Brrrr,its cold outside

Yup,got family near Wilmington, said apparently they didn't go far enough south...
 

I live in the warmest part of my country, but we still have residual snow from before Xmas. I am not accustomed to winter, perhaps I should buy gloves? Currently, it is a couple degrees above freezing. Cold, damp, grey.
 
The temps here in Wisconsin have been ranging from 0 to -17. Yesterday, we woke up to frozen pipes...no water to shower, toilet, or kitchen. Bizarrely, the bathroom sink had both hot and cold available...that eased the situation. On occasions like this, I used to place electric heaters under the house to free up the system but recent publicity about resulting fires changed my strategy. I rerouted the duct work for our wood burner to direct the heat under the house while our gas furnace picked up the slack in the house.. It took several hours but it all opened up and now...we get to walk around on warm floors. :)

This is the humble little burner that saved the day. In a pinch, it'll heat the place all by itself...in any weather. That's a discolored pie tin on top. It holds water and serves as a poor mans humidifier.
Snapshot 2 (12-29-2017 7-58 PM).png
 
Anomaly 73 said:
This is the humble little burner that saved the day. In a pinch, it'll heat the place all by itself...in any weather.
Click to expand...


These Wood furnaces are well worth the money....if you have access to firewood. We retired to the country in 2002, on 40 acres of forestland...and the first Winter, our electric bills went over $400 a month during the coldest months. The next Summer, I had a Bryan outdoor wood furnace installed, and that has saved us between $1000 and $1500 a year on the heating bills. That unit has paid for itself several times over in the past 14+ years....plus, I get the benefit of all the good physical hard work throughout the year going through the forest and harvesting the dead/damaged trees...keeps me fit at age 75. Starting a few days ago, and extending for at least the next week, we will be having a near record cold spell, so the furnace will be cranked up to the max until the weather returns to more normal.
 
Don M. said:
[/FONT][/SIZE]These Wood furnaces are well worth the money....if you have access to firewood. We retired to the country in 2002, on 40 acres of forestland...and the first Winter, our electric bills went over $400 a month during the coldest months. The next Summer, I had a Bryan outdoor wood furnace installed, and that has saved us between $1000 and $1500 a year on the heating bills. That unit has paid for itself several times over in the past 14+ years....plus, I get the benefit of all the good physical hard work throughout the year going through the forest and harvesting the dead/damaged trees...keeps me fit at age 75. Starting a few days ago, and extending for at least the next week, we will be having a near record cold spell, so the furnace will be cranked up to the max until the weather returns to more normal.
Click to expand...

I hear you...I even split my wood manually with wedges and a sledge hammer. I have friends who offer to lend me their electric splitters, I politely decline...to their amazement. I'm 73 and in good shape yet due to practices like the one we're discussing and a lifetime of preference for blue collar jobs. We only have seven acres but there is lots of standing fuel.
 
Anomaly 73 said:
I hear you...I even split my wood manually with wedges and a sledge hammer. I have friends who offer to lend me their electric splitters, I politely decline...to their amazement. I'm 73 and in good shape yet due to practices like the one we're discussing and a lifetime of preference for blue collar jobs. We only have seven acres but there is lots of standing fuel.
Click to expand...

Splitting is probably the hardest job. The first year, I split with a sledge and wedge, but I was spending more time doing that than everything else. When the Winter ended, I found a good sale on a Brave 25 ton splitter, and now I can get a couple weeks of wood split in just a couple of hours. I probably go through 7 or 8 cords of wood every Winter, so the splitter is a Must. Given that a cord of Oak weighs almost 4,000 pounds, and that I handle every piece of that wood at least 4 or 5 times...from the forest to the furnace....I get plenty of good "exercise" with just that one task...That, plus all the yardwork and gardening, etc., is like going to the gym on a regular basis. When I feel I can no longer handle this type of "labor", that will be the cue to sell this place, and move to some sort of senior facility, in a larger city/town....I dread that day.
 
The coldest day here is supposed to be Monday---predicted high 36, low 17. How uncomfortable this is will depend on the wind---7 mph. Could be a lot worse. Cold until *next* Sunday. We'll see if all that comes close to being correct. LOL!
 
Don M. said:
Splitting is probably the hardest job. The first year, I split with a sledge and wedge, but I was spending more time doing that than everything else. When the Winter ended, I found a good sale on a Brave 25 ton splitter, and now I can get a couple weeks of wood split in just a couple of hours. I probably go through 7 or 8 cords of wood every Winter, so the splitter is a Must. Given that a cord of Oak weighs almost 4,000 pounds, and that I handle every piece of that wood at least 4 or 5 times...from the forest to the furnace....I get plenty of good "exercise" with just that one task...That, plus all the yardwork and gardening, etc., is like going to the gym on a regular basis. When I feel I can no longer handle this type of "labor", that will be the cue to sell this place, and move to some sort of senior facility, in a larger city/town....I dread that day.
Click to expand...

I see, we use about 2 cords all winter so hand splitting is feasible. We only use the wood burner on the coldest days as an adjunct to the normal source. As far as being shipped out to the "fox farm" (as my mother used to call it), that's not happening if I have any choice. It's -13 at 6 AM. All the faucets and drains remain open...we're winning this war. Take care Don.
 
Don M. said:
Splitting is probably the hardest job. The first year, I split with a sledge and wedge, but I was spending more time doing that than everything else. When the Winter ended, I found a good sale on a Brave 25 ton splitter, and now I can get a couple weeks of wood split in just a couple of hours. I probably go through 7 or 8 cords of wood every Winter, so the splitter is a Must. Given that a cord of Oak weighs almost 4,000 pounds, and that I handle every piece of that wood at least 4 or 5 times...from the forest to the furnace....I get plenty of good "exercise" with just that one task...That, plus all the yardwork and gardening, etc., is like going to the gym on a regular basis. When I feel I can no longer handle this type of "labor", that will be the cue to sell this place, and move to some sort of senior facility, in a larger city/town....I dread that day.
Click to expand...

A question. what do you do with the ashes?
 
Camper6 said:
A question. what do you do with the ashes?
Click to expand...

I use the ashes for "fertilizer". I keep a metal trash can next to the furnace, and empty the ashes into that. When it gets about half full, I carry it over to the garden and empty it there, or onto areas in the yard where the grass isn't growing very good. That "carbon" gives the soil some added nutrients which helps grow things better. In the Springtime, when I till these ashes into the soil, it helps loosen up the hard clay soil we have, and the rains allow the ashes to be absorbed...where they give the garden and grass seed a jump start. I've found ways to use/recycle almost everything...I don't even pay for trash pickup service. I collect waste metal, glass, plastic, etc., and take that stuff to a local recycle center. Any "edible" waste, we toss into an area at the end of the yard, and it gives the local "critters" a snack, that evening. I built a burn pit from the leftover concrete "slag" the contractors left behind when they poured the concrete for the basement/foundation, and every week, I burn all paper, etc., in the pit. If it were financially feasible, I would put up a bunch of solar panels, and become virtually self sufficient....but the costs of such a system are still way too high.
 
Don M. said:
I use the ashes for "fertilizer". I keep a metal trash can next to the furnace, and empty the ashes into that. When it gets about half full, I carry it over to the garden and empty it there, or onto areas in the yard where the grass isn't growing very good. That "carbon" gives the soil some added nutrients which helps grow things better. In the Springtime, when I till these ashes into the soil, it helps loosen up the hard clay soil we have, and the rains allow the ashes to be absorbed...where they give the garden and grass seed a jump start. I've found ways to use/recycle almost everything...I don't even pay for trash pickup service. I collect waste metal, glass, plastic, etc., and take that stuff to a local recycle center. Any "edible" waste, we toss into an area at the end of the yard, and it gives the local "critters" a snack, that evening. I built a burn pit from the leftover concrete "slag" the contractors left behind when they poured the concrete for the basement/foundation, and every week, I burn all paper, etc., in the pit. If it were financially feasible, I would put up a bunch of solar panels, and become virtually self sufficient....but the costs of such a system are still way too high.
Click to expand...

That's terrific. That's why the soil near volcanoes is so rich for the vineyards.
 
I use the ashes for traction on our graded driveway when ice and sleet make the climb difficult. And also, the garden thing along with lime to break down the high acid pine humus. We have primarily sand and light soil...it takes a lot of doctoring. I too have no trash pickup and follow the same methods as you. I'm toying with the idea of a "passive" solar converter where water is pumped up to the roof into a large coil of dark PVC and exposed to direct Sun. The very hot water that issues from my garden hose on sunny days is testament to the viability of such a system. I'd use it for our pool. Are you a fan of Henry Thoreau?
 
Anomaly 73 said:
I use the ashes for traction on our graded driveway when ice and sleet make the climb difficult. And also, the garden thing along with lime to break down the high acid pine humus. We have primarily sand and light soil...it takes a lot of doctoring. I too have no trash pickup and follow the same methods as you. I'm toying with the idea of a "passive" solar converter where water is pumped up to the roof into a large coil of dark PVC and exposed to direct Sun. The very hot water that issues from my garden hose on sunny days is testament to the viability of such a system. I'd use it for our pool. Are you a fan of Henry Thoreau?
Click to expand...

With a little thought and planning, there is a use for most things that people throw away....plastics, especially. Some parts of the world are becoming little more than "trash pits" because people just toss their waste instead of recycling or finding uses for it. I like all the modern conveniences, but try to make good use of, and take good care of our surroundings. I can see where your idea of piping water into dark PVC would supply some cheap hot water in the Summer. I have a son-in-law who is a VP for a solar power company, and he could install a solar system for us at cost, but the big issue would be installing enough batteries to supply power when we get extended periods of cloudy weather...I'd almost have to fill half the basement with batteries to compensate for the lack of sunshine we get in the Winter. I know very little about Henry Thoreau, other than he was kind of a naturalist...and I can understand that. I'm not into this "survivalist" stuff, but we're set up such that if things get nasty, we can take care of ourselves for quite some time.

Even so...I've got a belly full of this latest cold spell, and it looks like it will be hanging around for several more days....may even set a record for the number of consecutive days of sub-freezing temperatures.
 
It is 32 degrees here and tomorrow freezing rain. It is hard to believe but that is the forecast.:(
 
If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was in the northern states because it was 10 degrees here at 7 a.m. and I'm down in the southeast where it gets up to nearly 100 degrees or more in the summer. It's only 15 now.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top