Paying the heating bill

[Le Loup]

I used to. Next best fuel option here is a compressed wood pellet stove. We have 18,000,000 ha standing dead/cracked junk pine from a super pine beetle infestation (Dendroctonus sp.) The pellet people can use that junk as ideal feed stock.
Pinnacle sells mile-long container trains all the way across Canada and the Atlantic to the Scandinavians. They know cheap fuel when they see it.

I ran a Harman P38++pellet stove for heat for more than 10 years. Fantastic appliance for soft gentle heat and warm floors.
Then my legs gave out (up and down the stairs to feed the stove.) Post Op 2019, I can't lift anything at all heavy to stay alive. So I recovered 70% of my capital cost when I sold the stove. Really hated to see that go.

I regret my current dependence on fossil fuels. No choice. I expect to fall off my perch in the next 10-15 years so I won't be a burden on Climate Change.

Very sorry to hear that Robson, a hell of a place to be. Leaves you with very little choice. I have some fair days when I am able to do a wood chore (cancer medication), on the bad days my younger wife has to do my chores, I hate it, but it is what it is.
Best of luck Robson, hang in there.
Take care & stay safe.
Regards, Keith.

 

[Robson Valley]

Aside from the obscene expense of that December cold spell (as we call it), I actually feel very good. I can take the odd financial hit like that. Don't like it but my life in the mountains, so close to the wilderness, makes up for it all.

Two big stacked kitchens, lots of food and drink. Shopper, handyman and housekeeper, part time. The big old fig tree in the living room is sprouting new leaves, it has recognized the increasing day length. I look forward to seeing that.

My new/old cat, Rumpuss, is still pretty spooky and spends non feeding time under my bed. She's at least 12, maybe 15 and was quite badly frost bitten (ears and foot pads) during that cold spell. I got her Jan.05 so we have a fresh start.

 

[Le Loup]

Aside from the obscene expense of that December cold spell (as we call it), I actually feel very good. I can take the odd financial hit like that. Don't like it but my life in the mountains, so close to the wilderness, makes up for it all.

Two big stacked kitchens, lots of food and drink. Shopper, handyman and housekeeper, part time. The big old fig tree in the living room is sprouting new leaves, it has recognized the increasing day length. I look forward to seeing that.

My new/old cat, Rumpuss, is still pretty spooky and spends non feeding time under my bed. She's at least 12, maybe 15 and was quite badly frost bitten (ears and foot pads) during that cold spell. I got her Jan.05 so we have a fresh start.

Good one Robson, I feel the same way about living in a forest in the mountains, I could not stand living in the city, or a town for that matter. Sounds like you are set up pretty good, come what may. I will be glad when winter comes around again, I don't like the heat.
Regards, Keith.

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks Keith.
I have optimized my living conditions in a fortress against inclement weather. The "all-weather" logging roads never get plowed in winter if nobody is in there harvesting then it is one skinny narrow lane by radio to get in or out.
I have 60" trail-breaker snowshoes and rebuilt Sherpa with ice claws for walk about.

 

[swyn]

Minus five degrees at 05.00 hrs this morning. Now plus two degrees.
The inside temperature is 21.8 degrees. Last heat input was between 18.30 hours when I lit the Morso wood burner and this was down to glowing embers at 21.00 hrs when I crept up to bed. The only physical pollution from this place now.
In all honesty the outside temperature makes very little difference to the required inputs. A more sophisticated system may require outside temperature sensors.

No inputs from the grid since 16.00 hrs yesterday and as it is a bright sunny day today there won’t be any ‘till a similar time and then only for a couple of hours. I will also have a tank full of hot water, a freebie courtesy of the solar array.
Not forgetting the solar gain obtained through the large argon filled St Gobain glazed South facing window through which the sun is streaming right now.

The smart meter will likely tell me that I have spent somewhere in the region of £3 today.

Since moving into this building Mr Posch has stood idle except to x-cut a load of round fence posts that have rotted after a decade, leaving me with good burnable metre long lengths.

Insulation is a wonderful invention and when used in the best possible manner has astounding results as I am discovering.
S

 

[Kadushu]

My bungalow is relatively small for a UK dwelling and very small compared with North American ones. It is 10 years old and insulated up to the eyeballs with no central heating. I use my wood burner for heating and cooking in winter, with a supplemental electric heater in my bedroom. Most of the roof is covered in solar panels, making it a net exporter to the grid.

Wood useage is difficult to say exactly because it will vary with outside temperature and type of wood used but it seems to be around 1-1.5 cords. At the moment my log store has mostly ash and cherry which obviously gives good mileage but I've got a load of poor quality conifer wood waiting to be cut and dried which isn't so great. So far all my wood has come from work for free which is a price I like but I don't have control over the type of wood I get.

 

[swyn]

I used to. Next best fuel option here is a compressed wood pellet stove. We have 18,000,000 ha standing dead/cracked junk pine from a super pine beetle infestation (Dendroctonus sp.) The pellet people can use that junk as ideal feed stock.
Pinnacle sells mile-long container trains all the way across Canada and the Atlantic to the Scandinavians. They know cheap fuel when they see it.

I ran a Harman P38++pellet stove for heat for more than 10 years. Fantastic appliance for soft gentle heat and warm floors.
Then my legs gave out (up and down the stairs to feed the stove.) Post Op 2019, I can't lift anything at all heavy to stay alive. So I recovered 70% of my capital cost when I sold the stove. Really hated to see that go.

I regret my current dependence on fossil fuels. No choice. I expect to fall off my perch in the next 10-15 years so I won't be a burden on Climate Change.

I have friends who heat their cottage with a pellet stove. This is a super modern piece of the latest model. Virtually no ash to take out and excepting rare power outages works silently keeping them comfortable. Their bagged pellets are from Canada as I believe this is one of your ‘exports’.
Ease of use means bags are 10kg so Mrs can load the hopper.
Self feeding hoppers are available for larger properties or self load self feeding if you are of that inclination.
Once one stores pellets in anything other than bags the risk of pellet degradation raises its ugly head and then a wood-chip boiler starts to look like a winner.
A friend hired contractors to produce C50 chips for his chip boiler. Using a 250hp Unimog & Heizohack chipper as an experiment. This was successful in that the machinery chipped a large pile of Tree-surgeons waste which was then converted to heat.
Food for thought for you?
The firewood sellers in Tasmania ring-bark coups of eucalypts so they dry standing, so your beetle killed dead stock will be perfect for chipping although very dusty as was discovered when using the Heizohack!
Chip into store in summer time and self load the hopper as and when required.
S

 

[FerlasDave]

I supplement our heating during the winter with the wood burner in our living room. I’ve managed to roughly half the heating bills believe it or not, but our house is small and the wood burner is big enough for both rooms downstairs with the door open.

It’s big help that I have friends with woodlands who are happy to swap a days work for trailer loads of wood. I burn mostly oak and ash, so I get good btu’s for the volume but I have calculated about half a cord is used through the winter. All cut, split and stacked by my own hands makes it a very rewarding job too.

 

[Robson Valley]

Over a decade, I think I burned about 5 tons(10,000 lbs) pellets each winter. That was about $1250 for the entire heating season of 7+ months. Had some serious surgery done Aug/19 after which I was cautioned never to try to lift anything heavy again so that kind of put an end to feeding the stove with 18kg bags of pellets. My sense of balance is very poor so trying to walk across the downstairs kitchen with a bag of pellets was more and more of a challenge.

True, the pellets are ultra dry and arrive 2,000 lbs on a pallet, triple plastic wrapped as 50 x 40lb bags. Into the house! Any left overs in April, bagged as well as they may be, will not burn properly in September. Mixed with new pellets about 50/50 I could use them up but the ash every 12-15 bags was somewhat more.
I've got two bags in the corner of the laundry room that I don't know what to do with. The humidity from the clothes dryer has certainly ruined them as fuel.

 

[Le Loup]

Thanks Keith.
I have optimized my living conditions in a fortress against inclement weather. The "all-weather" logging roads never get plowed in winter if nobody is in there harvesting then it is one skinny narrow lane by radio to get in or out.
I have 60" trail-breaker snowshoes and rebuilt Sherpa with ice claws for walk about.
View attachment 71763

Great view Robson, thanks for sharing.
Keith.

 

[Le Loup]

Minus five degrees at 05.00 hrs this morning. Now plus two degrees.
The inside temperature is 21.8 degrees. Last heat input was between 18.30 hours when I lit the Morso wood burner and this was down to glowing embers at 21.00 hrs when I crept up to bed. The only physical pollution from this place now.
In all honesty the outside temperature makes very little difference to the required inputs. A more sophisticated system may require outside temperature sensors.

No inputs from the grid since 16.00 hrs yesterday and as it is a bright sunny day today there won’t be any ‘till a similar time and then only for a couple of hours. I will also have a tank full of hot water, a freebie courtesy of the solar array.
Not forgetting the solar gain obtained through the large argon filled St Gobain glazed South facing window through which the sun is streaming right now.

The smart meter will likely tell me that I have spent somewhere in the region of £3 today.

Since moving into this building Mr Posch has stood idle except to x-cut a load of round fence posts that have rotted after a decade, leaving me with good burnable metre long lengths.

Insulation is a wonderful invention and when used in the best possible manner has astounding results as I am discovering.
S

I agree re the insulation swyn, definitely worthwhile. The weather is getting hotter here every year now & we are wondering what else we can do to keep the temperature down in summer. I don't think there is much else we can do.
Keith.

 

[Le Loup]

My bungalow is relatively small for a UK dwelling and very small compared with North American ones. It is 10 years old and insulated up to the eyeballs with no central heating. I use my wood burner for heating and cooking in winter, with a supplemental electric heater in my bedroom. Most of the roof is covered in solar panels, making it a net exporter to the grid.

Wood useage is difficult to say exactly because it will vary with outside temperature and type of wood used but it seems to be around 1-1.5 cords. At the moment my log store has mostly ash and cherry which obviously gives good mileage but I've got a load of poor quality conifer wood waiting to be cut and dried which isn't so great. So far all my wood has come from work for free which is a price I like but I don't have control over the type of wood I get.

Can you go off grid Kadushu or do you have to remain connected?
Keith.

 

[Le Loup]

Over a decade, I think I burned about 5 tons(10,000 lbs) pellets each winter. That was about $1250 for the entire heating season of 7+ months. Had some serious surgery done Aug/19 after which I was cautioned never to try to lift anything heavy again so that kind of put an end to feeding the stove with 18kg bags of pellets. My sense of balance is very poor so trying to walk across the downstairs kitchen with a bag of pellets was more and more of a challenge.

True, the pellets are ultra dry and arrive 2,000 lbs on a pallet, triple plastic wrapped as 50 x 40lb bags. Into the house! Any left overs in April, bagged as well as they may be, will not burn properly in September. Mixed with new pellets about 50/50 I could use them up but the ash every 12-15 bags was somewhat more.
I've got two bags in the corner of the laundry room that I don't know what to do with. The humidity from the clothes dryer has certainly ruined them as fuel.

I have never heard of these bags of pellets before now, can your damp pellets be used for mulch in the garden Robson?
Keith.

 

[Robson Valley]

The pellets, for the most part, are a mix of spruce and pine. In water, they swell up to a very loose mush maybe 10X the size of the dry pellets. Just how acidic they are as garden mulch, I'm not sure. I do know that some (damp?) are used for livestock litter under rabbits and so forth.

Some years back, llama feces was all the rage as a garden additive. That you don't need to smell on a hot summer afternoon. Wood pellets would be benign.

We can buy pellets which are exclusively Douglasfir. Supposed to release more heat(wood resins). I burned a few tons and didn't notice any obvious improvement for the increased price.

OK so I just had a ton brought into my downstairs kitchen. 50 x 40lbbags. That's a pile about 6' x6' x 6' in size. The feed hopper on the stove holds 2.5 bags. Of course, there's an adjustable augured feed into the little fire box, the size of the palm of your hand. I'd burn a dozen bags in 10 days? running at 60% feed rate. Maybe 8 days if very cold.

Then shut the stove off and use a fan to chill the stove as fast as I can because it's still -30C outside. That's nearly an hour. Open the stove to Shopvac all the ash off the walls and heat exchanger for thermal efficiency transfer. Ash bucket has about 2 liters or less of fluffy brown ash. That's it.
Empty everything, put it back together, prime and light it. Some days, I'd swear it took 1/2 bag just to get that massive chunk of steel heated up again.

You all that burn round wood could notice the same thing = quiet, even warmth. Not the pulsation of my big oil furnace.
With the stove downstairs, that kitchen could be +25C and my upstairs floors would be barefoot warm.

Another gloomy day of +4C (unusual) with fine rain. Don't have to shovel it andwe are a day closer to spring.

 

[Kadushu]

Can you go off grid Kadushu or do you have to remain connected?
Keith.

I have to stay connected. In theory the inverter could be swapped for a hybrid model if I wanted the off grid option.

 

[nitrambur]

I've got two bags in the corner of the laundry room that I don't know what to do with. The humidity from the clothes dryer has certainly ruined them as fuel.

Kitty litter, then compost it

 

[Le Loup]

Kitty litter, then compost

Kitty litter, then compost it

Excellent idea.
Keith.

 

[Robson Valley]

I've never heard of a cat actually doing a squat in pellets. My Heidi-cat wouldn't go near the stuff. So then I have a litter box of pellets I can't burn (damp).

Maybe I'll just dump the pellets in the flower beds. There's enough cat **** in there to mix in right now.

Ironically, I had just stocked up on cat stuff like 2 x 50lb bags of cat litter, in the weeks before Heidi-cat died. So when I was given Rumpuss-cat, I was all set.

 

[nitrambur]

this is the stuff we use https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-wood-pellet-non-clumping-cat-litter-30l
you're not burning it anyway, the humidity has ruined it for burning

 

[Tony]

When we first moved to Wales all our heating was via a wood burning stove, I pent on average a day a week traveling, felling/cutting up, transporting, splitting and stacking. I have to say that I miss those times, now we have an ultra efficient woodturner in the living room, we're not dependent on it but it definitely helps out with heating.
We still get to process wood and I've a fair bit stacked but it's not like it used to be.

For your two weeks of work Red, I think it's well worth it