76 replies to this topic

[JBMedia]

msterees, on 01 January 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

You can always dig a small hole if you're worried about the ashes still being hot. Sometimes the coals can stay burning for up to two weeks so it's better to be safe than sorry. You could also douse them with a little bit of water before you put them out on the ground.

I would have to agree with msteres. It's highly unlikely for anything to actually happen, but on the safe side it is definitely a good idea to bury the coals or at least throw some water over them as msteres has said. I've heard of a few cases of where they threw their coals outside on the ground and a few days later their lawn and houses caught on fire.

[Pushhyarag2000]

joeldgreat, on 27 December 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

Never use firewood, but we have a burner that runs on charcoal. Its the best way to use when cooking foods that requires a longer time to boil. We have a pressure cooker but we seldom use it. Instead we use the charcoal stove to soften hard to boil meat products. Its because we felt that it is more tastier to prepare it this way. By doing this, we save some gas. The wood use for making the charcoal were those trees that abundantly grown here in our country. Therefore, we are not consuming the forest and help in saving the cost of the gas.

Any food that is cooked slow so that the heating is progressive is bound to cook uniformly and also retain attributes like tenderness, aroma and texture. The primary advantage of cooking over coal lies in this except that you must give it the required amount of time. I wish we cooked food this way every day but haste, impatience etc push us to use the gas burner. It certainly is an eco friendly way of course.

[MakingCents]

We've dosed our ashes with water before, but then we throw them away.  BAD US!  From here on out I'll dump them out into the woods behind our house, and maybe cover them over with some dirt too just to be on the safe side of things.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Pushhyarag2000, on 01 January 2012 - 07:07 PM, said:

The primary advantage of cooking over coal lies in this except that you must give it the required amount of time.
I wish we cooked food this way every day but haste, impatience etc push us to use the gas burner.
It certainly is an eco friendly way of course.

Not to argue, but it's hardly an "eco friendly" way of cooking.
Entire rainforests are disappearing because of this practice in poor countries. It has a direct link to
global warming.
People in those parts of the world have been cutting down trees to make charcoal for centuries, now more
than ever because of the population explosion.
http://factsanddetai...52&subcatid=329
http://factsanddetai...subcatid=329#70

And to be fair, we're not much better in this country with heating our homes. Many homes in the
Northeast still use oil. Natural gas harms the environment from fracking. Heating via electric is often from
coal.

[Devo]

I realize I'm a little late to this discussion, but just want to put in my 2 cents worth. I heat my home exclusively with wood, and hope to heat the shop the same way soon. I live on a hobby farm and have access to the wood so for me its the cheapest option. I keep seeing people saying its bad, and maybe it is with old stove technology in massive amounts. For me though with a modern stove with a high efficiency rating, I feel I'm better off than the alternatives (oil, propane, hydro).

[msterees]

Devo, on 02 January 2012 - 10:00 AM, said:

I realize I'm a little late to this discussion, but just want to put in my 2 cents worth. I heat my home exclusively with wood, and hope to heat the shop the same way soon. I live on a hobby farm and have access to the wood so for me its the cheapest option. I keep seeing people saying its bad, and maybe it is with old stove technology in massive amounts. For me though with a modern stove with a high efficiency rating, I feel I'm better off than the alternatives (oil, propane, hydro).

I think you're right, if you can cut your own wood you are probably better off than using oil or gas. You can also control which trees you cut and make sure you plant new ones to replace the ones you have cut down. Or only cut trees that have already fallen. How lucky for you to live on your own farm and be able to produce so much of what you need yourself.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Devo, on 02 January 2012 - 10:00 AM, said:

I realize I'm a little late to this discussion, but just want to put in my 2 cents worth. I heat my home exclusively with wood, and hope to heat the shop the same way soon. I live on a hobby farm and have access to the wood so for me its the cheapest option. I keep seeing people saying its bad, and maybe it is with old stove technology in massive amounts. For me though with a modern stove with a high efficiency rating, I feel I'm better off than the alternatives (oil, propane, hydro).

As a community, we are not "taking you to task" for your heating with firewood. Your methods sound fine.
It's only the mass producers that cut down rainforests that we don't agree with.

And btw-you're never too late to join in our discussions.
You're always welcome here!

[Ecodisaster]

I can't wait for solar power to evolve into a more efficient method. There is obviously something missing on it.
Somebody will come up with something better. Isn't solar power cleaner than any other?

[Sustained Living]

Ecodisaster, on 02 January 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

I can't wait for solar power to evolve into a more efficient method. There is obviously something missing on it.
Somebody will come up with something better. Isn't solar power cleaner than any other?

not really, if your talking about solar itself yes its extremely clean.. but PV manufacturing puts out a lot of solid and liquid waste including the CDTE cells that have toxic chemicals involved in the spraying process....

The natural use of solar in the living space is the clean way... such as having a big greenhouse attached to the back of your house letting it warm the air in the greenhouse and cycle the air from the greenhouse into the house for heat.

[sculptor]

Sustained Living, on 04 January 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

...
The natural use of solar in the living space is the clean way... such as having a big greenhouse attached to the back of your house letting it warm the air in the greenhouse and cycle the air from the greenhouse into the house for heat.

I couldn't agree more!

if/when designing a new building
the south face offers a great opportunity
with a little forethought(prometheus) you can have free heat and a wonderful sunspace to chase away the midwinter blues, feed you, and clean your air.

[sculptor]

yippee
yesterday and today, the still unfinished greenhouse/solarium/solar energy collector/sunspace got up to the high 70s(degrees Fahrenheit) and the sun is only about 26 degrees above the horizon at it's zenith----------------( I had thought that the space wouldn't generate excess energy this close to the winter solstice------I was guessing the sun needed to be up closer to 40degrees-------)-sometimes, I'm delighted when i'm wrong---especially if the error was pessimistic

when i get the last wall up and the intersections with the house and shop roofs sealed and insulated, i expect the current high 70s to be closer to the high 80s, and that means that even 2 weeks from the winter solstice, the spaces will be able to share a significant heat gain with the house and shop

the space has relatively little south face(just about 250 sq.ft. compared to 1300 square feet of roof glazing, and 500 sq.ft. of east and west glazing), not my first choice for heat gain, but what worked with the existing structures

:)

[Sandra Piddock]

We have a fireplace, and we buy our logs from a local log merchant. We collect our own, which reduces the cost for us, and saves the merchant having to deliver. When we clear the ashes, they're used on the community gardens. A lot of plants thrive when fertilised with ash, and it's a good way of dealing with the remains of the fire.

[shenk]

We use only firewood for heating, because it is only half the price of gas heating. And cutting up all those wood is quite the exercise, so it's good for the body, too:)

[dkramarczyk]

If I had a way to burn wood for heat, I most definitely would. I have always loved the heat from an actually fire. It feels so different than just having heat come through vents. I will definitely want to look into that for when I have my own house though.

[btatro]

Firewood can be very, very expensive. My family cuts a lot of their own firewood from the land we own. Family and friends know we have two wood fireplaces so they are very nice as to let us know when someone is cutting down a tree and does not have a need for the wood. It usually comes in large pieces so we do own a wood splitter to split them into pieces that will work in the fireplace.

[clewand550]

msterees, on 09 December 2011 - 07:46 AM, said:

Does anyone here burn firewood? I have a small wood stove and a fireplace and like to burn wood in them from time to time. It seems to help me keep my thermostat on a lower setting. It was also nice to have that backup source of heat when my heat pump went out recently. I'm not sure if it is any cheaper to burn firewood tho because it also seems to be expensive. Is there anyone here who cuts their own firewood or grows bamboo to use for heating?

We live in the Kettle Moraine area.  Our whole backyard is filled with trees.  Our backyard is completely wooded.  We cut all of our wood for making a fire inside the house as well as outside.  I love the smell of a fire going in the fireplace and in the fire pit.  I love the way that it can warm a room right up.  It saves us so much money on heating bills.

[aspen]

My home is firewood drive pretty much. A cooking stove that also provides hot water, and a stand alone heater for heating our two storey house. The best firewood is eucalyptus which abounds here. I was a little surprised to see the number of folk who still use this method for heating. Fires are rather hypnotic as well as being a friend to you when you are all alone at home. Here is a poem I found some weeks back.
Firewood by Lady Celia Congreve
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.