Wood Furnace Heat - I am getting frustrated and cold ?
It has been four days that we have been counting on this furnace and my husband is gone during day. I successfully kept it going until today and the house is down to 60 already. I have newspapers, kindling and seasoned hardwood that is dry and small and no reason besides inexperience on why I can't accomplish this. I open the damper and as paper burns I set the small kindling strips and then the heavier 1/4 of a log I get close but the kindling won't even stay lit. And its dry, my husband has no issues with it so its me. I can't talk to him til tonight. Any help? It also is an oil furnace but we are not buying oil anymore, we took the old tank out so I have no other options today and its freezing outside. In the meantime a pc. started to burn with the door closed. My new concern is the creosote that maybe forming from me not getting a hot fire going today. I only know where the bottom damper is, where and what will the other look like?
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What is better? An outside wood furnace or an in-house wood furnace?
I want to get rid of my gas because it is so expensive. I heard that heating with wood is cheaper but I don't know if it is better to have the furnace in the house or outside. What are your experiences?
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Two home heating questions: about oil furnace and wood stove?
I own a home that is heated with an oil furnace. We tend to keep the temperature down, as a $$ saving measure. As we age, my husband's and my tolerance for the cold has gone down. If we turn the thermostat down at night, when we are bundled up under the covers and raise the temperature when we get up; are we saving money or spending it to rewarm the house? Question #2 is for those of you who supplement your heating with a wood stove. What kind of work is involved in the installation, if there has never been one in the house before? I am talking about a professional installation; because of the venting issues - we would never attempt to do something like this on our own. The job demands someone who knows what they are doing. I am thinking that this is one job where the installation might exceed the cost of the stove itself. Please feel free to jump in with information that you may have, even if you don't know the answer to both questions.
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Which type of wood heat is best for this situation? Wood stove or Wood furnace? Indoor or outdoor?
Just bought an old farmhouse with 2400 square feet built in 1920. It has a newer electric forced air system and is very expensive in winter to heat so we want to put some type of wood heat. Wood is plentiful and cheap here. There are two old chimneys that are presently covered up and would need work to use. One is in the kitchen and one in the living room. I was thinking about a dual purpose wood cook stove that would heat the house as well but now I am thinking maybe a wood furnace might be better or more efficient. What are the differences between the indoor and outdoor wood-burning furnaces & (from someone who has one) what do you like about having a wood burning furnace? Also, does a wood burning furnace use it's own chimney or does it have to be hooked up to on that is already there. Of course I have calls in to a few companies -but everyone is out for the holidays and I won't hear back until next week so I am asking for opinions here. Thanks! more details: I am home full time and do not mind tending to a woodstove. I kind of enjoy it. And the more I think about it I would have to admit that, just as important as saving money, is the fact that I love the way wood heat feels.
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Can I "pipe" the heat from my wood stove into my furnace?
I now have a hood over the stove which goes into a dryer hose (metal) with a fan on the end of it which blows a little heat upstairs. I was told by someone that I can put that same part into the furnace and have the heat go out of all my ducts that the furnace sends heat out of.
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Heating with wood chunks instead of pellets/corn?
I have plenty of trees in my yard I need to cut down, so I have a good source of wood. Can I use uniformly cut (say 1/4 inch cube) pieces of wood instead of wood pellets or corn in a corn furnace? If so, how would I cut the wood into pieces sufficiently small and uniform? Would a personal sawmill work?
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does anyone have an outdoor wood furnace? do you like it?
we pay $400 + a month for our heating in southern michigan. on a fixed income... this is bad. we are currently supplementing our hot water heat with a wood furnace installed in the kitchen, but its VERY messy and ugly! not to mention inefficient. but we have read some info about outdoor wood furnaces being ideal for hot water heated homes and we want to know if its worth it. we know they take some work, loading it once a day is the norm from what i've found out. and its going to SUPPLEMENT our current system, we won't rely on it alone, so letting the fire go out is not the end of the world for us. we live in the country, so no neighbors will complain, plus it would be hidden from the road. opinions? please no statements about pollution, no heckling, and no trash talk. just honest answers from folks who ACTUALLY OWN one of these furnaces, having read some of the other questions, i find people like to get on a soap box about issues that aren't at stake here. thanks!
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does anyone know how to size duct work using heat exchanger with outside wood furnace?

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Has anyone tried to convert an inside (air blower type) wood furnace into an outside furnace to heat a home?
I have an opportunity to put a huge old hot air blower type wood furnace outside my home and at a distance that's safe for my home, from the possibility of fire from the (insulated) flue, and run an insulated air duct - or possibly two; one for return air, one for heat, into my home to heat it with, as this spring, we had a tornado that blew down 3,000 local trees, so wood is easy to find and much cheaper than natural gas, propane or electric as a furnace heating fuel. I've searched high and low online for info to convert, or rather to insulate the furnace with fire-proof or high heat insulation and cover the furnace with a sheet metal shell, (so as to not make a huge building to put it in, but more or less, a self-contained unit), to protect it from the elements of winter and make it operate more efficiently, but have found nothing but info and ads for 'outside wood boilers'. I was going to put it in my 10 x 10 metal garden building storage shed, but the storm blew it away. Now I'm faced with 48 - 52 degrees F indoor temperatures while running an oil-radiator electric heater in one room, an inadequate income to buy a new wood stove that's EPA Approved and UL Listed to have professionally installed inside my home, and when I run my gas furnace, it sucks outside air into and through the house (I imagine, for combustion), in spite of much insulating, caulking and sealing I've done, making the house drafty and cold, and in spite of putting out warm air (kind of defeating the purpose of having it on in the first place). ... However tonight I learned that by creating a suitable sized outside air intake to the combustion area of my gas furnace, will reduce or eliminate it sucking cold air from outside into my home, and in the process, burn less fuel, and heat the house more efficiently. So anyway, can someone please make a suggestion what should be used for high-heat insulation, to cover my furnace with, i.e., especially, the air jacket, (which is a heavy 1/4" plate steel box that's welded to the fire box surrounding it), and operates cooler than the fire box temperature?
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Other than a kettle on the wood burner, are there any other solutions to humidify the air in my house?
We heat with a wood furnace equiped with a blower. The wood furnace is in the basemet and the hot air is blown upstairs through a 6 inch flexible duct. I'm looking for a solution other than a kettle on the wood stove or a consol humidifier. Thanks in advance.
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