How do you heat your house?

Well today me and the wifey went down to fire place hawaii and found one that they had on the floor as a display, the Morso 8148 http://www.morsona.com/index.php/contemporary-morso-stove/morso-8148.html at a pretty good price and was on sale for $2900, and the chimney part would be another 900-1200, but they had another one on a brochure that we kinda liked to and was almost similar, was the Jotul F370 http://www.jotul.com/en-US/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-373/ , but this one has to be ordered as they did not have that in stock. So right now we have to decide and SAVE, but it is between those two models, wifey is sold on those so i guess im in it for the ride!

 

They both are interesting looking , not my style but they are both cast iron so they will throw heat well .

My only concern would be the 12" max log size , but I guess you don't need a big fire like we do .

 

Yeah like all of you have said to me before " i dont know what cold is" so yeah we wouldnt need a fire 24/7 more like 6-8 hours from night to early mornings.

Reason why we kinda like the modern looking ones more is that they dont have space clearance issues like the more traditional or classic looking ones do, both of those models can be like 4-6 inches away from the wall and have drywall behind them and not some kind of stone or non combustible material, just the floor has to be non combustible. Also these two are super efficient in that they both have secondary burns.

 

To each his own.... If you have confidence in a fiberglass installer it will work. But in our opinion spray it or dense pack it. To many voids and mistakes in fiberglass

 

What your saying does make sence in the voids, but OZ is a contractor

 

I'm talking about enough 2lb foam (2 1/2 - 3" ) sprayed in to make a vapour barrier in a 2x6 wall that is strapped horizontally with 2x4's on 24" centres . The foam wraps the 2x6 studs and you basically thermally break 90% of the framing , then fill the rest up with R20 batts .

 

Just because it isn't needed it would still be a good idea to have stone or brick behind it and under it. With a good fire going the hearth becomes uncomfortable to touch for more than 30 seconds.

 

So were we, so we drilled the rotten wood out pored concrete in the footings and dropped in 2 5/8" galvanized steel in concrete. Don't fill up with water due to our low humidity and not a lot of rain(you can get caps for them). Withstands our common 50 to 70 mph winds.

 

Also the thermal mass will store the heat and slowly release it long after the fire goes out .

 

Another thing to consider is the "home owners insurance" And wood burning device can raise it substantially. Be sure to check!!!!
If your "main source" of heat is wood burning--some insurers will not want to give you a policy.

 

Has anyone (in the US) installed a geothermal heatpump? Im interested in the tax credit side of things. I already know I want one, but not sure how the credit works. The IRS is allowing a 30% tax credit on installation and the unit itself, but its a nonrefundable tax credit. Does that mean you cant lower your tax liability to below zero? For instance I usually have to pay a few hundred dollars in federal income tax each year. Does that mean the IRS credit will lower my liability to zero, but not give me a refund for the remaining 30%? If so, I cant swing it because they are around $20,000 installed. But they are sweet...upwards of 70% more efficient, no gas source is used, no noise, less dust, no outside equipment, twice the life expectancy of a conventional heat pump...the list of benefits is long.

 

Very true

 

Anyone?

 

What type of system are you planning ? Pit or vertical loop ?

 

We actually dont have home owners insurance because we didnt need to have one since we paid cash for our home. But we always think about it, it would be hard enough already when you are lava zoned

 

Probably a horizontal closed loop system since I have plenty of space for the loop field. Man I get excited thinking about never having to buy propane again.

 

I get excited too just by someone saying that they never have to buy propane again. Man if we lived in a COLD climate i would deffinelty look into something more self sustainable

 

http://www.jotul.com/en-US/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-500-Oslo/

We have this stove in addition to our oil-fired hot water baseboard heating system.

It is one hot mother F*cker.

 

Yeah Jotul has some nice shit!

 

I love my Pacific Energy Alderlea T5

http://www.pacificenergy.net/alderlea/t5.php