compressed firewood logs? any suggestions or sources for the fireplace?

[Mother55]

has anyone bought large quantities of firewood logs? Where?

[thermocouple]

I have not, but I saw an interesting episode of Myth Busters last week. They stationed thermometers throughout a house, and lit a fire in the fireplace. While the room that held the fire obviously went up in temperature, the outlying rooms all dropped in temperature. Lighting a fire will warm up the area around the fireplace, but it will make the rest of the house colder. Interesting bit of information.

[Aldon]

I personally like the Wood Pellet fire stoves with auxillary fan units for effieciency.

You can order the pellets by the ton or pallet to reduce the cost.

The only problem is that they are power dependent(auger feed) so one would also have to set up solar power/battery solution for periods when there is no electricity.

Very little waste and very ecofriendly.

Bags of pellets are easier to store than firewood ion my opinion.

[waif69]

That's because the fire is drawing the outside air into the inside due to the demand for O2. Franklin designed a stove that is more energy efficient and draws the air from under the house or something like that. There are also devices that allow circulation of the air from the room to cycle through tubes and back out to the room for better thermal transfer of energy.

[ghostcat]

I have not, but I saw an interesting episode of Myth Busters last week. They stationed thermometers throughout a house, and lit a fire in the fireplace. While the room that held the fire obviously went up in temperature, the outlying rooms all dropped in temperature. Lighting a fire will warm up the area around the fireplace, but it will make the rest of the house colder. Interesting bit of information. While it is interesting it is not particularly informative. The problem with their show is that it depends entirely on a house being exactly like the house they tested, with the thermometers placed in exactly the same spots and with exactly the same ambient air temperatures both inside and out, to say nothing about the humidity levels and air pressure.

In a house that is properly designed to be heated by a single radiant heat source such events would not occur. Most of our houses nowadays suffer from interior designs which are optimized to be heated through forced air ducts or pipes. We no longer see homes that are designed with such things as transoms and louvers, all which allow the free circulation of air. Another thing we see very little of is the installation of wood stoves that draw the air for combustion from the colder parts of the house. This was the true innovation of Franklin with his Franklin Stove

[ghostcat]

That's because the fire is drawing the outside air into the inside due to the demand for O2. Franklin designed a stove that is more energy efficient and draws the air from under the house or something like that. There are also devices that allow circulation of the air from the room to cycle through tubes and back out to the room for better thermal transfer of energy.
Beat me to it!!!:worshippy:

[ghostcat]

I personally like the Wood Pellet fire stoves with auxillary fan units for effieciency.

You can order the pellets by the ton or pallet to reduce the cost.

The only problem is that they are power dependent(auger feed) so one would also have to set up solar power/battery solution for periods when there is no electricity.

Very little waste and very ecofriendly.

Bags of pellets are easier to store than firewood ion my opinion.
Of course bags of pellets would not be as easy to locate as firewood in a long term survival situation. I Would prefer something that burns wood or coal that is more like the old Russian or Scandinavian Masonry Stoves.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/ghostcat2/masonrystoved.jpg

[Aldon]

I have always wanted a Masonry stove but have not been able to build a home from the ground up yet.

Are there any issues with Creosote fires with the many layers internal like that?

[ghostcat]

I have always wanted a Masonry stove but have not been able to build a home from the ground up yet. The exact same reason I don't have one.:blush:


Are there any issues with Creosote fires with the many layers internal like that? Not from anything that I have heard or read. They are designed so that you build a fire no more than once a day. The fire burns relatively hot and fast so does not release a lot of creosote. Creosote comes from long term low level fires from my understanding.

[Noahs ARK]

I have not, but I saw an interesting episode of Myth Busters last week. They stationed thermometers throughout a house, and lit a fire in the fireplace. While the room that held the fire obviously went up in temperature, the outlying rooms all dropped in temperature. Lighting a fire will warm up the area around the fireplace, but it will make the rest of the house colder. Interesting bit of information.

It's true. We have a fireplace in our family room. We've learned to use it only in the spring & fall because the other rooms get ice cold during the winter.

I'm planning on buying a fireplace insert - it's kinda like a Ben Franklin stove, but fits inside your pre-existing fireplace and is much more efficient. Our neighbors have one and it keeps their home toasty warm during the winter.