As I continued to research ways to keep the heat from our woodstove "in" our home, I ran across something really cool to share. The best part is that it comes from a local Mainer. I'm posting the link to his page because he has covered everything in terrific detail. Well done Guy!
In a previous post, I stated that there is a huge heat loss from windows. Building these interior, "double-pane" storms was very easy. I build a few a week and can feel the difference immediately after installation. They cost between $10-15 each to construct and the materials are readily available. They even look nice! So, if you are the least bit mechanically inclined, think about these as one of the first things you do to reduce heat loss from your home (like even before adding additional insulation). These will give you the most "bang for the buck"!
http://www.arttec.net/Thermal-Windows/index.html
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Corduroy Road Update
One of my long-term goals in working our 45 acres is to create access to most all areas of our property. We are fortunate to have some amazing and diverse habitats on our land. We have the headwaters of a fairly major stream. You can trace many of the drainage plains and see the formation of rivulets of water that combine into wet areas, then into actual flowing bodies of water. We have upland pine forest and swamp. We have several vernal pools. We have rocky ridges and huge boulders and the beginnings of a hard maple stand that would make an excellent sugar bush in about 5 years.
Our property was harvested several times in the last 25 years by an absentee landlord (a recipe for disaster in my book). There are areas with huge ruts from large skidder tires. There isn't anyplace they didn't go. I'm constantly finding empty 1 qt. oil cans, soda bottles and broken pieces of 3/4 inch steel cable.
If I was creating access roads from scratch, I would have avoided some of the wet and swampy areas that had obviously been traversed before. I decided to use these previously established routes for a few reasons. One, I didn't have to clear trees and roots. Two, the damage had already been done. Three, it gave me a chance to do some repair work. How many of these areas are there? Only about three. The worst of these "roads" turned into mush the few times I tried to first access it. Between the wet and the clay and the soil, it became a perfect mud pie road with muck over a foot deep. I first tried to remove all of the mud-like material, down to the clay, but it got no better.
I was clearing some young balsam fir when I thought of corduroy roads. The fir were nice and straight and would be easy to clean up and lay down tightly next to one another. Fir gets punky and rots fairly quickly if it gets damp. I read somewhere that the secret is keeping it wet. There's a big difference between damp and wet.
Five years ago, I began my corduroy road experiment. I had no intentions of continuing the road if it rotted after the first year or two which, I fully expected, it would. Read my first "Corduroy Road" Post HERE. After two years, the first ten feet remained intact and solid. So, with interest, I've added to the corduroy every year.
The poles I cut are about 12 feet long and the base of the pole must be at least 4-6" in diameter. I cut them green, don't allow them to dry much at all, and place them in the road bed. I alternate skinny with thick and place them as close to each other as I can. If I have a corner, I use 6' poles on the wide corner-side of the road only and alternate these with the long poles. Once the poles are in place, I gently run over them with the front tires of the tractor to squish them into the soft ground. I make sure I run over the poles, covering the whole road, moving from one side to the other.
Then I bring down some gravel and shovel it onto the poles, raking it into the spaces between the poles. Larger rocks from the gravel are removed and used elsewhere.
I then run over the road again with the front tractor tires going from side to side. I then add another thin layer of gravel, run over the road again and that's about it. I've been meaning to add more gravel but I don't use the road that frequently and I haven't had to worry about too much wear and tear.
Each year, when I clear more. I add to the road as the trees become available. If I don't have enough, I'll leave them standing until I have enough to do another 20 feet, then harvest them and add to the road.
Our property was harvested several times in the last 25 years by an absentee landlord (a recipe for disaster in my book). There are areas with huge ruts from large skidder tires. There isn't anyplace they didn't go. I'm constantly finding empty 1 qt. oil cans, soda bottles and broken pieces of 3/4 inch steel cable.
If I was creating access roads from scratch, I would have avoided some of the wet and swampy areas that had obviously been traversed before. I decided to use these previously established routes for a few reasons. One, I didn't have to clear trees and roots. Two, the damage had already been done. Three, it gave me a chance to do some repair work. How many of these areas are there? Only about three. The worst of these "roads" turned into mush the few times I tried to first access it. Between the wet and the clay and the soil, it became a perfect mud pie road with muck over a foot deep. I first tried to remove all of the mud-like material, down to the clay, but it got no better.
I was clearing some young balsam fir when I thought of corduroy roads. The fir were nice and straight and would be easy to clean up and lay down tightly next to one another. Fir gets punky and rots fairly quickly if it gets damp. I read somewhere that the secret is keeping it wet. There's a big difference between damp and wet.
Five years ago, I began my corduroy road experiment. I had no intentions of continuing the road if it rotted after the first year or two which, I fully expected, it would. Read my first "Corduroy Road" Post HERE. After two years, the first ten feet remained intact and solid. So, with interest, I've added to the corduroy every year.
The poles I cut are about 12 feet long and the base of the pole must be at least 4-6" in diameter. I cut them green, don't allow them to dry much at all, and place them in the road bed. I alternate skinny with thick and place them as close to each other as I can. If I have a corner, I use 6' poles on the wide corner-side of the road only and alternate these with the long poles. Once the poles are in place, I gently run over them with the front tires of the tractor to squish them into the soft ground. I make sure I run over the poles, covering the whole road, moving from one side to the other.
Then I bring down some gravel and shovel it onto the poles, raking it into the spaces between the poles. Larger rocks from the gravel are removed and used elsewhere.
I then run over the road again with the front tractor tires going from side to side. I then add another thin layer of gravel, run over the road again and that's about it. I've been meaning to add more gravel but I don't use the road that frequently and I haven't had to worry about too much wear and tear.
Each year, when I clear more. I add to the road as the trees become available. If I don't have enough, I'll leave them standing until I have enough to do another 20 feet, then harvest them and add to the road.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Heating Our Home With Wood, Part 3
This will be a blog of updates.
Mid-October: It's been a wonderful fall with only two nights of frost so far. We've used the wood stove sporadically to "take the chill off". It's so nice to have a place to go in our home to warm up. It's nice to have wireless so I can start the stove in the morning with a cup of coffee and sit in front of the stove.
Much of the wood I am burning is smaller stuff; standing dead wood and small maple mostly.The stove starts easily and heats up quickly.
With all the posted negative press about catalytic converters, so far I am impressed with the Vermont Castings Defiant and its ability to heat well. Once the burn is established and the stove top temp is 600-650 degrees, I close the damper to force the exhaust through the catalytic converter and the stove just hums along belting out a consistent heat.
It takes a while for the first floor of our house to heat up; about 2-3 hours if not longer (the stove is in our basement). I'm certain this is due to all of the construction materials in the basement absorbing heat. If we start the stove in the evening and I fire it to last the night (more on this later), I wake up in the morning and the floors are warm and comfortable to walk on barefoot! Even after the stove has been out for over a day, the house still radiates warmth. This is something that we never felt with hot water baseboard heat.
Early November: The stove runs day and night now. I've been keeping an eye on thermometers located on the 1st floor and 2nd floor thermostats. Early this morning (4:30 am), the stove had used up all the wood I had packed into it the night before. There were some coals left and the stove top temp had cooled to about 150 degrees (normal operating temp on the stove top ranges between 500-650 degrees). Outside, the temperature was 21 degrees. The second floor temp had dropped to 64 degrees (from 68) and the first floor temp was about 69 degrees (from 74 the evening before). We are still not using any oil to heat our home. I am in the process of adding more insulation to our attic (previous post). I'm also building some really cool interior storm windows (for the second floor) that look great, still allow you to see outdoors and feel as though they will do a great job of helping to curb heat migration. More on these later.
Late November: Still loving wood heat; not really feeling the love about our Vermont Castings Non-catalytic/Catalytic Woodstove Model 1975. When you buy the mac-daddy of woodstoves from a premier wood stove manufacturer; you expect to get something that not only works, but works well. The day before Thanksgiving, I opened the top to add wood and was surprised to find that the ceramic backplate had cracked into two pieces and fallen into the firebox. I've learned in my lifetime to give the benefit of doubt. So, I went to the dealer and they gave me a new backplate. Two days later, I was adding small wood (1.5 in diameter) to a small fire. A stick of wood bumped the backplate and the backplate broke again. I'm on my third plate and I'm beginning to be wary. The night before last, I awoke startled and very freaked out (I sleep deeply) to a very strong odor of smoke. It was so strong, my wife became extremely nauseous. Thankfully the house wasn't on fire and I spent the next two hours sitting in front of our stove trying to figure out what happened. The next morning when the stove had cooled, I opened up the catalytic converter housing to find that the converter was cracked. So, we're in the process now of contacting VC and will be talking to the dealer again. Sent an email to VC and 24 hours later they still have not responded. Will update as the story progresses.
Late January: I should have updated this a while ago as our issues appear to be resolved. VC finally responded (albeit over 10 days after my email). In a nutshell, they drop the responsibility back on their stove vendor. So, if you are buying a VC woodstove; make sure you feel good about who you a re buying it from! Mazzeo's in Rockport, Maine, has been very good about providing me with parts during this frustrating period. They put their heads together and came up with a very reasonable explanation for what was happening in our situation.
It was my fault for reading the directions. Yes, it's true. The manual that came with our VC Defiant said to clean out the ash pan whenever it was full. So, every morning, when the stove was filled with just coals, I'd clean out the firebox, filling the ash pan, which I would empty. This situation coupled with 3 floors of chimney created a very strong draft through the stove causing too much heat, too quickly. The stove didn't get over temperature, there was just too much heat moving through the firebox causing the backplate to become too hot and brittle.
Solution. Let the ashes accumulate to 3-4" deep in the bottom of the stove and empty them only once every three days to a week. Apparently anyone who has been using a woodstove for a while knows this. Yet, it wasn't important enough to add this to the instruction manual. Chalk this up to a rookie mistake; how was I to know? Since making this change, the woodstove has been working even better, I have been using less wood and the backplate hasn't broken since.
The issue with the smoke also had to do with the tall chimney and the weight of the air in the chimney on warmer days. I'm not going to get into the details but this issue too is resolved now that we understand this nuance.
Our Defiant keeps our over 2000 sqft home comfortable down into the teens. Below 10, the house cools off at night when the stove gets throttled back. Still, we've only used our oil heat once this winter (so far). Note: I have built these really cool interior storm windows for our upstairs windows. These have had a HUGE impact on heat loss!
I have also installed two fan units experimentally as the convection thing was working but not well enough to keep our home comfortable. One fan (an inexpensive bathroom vent fan) pushes warm air up to a second floor register in the hallway in the middle of the house. The second fan (an Airflow Breeze Ultra made by Airflow Technologies), sits in a first floor wall register I put in and pulls warm air from above the woodstove in the basement through a 4x10 opening out into the middle of the first floor. The Airflow breeze works very well (it has 3 speed settings and two fans) and at about $100 was a bit expensive but worth it. It's fairly quiet on it's medium setting where it runs most all the time. As soon as we have a bit more $, I plan on replacing the bathroom fan with something quieter and a tad more powerful to get more heat to the second floor.
I do have to comment on the feeling I have knowing we don't have to invest money in purchasing home heating oil every year.
However, there is a great feeling of complete satisfaction inside that I don't feel often.
I think it comes from taking one big step away from the large dark shadow of big oil. Inside, I'm glowing with the feeling that I have regained some of my freedom.
Winter 2013-14: This is our third heating season with our Vermont Castings, Defiant Dual Mode Woodstove, Model 1975. This is probably the most important post if you are considering purchasing this stove. There are a number of design flaws you should be aware of. First, the catalyst sucks. It lasts maybe two months before the catalyst honeycomb begins to disintegrate. After 4-5 months, I pulled my second one out and it completely fell apart. This was my second (and last) catalyst. Apparently most folks (including us now) just run the stove without it.
Secondly, the ceramic backplate is prone to breaking. VC has replaced about 5 of them now for us free of charge. The latest incarnation is thicker and without a design embossed into the front which is supposed to increase the integrity. My last (thin) backplate lasted over a year when it broke on me this fall. It was replaced with the newer thicker one; this one broke today after only 3 months of use.
VC has been sold (again) to an employee-owned company down south somewhere. Perhaps they will bring the quality back to Vermont Castings that has been lost.
On the upside, the stove heats well. It keeps our 2000+ square foot home comfortable until either the temps drop to single digits or the wind begins to blow. Two fan units keep the warm air circulating. The bathroom fan was replaced with a 4" inline centrifugal fan (to push more air to the second floor) and the AirFlow Breeze is still working great. The stove is nice to look at and has given us a new living space in our basement during the winter.
Mid-October: It's been a wonderful fall with only two nights of frost so far. We've used the wood stove sporadically to "take the chill off". It's so nice to have a place to go in our home to warm up. It's nice to have wireless so I can start the stove in the morning with a cup of coffee and sit in front of the stove.
Much of the wood I am burning is smaller stuff; standing dead wood and small maple mostly.The stove starts easily and heats up quickly.
With all the posted negative press about catalytic converters, so far I am impressed with the Vermont Castings Defiant and its ability to heat well. Once the burn is established and the stove top temp is 600-650 degrees, I close the damper to force the exhaust through the catalytic converter and the stove just hums along belting out a consistent heat.
It takes a while for the first floor of our house to heat up; about 2-3 hours if not longer (the stove is in our basement). I'm certain this is due to all of the construction materials in the basement absorbing heat. If we start the stove in the evening and I fire it to last the night (more on this later), I wake up in the morning and the floors are warm and comfortable to walk on barefoot! Even after the stove has been out for over a day, the house still radiates warmth. This is something that we never felt with hot water baseboard heat.
Early November: The stove runs day and night now. I've been keeping an eye on thermometers located on the 1st floor and 2nd floor thermostats. Early this morning (4:30 am), the stove had used up all the wood I had packed into it the night before. There were some coals left and the stove top temp had cooled to about 150 degrees (normal operating temp on the stove top ranges between 500-650 degrees). Outside, the temperature was 21 degrees. The second floor temp had dropped to 64 degrees (from 68) and the first floor temp was about 69 degrees (from 74 the evening before). We are still not using any oil to heat our home. I am in the process of adding more insulation to our attic (previous post). I'm also building some really cool interior storm windows (for the second floor) that look great, still allow you to see outdoors and feel as though they will do a great job of helping to curb heat migration. More on these later.
Late November: Still loving wood heat; not really feeling the love about our Vermont Castings Non-catalytic/Catalytic Woodstove Model 1975. When you buy the mac-daddy of woodstoves from a premier wood stove manufacturer; you expect to get something that not only works, but works well. The day before Thanksgiving, I opened the top to add wood and was surprised to find that the ceramic backplate had cracked into two pieces and fallen into the firebox. I've learned in my lifetime to give the benefit of doubt. So, I went to the dealer and they gave me a new backplate. Two days later, I was adding small wood (1.5 in diameter) to a small fire. A stick of wood bumped the backplate and the backplate broke again. I'm on my third plate and I'm beginning to be wary. The night before last, I awoke startled and very freaked out (I sleep deeply) to a very strong odor of smoke. It was so strong, my wife became extremely nauseous. Thankfully the house wasn't on fire and I spent the next two hours sitting in front of our stove trying to figure out what happened. The next morning when the stove had cooled, I opened up the catalytic converter housing to find that the converter was cracked. So, we're in the process now of contacting VC and will be talking to the dealer again. Sent an email to VC and 24 hours later they still have not responded. Will update as the story progresses.
Late January: I should have updated this a while ago as our issues appear to be resolved. VC finally responded (albeit over 10 days after my email). In a nutshell, they drop the responsibility back on their stove vendor. So, if you are buying a VC woodstove; make sure you feel good about who you a re buying it from! Mazzeo's in Rockport, Maine, has been very good about providing me with parts during this frustrating period. They put their heads together and came up with a very reasonable explanation for what was happening in our situation.
It was my fault for reading the directions. Yes, it's true. The manual that came with our VC Defiant said to clean out the ash pan whenever it was full. So, every morning, when the stove was filled with just coals, I'd clean out the firebox, filling the ash pan, which I would empty. This situation coupled with 3 floors of chimney created a very strong draft through the stove causing too much heat, too quickly. The stove didn't get over temperature, there was just too much heat moving through the firebox causing the backplate to become too hot and brittle.
Solution. Let the ashes accumulate to 3-4" deep in the bottom of the stove and empty them only once every three days to a week. Apparently anyone who has been using a woodstove for a while knows this. Yet, it wasn't important enough to add this to the instruction manual. Chalk this up to a rookie mistake; how was I to know? Since making this change, the woodstove has been working even better, I have been using less wood and the backplate hasn't broken since.
The issue with the smoke also had to do with the tall chimney and the weight of the air in the chimney on warmer days. I'm not going to get into the details but this issue too is resolved now that we understand this nuance.
Our Defiant keeps our over 2000 sqft home comfortable down into the teens. Below 10, the house cools off at night when the stove gets throttled back. Still, we've only used our oil heat once this winter (so far). Note: I have built these really cool interior storm windows for our upstairs windows. These have had a HUGE impact on heat loss!
I have also installed two fan units experimentally as the convection thing was working but not well enough to keep our home comfortable. One fan (an inexpensive bathroom vent fan) pushes warm air up to a second floor register in the hallway in the middle of the house. The second fan (an Airflow Breeze Ultra made by Airflow Technologies), sits in a first floor wall register I put in and pulls warm air from above the woodstove in the basement through a 4x10 opening out into the middle of the first floor. The Airflow breeze works very well (it has 3 speed settings and two fans) and at about $100 was a bit expensive but worth it. It's fairly quiet on it's medium setting where it runs most all the time. As soon as we have a bit more $, I plan on replacing the bathroom fan with something quieter and a tad more powerful to get more heat to the second floor.
I do have to comment on the feeling I have knowing we don't have to invest money in purchasing home heating oil every year.
- Yes, it's labor intensive cutting, splitting and stacking firewood for a winter's worth of heat.
- Yes, it takes time to bring wood into the house every few days.
- Yes, you have to monitor the woodstove regularly throughout the day.
However, there is a great feeling of complete satisfaction inside that I don't feel often.
I think it comes from taking one big step away from the large dark shadow of big oil. Inside, I'm glowing with the feeling that I have regained some of my freedom.
Winter 2013-14: This is our third heating season with our Vermont Castings, Defiant Dual Mode Woodstove, Model 1975. This is probably the most important post if you are considering purchasing this stove. There are a number of design flaws you should be aware of. First, the catalyst sucks. It lasts maybe two months before the catalyst honeycomb begins to disintegrate. After 4-5 months, I pulled my second one out and it completely fell apart. This was my second (and last) catalyst. Apparently most folks (including us now) just run the stove without it.
Secondly, the ceramic backplate is prone to breaking. VC has replaced about 5 of them now for us free of charge. The latest incarnation is thicker and without a design embossed into the front which is supposed to increase the integrity. My last (thin) backplate lasted over a year when it broke on me this fall. It was replaced with the newer thicker one; this one broke today after only 3 months of use.
VC has been sold (again) to an employee-owned company down south somewhere. Perhaps they will bring the quality back to Vermont Castings that has been lost.
On the upside, the stove heats well. It keeps our 2000+ square foot home comfortable until either the temps drop to single digits or the wind begins to blow. Two fan units keep the warm air circulating. The bathroom fan was replaced with a 4" inline centrifugal fan (to push more air to the second floor) and the AirFlow Breeze is still working great. The stove is nice to look at and has given us a new living space in our basement during the winter.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Heating our home with wood, Part 2
We are moving into fall here in Maine. A few of the maples have begun to change color, the nights are cooler and the days relatively insect-free. So, we are approaching the home heating season with curiosity. How much will our investment in wood heat pay off? I'll post an update in May when all is said and done. I'll summarize where we are and the associated costs.
As stated in the last post, we purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant (model 1975) with a catalytic converter. There is quite a bit of negative press about catalytic converters but it's important to note that there are many stoves with these out there with happy users. This particular stove can be operated with a damper open, bypassing the converter, or closed, utilizing the converter. The stove came with two EPA energy efficiency tags for each of the above. The tag for the open damper gives an approximate efficiency of 77%; the tag for the converter gives an efficiency of 84% (a 7% increase). This may not seem like much but consider that this is 7% less wood needed to heat. As I get older, I'm sure I'll appreciate that 7% less cutting and splitting!
I investigated all sorts of chimney options. Stainless steel or a regular masonry flue; inside the house or outside the house. All the advice I received regarding location told me to put the flue inside the house for two reasons. One, the chimney stays warmer and this is better for draft. Two, the chimney itself heats up and that heat contributes to keeping your home warmer. The stainless chimney was going to cost upwards of $2500. and the masonry chimney we installed cost about the same when all was said and done.
I chose masonry because I felt more comfortable putting something made of concrete inside my home. I also liked the idea of having the thermal mass of a concrete block chimney to absorb and radiate heat energy. I feel metal will eventually corrode (though this may take years) and because the flue has to be enclosed inside sheetrock, I felt there was no way to monitor this. Metal would have been quicker but helping to build the masonry chimney was much more enjoyable for me personally. Plus, I like learning how to build things, I got to know one of my neighbors much better over the course of the few weeks it took to construct the chimney and it looks better on the house.
The cost of the chimney was approximately $1000. in materials for three floors; from the basement to the new brickwork around the whole chimney above the roofline. Labor was also $1000. This probably cost less than usual as I used the masons discount and went to the masonry supplier myself to purchase supplies (they delivered). And, one of my neighbors who is a mason by trade, built our chimney over a few weekends as I played laborer and did all the grunt work. I also removed and replaced the walls inside our house and did all the associated structural work to create a chase next to the existing chimney. Then, there was the plumbing and wiring that needed to be relocated....yeah.
An expense I didn't account for was the cost of connecting the stove to the chimney. The heavy gauge, single wall stove pipe and insulated double-wall stove pipe (by code for thru the wall into the chimney) cost close to $800.
I decided to build a brick heat-stop behind our new wood stove. The mason had a large pile of used brick he said I could scrounge for free. With a bit more sweat-equity and a rudimentary knowledge of masonry, I built a pretty decent looking brick wall.
To date, we have only test fired the stove a few times as suggested to season the stove and burn off the organic components of the stove pipe paint. This involves starting a fire, regulating the temperature to let the stove get no hotter than 500 degrees and then letting the fire go out. Based on the instruction manual, this is a low temp fire. I can't wait to crank this baby to see what it will do!
As stated in the last post, we purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant (model 1975) with a catalytic converter. There is quite a bit of negative press about catalytic converters but it's important to note that there are many stoves with these out there with happy users. This particular stove can be operated with a damper open, bypassing the converter, or closed, utilizing the converter. The stove came with two EPA energy efficiency tags for each of the above. The tag for the open damper gives an approximate efficiency of 77%; the tag for the converter gives an efficiency of 84% (a 7% increase). This may not seem like much but consider that this is 7% less wood needed to heat. As I get older, I'm sure I'll appreciate that 7% less cutting and splitting!
I investigated all sorts of chimney options. Stainless steel or a regular masonry flue; inside the house or outside the house. All the advice I received regarding location told me to put the flue inside the house for two reasons. One, the chimney stays warmer and this is better for draft. Two, the chimney itself heats up and that heat contributes to keeping your home warmer. The stainless chimney was going to cost upwards of $2500. and the masonry chimney we installed cost about the same when all was said and done.
The cost of the chimney was approximately $1000. in materials for three floors; from the basement to the new brickwork around the whole chimney above the roofline. Labor was also $1000. This probably cost less than usual as I used the masons discount and went to the masonry supplier myself to purchase supplies (they delivered). And, one of my neighbors who is a mason by trade, built our chimney over a few weekends as I played laborer and did all the grunt work. I also removed and replaced the walls inside our house and did all the associated structural work to create a chase next to the existing chimney. Then, there was the plumbing and wiring that needed to be relocated....yeah.
An expense I didn't account for was the cost of connecting the stove to the chimney. The heavy gauge, single wall stove pipe and insulated double-wall stove pipe (by code for thru the wall into the chimney) cost close to $800.
To date, we have only test fired the stove a few times as suggested to season the stove and burn off the organic components of the stove pipe paint. This involves starting a fire, regulating the temperature to let the stove get no hotter than 500 degrees and then letting the fire go out. Based on the instruction manual, this is a low temp fire. I can't wait to crank this baby to see what it will do!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Burning wood for home heating.
Reducing our home heating oil bill has become a top priority. As we end our heating season and total up the expense for heating our home this past winter, the cost exceeded $4000. Included in this is an insurance "budget cap" that guaranteed we paid no more than $3.85 (I think) per gallon of fuel oil this year. We can't afford to pay by the fill so we sign up for a budget plan that estimates our usage, the cost of oil and splits it all into 12 monthly payments. When you sign up for one of these budget plans, in the small print, it tells you that the insurance costs an extra $149. per year. And this cost doesn't even include yearly service on our oil burner.
In an area with abundant wood, it makes sense to investigate burning wood (in multiple forms). The ideal situation would be to burn cord wood. Living in Maine, we have an abundance of wood and good folks that make their living from cutting and selling firewood. We ourselves have 55 acres of woods. So, for the cost of my labor, we ideally pay little for the wood we burn. For each of the options I investigated, it's important to calculate the payback period. This is the time it takes to "pay ourselves back" in savings vs. our initial investment. Any of these options requires operator addition of fuel. So, yes there's a bit more effort involved in burning wood but eliminating most of $4000. to heat our home (2010-11 costs) is worth the trade off.
Option #1: Pellet stove.
Pros- Easy to use. Minimal install (one, 3-4 inch hole through the wall).
Cons- Need to pay for pellets at $250/ton. Uses electricity. Weekly take apart and clean. Pellet stove can't heat whole home; maybe basement & 1st floor at most. Still have to burn oil. "Space heater".
Option #2: Wood Gasification Boiler
Pros- Would use existing hot water baseboard plumbing to distribute heat to whole house. Burns cord wood that we could cut off our lot = little cost for fuel.
Cons- Price tag starts at $7500. not including install & chimney. Requires electricity. Would have to build small addition to our home to keep boiler inside heating envelope. Couldn't afford water storage system that would increase efficiency of boiler.
Option #3: Wood Stove
Pros- No electricity required. Burns cord wood we can get ourselves.
Cons- Would have to install $2000. chimney which requires some interior remodeling and loss of closet space. May not heat whole home. May still have to burn some oil. "Space heater".
We've chosen option #3. Our financial resources are not unlimited and this was the most affordable option with the quickest payback. We've purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant. It was the end of the heating season and we received $280. off. This list price of this stove was about $2800. We have yet to get a quote on chimney costs and are comparing steel double wall vs. traditional masonry. We're estimating about $2000. for the chimney.
At our annual cost in 2010-11 of $4200 year, here are estimated payback figures.
Option 1: Pellet Stove (incl. vent kit) $2800. = 0.67 years*
(BUT then subtract 5 tons pellets at $250. per year, $1250. per year and the cost of fuel oil, $2100.)
(*this option may only reduce our heating oil expenses 50%)
Option 2: Wood Boiler (incl. chimney, install) $12,000. = 2.86 years
(may still have to burn some oil early in the morning and if it gets real cold)
Option 3: Large wood stove. $2660. + chimney $2000. = $4660. = 1.1 yr payback
(may still have to burn some oil early in the morning and if it gets real cold)
While none of the options are ideal (what is ideal?) We feel investing in a large wood stove (this is the biggest they make) has the potential to reduce our heating cost the most.
A consideration. Both a pellet stove and wood stove are space heaters. They will be warmest closet to the appliance leaving cool spots towards the walls. So, we will add some vents between floors to take advantage of natural convection and also install a duct over the stove to take heat to the second floor.
I'll add more as things progress.
In an area with abundant wood, it makes sense to investigate burning wood (in multiple forms). The ideal situation would be to burn cord wood. Living in Maine, we have an abundance of wood and good folks that make their living from cutting and selling firewood. We ourselves have 55 acres of woods. So, for the cost of my labor, we ideally pay little for the wood we burn. For each of the options I investigated, it's important to calculate the payback period. This is the time it takes to "pay ourselves back" in savings vs. our initial investment. Any of these options requires operator addition of fuel. So, yes there's a bit more effort involved in burning wood but eliminating most of $4000. to heat our home (2010-11 costs) is worth the trade off.
Option #1: Pellet stove.
Pros- Easy to use. Minimal install (one, 3-4 inch hole through the wall).
Cons- Need to pay for pellets at $250/ton. Uses electricity. Weekly take apart and clean. Pellet stove can't heat whole home; maybe basement & 1st floor at most. Still have to burn oil. "Space heater".
Option #2: Wood Gasification Boiler
Pros- Would use existing hot water baseboard plumbing to distribute heat to whole house. Burns cord wood that we could cut off our lot = little cost for fuel.
Cons- Price tag starts at $7500. not including install & chimney. Requires electricity. Would have to build small addition to our home to keep boiler inside heating envelope. Couldn't afford water storage system that would increase efficiency of boiler.
Option #3: Wood Stove
Pros- No electricity required. Burns cord wood we can get ourselves.
Cons- Would have to install $2000. chimney which requires some interior remodeling and loss of closet space. May not heat whole home. May still have to burn some oil. "Space heater".
We've chosen option #3. Our financial resources are not unlimited and this was the most affordable option with the quickest payback. We've purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant. It was the end of the heating season and we received $280. off. This list price of this stove was about $2800. We have yet to get a quote on chimney costs and are comparing steel double wall vs. traditional masonry. We're estimating about $2000. for the chimney.
At our annual cost in 2010-11 of $4200 year, here are estimated payback figures.
Option 1: Pellet Stove (incl. vent kit) $2800. = 0.67 years*
(BUT then subtract 5 tons pellets at $250. per year, $1250. per year and the cost of fuel oil, $2100.)
(*this option may only reduce our heating oil expenses 50%)
Option 2: Wood Boiler (incl. chimney, install) $12,000. = 2.86 years
(may still have to burn some oil early in the morning and if it gets real cold)
Option 3: Large wood stove. $2660. + chimney $2000. = $4660. = 1.1 yr payback
(may still have to burn some oil early in the morning and if it gets real cold)
While none of the options are ideal (what is ideal?) We feel investing in a large wood stove (this is the biggest they make) has the potential to reduce our heating cost the most.
A consideration. Both a pellet stove and wood stove are space heaters. They will be warmest closet to the appliance leaving cool spots towards the walls. So, we will add some vents between floors to take advantage of natural convection and also install a duct over the stove to take heat to the second floor.
I'll add more as things progress.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Reducing home heating costs.
Living in an area where winter is and the ground freezes solid for 4 plus months a year, heating our home is a major expense. According to my calculations, we spent approximately $4000. per year just for fuel oil to heat our 2000 sqft home and hot water (values have been rounded for simplicity). This was in 2010. Next to our mortgage, this is our largest single expense. As fuel oil prices will most certainly continue to rise (and my income most likely will not), I've been doing a bit of research and thinking about options to reduce our heating costs.
By far the most important, least expensive option when it comes to saving heat energy in the winter is insulation. Obviously, the most prudent thing one can do is to find ways to hold on to the heat one has. Insulation is a one-time expense and saves you money whenever you move into the heating (or cooling) season. Insulation can be done progressively so the outlay of funds doesn't have to happen all at once. Insulation is something that can be done relatively easily by most homeowners. For all these reasons (and more), this is the most sensible place to start.
There are a few fundamental principles to consider when it comes to thinking about how to insulate (here comes the science teacher part). Heat energy always moves from an area of high concentration to low concentration. So, in the winter, if the temperature in your home is 70 and the temperature outside is 20, the heat in your home wants to escape to heat the outdoors. Insulation doesn't prevent the heat energy from doing this, it only slows it down. A second, less thought of consideration, is that the same principle holds for moisture. Moisture will also move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Water molecules are dissolved in the air and, as you know, water as a gas will turn into water as a liquid when it gets cold. This is something you obviously don't want to happen inside your walls. This is why vapor barriers are included as part of most fiberglass insulation.
The second principle is simply that heat rises. So, if your heat source is downstairs, the heat will rise gradually to the upstairs. Subsequently, cool air is more "dense" and will sink to the lowest part of your home. The combination of these two processes is called convection. There's many good images out there to convey the idea. Click here for one.
So, to best way to figure out how to approach adding insulation to your home is to think of these two concepts together and decide how the heat energy is escaping your home during the heating season.
One of the most obvious places heat energy leaves your home is through the windows. If your walls are 6 inches thick and your windows are 3/4 of an inch thick, this is a no-brainer. As much as 30% of a homes heat in winter may leave through the windows. Nice Fine Homebuilding article on windows here. Windows are rated in U-values. Insulation is rated in R-value. R-value = 1/U-value. So, even the most energy efficient windows with a U-value of 0.25 means that the R-value is 4. No matter how well they insulate, they are still holes in your wall that lose heat because they have less insulating value than standard wall insulation.
Consider that heat rises. So, even if you are conscientious, turn your upstairs thermostat down during the day (if you have one), the heat from the downstairs is going to migrate upstairs and leave through the windows. One of the most prudent things to do to your windows is, when it gets cold, add a layer of clothing to keep more of the heat in. For me, light is a necessity, especially in winter. So, while using a rigid insulation insert might work well for filling this "hole in the wall", it blocks out light. Not an option for us but may be for you.
Visit your local hardware or bigbox store in the fall and you'll see kits for seasonal window sealing. Frost King is the one I see most often. This stuff is nothing more than shrink wrap attached to inside window frames with double-sided tape. This is fine if you don't plan on using your window, accessing blinds, etc. and it is designed to be seasonal. I have found that the double-sided tape degrades and the plastic comes unstuck by the next heating season. A 3-pack can be found for as little as $4.00. So, if you have 12 windows to cover, it might cost you $16.00 to experiment next winter. Not a bad investment to investigate this option.
One of the things I've decided to do this summer is build light frames that will friction fit into many of our windows. These will be covered with shrink film on both sides. The idea is that they will act as an additional double layer of insulation. They will create a layer of dead air space between the two layers of plastic within the frame and a thicker layer of dead air space between the window and this inside "storm window". I'm not sure how long the film will last, how well they will store over the summer months and what mischief our cats might make but I feel it's an inexpensive solution and worth the experiment. I plan to use rough-cut lumber as we have a local sawmill in our area and buy a roll of industrial shrink with a heavier weight. I haven't found a low-priced source for this yet. Visit this post for an update!
The second thing I am doing is adding to and modifying the insulation in the ceiling above our second floor. R-30 insulation was used but wasn't installed correctly and was just loosely stuffed in to the spaces between joists.
We also have recessed light cans in the ceiling. Once in the attic, I discovered that these cans each acted as little chimneys that sucked the heat out of our upstairs into the unheated attic space. I have just completed building "boxes" out of 1.5 inch thick blue foam board. These surround and cover each light in the attic space. I caulked each joint with 30 yr caulk and "pinned" the boxes together with nails.
[On high density insulation board. Now, I'm not an advocate for using more fossil fuel products but, if their one-time use saves regular fossil fuel use in the long run, it makes sense to me in terms of cost-benefit.]
I'm also in the process of ripping blue board into strips that snugly fit in between the joists in the attic. This high-density insulation is getting placed closest to our living space as it acts almost as a vapor barrier (technically its not) and, in a heating climate, this is where you want your vapor barrier. I'm also caulking these into place as the fit between the joists isn't perfect and I want to limit the heat/vapor permeation to the foam board.
On top of the blue board and between the joists, I'm adding R-13 fiberglass insulation (no vapor barrier) to fill in the remaining space to the top of the joists (white insulation in photo). The existing R-38 insulation will have its vapor barrier removed and will be placed in the opposite direction, over the top of the joists (pink insulation in photo). I'm hoping this will almost completely eliminate the gaps that exist in the insulation now and add to the R-value of this uninsulated space substantially. In total, the R-value of the attic will be almost R-60.
There are areas of the ceiling I am unable to get to without ripping something apart. But, I think that if you are approaching this kind of project, a certain type of philosophy has to prevail. "It's not about what you can't do, it's about what you can do that makes a difference".
More later as I complete this project and investigate interesting options for heating our home.
By far the most important, least expensive option when it comes to saving heat energy in the winter is insulation. Obviously, the most prudent thing one can do is to find ways to hold on to the heat one has. Insulation is a one-time expense and saves you money whenever you move into the heating (or cooling) season. Insulation can be done progressively so the outlay of funds doesn't have to happen all at once. Insulation is something that can be done relatively easily by most homeowners. For all these reasons (and more), this is the most sensible place to start.
There are a few fundamental principles to consider when it comes to thinking about how to insulate (here comes the science teacher part). Heat energy always moves from an area of high concentration to low concentration. So, in the winter, if the temperature in your home is 70 and the temperature outside is 20, the heat in your home wants to escape to heat the outdoors. Insulation doesn't prevent the heat energy from doing this, it only slows it down. A second, less thought of consideration, is that the same principle holds for moisture. Moisture will also move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Water molecules are dissolved in the air and, as you know, water as a gas will turn into water as a liquid when it gets cold. This is something you obviously don't want to happen inside your walls. This is why vapor barriers are included as part of most fiberglass insulation.
The second principle is simply that heat rises. So, if your heat source is downstairs, the heat will rise gradually to the upstairs. Subsequently, cool air is more "dense" and will sink to the lowest part of your home. The combination of these two processes is called convection. There's many good images out there to convey the idea. Click here for one.
So, to best way to figure out how to approach adding insulation to your home is to think of these two concepts together and decide how the heat energy is escaping your home during the heating season.
One of the most obvious places heat energy leaves your home is through the windows. If your walls are 6 inches thick and your windows are 3/4 of an inch thick, this is a no-brainer. As much as 30% of a homes heat in winter may leave through the windows. Nice Fine Homebuilding article on windows here. Windows are rated in U-values. Insulation is rated in R-value. R-value = 1/U-value. So, even the most energy efficient windows with a U-value of 0.25 means that the R-value is 4. No matter how well they insulate, they are still holes in your wall that lose heat because they have less insulating value than standard wall insulation.
Consider that heat rises. So, even if you are conscientious, turn your upstairs thermostat down during the day (if you have one), the heat from the downstairs is going to migrate upstairs and leave through the windows. One of the most prudent things to do to your windows is, when it gets cold, add a layer of clothing to keep more of the heat in. For me, light is a necessity, especially in winter. So, while using a rigid insulation insert might work well for filling this "hole in the wall", it blocks out light. Not an option for us but may be for you.
Visit your local hardware or bigbox store in the fall and you'll see kits for seasonal window sealing. Frost King is the one I see most often. This stuff is nothing more than shrink wrap attached to inside window frames with double-sided tape. This is fine if you don't plan on using your window, accessing blinds, etc. and it is designed to be seasonal. I have found that the double-sided tape degrades and the plastic comes unstuck by the next heating season. A 3-pack can be found for as little as $4.00. So, if you have 12 windows to cover, it might cost you $16.00 to experiment next winter. Not a bad investment to investigate this option.
One of the things I've decided to do this summer is build light frames that will friction fit into many of our windows. These will be covered with shrink film on both sides. The idea is that they will act as an additional double layer of insulation. They will create a layer of dead air space between the two layers of plastic within the frame and a thicker layer of dead air space between the window and this inside "storm window". I'm not sure how long the film will last, how well they will store over the summer months and what mischief our cats might make but I feel it's an inexpensive solution and worth the experiment. I plan to use rough-cut lumber as we have a local sawmill in our area and buy a roll of industrial shrink with a heavier weight. I haven't found a low-priced source for this yet. Visit this post for an update!
The second thing I am doing is adding to and modifying the insulation in the ceiling above our second floor. R-30 insulation was used but wasn't installed correctly and was just loosely stuffed in to the spaces between joists.
We also have recessed light cans in the ceiling. Once in the attic, I discovered that these cans each acted as little chimneys that sucked the heat out of our upstairs into the unheated attic space. I have just completed building "boxes" out of 1.5 inch thick blue foam board. These surround and cover each light in the attic space. I caulked each joint with 30 yr caulk and "pinned" the boxes together with nails.
[On high density insulation board. Now, I'm not an advocate for using more fossil fuel products but, if their one-time use saves regular fossil fuel use in the long run, it makes sense to me in terms of cost-benefit.]
There are areas of the ceiling I am unable to get to without ripping something apart. But, I think that if you are approaching this kind of project, a certain type of philosophy has to prevail. "It's not about what you can't do, it's about what you can do that makes a difference".
More later as I complete this project and investigate interesting options for heating our home.
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