What’s your wood burner setup?

Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
7,132
Location
N.C.
Mine is a dual fan fireplace insert with 2 slide dampers in the door. It originally had glass in the door but the glass cracked and the original owner had a steel panel welded in place. It takes up to 20 inch pieces of wood and was in the house when we bought it 32 years ago. It heats our den, kitchen, dining room and living room very well and I set the furnace fan on fan only and it draws heat into the far reaches of the house. I let the fire die down at night then rekindle it the next morning. I love the warmth of a wood fire occasionally but i’m glad I don’t have to depend on it as my main heating source. What’s your setup?

IMG_1889.webp


IMG_1890.webp
 
Liberty by Lopi.
We burn 7 days a week when it's cold.
Oak only.
Cold Air Intake for added HP.
View attachment 320639

View attachment 320632
Did you notice a difference with the CAI? Do you get condensation dripping off the intake?
We have a similar stove, a mid size regency, and it is effected by the kitchen vent hood, or dryer running. We have window right beside it so sometimes I will just crack it to get a fire started if we have the dryer running.
 
Did you notice a difference with the CAI? Do you get condensation dripping off the intake?
We have a similar stove, a mid size regency, and it is effected by the kitchen vent hood, or dryer running. We have window right beside it so sometimes I will just crack it to get a fire started if we have the dryer running
Prior to the CAI we would have to crack a nearby window in order for the stove to
begin to draft as it should.
No condensation.
Relatively easy and effective addition.
 
Mine is a US Stove outdoor wood burner in a 12x12 metal building. It's a hot air blower that connects to the ductwork in the house. A typical winter uses 20 short bed pickup loads per winter. I have access to 500 acres of land so finding enough wood is never a problem. The only problem is cutting, splitting and transporting that much wood to my house 30 miles away.
 
Outdoor wood boiler 100' from house under a wood shed. 160-170 degree water is circulated constantly to a heat exchanger on top of the furnace. It also runs through a water to water heat exchanger for hot water. I don't save any money but I keep warmer than I would with the heat pump. Holds 200 gal of water.
 
Outdoor wood boiler 100' from house under a wood shed. 160-170 degree water is circulated constantly to a heat exchanger on top of the furnace. It also runs through a water to water heat exchanger for hot water. I don't save any money but I keep warmer than I would with the heat pump. Holds 200 gal of water.
I still see a lot of outdoor wood burners for sale. People buy them without understanding just how much wood it takes to feed them every four hours when it's 20 degrees or below.
 
I still see a lot of outdoor wood burners for sale. People buy them without understanding just how much wood it takes to feed them every four hours when it's 20 degrees or below.
I load mine around dinner for the night. In really cold weather I have to load it twice a day. My house doesn't hold heat very well. Mine is not one of the newer ones that are really efficient on wood use. They do require more maintenance which a lot of people don't want to do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arc
Mine is a US Stove outdoor wood burner in a 12x12 metal building. It's a hot air blower that connects to the ductwork in the house. A typical winter uses 20 short bed pickup loads per winter. I have access to 500 acres of land so finding enough wood is never a problem. The only problem is cutting, splitting and transporting that much wood to my house 30 miles away.
when 40 yrs younger, Been there done that then worked my 2nd shift job. Now get tired just thinking about it
 
Just finished the Hearth in 12x12 green marble and polished the 50 yr old VT Castings Defiant Parlor stove. Mostly for looks and emergencies. I do go through a cord a yr and sweep it before I use in the fall.
We need photos of the parlor stove.
 
I load mine around dinner for the night. In really cold weather I have to load it twice a day. My house doesn't hold heat very well. Mine is not one of the newer ones that are really efficient on wood use. They do require more maintenance which a lot of people don't want to do.
Four hours is the best mine can do and that's if it's loaded with hickory. Unfortunately I haven't found any hickory this year. I've been burning maple, ash, gum, beech and poplar, so it's goes pretty fast.
 
I’m still thinking of adding wood as a third heat source. We currently have a decent economically sensible propane-heat pump dual fuel forced air and can go up to 14 months on 400 gallons in our 500 gallon tank. Electric bill is reasonable but still being jacked for political reasons. We have a decorative propane insert that does heat locally because of a variable fan.

Not sure if I want to make space for a standalone wood or pellet unit. Or insert after tearing out the propane insert.

So far just can’t justify as maybe only 7-8 more years in this house
 
We have a monster woodstove in the basement, but it shares a flue with our oil furnace, so I've never used it. According to our stove guy, its against fire code. I left it in place in case of an emergency, as I can get plenty of wood.

We have been supplementing with a pellet stove insert in the living room for about 6 years. I love the heat of wood, but the mess and work is drastically reduced with pellets.
 
Napolean S20 woodstove.
Used as auxiliary heat and "heat security" in case of power failure. -22F this morning, so nice to have. Put on 2 good size pieces of maple last night at 10PM, fans were still spinning this morning at 7AM. Main source of heat is propane heated, in floor hydronic.

20251221_094400.webp
 
Ancient All Nighter. I wish I had glass because I love seeing the fire, but this thing is a tank. None of this EPA nonsense -- vents directly to the sky but if I load it up with juniper before bed and choke it down it's still warm in the morning.

I built the hearth from steel. I turned the stove feet from stainless steel. When I worked in a sheetmetal shop I pleated the stainless wall surround, riveted to custom-broke Z channel. I even built the custom poker from scrap (left)

The wife wanted the puffing Dragon so I sourced it on ebay (not cheap). Around here winter will make your skin crack so we need HUMIDITY
20260120_093310.webp
 
Back
Top Bottom