I got tired of the $5/gal propane and bought a wood stove. It's a Quadra Fire Millennium 4300 with a flat top for cooking. My friend Danny helped me hook it up yesterday and it took about 6 hours to install. I fired it up at 1600 yesterday and smoke arose from the Ricksteen Chapel. The first thing I did was shut off the furnace! I loaded it up last night at 2100hrs and went to bed. At 0500 this morning, I filled her back up and cooked a farm egg for breakfast. The temp in the house was 65 this morning and in about 45 minutes it was up to 70. The OAT this morning is 14 with a wind chill of 7. I have a Cabelas #12 full of water on the stovetop and it kept the humidity at 38% which is pretty good. I have a new favorite place to sit and read. Life is good! Regards, Rick.

Now all you need is a pickle barrel and a checkerboard Rick!

Wood heat is great, as it warms you multiple times.
The first time when you cut it.  The second when you split and stack it.  The third when you burn it!

Woodpiles are handy for other things too.  Whenever dad decided we had too much energy, we were given wood chopping/stacking/carrying duties.

Figgers you'd be cookin' somethin' on it PDQ.

Nice!

Paul

Now that's nice, been telling my wife we need one.  I think I could finally get my feet warm with one of those

Nothing beats wood or coal heat , NOTHING!!!!!!

My heating bill for the past 4 months? NOTHING!!!! ZERO dollars!!

RJ

nice stove Rick!!! we have a pellet stove and I would not trade it for the world!!!! God Bless.

I heated a 1500 sq. ft house with wood for 10 years, Atlanta air tight , thermostatically controlled. Used less than a cord of dry oak a year in extreme north Texas, took a while to get my wife trained to feed the fire, came home several times, outside temp. 20's, inside 90' + and all the doors and windows open.
Her explanation was, "but I only put 3 more little pieces of board in".

Very nice! We've had the same wood stove for 20 years, the gaskets have all worn out but it's perfect because even when I shut the dampers down all the way, enough airflow gets through the gaskets to keep the fire at a low burn and lets me keep just enough ashes in the bottom to relight it in the morning. I agree that wood heat is the best thing you can do! Save us a TON of money on electricity as our heaters run 24/7 otherwise. The only thing I don't like about it is that the wood heat robs the humidity in the house, so I keep a cast iron pot on top filled with water and a humidifier in my room.

I try to keep the basement (where the stove is) in the upper 70s and low 80s which keeps the upstairs relatively warm, for if you heat it too much the floor trusses will settle too much when it cools back off and you end up with stress cracks in all the joints in your ceiling as well as the joints in your walls. So be sure not to get your house too toasty!

I love a good wood fireplace too.
 
 My wood fire gets my house up to temperature pretty quickly and stays there. It's also somewhat mesmerising to watch the flames flicker and dance.
 
 The only problem though is cutting the wood. Lots of chainsaw work.

22, what species do you use?
I doubt you have white and black oaks, beech ,ash, hickory and elm which are the preferred woods, where available.
In some parts, mesquite is first choice,however, most just use it for cooking and smoking.
Do you select for BTU content or ease of splitting?

Usually Angophora or some type of Eucalyptus. If I can get it, then Black Wattle burns really hot if you get it up to temperature. Same with She Oak.

Quote from: drinksgin;13125622, what species do you use?
I doubt you have white and black oaks, beech ,ash, hickory and elm which are the preferred woods, where available.

You are kidding.....Right? I have 50 acres of Pin & White Oak, Elm, Ash, Hickory, Hackberry,  Locust and Hedge. I have enough wood to heat my house for 100 generations! Hedge by the way is the hottest wood there is....30 MBTU on the wood chart. I plan on selectively whacking some pin oaks for wood and timber management as I have several groves out of control. Regards, Rick.

Rick, I was curious about the woods available in OZ.
I am familiar with the common genera of trees in the southeastern US.

https://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

Paul

Quote from: drinksgin;131270Rick, I was curious about the woods available in OZ.
I am familiar with the common genera of trees in the southeastern US.

Now it makes sense. Around these parts, folks are crazy about hedge. I have burned hedge and it sure is hot......possibly too hot. I think it's OK to mix a few pieces in especially on a day like today (5 below). I know a guy that has some dried and will see if I can scrounge a few pieces. Still hard to beat White Oak and Shagbark Hickory. This summer I'm going to invest in a hydraulic splitter that will be powered by John. I need to do some research first. Regards, Rick.