Wood Burning Furnaces

[james]

FB is a member of the MHA, and I have a lot of respect for those guys.

James

[BurntFingers]

We have a Yukon multi-fuel furnace in our house. We put it in when we built the house back in the '70's oil crisis. The air is pre-heated by a hybrid solar heat bank of riverbed gravel in the return path. It has worked well for us ever since. (I hope I am not jinxing it now by bragging) My wife loves the extra heat it gives when it is working just on wood. We have 3 thermostats, 1st stage = solar, 2nd stage if not satisfied the air damper opens and the wood if lighted flames up, if no wood lit up then 3rd stage #2fuel oil burner kicks in. If there is wood loaded and the oil kicks in it will light the wood. -- I understand that there are coal or gas combo's available. Last winter we used 20 gallons of oil and 2 cord of wood all heating season.

[Archena]

I've been drooling over masonry heaters for a long time. They originated in the Netherlands in the Middle Ages (or shortly after, not sure). From what I've read they're fairly complex construction wise. I do know that some folks have actually hired Dutch masons to come over and build for them.

[Archena]

Originally Posted by BurntFingers

... Last winter we used 20 gallons of oil and 2 cord of wood all heating season.

How does that compare to an ordinary oil furnace's oil usage? Is 20 gallons particularly low? I would think so but I have zero experience with oil furnaces - I've never even seen one - and have nothing to gauge it by.

[BurntFingers]

From what I understand from neighbors that heat with oil. Hundreds of gallons are used in a heating season. The oil tanks are in the 300 gallon range for homes and they get filled regularly. Heating oil in NJ is about the same price as diesel fuel. It is diesel fuel with a red/purple dye in it so people can't use it in their trucks or cars. I would guess it takes over 1000 gallons to heat most homes for the heating season.

[BurntFingers]

Just a note for reference. This winter so far in that I am away more and working more and don't have the time as I did last winter to keep the fire going as much. We have used close to 300 gallons of oil this heating season and a small pile of firewood about a 1/3 of a cord. What we save in $$ we pay in personal labor.

[Archena]

Wow. Thanks for the info - I appreciate it.


<Makes note to never move to New Jersey - it sounds like it's cold up there!>