How do you heat your home

[Chris4x4Gill2]

Central Heat Furnace on Natural Gas here. We also have a gas log fireplace, but I rarely use it. Even on the lowest setting you cant stay in the same room.

[whitedog76]

I'm 100% electric. I have a heat pump and an air handler with electric coils. I'll be perfectly clear, it SUCKS. The house is almost never warm and it pretty much runs all the time or the condensor unit will freeze up. When I bought this house 3 years ago, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but it is. I've replaced all the casement windows with Anderson gas filled dual pane, installed R13 to the walls, 1" foam on the outside, and housewrap. It really hasn't made that much difference other than the rooms on the west side aren't so blazing hot in the summer. I'm going to add some insulation in the attic next and when the air handler quits, I'll be getting a high efficiency LP unit.

[Palf70Step]

Just Central Heat unit running on natural gas. Even more important (for down here) central AC!!

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

My go to wood is black locust. Have a lot of it on the property. But I'll burn anything that gets blow down red white oak maple and even poplar. Poplar is gopher wood add a few pieces and gopher more. Burns hot but quick.

I luvs me some locust, too! Cut the air back and get long lasting good heat. Cut air back on red oak and you make charcoal. People prefer red oak around here and I think that goes back to fireplaces, same reason they turn their nose up to poplar. It's mostly poplar, cherry, and maple I burn early & late in the season, but also burn deadfall whatever. If I'm low on my locust I'll burn the rest when I'm hanging around the house and save the locust for overnight and when I'm out all day. I love the wood heat, been heating with it all my life. But I have come to feel like I'm a slave to the woodstove. I could run my intertherm electric when I go away for an overnight or longer, but hate to. So by spring I am ready to hit the road and go anywhere that strikes my fancy. OOPs... gotta go put another log on the fire! (no, not in the bathroom)

['63GENIII]

I've always heard of that Black Locust but never seen it. Hear that it's got a ton of BTUs in it. Sounds like it's a pretty hard wood. Neighbor had a couple of Acacias blow down last night. That should be next Winter's heat😉

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

I've always heard of that Black Locust but never seen it. Hear that it's got a ton of BTUs in it. Sounds like it's a pretty hard wood.

Yep, solid as a rock, lots of heat, and lasts for years in storage. True story -- I'm retired from telecom, mostly outside construction, maintenance, & repair. Corner poles & deadends are backed up by a down guy (wire) to an anchor rod with a steel anchor plate buried at the end of the rod. In the old days, sometimes a crew needed an extra anchor plate. Rather than come back another day with a steel plate, they would cut a section of locust, drill a hole through it midpoint, insert the rod and back it up with a large square steel washer held on by a nut at the end of the rod. Throw it in the ground, backfill & tamp and you have a log anchor! The rot-resistant locust would last nearly forever in the ground.

[special-K]

Locust post fences are out there over 100 years old. Locust posts were the choice of farmers for pole buildings. That's why we still have out buildings on old farms hundreds of years old that received little to no repairs. In the late-70s I had an old neighbor who had been an engineer, first for Studebaker, then Mercedes. He said they were the two car companies that didn't play the planned obsolescence game. He had a 200 year old stone house, obviously liked things made to last. He put a wanted ad in the paper for 150 year or older split rail fencing and got what he wanted. The great thing about locust is it grows like weeds, so along fence lines and edge of fields is common. I swear every seed germinates. You'll see saplings growing like grass below the trees. Slow growing to a large tree, though. They will stand dead rot free for ages. They produce a white flower, which is how you identify the saplings. Looks like clover till you get close. It grows thorns, too. It is an ancient species.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Combination of gas (fireplace) and electric (heat pumps).

Heat pumps are awesome in summer, suck in winter when it's below 50*

We run the fireplace from 6PM to around 10PM. It will get the house from 68* to +/-74/75* and it will be several hours before the heat pumps have to kick on again.

We've run straight heat pumps before and it's a significant cost savings to use the fireplace.

Within the last 2 years we've also stripped the siding, replaced all exterior windows and doors, and wrapped the house (was previously just the sheeting) including wrapping the window and door jams with rolled weatherstripping, and our electric bill is waaaaaaaay down in winter.

[special-K]

Anyone have dual unit HVAC. My brother-in-law in Maine does and he says it works really well and more kind to his electric bill. They built a pole building and did 2-story living quarters in one end. He also put heat in the slab with an outside wood furnace. With 311 acres of hardwood he is set

[72c20customcamper]

My barn is made from Amercan chestnut and locust . All the support beams and footers are locust .barn was used for hay and horse's. Has three stalls . The wood for the stall walls is all wormy oak. Been using some of it for the trim details on my house. As far as we can tell the barn was built before the civil war. Some local historians put it around 1830 to 40

[72c20customcamper]

The wormy oak is beautiful. It's about an inch and a quarter. Some I have cut in half at the mill down the street. This is in my bar room . Had to put an egress window in

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by special-K

The great thing about locust is it grows like weeds, so along fence lines and edge of fields is common. I swear every seed germinates. You'll see saplings growing like grass below the trees. Slow growing to a large tree, though. They will stand dead rot free for ages. They produce a white flower, which is how you identify the saplings. Looks like clover till you get close. It grows thorns, too. It is an ancient species.

All true, and those thorns are brutal. They are not native around here but were imported a long time ago. Like some other trees, if you cut it down the stump will sprout a bunch of new shoots. You can dig out the stump but new growth can come up along the roots, feet from where the tree was. Tough tree to kill!

Side note: This year I cut a 6' opening in the back of my woodshed to access the wood back there, and built a rolling 'barn door'. If not for the space I leave open for the dogs, it will hold 10 cords. Anyway I just uncovered a bunch of locust I forgot was back there, so that's what I've been burning.

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by Stocker

All true, and those thorns are brutal. They are not native around here but were imported a long time ago. Like some other trees, if you cut it down the stump will sprout a bunch of new shoots. You can dig out the stump but new growth can come up along the roots, feet from where the tree was. Tough tree to kill!

Side note: This year I cut a 6' opening in the back of my woodshed to access the wood back there, and built a rolling 'barn door'. If not for the space I leave open for the dogs, it will hold 10 cords. Anyway I just uncovered a bunch of locust I forgot was back there, so that's what I've been burning.

I air dry my wood outside for at least a year most times its 2. Then it goes into the barn where I dries for another year. About 8 cords in the barn and 12 outside in ricks. But theres 8 to 10 in rounds that I keep adding to

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

I've always heard of that Black Locust but never seen it. Hear that it's got a ton of BTUs in it. Sounds like it's a pretty hard wood. Neighbor had a couple of Acacias blow down last night. That should be next Winter's heat😉

Here's some. Dulls chains pretty quick

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

I air dry my wood outside for at least a year most times its 2. Then it goes into the barn where I dries for another year. About 8 cords in the barn and 12 outside in ricks. But theres 8 to 10 in rounds that I keep adding to

This board needs a "Like" button.....

[Coley]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

My barn is made from Amercan chestnut and locust . All the support beams and footers are locust .barn was used for hay and horse's. Has three stalls . The wood for the stall walls is all wormy oak. Been using some of it for the trim details on my house. As far as we can tell the barn was built before the civil war. Some local historians put it around 1830 to 40

....damn, I love that barn!
I love history and architecture...and a century barn is something that I have always been attracted to.
The joinery in something like that, that big...is definitely something that is a near lost art.
Very cool!!

[72bowtiestepper]

I have a Bi-level built in 1978...baseboard oil hot water heat that heats my domestic water as well. Put in a wood burning stove downstairs many years ago that works well, but as previous posters have said.....cutting & splitting firewood is a lot of work. I do get it for free though, so it saves a lot on heating oil. Burning wood cut my oil bill in more than half.I do still use oil alone on days that are not too cold here in NJ

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

Here's some. Dulls chains pretty quick

Looks fun to cut....til your past the bark Looks to be a super straight grain? Hows it split?

So is Locust only East Coast?

I find a lot of Oak (Live, White, Valley and Red) out here. Some really good burning, some not so much.

Locust. Gotta keep an eye out for it.

[special-K]

Here are some pictures of a Chestnut barn I saved from becoming a pile of timber and boards. Foundation was failing and some bonehead had taken out some braces and posts. Some places where a beam was notched, even. It's newer than yours, Mark. All saw mill lumber.





Here's a load of Black Locust standing dead I cut down

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

Looks fun to cut....til your past the bark Looks to be a super straight grain? Hows it split?

So is Locust only East Coast?

I find a lot of Oak (Live, White, Valley and Red) out here. Some really good burning, some not so much.

Locust. Gotta keep an eye out for it.

It grows in the mid to upper mid west to . Not easy to split by hand . Sometimes the fishers maul just bounces off it.

Originally Posted by special-K

Here are some pictures of a Chestnut barn I saved from becoming a pile of timber and boards. Foundation was failing and some bonehead had taken out some braces and posts. Some places where a beam was notched, even. It's newer than yours, Mark. All saw mill lumber.
Attachment 1866109
Attachment 1866110
Attachment 1866112
Attachment 1866114

Here's a load of Black Locust standing dead I cut down

The first two floors of my barn are all hand hewnd beams . The third looks to have been added later as it has some saw mill wood. But it looks like they used all the original roof beams and cross praces when they raised the roof . Because there are human Mark's on them and no saw .

[72 tigger]

These outdoor wood burners are popular around here- several of my friends have them. I have a natural gas boiler with the cast iron radiators

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

It grows in the mid to upper mid west to . Not easy to split by hand . Sometimes the fishers maul just bounces off it.

The first two floors of my barn are all hand hewnd beams . The third looks to have been added later as it has some saw mill wood. But it looks like they used all the original roof beams and cross praces when they raised the roof . Because there are human Mark's on them and no saw .

I bet they did just as you said with the original roof structure. My house is an 1857 hand hewn chestnut cabin, 24' x 16', with a back addition. First floor is hand hewn post & beam (was) and upper floor rough sawn stud frame. I figure it was first a one story addition, then they went up a story. All rafter are lodge pole, no sag what so ever in the ridges.

My little barn I built 25+ years ago is built from timber cut about 1/2 mile up the road and sawn by the mill about a mile up the road. Pretty much same as it would have been done back in the day...except using more modern equipment. Not that Malone Gouge's Le Roi powered sawmill is modern

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

These outdoor wood burners are popular around here- several of my friends have them. I have a natural gas boiler with the cast iron radiators

I'm trying to find some salvage radiators to use in my next house. Next best heating to wood. Well, just as good really, but you can't harvest your own propane. A gas well would be ideal.

Those wood furnace take a lot of the 'slave' out of tending. Takes a lot of the cutting out, too! They can handle some big stuff.

[Mudder]

I went to 2 stag furnace and a heat pump. Old house and drafty. I was using 1000+ a year with a old Lennax. I use maybe 250 a year propane and my electric has never been over 140 a month. I leave everything on too, stereos, electronics, etc. I need new windows.

[Red71gmc]

That old barn is really neat. My grandfather said not to plant corn until the black locust bloom (which is the only week of the year it has beauty). I have watched that every year and the Ol' boy was right. The conditions are perfect that week but is usually 2-4 weeks after I plant in modern agriculture. He also said to pull your pants down and sit your bare butt on the soil and if it feels cold, don't plant. Again, the ol'boy is probably right but we plant way sooner in modern ag with seeds that germ at 50 degrees or less. Good thing because its way more populated around the farm in my day and I wouldn't want to explain to the motorist why I'm sitting naked in the field. "Well you see it's how my grand pappy told me how to see if the soil is warm enough to plant!" And the black locust are blooming right over dare you see!". Actually, that may be a fun way to break up the busy day! Lol

[72c20customcamper]

Adding more to my stock pile. Some dead oak that's ready to burn been down for years. Some ash and Hickory. Most of the hickory will go into the smoker behind it is about a cord that has just been split. That wood will be ready to burn 3 years from now