[Heineken]

Elm is certainly horrible. It doesn't grow here, but I once had the miserable experience of splitting some Chinese elm. Also, it burns badly---slow and smoky.

It seems to me that seasoned wood would be more brittle than green wood and therefore split more easily. Maybe it depends on the species.

I'll sadly resort to a power splitter when I can no longer do it by hand, a time hopefully still far off.

[kaktus]

I visited my sister's afew weeks ago. they have bought an old house and had just thrown out the oil burner in the basement and replaced it with a wood burner with a big water tank to store the warmth. from there water is heated that circulates in the floors of the house and gives a very nice climate. also the tap water is heated by the same stove.
it was a really brilliant set up.

also they get their wood of their 40000 sq meter land...

[Heineken]

I split with a 6-pound maul. I also have an 8-pound maul, but it's just too heavy to wield efficiently.

I have a beautiful ax someone gave me once, but it's probably my most useless tool . . . for now, anyway.

[benzoil]

This fall I will be gutting and finishing the old summer kitchen on my farmhouse. Since it was the summer kitchen it has zero heat, but a nice chimney in good condition. The chimney is set up for a wood stove, but I don't have one.

Before I spend hours doing research on the net, does anyone have any good/bad things to look for? Auction season is starting around here and I might pick a used one up if I find one that looks good.

[benzoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gideon', '
') What is the size of the area? How well unsulated?

[kaktus]

My (limited) experience is that its important not to choose a to big/powerful stove, because then you cant burn on full and when you try to keep the fire slow (I dont know the word in English) you get a lot of tar and smoke.
Also I'm very fond of the ones made in soapstone(?), perhaps that is mainly popular in Scandinavia? and if not used most of the year I suppose they're a waist of money. They give a very nice warmth though and store a lot of heat, simply by mass but nowadays some have a fan. They need a strong floor.

Example : http://www.jotul.se/content/products/Pr ... __439.aspx

[benzoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kaktus', 'M')y (limited) experience is that its important not to choose a to big/powerful stove, because then you cant burn on full and when you try to keep the fire slow (I dont know the word in English) you get a lot of tar and smoke.

[Heineken]

I agree with katkus. Too much heat is probably worse than not enough heat.

I live in a 700-square-foot apartment over a barnlike garage. My only heat source is a beefy 1980s-era Englander woodstove with one of those stupid catalytic combusters. It throws far too much heat for this space, except on the coldest nights (down around 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit). Most of the winter I keep my windows partly open---which is a good thing in some ways; the air is fresher, and the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning is eliminated.

I constructed a sliding "hatch" in the ceiling with a dangling cord that I can use to open and close it; excess heat is thus vented up into the attic. This little invention, along with the windows, gives me very fine control of the temperature in the apartment, although I have to make lots of adjustments during the day.

Even with all that, I still tend to run the stove too low.

One of these days I'll replace the stove with a smaller one, but for now I'm feeling too cheap. Even those cute little Jotuls cost plenty!

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kaktus', 'T')hey give a very nice warmth though and store a lot of heat, simply by mass but nowadays some have a fan.

[kaktus]

benzoil wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')y original plan was to heat the one room with the stove for now

[kaktus]

PS you also need to make sure about the chimney (you may know these things, I dont). It may need to get fixed. How is the capacity.

-kaktus

[mushroompro]

Fredrik,

I was surfing the Internet  and I found this resource  european wood pellets

They have  Biofuel related information Pellet Market Reviews


They discuss renewable energy oppotunities.

[Fredrik]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mushroompro', 'F')redrik,

I was surfing the Internet and I found this resource european wood pellets

They have Biofuel related information Pellet Market Reviews

[kaktus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n the future, even pellets may become a "luxury" product

[mistel]

I just wanted to add my two cents.

If you cut a tree down for firewood, let it lay on the ground for a few weeks before you cut the branches off. The leaves will continue to transpire water out of them, so your wood needs less time to dry.

About axes, I find that a smaller axe that you can swing faster is better. I use this one

http://www.fiskars.com/webapp/wcs/store ... ctId=10529

I think you can get them at Home Depot.

[Pops]

I didn’t read the 66 posts to this thread mainly because there are over 300 posts and more than 70,000 views to the 2 threads of [Shelter] Heat .. in the Planning forum.

Is there something we are doing wrong that folks can’t find this stuff or is it just the title Energy Technology that makes it cool?

[Shelter] Heat- Wood is here:
http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic2835.html

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gideon', 'P')ops - I'm not sure I get your point. Is your point that no thread can ever retread over previously covered ground?

[JRP3]

I've been using this to split:
http://www.chopperaxe.com/whatis.htm
It really does explode the wood apart, unless it's really big and knotty, then it may take a few blows, or wedges and a sledge. But most of the time I can do it all with one blow of the chopper. Make sure there's nothing on either side of you when you use it, smaller pieces WILL fly 6 feet or more to each side when you split.