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10:35 am
November 20, 2009
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Debnfla3
| | North West Florida | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 218 | |
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Has me thinking about how houses are heated way up north?
I have electric heat using a heat pump….at least that is what I think it is! It is my air conditioner/heat unit in our house.
So…it seems lots of houses use a wood stove for heat through out the house. Is the heat pumped through out the house? Or I think what I mean is, is it blew through out the house using a fan or something.
Or is a fireplace used…..an oil furnice?
I know I have never experienced winters as cold as most of you have. I really don't know how I would handle that kind of cold.
I think I have seen fireplaces that have vents that blow heat into other rooms. I imagine that a woodstove could do that if it were hooked up to vents with a fan.
I applaud all of you that live in the really cold states!
Deb
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5:19 pm
November 20, 2009
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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We have a natural gas furnace in the house. In the workshop, John has a woodstove. Last year, he kept opening the doors because it would get too hot in there. So we decided instead of all the heat blowing into the workshop, then outside, we would vent it into the house (attached to house). Works like a charm!! The blower that's built into the woodstove pushes heat through duct work into the back area of the house, keeping that area toasty so we don't have to turn the thermostat up for that area! I like it for that aspect, but it's the type that doesn't get hot on top, so you can't cook on it :( And I don't light it either…….never works for me either!
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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5:39 pm
November 20, 2009
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Helen
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| Super Chicken | posts 582 | |
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Debnfla3 said:
Has me thinking about how houses are heated way up north?
I applaud all of you that live in the really cold states!
Deb
We had -20 degrees farenheit last year…boy were we glad for our woodstove then. We also always keep 2 years worth of firewood on hand.
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George Orwell – 1984
- Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.
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7:11 pm
November 20, 2009
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johnzegirl
| | Rose City, TX | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 135 | |
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We have wood heat at our new farm. There is a wood furnace in the basement and a wood stove in the dining room. The one in the upstairs heats the whole place unless it is really cold. MO is a moderate climate so only dips below freezing during the height of winter. Great savings on the electric bill.
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9:22 pm
November 20, 2009
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Flatlander
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We can have -40 and sometimes even colder, but thankfully that doesn't last long.
If it is that cold, the schoolbusses are not running, they will break.
But we have a natural gas HE furnace in our house, my sewingroom has electric baseboard heaters and we have a woodburningstove in our livingroom.
The woodburning is because it is such a comfy, cozy heater to have.
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10:00 am
November 21, 2009
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Debnfla3
| | North West Florida | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 218 | |
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I can not even begin to imagine what -40 feels like.
I thought it was cold here when it hit -8 for a night or two!
I do remember one year Daddy's catfish pond froze over and we actually played on it…here, in Florida!
My neighbor has a woodstove in her family room and I love to smell it early in the morning when I get up and venture outside. She says it is very relaxing and so enjoyable to have a wood burning stove to cozy up to when it is cold.
Deb
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11:51 am
November 21, 2009
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Helen
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| Super Chicken | posts 582 | |
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To me, watching the fire is one of the most relaxing things in the world. I would not want a wood burner without a window in the door.
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George Orwell – 1984
- Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.
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7:41 am
December 5, 2009
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masonjar
| | NY Hudson Valley | |
| Big Chicken | posts 11 | |
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Deb
we use propane for our fuel , sometimes electric heaters. Some folks around here have oil ,not much natural gas in our local communities. I reside in NY and we can get -20 for a week or longer, then on top of that the wind will bring it down to -50 + ! But most of the time is close to zero for weeks …..wish I did have a wood stove, we are saving for a wood cook stove! maybe by next year it will grace our kitchen!
Sara
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8:54 am
December 5, 2009
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Valerie
| | East Central Minnesota | |
| Big Chicken | posts 76 | |
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We are rural and have propane-feuled baseboard heat. Winters here get to -40. I'm originally from NJ, where it didn't get nearly that cold, and wondered how I would deal with it. Well, you just do! Bundle up, don't stay out too long. Some people plug their car batteries into electric outlets overnight to keep the battery warm…I don't know quite how that works, but the first time I drove to my workplace, a hospital, I couldn't figure out what all these posts in the parking lot were! Anyway, we used a heck of a lot of propane in this drafty old farmhouse. New windows and insulation are on the 23 page honey-do list. But in the meantime, we just installed an outside wood boiler 2 weeks ago. Wood for us is free on the land we own. There's a learning curve for sure, but our house has never been warmer. Heats our detached garage and hot water, too. Now we only need propane for the stovetop. It will be so nice not to have to get the propane tank filled every month. Next year we are going to extend the heat to the barn, and for the horses water tank, too. Someday, I would love to have a wood fireplace in the house.
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"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." – Groucho Marx
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8:56 pm
December 29, 2009
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marionette
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| Banty | posts 3 | |
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We have a woodstove. I live in Northern Central Ohio. We just moved into this house in July and it is MY first experience with one. My husband has had one before, but we are still learning how to fine-tune the dampers and how far they need to be opened or shut to keep the stove hot. We have not turned our heat on yet this year, and tonight it is 20˚! Our house is a ranch, and stays pretty warm, around 74˚, which is too warm for me! In my old house, I kept my furnace set at 68˚, and that was fine by me, but free heat I can't really complain about! We have 4 acres of woods, so we haven't had to purchase firewood yet either.
I LOVE having a woodstove… the crackling flames, the aroma of the burning wood and the excuse to make all the simmering potpourri I want! Gotta have a pan of water on top to combat the dry air, might as well add a few dried orange and apple slices and cinnamon sticks! MM! There is also something very satisfying about splitting your own wood to keep your family warm and getting up early in the morning to stoke the embers and get the fire going again. I hope we never use the furnace again!
There are heat reclaiming blowers you can buy for the upright pipe, which we plan to buy, just to help circulate the air and capture the heat, instead of it all going up the chimney.. going up in smoke! Har har!
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11:47 am
December 30, 2009
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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We actually have our wood stove in a back room as there just isn't room for it out in the main living area. The stove has a blower and we set a fan in the doorway of the room to move the heat out into the house. Works great! Sometimes that room can get over-warm (when the fire is really super hot), but I don't have to stay back there! It keeps it just right in the rest of the house. I don't have any trouble lighting it myself as long as I have my homemade fire starters.
We also have central heat (electric) and gas heat but we don't use them much because the wood stove heat is FREE.
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11:19 am
January 1, 2010
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Kris_in_Canada
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| Banty | posts 4 | |
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In this house its natural gas furnace and a wood fireplace that is not very efficient. The new house (in the planning stages right now) will have a much more efficient wood burning fireplace in the family room, a wood stove in the basement and either a geothermal heat pump (if i can justify the cost) , combination wood electric or forced air electric furnace… no natural gas.
side note and one of the main reasons I am planning a move to where the average winter temp is somewhere around 0c in the winter and usually 20c degrees warmer than where I live now
: a few weeks ago we got to minus 56 Celsius (not sure what that is in Fahrenheit ? ) with the wind chill factored in…they said it was the coldest place on earth that day.. even colder than the arctic …today it is only -20 but a bitterly cold wind bringing in down to -34c ..yes you plug your trucks in here or there is no way my diesel would start.
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8:54 pm
January 1, 2010
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Debnfla3
| | North West Florida | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 218 | |
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My goodness Kris…that is cold!!!
It has been around 40 here today. Cold to us. But not as cold as where you live!!!
I swear, my husband David is always cold. He has had his thyroid checked and all is well with that. I am hot natured(hormonal!!) and I don't get cold very often, at least not inside. My house holds the heat very well I think. But David will bump the heat up to 73 if I don't watch him. I usually put it around 68-70 and leave it there. Oh and my poor little old man kitty cat(17) has trouble maintaining his body heat. He like to get under the quilts and stay warm or lays in someone's lap if they sit down for a minute. I am tempted to try and put a doggie sweater on him…I don't think he would tolerate that though…poor old thing.
We baby him sooo much but that's okay…he's OUR old man…LOL
Deb
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2:34 pm
January 2, 2010
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juststartn
| | South Central Oklahoma | |
| Big Chicken | posts 41 | |
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We had an electric heat pump in our old home in NC. Here in OK, we have a propane heat pump/electric A/C. It does help in the winter time, but we also have a big fireplace with a mack-daddy blower. Seriously. THe house (its a rambler ranch, 3400) gets most of the rooms heated up with the fire/blower, except for the master bedroom, which is at the other end of the structure. We're hoping to someday to put in a small woodstove, in the bedroom (and a coffee maker). Mostly so we don't have to run the heater as much, and so DH can have coffee while he is starting the fire (before I get out of bed, lol).
We keep the propane heater set around 60-62, for economic reasons. Plus, this way the children aren't used to a 74 degree house, and then go outside into 20 degree weather, only to come in to a 74 degree house. We keep them warm with layers, and hot drinks and food, and they loooove to snuggle under their flannels and quilts at night. :-)
Rachel
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3:26 pm
January 2, 2010
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BuckeyeGirl
| | N.E. Ohio | |
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That is sooooo much healthier Rachel! I wish we could keep our house cooler, but my father gets much too chilly even in a sweater, warm socks, lap robe when sitting and more. At 91 his circulation just can't take the temp I'd prefer to keep the house, and it's drafty enough really. Europeans are usually horrified at how warm most Americans keep their houses! We have a propane insert in the fireplace, the heating kind with a fan, not the 'pretty' kind that looks like a fireplace and he wants that sucker CRANKED! 
I try to keep it moderate when he's not paying attention both to save cost, but also to keep it healthier. There's a fine line between just right and chilly where he's concerned so I check his hands and feet and if he's the least bit chilly I turn it up. If I just ask him he ALWAYS says to turn it up! LOL
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If tomatoes are a fruit, then isn’t ketchup technically a
smoothie?
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7:32 am
January 5, 2010
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Runningtrails – Sheryl
| | Barrie, Ontario | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 452 | |
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We have a forced air oil furnace in the basement and a big tank at the back of the house. We use the wood stove exclusively until really cold winter temps set in, then we turn on the oil furnace and use both. We have the tank filled in the late fall every year and sometimes again before winter is over. We buy a lot of our wood although we have access to a lot on the property, as well, but its mostly pine and soft wood.
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Sheryl
providence-acres.blogspot.com
providenceacresfarm.com
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