Wood burning fireplace

jrclen

My wife's request for a fireplace. The bookshelf rolls out for access. We heated only with wood in the past, but I installed a propane furnace. She missed the wood heat. We live in our own oak woods so the wood is free.

One years worth of wood. We have oak blight so the dead trees are standing and dry and ready to burn. With a little cutting and hauling and splitting.

kimberland30

Very nice!

Did you cut the wood by hand? That's a pretty hefty pile!

jrclen

Cut with a chain saw and split with a hydraulic splitter. That pile is almost gone. There will be just enough to last until summer.

frenchelectrican

Just wondering how big is that house is ??

Other wise it look very nice inside.

Merci,Marc

jrclen

Thanks Marc. The house is 1900 sq foot. Come over and visit sometime. I'll show you around.

I put an 8' addition on the woodshed this year and poured a cement floor to get rid of those ankle breaking pallets. It's almost full again.

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John

JohnDIY

wow, you get through a lot of wood!

jrclen

The shed last year held about 8 full cord of wood. Not including that tarped pile. I added on another 8 foot section this year to hold another 4 just in case I run short like I did last year. Last year was a cold nasty winter so we used almost 10 full cord. So far I have 9 cord cut and split and in the shed for this winter. We have our own oak woods out back and the oak blight disease provides me with plenty of standing dead oak trees to cut up. I also poured a cement floor in the shed this year.

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John

willneu

God damn thats a ton of wood! Fire place installation looks nice btw, good work.

jrclen

Thanks. We heated only with wood until the early 90's when I installed the propane furnace. Then my wife got the idea for a fireplace the year before last. I built it for her, and now I get to cut and split wood again. But we save about $400 on propane. And that will increase now that prices are skyrocketing. Last year propane was $1.56 per gallon and I just filled up the tank for $2.13.

Funny thing is, I could sell the cut and spit firewood for around $1000. down in the city. But my wife likes her fireplace.

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John

bofusmosby

I have a house with two fireplaces, and in order to heat the rooms, I usually have to have a "roaring" fire going. I only heat 2 rooms of the house, the rest stays cold. Well, at least in Tampa, it doesn't get too cold, and if it does, only for a few days at a time. A few years ago, I got a large air conditioner with a heat strip. Chopping all that wood gets to be a real pain, and THEN having to carry it in. I still use the fireplace, just not as much. Living in the city, the wood isn't cheap either. A few years ago when one of the hurricanes went through, it gave me enough wood for a season. I miss my trees though.

Bofus

jrclen

I lived in West Palm beach for a couple years and had a fire place there too. Some nights it was a good thing to have. But we had to sit in the living room to enjoy it.

This one has a blower in it to circulate the heat and does pretty well. I hear you about all the work of using wood. How much does wood sell for in your area?

I can relate to missing your trees. We had three huge oaks in the yard just south of the house. They provided good shade and were nice trees. The oak blight got them two years ago. Around July I noticed all the leaves turned brown and then fell off. That was it. What a shame.

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John

bofusmosby

John

You've got a really nice set-up there. I can see how the blower really increases the effeciency. The wood down here is anywhere from about $50 to over a $100 for a pick-up truck load. It depends who you call, and how bad they need the money. I have another tree in my back yard that has died. Once I figure out how to cut it down without landing on mine, or my neighbors house, I'll have another supply for a while. As far as warming just a few rooms, its really something to leave the living room, and see your breath. A great way to wake up in the morning.

shumakerscott

I have been a wood burner off and on over the last 25 years. The biggest and smartest thing that I have observed is fireplaces and ovens that use outside air are way better than burners that burn inside heated air. Outside air burners create a positive pressure inside the house, inside air burners create a vacuum and suck cold outside air inside the house through any and every crack. Why do it any other way? Pipe outside air to your wood burner. If your oven can't do it then get rid of it for one that can. It will pay off in spades in just a couple of years. Just an observation here. SHU

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