August 26, 2010 | Posted by DDFD I hate to say it, but the leaves are starting to fall here in New England– that means woodstove fires before you know it. When I noticed the leaves, I started thinking it was time to review just some of the Self Reliance Exchange’s Heating With Wood and Firewood related posts. Here is a quick [...]
Categories: home energy | 
Tags: firewood, heating with wood, hints and tips, recap, self reliance | 
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December 27, 2009 | Posted by Mark Z If you’ve read any of my posts on heating with wood to this point, it must be clear to you that wood heat is an essential feature of our homestead. To close my offerings on the subject (for now!) I’d like to add a few thoughts, observations, and tips that didn’t make it in elsewhere. [...]
Categories: home energy | Tags: heating with wood, how to, self reliance | No Comments »
December 22, 2009 | Posted by Mark Z When we bought our homestead, it already had a woodstove. It was a fairly large, ‘70s-era Earth Stove that was nearly burned out. The former owners told us they had removed some of the fittings, including heat baffles and firebrick panels that had been in the burn chamber. This caused a lot of problems, although [...]
Categories: home energy | Tags: altering woodstoves, heating with wood, self reliance | No Comments »
December 20, 2009 | Posted by Mark Z In a previous article, I proposed thinking of fire as a living organism, and described the infant stage of its development. Let’s continue following fire through its “life stages.” Once your fire starts, it soon becomes a teenager, growing fast, often to the limits of your firebox, it consumes everything, and wants more. It will [...]
Categories: home energy | Tags: heating with wood, self reliance, tending woodstoves | No Comments »
December 18, 2009 | Posted by Mark Z Fire is like a living organism, requiring oxygen, fuel, and warmth to “live.” Removing any of these reduces the burn until it “dies.” Thinking of fire as alive, and considering it wild, selfish, and treacherous develops good safety habits when heating one’s home with wood! All living things have stages of development. Understanding these stages [...]
Categories: home energy | Tags: heating with wood, self reliance, starting a fire | No Comments »
November 15, 2009 | Posted by Mark Z We’ve talked about buying or scrounging firewood to heat your home. Now let’s consider cutting your own wood. My family’s situation is extremely rare: we have our own heavily forested land. This is ideal for frugal wood heat. As with purchasing wood, targeting the best available firewood is important to maximize your time. Standing dead [...]
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October 29, 2009 | Posted by Clair Schwan Making your own fireplace starter is a good way to make use of household waste, and place yourself on a bit more of a self reliant footing. It’s easy to do and provides a great homemade product that starts a fire very nicely in a wood stove, fireplace or other wood heating appliance. The steps [...]
Categories: home energy, how to | Tags: fire starter, fireplace starter, heating with wood, homemade, self reliance | 2 Comments »
October 19, 2009 | Posted by Clair Schwan When it comes to firewood, we might ask ourselves how much do I need? The answer varies based on the size of our home, the efficiency of our wood burning appliances, how well our home is insulated, the type of wood we’re using, and whether heating with wood is our primary source of warmth or [...]
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October 15, 2009 | Posted by Clair Schwan When it comes to heating with wood, there is a question I usually get from wood heat aficionados, “How efficient are your stoves?” My answer is usually, “Just as efficient as I can make them.”
Categories: home energy | Tags: heating with wood, self reliance, wood heat, wood stove efficiency, wood stoves | No Comments »
October 13, 2009 | Posted by Clair Schwan Looking at snow and wind outside my window makes heating with wood sound all that much warm and inviting. I’m glad that I have my wood stove insert in the kitchen up and running with several days worth of firewood sitting nearby, and numerous cords of wood stacked around my porch.
Categories: home energy | Tags: corn stoves, heating with wood, pellet stoves, self reliance, wood heat | No Comments »
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