I have a theory... check this out.

Nice touch
So, let's see... The Hyundai will fit in the back of a pickup, the trunk is about 1/8 of the car, and scratch scratch scratch, that will be 16 trunk loads to the cord. UMMMM... 32 weeks of wood, and maybe 32 weeks of winter in the north east? A cord a year. Compared to propane at lets say 1/2 gallon per day (very conservitive figure by my experience) 2.00 per gallon, times 231 days.
I concede. It sounds like the propane is cheaper than wood. Of course, how often can you supplement your propane stock with a freebe?
That, and chopping wood at the local watershed has it's rewards. BUt that is another story

[Alan Wheeler]

Sean's not the only one with cabin fever.

[Catamount]

A cord is simply a unit of volume, equivalent to 128 cubic feet of stacked firewood. Measure the inside dimensions of your trunk in feet, and then calculate the volume of wood that you can carry in cubic feet. Divide the result into 128 to get the fraction of a cord each trunk-load represents, multiply by number of trunk-loads to get cords consumed....

Tim

[capt lar]

Sean - the reason people may fear wood burning is the association they make to house fires. "Back in the day" chimney fires were common due to creosote buid up. Additionally, people would just stick single wall pipe through an exterior wall and "light 'er up". You know Maine. Proper installation, cleaning and maintenance would have prevented most problems. Additionally, many burned slab wood or other softwood scrap which burned very hot and fast and would often create and ignite the creosote. Like many things, operator error is hard to remove from the equation.

capt lar

[ssullivan]

capt lar once whispered in the wind:
Sean - the reason people may fear wood burning is the association they make to house fires. "Back in the day" chimney fires were common due to creosote buid up. Additionally, people would just stick single wall pipe through an exterior wall and "light 'er up". You know Maine. Proper installation, cleaning and maintenance would have prevented most problems. Additionally, many burned slab wood or other softwood scrap which burned very hot and fast and would often create and ignite the creosote. Like many things, operator error is hard to remove from the equation.

capt lar

I see... I can't even imagine running single wall stove pipe through some hole in teh wall and "lighting 'er up" Now *that's* scary.

I have definitely noticed a few people around here who are scared I'm going to burn down the marina. It's hard because they just don't understsand how a stove/chimney/spark arrester combo works, and that you can easily control it if you have experience using one.

The main person I'd like to convince is the marina owner. He keeps going off on me that I'm going to burn down his 4 houseboats that are across the dock from me.

Oh well....

PS: got a good chuckle out of the "light 'er up, you know Maine" line. ha ha

[BC Mike]

Kai, I just wanted to mention that I am fairly familiar with the insulation of an older home and a newer one. I own a 1920 log house and was the contractor and part builder of our 1992 house.
I also installed the large wood stove and built the chimney for the new place, as well as the modifications to the old place. I switched the old place to gas heat so that we could rent it out.
I probably use more wood at the moment than most others. The exit pipe on my stove is eight inches. For more on stoves for those interested, my tractor buddies have been discussing Russian stoves or ovens. These things retain most of the heat that is usually lost up the chimney.
Michael

[Richhh]

The premise that a roaring fire without any flue dampening .... is simply wasteful; sends a LOT of heat up the chimney. Such a fire (lean burn with more oxygen than needed) simply wastes great amount of calories/BTUs **up** the chimney.

In a perfect world a fireplace/stove would have an automatic thermostatic controlled inlet air damper coupled to a CO detector in the flue and in the living space. But since flues are nasty spaces for sensors (corrosion), that cant happen with present technology. A propely dampered fireplace/stove keeps the heat IN the firebox and correctly lets in the proper amount of air into the chamber to regulate the correct fuel/air mix. There is nothing wrong with generating CO, as if contained properly it itself is a fuel. They used to pipe CO through cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a fuel source.

I guestimate that such 'controls' are not available on fireplaces/stoves due to the risk of 'consumer stupidity' and the inevitable following and ever-present litigation risks. Until idiot proof controls are validated and available, we will continue to simply 'heat the great outdoors' during a meager (inefficient) attempt to stay warm indoors. Use a damper; you'll use up less fuel.

[BC Mike]

The big unit downstairs does have a heat controlled damper. It controls the amount of air going to the burn chamber. The air comes from outside via a pipe directly plumbed in to the big unit.
The Russian unit has the exhaust in a series of S bends, all contained in a brick rectangular and tall frame. This way more of the heat that is lost up the chimney is retained so a smaller fire can be used. My unit heats a 1200 square foot basement, then a main floor and finally upstairs. All floors are about the same size.
Insulation in the basement would save heat loss, but the size of the big unit overcomes that. I will be testing a small oil filled electric heater on the weekend using my new 1000 watt Honda as the power source. Last week was the battery charge test, and the Origo heater test.
Michael

Michael, I had no doubt about you knew what you were talking about. The log cabin I lived in as a kid was built in 1796. When we remodeled it, I learned about all sorts of building technics that were used over the previous two centuries. One of which was to simply put the new over the old. I can not remember how many dump runs we made before we got to the original walls, but I am sure you have an idea.
As for flues on boats, they make them. I can not remember the manufacturer, but I have seen them. In fact, any accessorie you can find for a residential wood stove is available for a boat. It just takes a little more searching. I am curious if this would be beneficial for the Little Cod. Any word from the manufacturer Sean?

[ssullivan]

Kai Nui,

If you are talking about an air intake for the Little Cod, it wouldn't be very easy to do. Based on the geometry of the unit, there would have to be multiple ugly attachments on no less than 3 sides.

First, there is a small crack built in below the main door for ventilation. Second, there is the main vent. Third, it has a cooktop with those cooktop burners. They would have to be replaced since there are always air leaks next to them.

[Starbuck]

If Sean gets his wood for the taking, he doesn't need to be concerned much with efficiency. <g>

Actually, I was talking about a flu in the pipe to close the stove down a bit more.
And Capt Jeff, That's supposed to be top secret

[GordMay]

Kai Nui: ”... a flu in the pipe to close the stove down a bit...”
A Flue is the chimney pipe, and a Damper is used to close off the chimney, or to throttle (balance) duct air flow.
NEVER close (or throttle) a Chimney (flue, vent) when a fire is burning.
The most effective chimney damper is a "roof-top" damper. It is installed at the very top of the chimney, and is controlled by a stainless steel cable. The cable is routed down through the chimney flue and is attached to a bracket in a convenient location near the heater. Its main advantage is that it seals the entire length of the chimney, trapping warm air inside, which provides an extra boost for quickly establishing a strong draft. It also acts an impenetrable chimney cap to keep out rain, snow, birds and animals, and prevent down-drafts caused by strong winds. Chimney dampers are seldom (if ever) used on boats.
Downdrafting occurs most often when the burn rate is at its lowest, at the start of a fire or at the end, when the burn rate has been slowed to preserve an all night fire.
Throttling is done at the combustion air inlet, not the chimney.

[Starbuck]

Sorry, Kai, I couldn't hear you over the noise of Sean's chain saw…

[ssullivan]

You guys are funny. The chain saw is pretty loud!

The Little Cod does indeed come with a damper installed in the stove pipe. Works quite well to throttle down the draft, allowing a controlled burn, and a longer burn too.