Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: flashpnt on December 31, 2013, 07:09:19 PM
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How much wood you use . please list , sq ft. roughly , insulation as poor avg. or good feel , free to include stove brand ( if wanted ) . plus any other help full info.
The ideal behind this is being a noob how am i doing ... I am trying to get a basic understanding for operations.
my stove has a fire box that is 30" wide 36" deep and 36" tall heats 250 gal of water . full load is 12 hour burn time at cooler temp. under 35.
Heating 3000 square feet avg insulation burning a full cord a week 4x4x8 . use half that @ 50 degrees . that is with seasoned wood that was outside not covered.
aka kinda damp. but free
Any thoughts about mine is welcome , sound about correct or start looking for issues.
The good thing is already saving money and loveing it Thanks for the wealth of info from this sight.
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How much wood you use . please list , sq ft. roughly , insulation as poor avg. or good feel , free to include stove brand ( if wanted ) . plus any other help full info.
The ideal behind this is being a noob how am i doing ... I am trying to get a basic understanding for operations.
my stove has a fire box that is 30" wide 36" deep and 36" tall heats 250 gal of water . full load is 12 hour burn time at cooler temp. under 35.
Heating 3000 square feet avg insulation burning a full cord a week 4x4x8 . use half that @ 50 degrees . that is with seasoned wood that was outside not covered.
aka kinda damp. but free
Any thoughts about mine is welcome , sound about correct or start looking for issues.
The good thing is already saving money and loveing it Thanks for the wealth of info from this sight.
I burn roughly 20 face cord here a year in northern ny....we get cold nights at times -30f house is an old farm house 1,500 sq ft. its,ok insulated replaced down stairs windows and one up stairs.. I have 2 more to go along with front door has single pain window.....not the greatest.....my shop is 18x24 with ok insulated only has 4 inch even in roof going to add a lot more this summer shop has good windows and when I add on my indoor boiler will be in there giving off heat as well.....house is at 72f shop set at 50 or 55f thermo-control indoor boiler in the insulated jacket....heats 130 gal of water and is only a 9 cubic foot fire box. wich is small to a lot of outdoor wood boilers -30f to 0, 6-8 hours burn time, 0 to +30f I get 8 to 10hours, 12-14 hours +30f up these burn times are in a little shed with cheep 1 inch foam board insulation on walls and ceiling....until addition.....on pad where out door was.... thats with 5 wrap insulation piping and foam wrap pex pipes in house and shop all the way to exchangers
I burn maple, cheery, ash and popular mixed in.. the wood is seasoned but not covered....it will be when I put up a wood shed on the end of the addition of the shop.... :thumbup:
kelly
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A cord a week? Holy crap! I am heating @ 72° 3000 sq ft well insulated and DHW. I use 1.25 cords per month in the winter 35° and below. Load every 12 hours or so. In the summer just running DHW I load once every other day. If I was using a cord a week I'd likely go back to oil or find a different place to live!
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I am heating 2500 sqft 220 year old house. Below avg insulation. In New Hampshire with below avg temps this winter. Wood seasoned 6 months. Wood is mostly maple, beech and birch. Stove is a Hardy h4 130 gallon. I burn 1 cord every 2-2.5 weeks depending on temps. You sound like your going through a lot more than you should. Are you filling the firebox full on every loading?
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yea filled every time
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Your likely burning far more wood than you need to then. I found that I burn about the same wether I fill the stove half full or totally full. Try playing around with how much you load depending on the temps. I put 3 rounds in for 35* +. For temps under that I burn 4-5 rounds usually split up one of the rounds to mix it in to help burn the rounds. I load every 12-15 hours.
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I am heating 8000 sq ft. in New Hampshire with Empyre pro 400. Good insulation in Barn. Main house is log home 2500 sq ft. When temps 0-10 I am burning about 3/4 cord per week. Wood is 1 year seasoned oak.
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Where are you at in nh belknap?
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Gilford
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I'm heating an 1840's, 3,000sqft farmhouse and DHW with so, so insulation (Improvements as money permits) decent windows, good doors, etc... with a Central Boiler E-Classic 1400. I live in the Upper Valley region of NH (near Dartmouth College). When the temps are around 20 degrees +, 1/2 a firebox load will go about 12 hours. When it's colder than that coupled with wind, the firebox will be about 2/3's full to go 12 hours. The only time i ever filled the firebox completely full is the first winter I owned it (this is my 3rd season with it). The temps were in the 20's, calm winds and it went nearly 30 hours. However, I'm somewhat of a control freak and need to know that things are running properly, so I tend to it every 12 hours. I've gone through a bit more wood this year than I did last year at this time due it being a colder than normal December. My best guess is I've gone through about 1 and 3/4 cord of wood since a week before Thanksgiving. My house is at 70 degrees, 24/7. I tried it at 72/73 degrees, but those temps are too warm for me. Roger
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Belknap, Im over in Canterbury.
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I use a little over a full cord a month heating a "below average" insulated 1600 sq ft farm house and a well insulated 700 sq ft shop in central Ont. I am on track to go through 6 to 7 full cords this year.
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heating about 3000 sg feet av insulation burn between 7 and 10 full cord a season in Columbiana co. Ohio
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I am in Jefferson County Ohio. I have gone through about 3 cords since I lit up Oct. 18th. I have an Empyre Cozeburn 250. Usually 8 to 10 cords a winter.
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First year with CB E-1450. Average about a face cord a week. Very poorly insulated old house with bad windows, also DHW with a sidearm. Keeps everything about 70..... Except for uninsulated kitchen when below 20.
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Holy smokes. This is why I would never want a wood only boiler.
12-20 cords a season!!!
Houses are way too big these days. I grew up in a farm house. We heated with wood and coal. Most houses were 1200-1500sqft. With two in the house stoves, we heated and cooked with 2.5 Ton a winter and 2 cords for 5 people.
My house is 4400 sqft in Ohio. Well insulated, heating water too. Setting 180/12 diff, draft 75% open, house at 72F.
I have a NCB 250 Coal.
If I use wood only, I will burn through 1 cord even 2 weeks, and can't get over 10-14 hrs between loads. Probably lest time, more like 8-10 hrs when it's cold out. My friend has a CB she gets the same results for a very similar house.
I much much much prefer burning coal vs wood. A lot less smoke and the burn time is at least doubled. Also, no cresol build up. In spite what you hear, it's a lot cleaner way of heating. Not to mention, all the incredible amount of labor that goes into cutting, splitting, stacking, drying, moving wood. My back hurts just thinking about it.
So, I predominantly burn coal. So, for coal I change the setting to 172/5 diff, 75% draft, house 72F.
I burn through 1 Ton in 6 weeks and add 1/4-1/3 cord of wood.
So, I will use 1.5-2 cords of wood, and 4.5 Ton at that rate.
So, I'm a math person and let's check this.
Here are my calculations;
1ga prpane = 91,502 BTU
Anthrocite coal 1lb=15,000BTU bruns at 900F
We use 825-1000ga propane per 1 yr. Now, that is if we keep the house at 67F-68F at most.
If I turn up the house to 72F with propane, we use 1800-2000+ ga or more.
So,
825ga prop=75,489,250BTU/year
825ga prop = 5032lb anth coal=2.5Ton
But that is assuming that your stove/boiler is 100% efficient.
boilers are 35-50%, so lets adjust for that. Let's say 40% efficient, and loosing 60%
??Ton coal=2.5Ton with 60% loss of energy (40% efficiency)
??Ton coal=XTon-0.6 (60%) X ton=2.5Ton
??X Ton=0.4 XTon=2.5Ton
??X = 6.25 Ton needed for a season.
Now, the propane also heats the cooking stove, so we need to subtract some for that.
So, I should use 5.5 Ton a season.
I currently use 1 Ton every 5-6 weeks, which should equal to about 5-6 Ton a season.
So the math matches perfect.
By switching the breaker off to the 80ga water heater we are saving about $80 / per month. $500 a season.
Propane $2500-$3000 a season. More like $5500-$6000 if the house would be at 72F.
Total cost=$3500+ a season at 67F. or $5500-$6000 at 72F
My Coal cost; $500-$700 a season.
So, save about $3000 but keep the house 72-74F instead of 68F.
Technically we are saving more like $5500+ because if we kept the house at 72F with propane it would cost way more to heat with propane.
1ga prop=6.1lb anth coal=91,502 BTU
1lb anth coal=0.16ga prop = 15,000 BTU
ati53 - Welcome to the forum. Happy New Year! :)
Believe it not, some of us actually enjoy physical labor (sweat equity); i.e.cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling, etc.. of fire wood. After splitting wood all day, I feel the same physically as I do after a long run; energized! Before I purchased the outdoor wood boiler, I heated my home and domestic hot-water with fuel oil. It was costing me $5100.00/yr with the thermostats set at 68 degrees in my house. That $5100.00 I used to spend for oil now buys a whole lot of firewood log length. The guy from whom I purchase the logs guarantees an 11 cord load at $100/cord. After the cutting, splitting and stacking (on half cord pallets and moved by tractor to area to dry. The pallets are never unloaded) that load of logs yielded a 13 1/2 cord load. I have 2 seasons worth of fire wood out of that load. I now have my thermostats set 70 degrees 24/7. Any warmer than that I find it too warm. It's uncomfortable for me.
The last time I checked to get coal delivered in bulk was $325/ton. Or, I could have had it delivered in bags on 1 ton pallets at a cost of $375/ton. Believe me, if it hadn't cost so much for the coal I would have gone that route. In Ohio, do you have easy access to coal? I believe if I wanted coal in bulk it would have come from a company in Maine. I live in NH in a town bordering VT.
Thanks for the numbers. It was an interesting read. Roger
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When relating our wood consumption, I don't think we are always compaing apples to apples. Some members, like myself, are stating use in full cords (wood piled 4x4x8 feet). Some are using face cords (1/3 of a full cord).
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Happy new year!!!
We are about to have 1F weather.
please advise where you get anthracite for 105 to 120 a ton. i want in on that
I pay $105-120 for anthracite ("special arrangement") picked up, and $220 delivered / ton. The best!!! No smoke, no smell.
I don't like it bagged because it's too much trouble ripping the bags open, and I have to waste all the plastic. It seems to be really wet too. Bagged is $300-330/ton
We have a mine in Ohio, they sell bit coal for $75 a Ton, ok quality (bad smoke, bad smell. KY coal is $140-$180 where i work, good quality.
So, it's cheaper here by a lot.
I enjoy splitting wood too, but 12-15 cords is a lot. Especially thinking when I get older, I may not want all that work. Right now wood is very easily available due to the ash borer. It's not always the case. A lot of people are switching to wood heat. Once the ash trees are gone, we will have a lot less available. At least in Ohio. Here, it's hard to get a reliable source if you want to buy wood.
I tried for months.
In Ohio it's against the law to transport some wood, from some county to another, which makes it even more difficult in some counties with limited wooded areas.
I collected 30 cords just my self this summer, from people who didn't want their trees. Took probably 1 week total. Not bad, for saving $5500+. Just a lot of work.
With coal, I save $4500+ vs $5500 with coal, but 90% less labor.
My boiler NCB250, can't ever, no matter what I do, go more than 10hrs-12hrs per load on wood alone. So I have to rush out to load it first thing in the morning. Lot of other people seem to have the similar experience with wood boilers of different kind.
I like how I can go from 8pm to next day 8pm-10pm (24 hrs-28hrs) with one load of coal. No need to rush out in the morning.
May be some other boilers are better. Our friends have CB, and some others and they get about 12hrs. I know, there are so many other factors, soft , etc.
May be I should have bought a CB. They just don't make a coal unit.
I don't really understand why propane is so expensive anyway, they are franking our entire state for gas. You would think it would be close to free. Since 2003, propane price 5x.
Have a great New Year.
ati53 - Welcome to the forum. Happy New Year! :)
Believe it not, some of us actually enjoy physical labor (sweat equity); i.e.cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling, etc.. of fire wood. After splitting wood all day, I feel the same physically as I do after a long run; energized! Before I purchased the outdoor wood boiler, I heated my home and domestic hot-water with fuel oil. It was costing me $5100.00/yr with the thermostats set at 68 degrees in my house. That $5100.00 I used to spend for oil now buys a whole lot of firewood log length. The guy from whom I purchase the logs guarantees an 11 cord load at $100/cord. After the cutting, splitting and stacking (on half cord pallets and moved by tractor to area to dry. The pallets are never unloaded) that load of logs yielded a 13 1/2 cord load. I have 2 seasons worth of fire wood out of that load. I now have my thermostats set 70 degrees 24/7. Any warmer than that I find it too warm. It's uncomfortable for me.
The last time I checked to get coal delivered in bulk was $325/ton. Or, I could have had it delivered in bags on 1 ton pallets at a cost of $375/ton. Believe me, if it hadn't cost so much for the coal I would have gone that route. In Ohio, do you have easy access to coal? I believe if I wanted coal in bulk it would have come from a company in Maine. I live in NH in a town bordering VT.
Thanks for the numbers. It was an interesting read. Roger
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a lot of places in southern ohio. New lex ohio has a mine that sells it also.
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I would also like to dispute a couple of numbers, first I can tell you that the mills around here pay on hardwood at 5400 pounds per cord second where are you getting the efficiency numbers on wood boilers, smoke dragons may be 30% efficient but todays gassers are in the 80+% efficient range and certainly burn cleaner than your coal boiler, how about this you stick your head in the stack of your coal burner and I will stick mine in my gasser and see which of us stands longer, ever think of the enviromental aspects of coal verses wood and what about the renewable part,and lastly how about the FACT that wood is a ZERO carbon fuel meaning that it adds ZERO carbon to our enviroment
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Which Oxford mine plant do you get it from? I seen a couple when trying to look it up.
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Hey anti 53, you may know some things about coal but that don't mean you are Einstien when it comes to wood, I don't claim to be either but heres a few facts, first the 80% + efficiency rating that most gassers have is from your EPA certified lab, ours was done at Intertech in Middletown Wisconsin where it's pretty much impossible to buy the results, where your coal plants are typically done on site where who knows maybe nobody is watching what gets slipped into the pocket of the onsite inspector, next you say that there are no wood fired power plants, you guys in the coal world might want to watch closely because Bio Mass power plants are popping up all over the Northeast, By the way Einstien Maine is spelled with an E on the end. Yes coal is decomposed wood ( that the carbons from it have been safely stored for millions of years and now we dig them up and burn them adding to the carbon in our atmosphere, whereas with wood we are actually taking the worlds filter ( a tree ) and burning it hotter and cleaner than ever before, technology has come a long way in the past 10 years, you might want to update yourself a bit. I'm not telling anybody to not burn coal but I certainly am not for digging up coal, trucking it to the northeast and then breathing its emissions when here in MAINE we have more forest than any other state in these continental United States. I'm wondering something , Do you have some sort of agenda? Why would you come on a wood boiler forum and tell us how ignorant we are for doing what works for us? If you think we are all so stupid why don't you just say Good-Bye and start a coal burning forum of your own? I'm sure you would do really well ! HOWS THEM CARBON CREDITS WORKIN OUT FOR YA.
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One more scientific question for you Einstien, HOWS THEM CARBON CREDITS WORKIN FOR YA!!!!!!!!!!
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GOOD-NESS, must be to much holiday juice going around. My 2 cents on coal, when I bought my current house I was trying figure out what was the most economical way for me to heat. My previous house I heated with a Reading Leigha Coal Stoker stove. I liked it alot, I heated the whole house with it and went through 3.5 tons per year. I heated only about 1200 sqft though. I was getting bagged anthracite rice coal for around $300 a ton. That means it cost me about $1000 per winter to heat. Not bad at all. Well when I bought my new house the property has 10 acres and no close neighbors. I was deciding between a Coal Stoker Boiler like an EFM or Axeman Anderson or a OWB. Well I came across my Hardy for $500 bucks and couldn't say no to the price. I realized that you can always find wood for free but you can never get coal for free. I also buy firewood by the log length for $100 per cord. That is way cheaper than I can get coal per ton. I go through 12 cords of wood per winter which is $1200. I would never be able to heat the house on 4 tons of coal in a Stoker Boiler. Realistically it would be around 6-8 or so tons most likely. My good friend has a Keystocker coal boiler and goes through about 7.
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Thanks Honda, I've been out in the cold most of the day and really don't need the foolishness from this guy, let him burn his coal, just don't tell me that I should be doing the same or he's gonna call me a nitwit, to each his own and run what ya brung.
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Amen
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I'm with Honda but I haven't had to buy any wood. I hauled 25000 pounds of wood home in the last two days on $50 in gas. So at this point, I don't care how much wood it burns.
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i have ct wood for a long time...i had an indoor wood furnace and burnt about 8 cords a year...i now have a home made OWB and still burn 8 to 10 cords a year (between furnaces i added on to the house and insulate a lot better) yes my home made is not very efficient but i can tell you this...cutting wood in the bush with my 2 sons (and on occasion the wife is along as well) as they grew up sure brought us a lot closer together as a family as dialing up some business to delver me coal. yes it is work..and as long as you stay a head it is enjoyable work (at lest for me) my youngest son is 28 and still in university and when he comes home for christmas his first words are..we cutting wood dad, i hope so. it actually makes me feel good to see this young man who will soon be a professional engineer and PHD still has the desire to get out there and do some physical work. i like to think that all those years cutting in the woods as a family had something to do with not only help to set his goals but also instilled in him that working hard at what ever you do will make you succelssful...even cutting wood can bring you satisification. we try and burn on deal elm and ash as these trees in my area die faster than i can keep up with them. we also plant trees every year as we like to think we are good stewards of the land. i will agree that wood burning with an OWB is not for everyone and everyone has their opinion. i would be the first person to tell a newbie searching out wood stoves that they should think long and hard about one as they are a big responsability. i will agree 5 cords for a winter here in ontario is a bit hard for me to swallow but i dont own a gasser so i could never call "bullcrap" as i don't have the "on hand" proof of yes or no.
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Right on willie! I'm fairly new to the wood cutting owb scene as I have lived in the city up until two years ago. I have three young boys and I hope to enjoy what you do with your sons. Mine are not able to help a whole lot right now but they are with me at times and when their not they know what I'm doing. I have all the trees and woods to last for generations and each spring we will be out planting new ones as we have done for two years now. I want them to understand why we do what we do and it's so much larger than just how many cords we burn (burn a lot living in northern mn in a old drafty poorly insulated farm house). I enjoy doing this and it keeps me in shape and I gotta think I'm adding to my quality and if it keeps me on this planet a little longer to see my boys grow that's all I can ask. I know this is kind of changing the way the thread but I think in this case that ain't a bad thing. I would like to think we are all here to learn something which I do every day. The regular guys on here have taught me a ton and I appreciate that. :thumbup:
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i understand coal is cheap (i guess) if you are near it..when i was a kid everyone used coal where i live. now, no one burns coal as it is no longer cheap to get here. gas is the best choice for home heating by far in my area.. i dont have a gas line on my road (one of the las ones not to have it) in my area of ontario canada it is said (by our government agency of some sort) that an average ontario home (what ever that is) requires 100,000,000 btu for an average ontario winter. if we said that a cord of mixed hardwood maybe had 20,000,000 recoverable btu in it that would mean if your stove was 100 percent efficent you would require 5 cords (we know that aint true) now i know i burn around 8 to 10 cords so that (i think) puts my old home made at about 50 or 60 percent efficient (if my home is average?) it is a century home (brick) with a full basement 2000 sqft, first floor and second floor,1800 sqft, all heated i have rebuilt about every room and filled the walls with spray foam insulation so i know that is good, have a foot (or more) of batts and blown in, in the attic and mostly new windows (a couple of moe to go) my OWB sits too far frm my house but it is well out of the way at 250 feet (underground lines lose a little heat at that distance)
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3,400 sf of 1860's poorly insulated farmhouse here and I burn a little less than 3 cords a month. I guess I'm not doing as bad as I thought! These -15 nights are not helping any.
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I live in N.C. and heat with wood. If I switched to coal, oil or propane my overall cost of heating would double.
I assume ati must live in OH. or atleast close to mining country. I'm happy you are able to purchase
coal cheap enough to find it beneficial. I have used coal in the past but it's not cost effective for me.
Electric heat would be more cost effective than coal in my area.
My stove isn't a gasser and I still save quite a bit of money per season while being eco-friendlier than
most. Several factors go into each persons decision to purchase their style "System".
Have you read any of the stove manufacturers claims? Does it state anywhere in their terminology that
their "system" is 80% efficient? Many of the systems furnished were picked by the customer for their own install.
Several of the dealers on this site mention very often how important it is to chose the correct dealer so an
install can be as efficient as possible.
To me it's not about what you burn but overall weather you're happy with your investment. I am and I choose
to burn wood and it's the cost effective material for my area. Don't assume everyone is like you and has a
supply of coal.
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Thank you to all who have spoken up to defend our intelligence in burning wood, thank God you did , I was starting to think I was stupid and should go back to oil.
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I'm still trying to figure out what the point of this was. Wow good for you, you can buy coal at $100 a ton. $300 a ton here. So, using your numbers, I need what? 18 tons to replace 15 cords(using even numbers) of wood that only costs me fuel to cut and transport to the house ( not much). Now 18 × $300 is $5400. And I still have to get the stuff to the house. Propane is roughly $4000 for the year, they deliver. Wood? If I had $500 worth of fuel into a years worth of wood, I'd be shocked. Now Einstein, (good one slimjim, we'll go with that) can you see why coal is not the answer for everyone? Heck I'd be major money ahead to sit in the chair and have propane delivered over chasing down coal in my area. Now, do you still want to know why it is more economical for me to burn wood I already have? Not everything is based on efficiency. Economics are also a factor.
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Well put Speed.
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My real costs for firewood are a lot more than some of you guys stated here. Tractor costs, (partly for wood) grapple, tons of chainsaws, buzz saws, wood splitter, conveyor, wood racks, dump trailer, and on and on. Oh yeah and fuel and oil including fuel for my truck to haul as I don't own an bush. And you guys with bush need to factor in a certain amount of value in that too, at least around here we pay taxes so more property means more taxes. And what is your time worth? Some years I have a tuff time finding time to cut and haul wood.
As for the coal, I would try it if I could get it around here. I know the Amish are burning coal here but I have no idea where they get it or what it costs. I assume the reason they are burning coal is because some of the farms they own don't have any bush on them and firewood costs more.
The guy was just trying to tell his story on him burning coal when he needs extra burntime, did he really need the responses he got? No different than someone who has 100 acres of bush, their cost for wood is a lot less than mine is, doesn't mean the guy knows nothing. The only reason it's cost effective for me to have an OWB is because I got a used one real cheap otherwise I would still be using my Hotblast.
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probably 28-30 face cord a year, from mid sept-may
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Did I get something wrong, it sure sounded to me as if we as wood burners no matter where we are should be burning coal in anti's eyes, SOME OF US DON"T HAVE COAL LOCALLY, we have wood,RUN WHAT YA BRUNG!!!!!
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Sounds to me that yes that is what you read. ;) However I read that for him and his supply of cheap coal where he lives that burning combinations of coal and wood works for him. I have lots of hardwood available to me however because a few of my big poplars on my lawn blew down in a wind storm last summer I have been burning the poplar just to at least get some valve out of it. So if I did keep track I'm likely burning twice as many cords as I should be so my numbers would look insane for wood use. My neighbour (he has a homebuilt owb) came over the other day and seen that I was burning poplar,told me I was crazy he just had 40 acres of bush logged and told me to push the poplar in a pile and come over to his place and get all I want. I'm a cheap bastage and hate to waste anything so I'll burn up the poplar 1st. There is only a few owbs around here and everyone who stops in says I must be burning tons of wood in it.
You and I both know there are lots of people who should not even consider an owb.
Top 10 reasons why you should not own an wood OWB, if you answer yes to 4 or more of these stop thinking about it.
1. You live on 1/2 acre and you neighbour is 75' away.
2. You have a 1100 square foot house and no shop.
3. You have natural gas to your house.
4. You work away from home for days at a time and your wife is a princess.
5. You spend 6 months a year in Florida.
6. You haven't driven or ridden in a pick up truck in the last 2 weeks.
7. You faint at the sight of blood.
8. Something breaks in your home and your wife makes you call a plumber, electrician, heating tech or fire dept before you tackle fixing.
9. You wear a suit to work and it doesn't have your name stitched on the front pocket.
10. You have a sweet deal to buy coal for $110 a ton.
>:D >:D >:D
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:post:
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I forgot one.
11. You were bottle fed as a child.
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I don't get it guy's???? You all burn so much more wood than I do. I'm heating 3600 SQ/FT ranch + blowing some heat in the basement cause I like warm floors. This house was built in 1970 and has 4" of insulation in the ceiling. I'm in southern Ohio and it gets darn cold here, -10 in the next two days. I would have to leave the windows open to burn as much as some are on here. Something is wrong fellas!
Now for coal....I've been burning coal this year almost exclusively. I by from Oxford resources in New Lexington Ohio for $75.00 a ton, so far this winter I've only used about a ton. Did start out on wood in October but switched to coal at the start of December. My boiler is not a coal unit but I did some mods to help me burn coal. A wood/coal boiler is much better if your considering burning coal. If I burn 4 tons this year it will be a lot! I live on wooded property and have been burning in this boiler for several years. All wood at first and not that good of quality, 5 full cord was worst winter....some of you guys that are burning so much more must live in the Yukon :o
Buy the way...that 1.5 tons of bituminous coal from New Lexington on the truck!
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Which Oxford mine plant do you get it from? I seen a couple when trying to look it up.
Tunnel hill mine, Oxford Reclamation 740-343-0195...Becky is a dandy too!
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Sounds to me that yes that is what you read. ;) However I read that for him and his supply of cheap coal where he lives that burning combinations of coal and wood works for him. I have lots of hardwood available to me however because a few of my big poplars on my lawn blew down in a wind storm last summer I have been burning the poplar just to at least get some valve out of it. So if I did keep track I'm likely burning twice as many cords as I should be so my numbers would look insane for wood use. My neighbour (he has a homebuilt owb) came over the other day and seen that I was burning poplar,told me I was crazy he just had 40 acres of bush logged and told me to push the poplar in a pile and come over to his place and get all I want. I'm a cheap bastage and hate to waste anything so I'll burn up the poplar 1st. There is only a few owbs around here and everyone who stops in says I must be burning tons of wood in it.
You and I both know there are lots of people who should not even consider an owb.
Top 10 reasons why you should not own an wood OWB, if you answer yes to 4 or more of these stop thinking about it.
1. You live on 1/2 acre and you neighbour is 75' away.
2. You have a 1100 square foot house and no shop.
3. You have natural gas to your house.
4. You work away from home for days at a time and your wife is a princess.
5. You spend 6 months a year in Florida.
6. You haven't driven or ridden in a pick up truck in the last 2 weeks.
7. You faint at the sight of blood.
8. Something breaks in your home and your wife makes you call a plumber, electrician, heating tech or fire dept before you tackle fixing.
9. You wear a suit to work and it doesn't have your name stitched on the front pocket.
10. You have a sweet deal to buy coal for $110 a ton.
>:D >:D >:D
Awsome, do you mind if I use that?
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I have been experimenting with coal this last week. A combination of wood and coal seems to provide the best burn time and wood consumption reduction for me. I use about 25 pounds of coal in 24 hours suplemented with 3-4 sticks of wood each 12 hours. Cuts wood use by 50% and costs $3.50 a day for coal, bagged, likely half that if I buy in bulk. I live in PA so I'm in coal country. I also have 35 acres of free wood. The minimal cost for the coal suplement will be ofset by less wear and tear on my old broken body. Its the best of both worlds for me; I get exercise and a hobby cutting wood but don't have to kill myself cutting or pay the oil man!
Just remember: To each his own...there is no right answer.
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^^^^^^This was done more appropriately ^^^^^^^ :post:
Art worded it way better than the anti wood guy. See how he said "I live in coal country and mixing coal with wood saves me time and effort etc., etc.,......." Now I'll buy into that. He is saying here is what works for me because all the variables are right. But the guy that comes on throwing numbers like Einstein and telling us we are fools for even thinking about cutting and burning wood while we should be burning coal, well that tends to chap my @@@. Good for him. But it won't work for me.
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Here to serve... :thumbup:
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Here to serve... :thumbup:
Lol!