Need some home heating feedback: Wood boiler or fireplace insert?

[AnotherBueller]

We run through about $1800 worth of propane a year in our 5 year old home: 2200 sq ft ranch, 75% finished basement, 2 propane furnaces, on demand propane hot water heater, propane stove/oven, propane starter fireplace. We also use the fireplace a fair amount. We keep the thermostat at 68 during colder months, 65 when no one is in the house (mostly business hours when we are at our home office...another house on the property).

The home office is an older (32 years) house, 1400 square feet, used as our home office and a guest space; has a wood burning stove that we use November - February, with a heat pump/propane furnace as a backup. That house uses about $600/year in propane ($ use based on roughly $2.75 - $3/gallon propane in recent years). Propane water heater (usually left on pilot only), propane stove/oven (rarely used).

Even though our wood use is modest, perhaps 1 to 1.5 cords per year, we are enjoying processing firewood. Last year, I bought a traditional firebox-styled smoker grill, as well as a Kamado style grill, and we're cooking a lot with our own firewood, and making lump charcoal for use in both grills. We've become firewood hobbyists, on a small scale. We have 62 acres, mostly wooded, mixed hardwood and pine, and a lot of trees to work with.

I'm thinking about whether or not a fireplace insert makes sense, or is even possible, in the new house. The fireplace is a prefab metal insert, so I don't even know what's possible. It's a larger fireplace, and I've read mixed comments about whether or not it can be adapted to an insert.

A smaller, outdoor wood boiler is also a possibility. It would be a big project, running lines to both houses (they are about 200 feet apart), but I have a backhoe on my tractor and could do most of the install.

I know either solution has a relatively short payback in propane savings, and we could enjoy warmer temps in both houses.

Looking for feedback on any aspect of this.

I have a 44year old Vermont Castings wood stove. They also make inserts.

Vermont Castings Wood Fireplace Inserts | Forge & Flame

Transform your fireplace with Vermont Casting's wood fireplace inserts. Enjoy reliable warmth, energy efficiency, and the natural beauty of a wood burning fire.

forgenflame.com

Mine is the Resolute model, pre-cat. output ~6,000 BTU (?) with a dual wall stainless flue, and it's almost too much. It uses a max of 16" wood. My house is ~2,00 SqFt on two stories with the stove right next to the stairs going up. It has a thermostatic intake air control. With outside temps >30F, a load lasts all day.
Requires annual replacement of gaskets (if I remember to do so)
I can fully recommend it.
Bob

 

[sd455dan]

I don't there is any fire place insert that could compete with a wood stove for heat output.

My dad put a Blaze King Catalytic wood burning insert in place of their Fireplace and heated most of a 4000" sq. foot multi level house with it. He got tired of feeding it at 80 and converted the insert to gas.

The new Princess 29 insert:
~ 36000 BTU's for 9 hours on high.
or 11500 BTU's for up to 27 hours

I am biased to Blaze King Catalytic stoves though, 25 years + heating with them.
They are NOT an inexpensive stove or insert to buy though.

They are also an epa approved stove with only 1.26 grams per hour emissions rating

 

[shooterdon]

We heat primarily with wood in the winter. We've been doing it for over 10 years. I love it.

However, with that said, it only pays off if you don't put a value on your time. It is a lot of work! It brings a lot of dirt and dust into the house, you have to haul ashes out (ours is only about every 3-4 weeks, but it still has to be done), and processing firewood takes time. I spend one day dropping trees, one day hauling them to the landing, 5 days sawing them into 16-18" pieces and hauling them home on the trailer, and 5 days splitting to get the 6 cords we use in the coldest winters. So at least 12 days a year doing firewood.

12days X 8hours = 96 hours.
96 hours X $20 an hour (what I value my time at) = $1920

I saved nothing.

Now add in the cost of saw, gas, tractor, trailer, splitter, stove or boiler, installation on top of the nothing you saved...

With that said, I enjoy the tasks involved in getting firewood, I'm outdoors, getting good exercise and cleaning up a lot of deadfall and/or nuisance trees. So it has great mental and physical benefits. Just don't believe it'll save you a lot of money IF you value your time. If you have plenty of time on your hands it's well worth it.

As for outdoor wood boilers.... be cautious of where you place it and the predominant winds. Can't count the number of times we've seen the smoke from a dampered-down outdoor boiler blowing right at a house, or a neighbor's house, or just across a road. Also, think about how many times you'll have to go outside to load it. Even on the nastiest of days, you'll still have to tend to it.

I did that for years. I invested $13k in a firewood processor and buy logs. I go through 5 cords year for heating. That costs $700 for logs. I can process 5 cords in 15 hours. Figure $100 for fuel/oil/etc. Decent savings over propane.

I sell firewood and earn over $25/hr. in my spare time. So I save some money and make some money. I plan to spend 250 hours a year processing wood. That will let me pay off the processor in two years.

I do not need to fell trees, buck logs, lift rounds, lift splits or stack them. The split firewood goes directly into bulk bags from the processor. I am retired so it is a simple and easy side business the way I am doing it.