Comments on Thy Hand Hath Provided: Heating Our House: Wood Stove or Outdoor Furnace?

Goodness. With a dust/dust mite allergy, I can se...

2012-02-13T14:10:21.124-05:00

Goodness. With a dust/dust mite allergy, I can see why a wood stove wasn't working for you. I'm so glad you have the option to move to the outdoor furnace soon- what relief (and less dusting) that will bring you. Thanks for sharing your experience and best of luck on and in your new home!

I realize you have made your decision but I though...

2012-02-13T14:03:31.425-05:00

I realize you have made your decision but I thought I'd share our experience. We have heated our 1800 sq ft ranch for 15 years with an indoor wood stove. We are building our new home this spring and will be installing an outdoor wood stove. We are gladly giving up the constant layer of dust and all the mess that goes along with the indoor wood stove. I will be extremely glad because I

we have a woodstove in our house. our other heati...

2012-02-03T11:04:45.414-05:00

we have a woodstove in our house. our other heating source is a very old coal stove that was converted to a natural gas stove. it is a steam system and is VERY inefficient. we used to spend a lot of money to be cold in the winter as we could not afford to heat the house. our options were a new heating system for the entire house (~$10,000), an outdoor furnace or an inside woodstove. we opted

My father sells outdoor wood furnaces and you can&...

2012-01-28T19:14:06.350-05:00

My father sells outdoor wood furnaces and you can't hardly go down a road in PA that doesn't have one. The water is very hot and I believe that you can pipe the heat into your house a variety of ways, baseboard heat is what my parents have. I would suggest that whomever you purchase it from that they also provide repair services if needed in the future. My Dad has his stove fixed so it

I have to laugh because I grew up in a home heated...

2012-01-28T11:25:25.013-05:00

I have to laugh because I grew up in a home heated mostly by a wood stove. I could never have one now because of the horrid memory(I am being sarcastic) of helping chop, stack and bring in wood all winter long. The big room it was in would be warm and cozy and the rest of the house would be freezing-but our house was very "spread out" so that I am sure was the problem. And once my

We have a small wood stove in our basement that we...

2012-01-26T09:07:05.137-05:00

We have a small wood stove in our basement that we added to keep it warm & comfy down there & it does a fantastic job of warming the main floor as well. (We have electric hot air in the rest of the house) We were very happy to discover if we keep the wood fire going it comes up the stairs, keeps our thermostat from kicking in & therefore we were able to cut our electric/heating bill

I've never heard of those (although Jamey may ...

2012-01-25T16:28:53.752-05:00

I've never heard of those (although Jamey may have). They sound fascinating, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

Have you looked into a rocket mass heater? You onl...

2012-01-25T16:04:12.017-05:00

Have you looked into a rocket mass heater? You only burn them once or twice a day. The smoke recombusts and the exhaust is mostly steam. The heat from this heats up a big thermal mass that then gently warms the house. Just a thought!

wow ,you really have a lot of followers ,good for ...

2012-01-25T06:51:23.417-05:00

wow ,you really have a lot of followers ,good for you and things are good here so far, no news is still good news because we did not here anything we did not already know on Jerry's health. I have a LOT OF FAMILY THAT HEATS WITH WOOD BUT WE JUST HAVE A FORCED AIR FURNACE ON GAS

You might also want to consider travel - having a ...

2012-01-24T18:12:28.852-05:00

You might also want to consider travel - having a neighbor/friend come over once a day to throw wood on might be a bit easier than someone to come over all day long.

We love our Vermont Castings wood stove. It heats...

2012-01-24T12:31:28.473-05:00

We love our Vermont Castings wood stove. It heats the downstairs wonderfully. We do have a heat pump but mainly use the furnace fan to circulate the air and attempt to minimize our utility bills. We bought the stove out of the classifieds 10 years ago and it is a 1989 so vintage really, compared to modern technology:)

Our stove is top loading and really, our house does not smell of

I've never experienced the outdoor furnace typ...

2012-01-24T00:05:34.060-05:00

I've never experienced the outdoor furnace type heat, but have experienced a wood stove. It was a long time ago and ours was a big bulky thing (not the pretty one pictured above). The air in the house was dry, my clothes smelled of wood smoke from opening the doors to feed the fire, and the house was heated unevenly (much too hot in the room where the stove was and much cooler on the other

which one option pollutes the air less?

2012-01-23T22:23:57.693-05:00

which one option pollutes the air less?

We heated with an indoor wood stove until last yea...

2012-01-23T21:29:07.277-05:00

We heated with an indoor wood stove until last year and really loved it. But we are thinking of the future and cutting wood is getting harder for my husband so we switched to a pellet stove which we also like. If it wasn't for the thought of someday not being able to take care of getting the wood for the stove, we would still be using the indoor wood stove. I miss the smell of the burning

We live in Ca and heat exclusively with a wood bur...

2012-01-23T19:37:00.709-05:00

We live in Ca and heat exclusively with a wood burning stove. We use almond wood because is burns hotter and longer. It's amazing how differently wood can burn. We have had some issues with our wood being too big for the stove, so my husband has to cut them down to size. Once you get the fire going, loading more wood is very easy and minimal work. The ash and wood fragments need to be

i am not familiar with an outdoor furnace, but we ...

2012-01-23T18:28:57.488-05:00

i am not familiar with an outdoor furnace, but we had a wood burning stove installed last winter...and we LOVE it. we got the stove to supplement our heat pump...we have replaced our windows and doors...and we were still super drafty and i was always chilly. our electric bills were $300+ and when we were shelling out that much, i wanted to be WARM! :) so, we got our stove and i love it.. it&

We are a young couple and we heat with a indoor wo...

2012-01-23T16:42:25.971-05:00

We are a young couple and we heat with a indoor wood stove, and live in Central New York (significantly colder, than where you've hinted you are). I love wood stoves. LOVE them. Our woodshed is semi-attached to our house so we don't have to go outside in freezing temperatures to get wood.

Our experience:
-Never had allergy problems with the stove. No blown air= no

I think both methods are spectacular, but obviousl...

2012-01-23T16:19:07.676-05:00

I think both methods are spectacular, but obviously you are looking for input from interested parties. If I was making the choice, I'd go with indoors. Although I have full confidence in the outdoor furnace, I think the options of usage on the stove (cooking) & not needing to blow the air in the house with electricity are excellent.
We are currently living in a traditional

We use a wood stove to heat our house, but we do h...

2012-01-23T15:27:09.897-05:00

We use a wood stove to heat our house, but we do have a furnace as well that kicks in on occasion, and a gas stove in our bedroom. We keep a pot with water on the stove, and run an air filter on occasion to help with all of that stuff you mentioned. We just love the coziness of a wood stove, wouldn't want to be without one despite the mess. I know there are stoves out there that will burn

I'd vote for the wood stove. :) You can't...

2012-01-23T15:16:58.819-05:00

I'd vote for the wood stove. :) You can't exactly snuggle up to the outdoor furnace on a cold and stormy night with a mug of hot cocoa now can you. :)

We've not used our wood stove in years...husba...

2012-01-23T14:08:54.590-05:00

We've not used our wood stove in years...husband had COPD and, subsequently, developed allergies and it bothered his breathing dreadfully. He's passed away and I'm looking at buying an outside stove...it would be hooked into our house generator which kicks on twenty seconds after the electricity goes out. I just had to buy oil for the furnace; for 519+ gallons it was more than $1,800!

I can't speak to the outdoor furnace, but we h...

2012-01-23T14:08:44.029-05:00

I can't speak to the outdoor furnace, but we have a wood stove and I think you've covered all the pluses and negatives pretty well. So you have a realistic picture of what you're up against. The only thing I would add is that you have to go outside to add wood to the outdoor furnace (right?), but you don't have to with the wood stove, you just have to stack wood near the back door

My husband has been interested in an outdoor furna...

2012-01-23T14:08:00.529-05:00

My husband has been interested in an outdoor furnace. While I love the idea of the dirt staying outside & less fire hazard in our home I balk at the idea of traipsing outside in the snow, wind, cold, freezing rain, etc. to fill it. Also, when I think in term of someday selling or renting our house I don't know how many people would be willing to put the work into operating one.

We heat our house with a wood stove and love it! W...

2012-01-23T13:59:38.996-05:00

We heat our house with a wood stove and love it! We live in Alabama though. It doesn't get extremely cold here.

We've considered both, and settled on a Woodst...

2012-01-23T13:04:54.259-05:00

We've considered both, and settled on a Woodstock Fireview indoor stove. This particular stove will NOT burn you out of a room and radiates heat very evenly. That being said, looking at the layout of your house, possible locations for a stove (keep in mind that you can get piping and not go through a chimney), and which rooms are used most and need the most heat are some factors we