[Greenbuilding] one more pleasure (or not) of heating with wood

[JOHN SALMEN]

If I can make a bad analogy - a woodstove is like a diesel tractor - can be
abused and keep on running - whereas a 'heating system' is for a consumer
something more like a car that needs to be kept current and have all the
bells and whistles - something big with a big logo (has to have a lot of
'tonnage'). Not sure which is better but both have a degree of stubbornness,
and chauvinism attached to them.

 

That said - wood is no longer technically a primary heating system in houses
based on insurers requirements and costs for insurance so there will always
be some other 'primary' form of heating in place. 

 

I have a love-hate thing with woodstoves. Based on the love of the form and
quality of the heat and our rural life we used it for years. My hatred stems
from the basic pollution of a wood stove and how they fail and the
consequences of that failure in 'wood burning communities'.  I spent the
majority of my life in heavily polluted cities and where I live now rurally
is quite pristine in terms of air except in the winter where levels can
exceed an urban smog index. This is true of a lot of rural communities in
the world.

 

This can be improved upon and a masonry stove is the ultimate (and the only
option that I have flogged) but that is a major investment and generally is
only purchased by people that can afford it as a secondary major heat
investment and decoration. The default for people is the basic low cost
(approved?) plate steel woodstove which breaks down very quickly - loses
efficiency and subsequently doesn't meet any of the emissions standards they
are supposed to and then goes on being used for a decade or so. The classic
cast iron stoves work well but still need to be maintained on a regular
basis to meet emission standards and at a certain point need to be totally
overhauled. Historically in my area the classic loggers woodstove was a 50
gallon drum with a door and flue welded on to it. Our community is currently
offering $500 rebates to 'anyone' that will turn in an old stove and get
something a little cleaner to pull in those 30 yr old stoves.

 

What got to me personally is that regardless of how well I had planned
burning we are subject to rapid weather changes - including inversions and
wind patterns that could quickly create a negative pressure and bring that
smoke back into our house. That was not the environment I had planned for my
children despite the romance of the wood fire and the easy access I have for
wood. We have switched to a hot water radiant system that is being converted
now to solar - still not ideal but I think an improvement in the community
and for my household.

 

John

 

JOHN SALMEN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

4465 UPHILL RD,. DUNCAN, B.C.  CANADA, V9L 6M7

PH 250 748 7672 FAX 250 748 7612 CELL 250 246 8541

terrain at shaw.ca

 

  _____  

From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Reuben
Deumling
Sent: December 30, 2010 5:44 PM
To: Greenbuilding
Subject: [Greenbuilding] one more pleasure of heating with wood

 

We've had lots of fun on this list lately enumerating these pleasures, but
one that hasn't been mentioned occurred to me this week. 
I've been helping several folks upgrade their furnaces lately--natural gas
furnaces, heat pumps, etc. Anyway, in the course of these upgrades, I've
realized one must trust the experts (of which I am not one) to assess the
value of upgrading from, say, one 1970s vintage heatpump to another, new,
'high efficiency" heatpump. Not for me, these kinds of upgrades. Lots of
money and the damn thing still runs on fossil fuels. But back to the matter
at hand: a wood stove lasts. This may be my favorite characteristic at least
of well made European ones (I am not familiar with other styles). There
isn't really anything or at least not much of anything to wear out--and they
have nice lines that don't go out of fashion. I've now replaced some cast
iron baffles and heat shields in several Morso stoves, and recemented some
of the seams, but other than that, there's not much to be done. The stove
I'm most familiar with my parents bought new in 1981. It has been heating
their houses for thirty winters straight. I don't see why it wouldn't do
another 30 or even 60.
In this field, where we breathlessly follow the newest most efficient
wizzle-beep, it is nice every now and then to stop and appreciate the stuff
that lasts, that was always good, that we aren't likely to improve on any
time soon.

Reuben Deumling

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20101230/5c47fddb/attachment.html>