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Alternative fuels for heating the house - wood, coal, etc.

DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Cheap heat! When I just came in from the barn, the temperature in my dining room was 92 F. It's the warmest room of the house. It's in the upper 20's outside at the moment.

I'm not quite sure what it is, 92 would seem excessively hot in the summertime, but humidity plays a big role. It's certainly NOT humid in here, that's the drawback - well, that & I never bother filling the humidifier.

Anyone else keep their heat cranked in the wintertime?
 
Well, yes.. but probably not for the same reason you do.

Some lazy fucktard decided they didn't want to run any thermostat wire and put the thermostat literally two feet from the natural gas wall heater in the living room.

Here's how that works out:

Thermostat - 90ºF
Other side of living room directly across from heater - 72.3ºF
Kitchen - 61.2ºF.
Bathroom - 58.9ºF

D:
 
Eli said:
Well, yes.. but probably not for the same reason you do.

Some lazy fucktard decided they didn't want to run any thermostat wire and put the thermostat literally two feet from the natural gas wall heater in the living room.

Here's how that works out:

Thermostat - 90ºF
Other side of living room directly across from heater - 72.3ºF
Kitchen - 61.2ºF.
Bathroom - 58.9ºF

D:
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Could it be that there were a change order that put the wall heater by the predetermined (installed) thermostat?

There is nothing stopping you from running a new wire run and the best place generally for the thermostat is the hallways (away from heat source, doors, windows, and sunlight).

There are also remote thermostat that you can be hook up to control your heat source, and the thermostat are battery power therefor it can be place anywhere in the house.

Another way to go is having a thermostat with remote sensors. The sensors can be place any where in the house and the temperature is base of the average temperature of the combine remote sensors.

There are such thing as solar heat and geothermal that you can harness, but the initial cost is quite high.

IMHO, coal is the cheapest way to go.
 
Last edited:
iGas said:
Could it be that there were a change order that put the wall heater by the predetermined (installed) thermostat?

There is nothing stopping you from running a new wire run and the best place generally for the thermostat is the hallways (away from heat source, doors, windows, and sunlight).

There are also remote thermostat that you can be hook up to control your heat source, and the thermostat are battery power therefor it can be place anywhere in the house.

Another way to go is having a thermostat with remote sensors. The sensors can be place any where in the house and the temperature is base of the average temperature of the combine remote sensors.

There are such thing as solar heat and geothermal that you can harness, but the initial cost is quite high.

IMHO, coal is the cheapest way to go.
Click to expand...

We rent, so I'd like to avoid putting new holes in things. But no, the heater has always been there I assume. It's a vented natural gas wall heater.

That's a good idea though. We already upgraded the thermostat to a digital programmable one, which did help.. just from less waste. I'll have to look into wireless units.

I dunno though. Maybe it's actually a good thing. If we put the sensor in the kitchen, the heater would probably stay on 24/7. 😀
 
Better watch out.
In many places it is illegal to burn wood.
(See California - Not sure if New York has similar laws.)
 
My heat is on all the time. I have two windows from 1923 that are somewhat drafty. (Can't fix it really) I have a single radiator that only has heated water/oil/whatever-is-in-it pumping through it at certain times of the night. It never gets too hot in here.
 
I hate heat regardless of the time of year. My house is set to 56F. Coming in from outside, I like the blast furnace heat of the wood stove, but after a few minutes, I need to go somewhere cooler.
 
Rarely ever have to turn my heat on. As a matter of fact it was 70 degrees yesterday outside and 74ish inside my apt.

My supt. has a wood burning setup at his home in MN. Fuels the house and the radiant heat in the floors. Haven't seen it but from his description it's pretty well done.
 
The idea of using coal to heat interests me and based on the research I've done, it is cheaper than oil and even gas. Furnaces are available that also supply domestic hot water as well as heat so you can save even more $$$. All I know about coal heat is through my own research and there is a coal heating forum on the internet which has been extremely helpful; so far coal looks great on paper. Nevertheless, the more I learn about it, the more serious I consider coal for my next house, especially if my only choice is oil heat or even worse, propane or electric.
 
NetWareHead said:
The idea of using coal to heat interests me and based on the research I've done, it is cheaper than oil and even gas. Furnaces are available that also supply domestic hot water as well as heat so you can save even more $$$. All I know about coal heat is through my own research and there is a coal heating forum on the internet which has been extremely helpful; so far coal looks great on paper. Nevertheless, the more I learn about it, the more serious I consider coal for my next house, especially if my only choice is oil heat or even worse, propane or electric.
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We had a coal furnace growing up. I blame all my asthma and allergy problems on it.
 
My dad has an exterior wood burning furnace that that heats water, which is pumped through an exchange coil in his interior furnace.
He also got a heat exchanger/fan box that he installed in his attached garage that is also heated by the same fluid system.

It works great for him, except you have to load it with firewood every day... every... day.
Also, his propane company started charging a minimum fee because he wasn't getting propane regularly anymore. You gotta keep propane as a backup in case something were to happen to the wood burner system.

He has some connection with an amish wood mill where he gets tons of wood scraps for next to free.

The system was like $10k.
 
I've read alot of coal dealers will spray their coal with a light oil to cut down on the dust. Other's I've spoken to spray down the coal with water to achieve the same effect, especially just before hauling it indoors. In fact, one of the myths that alot of coal users work hard to dispel is the myth that coal is dirty to handle and use.
 
I've spent a fair amount of time walking coal piles, and it's pretty clean. I get dirtier walking on stone or dirt.
 
lxskllr said:
I've spent a fair amount of time walking coal piles, and it's pretty clean. I get dirtier walking on stone or dirt.
Click to expand...

It's the ashes that are bad (and toxic I believe). You have to take them out and dump them and when you do there is a giant ash cloud. We used to dump them on our driveway (was about 1/4 mile long gravel driveway).
 
bignateyk said:
It's the ashes that are bad (and toxic I believe). You have to take them out and dump them and when you do there is a giant ash cloud. We used to dump them on our driveway (was about 1/4 mile long gravel driveway).
Click to expand...

Yea, I could see that. All the toxins are concentrated, and blow around more.
 
I keep 17-20°C in my room, 21°C is too hot during the winter.
In the summer I don't care how much it is as long as it's below 25°C when I'm sleeping and 28°C when awake.
 
A few of my dad's friends had wood burning stoves, growing up. I was always a little envious. Of course, that was Florida & they had normal heat for the rest of the house & water.
 
I used to have a wood stove, then the ex wife nearly burned the house down. Now I have a Stokermatic coal space heater where the wood stove used to be. Much better, thermostatically controlled. Put coal in 5-6 days a week, clean out the firebox once a day.
 
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