Oil vs propane heat

[Fuddy1952]

correlation does not necessarily mean causation...

Correct. So the best, least expensive way to heat your home is by burning wood. End of story.

 

[atsah]

Correct. So the best, least expensive way to heat your home is by burning wood. End of story.

Not always.. I burn wood when it makes sense.. If I pay $220 a cord cut split delivered and propane is less than $2.00 a gallon, I burn more propane that wood..

If propane is cheap I light a fire at night IF the temps are 30F or below otherwise I burn propane and save the wood for when it's really cold.. If the temps are above 30F and I light the stove it will drive you out of the house if you don't open windows..

It's easy to control an air tight cast or steel stove but once my soapstone gets hot, it takes several hours after the fire is out to cool down.. Good in the real cold weather, not so good in the spring and fall..

 

[Industrial Toys]

Actually, I love a fire in the spring or fall. It is very pleasing, and heats the not terribly cold house very well. I also use wood when it gets VERY cold.

 

[jbrumberg]

Actually, I love a fire in the spring or fall. It is very pleasing, and heats the not terribly cold house very well. I also use wood when it gets VERY cold.

I do similarly. ~32ºF I'll fire up the wood stove, run a hot small fire, and then let solar gain, air heat exchanger, or propane baseboard heating depending on the weather. In really cold weather I'll fire up the stove for overnight heating with propane backup. Having frozen radiator baseboards in the past due to loss of antifreeze solution I like to keep the propane baseboard flowing to some degree in extremely cold temperatures. It can get to -23ºF here.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have 20 acres of trees, so never a shortage of free wood. Well, free is a relative term. If I worked an outside job instead of cutting and splitting wood, I guess my free wood is actually costing me $95.00/ hour to process.that sucks to think about it. But I will warm my feet by my fireplace tonight and ponder that. Wood heat IS the best heat in my opinion.

 

[ovrszd]

I've never heated a house with wood.

I've heated my shop with wood for 26 years.

I no longer heat with wood. Last week I decided to spit a tandem axle trailer load of wood for my Sons to use. About 3/4 way thru that I suddenly stopped. I couldn't for the life of me remember why I thought that would be fun. Trailer is still sitting by the block pile not quite full.

 

[CalG]

I've never heated a house with wood.

I've heated my shop with wood for 26 years.

I no longer heat with wood. Last week I decided to spit a tandem axle trailer load of wood for my Sons to use. About 3/4 way thru that I suddenly stopped. I couldn't for the life of me remember why I thought that would be fun. Trailer is still sitting by the block pile not quite full.

I cut off the black birch pile this afternoon, Two tanks worth of 14 inch stuff for the parlor stove. Then I split up about 1/3 of the rounds. That makes a split pile about 4-1/2 feet high and 8 foot around at the base. Most if it needed to be run past the splitting wedge twice even after the 4X. I split small. Stacking it will wait till all the rounds are split, but I also hate to see it on the ground.. I need the space. (All for next year.) I can't stand hearing the oil furnace run.

I'm looking in to a small coal burner........ Then I'll need a membership to the exercise gym. ;-)

 

[LouNY]

I cut off the black birch pile this afternoon, Two tanks worth of 14 inch stuff for the parlor stove. Then I split up about 1/3 of the rounds. That makes a split pile about 4-1/2 feet high and 8 foot around at the base. Most if it needed to be run past the splitting wedge twice even after the 4X. I split small. Stacking it will wait till all the rounds are split, but I also hate to see it on the ground.. I need the space. (All for next year.) I can't stand hearing the oil furnace run.

I'm looking in to a small coal burner........ Then I'll need a membership to the exercise gym. ;-)

As far as a coal burner I would recomend one that has the bi-metal temperature control for the combustion air.
I have a Hitzer insert in my fireplace and that is the only thing I like to see changed on it.

 

[kenmac]

Unless you have some type of wood burning insert, You are not saving by heating with wood.
That chimney is like a giant vacuum and any heat that is generated by burning wood, is sucked right back up that chimney along with other heat in the home

 

[grsthegreat]

Unless you have some type of wood burning insert, You are not saving by heating with wood.
That chimney is like a giant vacuum and any heat that is generated by burning wood, is sucked right back up that chimney along with other heat in the home

I myself have a wood stove, and most of the heat is used heating the house.. a wood fireplace does waste a lot of heat. If you can believe the specs it’s 80% efficient. Not bad for wood. Our old unit was less than 50 %

 

[kenmac]

I myself have a wood stove, and most of the heat is used heating the house.. a wood fireplace does waste a lot of heat. If you can believe the specs it’s 80% efficient. Not bad for wood. Our old unit was less than 50 %

only way you can come out heating with wood.
A fire place also burns a lot of wood in addition to sucking all the heat out.
Just think about people in the old days that had no choice but to burn wood, only to lose all the heat that was being generated day in and day out !

 

[fishheadbob]

I heated with wood for over 40 years, about 20 face cords annually, never really minded the labor involved. I figure it gave me all the exercise I'd ever need. My place includes 20 acres of hardwoods and I think that by selectively cutting there is more timber at the end of the year than before. My wood furnace is ducted into the oil burners' ductwork so we have good heat distribution throughout. My options besides wood were oil or propane. While I never costed out propane I could tell from experience that it might take 1,000 gallons of oil annually. But I got tired of seeing the chiropractor so I went geothermal.

I still make 4 or 5 cords annually for the fireplace and for those days when it's -10 and windy. This old farmhouse was built to the exacting building codes of the 1830s, so despite a lot of remedial insulation it can need a lot of BTUs on nasty days.
The geothermal cost an obscene amount of money initially but has paid for itself and now pays dividends to me. A bonus is hot water and central air with what I consider a minimal increase in the electric bill to run the associated pumps and blowers.

 

[ovrszd]

Unless you have some type of wood burning insert, You are not saving by heating with wood.
That chimney is like a giant vacuum and any heat that is generated by burning wood, is sucked right back up that chimney along with other heat in the home

I agree with the chimney draft. That heat going out isn't what we're after. We're after the radiant heat created in the process.

I was heating a 2200 sq ft shop with a wood stove I made. It easily heated that shop. If you weren't careful you'd have it so hot in there you couldn't work.

 

[Egon]

Unless you have some type of wood burning insert, You are not saving by heating with wood.
That chimney is like a giant vacuum and any heat that is generated by burning wood, is sucked right back up that chimney along with other heat in the home

There are some wood burning stoves that have been in existence for hundred’s of years that are very good at heating a house.

[video]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater[/video]

Many of the European settlers to North America would build this type of stove using material available locally. Fireplaces were not the norm for these settlers.

 

[kenmac]

There are some wood burning stoves that have been in existence for hundred’s of years that are very good at heating a house.

[video]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater[/video]

Many of the European settlers to North America would build this type of stove using material available locally. Fireplaces were not the norm for these settlers.

Like I said, the only way to come out efficiently heating with wood is with a stove, insert ,etc,. When I was a young lad. we would visit friends that lived out in the country. All they had for heat was a fire place. I never saw one with a stove ,or insert. I suspect these wood stoves, inserts were too expensive for them to purchase

 

[lennyzx11]

I have installed a wood stove in my big fireplace. We haven’t used the small one in my office to date. This is my third house I’ve done and I agree on the heat savings vs a fireplace.

However, this house has Rumford fireplaces. (You’ll have to google it) and to my surprise the big one did throw a lot of heat into the living room. I have a granddaughter that is little and I installed the wood stove behind a screen anyway for safety.
The stove with blower has been the best wood heat I’ve found to date.
Currently gathering up the parts to install one to the latest safety standards in my detached garage. Er... I mean my shop. Some codes and insurance says you can’t have wood heat in a garage but it’s fine in a “shop”.

Oops. How’s that for thread creep. <laughing>. Sorry bout that.

 

[RichZ]

Well, my wife and I actually went to the house we are planning on buying today, and as usual, the real estate listing was wrong. The house is oil, forced air heat, but in the sun room, there's a fake wood burning stove powered by propane. So it's just supplemental heat in one room which is powered by propane. So, the house is heated basically by oil heat. Thanks for all of the oil vs propane heat advise, but it turns out I don't have to make that choice anyway.

 

[goeduck]

^^ I do not recall ever hearing of a house with those three - - oil, propane and electric tank/services.

 

[Egon]

^^ I do not recall ever hearing of a house with those three - - oil, propane and electric tank/services.

That is what we had when we moved in. It’s now wood replaces propane. Still three systems. Quite common around here.

 

[Tomtint]

We have all 3. Baseboard heat by oil, Propane as a fireplace that has a blower for heat and electric baseboard in the lower level.