself by NOT buying a wood-burning stove with a glass door. The resin sticks to the glass and it's a battle to keep it clean. If you fire with hardwood, there is almost no soot and what is there, you can quickly clean with paper dipped in water, if necessary. dip the wet paper in some ash. Best regards, Danelove.❤
What an excellent presentation!
Longest Blaze King is like 40hrs, so not even 2 days.
I assume that if you are getting up at 5:45am it is because you want to. Most modern stoves that have the secondary burn baffles will go for 8-10 hrs depending on the size of the wood stove. Unless of course you are going to bed at 8pm. Biggest thing with them is the efficiency. I just got one that is 72000btu, non catalytic, will go for 10hrs, and runs about 72% efficient, has cut my wood consumption pretty much in half.
Replacing an older model catalytic (like 20+yrs old, not really sure how old as it was in the house when we moved in), that was only about 42000BTU. About 1700sq ft house.
Check out our Patreon page www.patreon.com/healthandhomestead
If you want to see the wood stove or the moisture meter look up above in the description. Multiple people have asked me about my wood stove.
Looks like a drolet escape series stove. I have a drolet escape 2100 at my cottage.
My grandfather put a pot belly stove in as he got older
I have the drolet 1800. Reside in Sask Canada. And we get -50⁰c. I used a chimney insert. Keeps my 600 square ft home 25⁰ all winter
Great video with useful information. We have a Buck stove and love it. I built a brick pizza oven some years ago which is fired with wood so some of our cooking is done in the brick oven.
Excellent video very informative answered a lot of questions we had thank you so much.
I raised my family, wife and three kids. Ranch style home, on a wood burning stove. Plenty of wood available. We all stayed warm. Side loader made in Austria , four bedrooms home. Wish I had that stove now, kids grew up moved away, divorced and let the stove go with the home.
We always cut our firewood in August or early September. Split and stack, come middle to late October it was dry. Good to go. Never had any problems.
Amazing thank you for breaking that down with a homestead minded break down
I've been running an outdoor wood burner for 17 years. I also have an electric backup. Heating with wood is great...if it's free, or cheap. If you have to pay a tidy sum, then is just for pleasure.
It might be expensive if you have to pay for all the wood. I am not even sure because we use our own. I am guessing buying it might often be for the experience.
Even if buying wood, it's likely cheaper than electric or propane
If you are in Amish country look at their wood stoves. They are typically built better than other manufacturers and don't have the problematic catalytic converters or even after burners on them. Plus they are much less expensive.
I have. 400 sq ft cabin. You can't get a small stove that burns more than a few hours. I'm planning on living in it so I must have one that burns at least 8 hours.
Another thing to consider is you can't put in a used woodstove because of insurance and epa standards which change almost every year.
Yeah 400 square feet is a bit difficult to have a fire run a long time unless you regularly feed the fire. The EPA standards don't change on wood stoves that often. (more often than I would like though.) And once you get them in you are generally grandfathered in even if the standards change. In most places anyway.
Out of all the videos I have looked at so far you were the easiest to understand and touch a lot of major issues. Thanks 👌🏽
Glad it helped! God bless.
If as back up heat I’d not let them know. If place burns down sucks but I’ll take my chances. Sucks it’s about survival.
I am thinking about either a wood fireplace insert or wood stove. Thanks for your input! I learned alot.
Excellent info! Your videos are SO helpful...especially for those of us preparing to move out of the cities. Sharing your channel with friends.
I am happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing, that really helps. We just watched a video with you last week about a criminal/bandit who's life was changed by AWR I believe. It was powerful. Blessings on your work.
@@HealthAndHomestead Are you a relation to a Mr Freddy Kruezuer?
In Ireland we call it a range. Used for Donkeys years. Cook food, heat home, heat water all at once
You can DIY. If you prepare seriously for country living, you will have to master DIY skills. And lo, a cooking stove made of brick with rocket outside and access for cleaning ashes also outside, but air inlet regulator inside. Add water warming coil, but my favourite is water can heater and transfer yourself to a can upon the shower. Its no so comfortable but also less investment than a central heating. If you have a 2nd floor, make holes in the ceiling that you can tap more or less for heat regulation.
Great tutorial! Lots of very important things to know and how to make an educated purchase and set up.
Set red brick on top of flat stove to hold heat and release heat out sides of stove
Heating with wood stove for about 40 years in a small town in cold WVA. . Nothing keeps you warm as a nice fire and a soft woman .Burn 24 /7 in winter in perfect clean house . Takes a lot of work to keep it clean . Burn low and slow so I need to keep the chimney clean. Clean it the first of each month ,same time clean the glass with cheap oven cleaner . Work and belong at a small local golf course . Get most of my fire wood free from downed trees . Burn all kinds of free wood stove don’t care.Have a 5 ton elect splitter .Work for what I need .stay safe ,stay warm. Love my wood stove.
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That is nice to be able to go and get free wood from the golf course. Blessings Pat.
Just about every winter when it was the coldest I would lose power. Got a wood burner and problem solved. They guy that bought my house took it out. Was told soon after that he sold the house for less. I warned him not to punch holes in the foundation and took away the entrance to the front door that faced the lake.
Thank you for interesting rendition my friend ,can I say taking the flue pipe directly out through the wall is a bad idea. An internal chimney whatever its guise will radiate heat and retain its running optimum temperature . Going directly outside can run the risk of a cold chimney with all the problems that can bring. Another point not mentioning is bringing indoors some firewood and stacking safely near stove to further dry before use and raise the temperature too improving its combustibility. Here in UK winter humidity is often ninety% + which means it can never be truly dry affecting stove performance.
Both great points. I have a cockroach’s in my wood pile so bringing them in the house doesn’t work for me. But for many, you are right, that is a great option.
Im impressed on how clear your glass stays especially after low burn all night ,,My Lopi turns black ,,and ye my wood is always seasoned
it is an insert but that shouldn't make a difference I don't think
Just burn it hot in the morning and it should burn the soot of the glass. Our lopi glass is clear after the first year of burning