I'm currently looking for plans for an add on wood furnace i can add to
my forced air lp furnace my heat bill is nearly twice as much as last
year's while using less lp, I can see no other way to cut my bill but
add on wood. wood is cheap up here in the northwoods. the most
expensive thing I foresee is the chimney. I still need to run b-vent
through the roof (Approx 30') for the lp and the whatever is necessary
for the wood furnace. I'm on a very tight budget so any safe money
saving ides you may have would be greatly appreciated.

TIA -

Carl in wisconsin

On 2 Jan 2006 10:42:05 -0800, "Carlr54555"
wrote:

I'm currently looking for plans for an add on wood furnace i can add to
my forced air lp furnace my heat bill is nearly twice as much as last
year's while using less lp, I can see no other way to cut my bill but
add on wood. wood is cheap up here in the northwoods. the most
expensive thing I foresee is the chimney. I still need to run b-vent
through the roof (Approx 30') for the lp and the whatever is necessary
for the wood furnace. I'm on a very tight budget so any safe money
saving ides you may have would be greatly appreciated.

TIA -

Carl in wisconsin


You might want to look at an outdoor wood burning furnace, something
like this: http://www.centralboiler.com/

There are many brands. I'm just using the one above as an example.

Local Laws: In my jurisdiction, local laws prohibit dual fuel (wood
plus gas) heating. You can have gas only or wood only, but not both
at the same time due to fire regulations. Also, the type of chimney
required for wood is different from gas.

Insurance: Around here, your insurance policy gets cancelled rather
quickly if you install wood heating.

In my jurisdiction, both the authorities and the insurance companies
are happy if the outdoor wood burning furnace is at least 100 feet
from any building. An outdoor furnace can be easily retrofitted into
an existing forced air gas heating system as a suplimental heating
source and does not require that you install a separate chimney for
wood combustion.

Around here, one needs a zillion permits to install wood heating. It
might be a good idea to get all the permits before you spend a penny
on anything. It just takes one bureaucrat having a bad hair day to
delay your plans indefinitely and, if your jurisdiction is anything
like mine, you will be talking to bureaucrats for the next six months.
Start early to be in time for next winter.

Good luck.

Insurance: Around here, your insurance policy gets cancelled rather
quickly if you install wood heating.


And, just for the information of it, would it have killed you to
mention where "around here" is??

Errol Groff

Instructor, Manufacturing Technology
H.H. Ellis Technical High School
613 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239

New England Model Engineering Society
www.neme-s.org

On 2 Jan 2006 10:42:05 -0800, "Carlr54555"
wrote:

I'm currently looking for plans for an add on wood furnace i can add to
my forced air lp furnace my heat bill is nearly twice as much as last
year's while using less lp, I can see no other way to cut my bill but
add on wood. wood is cheap up here in the northwoods. the most
expensive thing I foresee is the chimney. I still need to run b-vent
through the roof (Approx 30') for the lp and the whatever is necessary
for the wood furnace. I'm on a very tight budget so any safe money
saving ides you may have would be greatly appreciated.

You can't run B-vent for the wood part. You need a triplewall steel
flue of some sort, and make sure all the components come from the same
company - this eliminates the finger-pointing if something goes wrong.

Have you considered an installed pre-fab fireplace with a heat
exchanger (or two) rather than a wood fired furnace? Will be a whole
lot easier to install and probably less money to buy (sales volume),
and it has decorative functions also. We installed two as fireplaces,
but didn't buy the heating fan kits for them. If we ever really need
them for heat, we can get them.

Or if you already have masonry fireplaces, they make heat exchanger
inserts that produce more useful heat than they suck up the flue.
(Having a proper outside combustion air source helps with that.)

And use room ceiling fans to stir the heat you have, put them in CCW
"Up" mode to get the heat off the ceiling and down where you can use
it - especially valuable in rooms with cathedral ceilings. Also helps
to distribute the fireplace heat between the rooms.

Set the gas furnace thermostat low, and if you don't get up and
stoke the fire at 3 AM, it will kick in as a backup.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

On 2 Jan 2006 10:42:05 -0800, "Carlr54555"
wrote:

I'm currently looking for plans for an add on wood furnace i can add to
my forced air lp furnace my heat bill is nearly twice as much as last
year's while using less lp, I can see no other way to cut my bill but
add on wood. wood is cheap up here in the northwoods. the most
expensive thing I foresee is the chimney. I still need to run b-vent
through the roof (Approx 30') for the lp and the whatever is necessary
for the wood furnace. I'm on a very tight budget so any safe money
saving ides you may have would be greatly appreciated.

TIA -

Carl in wisconsin


Carl , Don't have any plans but I have heated with wood for many
years. It would depend on how your house is configured as to
the best way to add a wood burner. A wood burner in a basement
(daylights are best) is the best, as heat rises and all needed beyond
the stove setup is a hi-low thermostat for your furnace that just runs
the blower. That allows the heat to circulate around, no need to
join directly into the furnace itself.

A wood stove in a main living area is very messy but nothing
beats it for heat, if you go that route get a Vermont Casting
or equal grade. I used an Ashley for many years and they are pretty
good for a parlor type.

As for heating with wood on a budget look for a good used stove
and set it up in the basement. A friend of mine heats a 3500 sq ft
three story home with a barrel stove in the basement on just a
couple of fires a day, he goes through maybe 10 cords a year.
He has a fan on the top floor that is ducted to the basement to
circulate the air. It's on a thermostat..

My insurance co wanted a signoff from the local fire dept
before they would cover it. I did the install myself, don't
burn green wood and keep the chimney clean. Good luck

DE

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

DE et al

thanks for all the concern about insurance and such. the b-vent I
mentioned is for the LP furnace I have. As for the wood furnace that
would be vented in a separate chimney. I apologize for any confusion.
there is one brick chimney that has been used for a small pot belly
stove. the interior is approx 12x12 and is unlined. I'm not so
confident in it right now it needs tuck- pointing and of course a
liner. as for Insurance I'm currently uninsured and local codes are
kind of a joke in our rural area. That said, I still want it to be
safe.

As for the outdoor boiler, those are in the $3-5k range and I'm in no
position to pay that. The basement needs the heat most right now. the
building is a fixer upper with a new foundation wall I don't want
heaving back in.

thanks again for the replies-

Carl in wisconsin

On 2 Jan 2006 20:49:41 -0800, "Carlr54555"
wrote:

DE et al

thanks for all the concern about insurance and such. the b-vent I
mentioned is for the LP furnace I have. As for the wood furnace that
would be vented in a separate chimney. I apologize for any confusion.
there is one brick chimney that has been used for a small pot belly
stove. the interior is approx 12x12 and is unlined. I'm not so
confident in it right now it needs tuck- pointing and of course a
liner. as for Insurance I'm currently uninsured and local codes are
kind of a joke in our rural area. That said, I still want it to be
safe.

As for the outdoor boiler, those are in the $3-5k range and I'm in no
position to pay that. The basement needs the heat most right now. the
building is a fixer upper with a new foundation wall I don't want
heaving back in.

thanks again for the replies-

Carl in wisconsin

Sorry Carl. My bad, I missed the "in Wisconsin" part of your sig.

Errol
Looking forward to Oshkosh come summer time.

Errol Groff

Instructor, Manufacturing Technology
H.H. Ellis Technical High School
613 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239

New England Model Engineering Society
www.neme-s.org