[AT] another new shop

[Cecil E Monson]

> I'll take on the furnace part of your project, I've owned one for probably
> 15 years now so my experience is real deep but not very wide, I guess.
> 
> I didn't like the idea of going all the way outside to throw wood in the
> furnace so I put it in my attached garage.  That way the waste heat (there's
> a bunch of it, with a 185 degree tank just sitting there!) heats my
> previously unheated garage.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but my
> insurance company didn't like it and cancelled my policy.  I found another
> company but do pay an extra $500 a year or so for the darn insurance now.
> Never mind that this setup is far safer than the woodburner that I removed
> from the house when I did this project.  After 2 calls to the fire
> department in 10 years I had had enough of the old furnace.  Not even a
> close call in 15 years with this one.


	Hi Bill, when I saw your post, and before I read it, I got a
quick flash of your place in my head and the thought that I wonder where
it was. grins.  I generally keep a lookout for things like those outside
furnaces.

	Our insurance company doesn't like wood stoves either and that
seems to be what they consider that wood furnace to be. If it is completely
outside, I guess they are OK here. We have a hot water heating system now
and keep antifreeze in it all the time and set at -40 degrees. If you ever
have a heating system go off and freeze up, you know you are all done until
almost every pipe is replaced. The leaks never stop. So we keep the antifreeze
in it because of the number of power outages in our area.

	I had heard the firebox will burn any kind of wood in any condition
because of the forced air blower that feeds the firebox. Some of them are
advertised as "fill once a day" furnaces but I have never heard that anyone
got that kind of hours out of them at one filling. I suppose it depends on
what you burn for wood. Here, we have red and white oak, hickory, white ash
and about 3 kinds of maple. All burn well but most burns fairly quickly and
doesn't last that long. I can bank the fire in our wood stove in the evening
and it will still have a nice bed of coals in the morning with the oak, ash
and the hickory. Maple doesn't last. The new place is loaded with beech and
oak but no ash and no maple that I could find. The beech should be OK.

	I'm going to locate the outside furnace between the house and the
shop with enough room that I can drive the skidsteer right up to the door
of the furnace and load the firebox without doing any more work than I have
to. I have lots of room to spare so can do about anything I want. The lot
we have is plenty wide enough and 1800 feet deep so I don't worry about a
place to pile wood or work on it. I might even be able to work it so I can
use a conveyor if I want to but will have to think about that for a while.

	What brand did you buy, Bill, if I might ask?  I also wonder what
the BTU rating is on yours?  Are you burning that Minnesota burr oak? If so
I wonder what you use to cut it? Maybe a torch?  grins. I see quite a few
outside wood furnaces advertised at times in the Mother Earth News magazine
and also in one of the farm newspapers from PA. Some of the fairs have them
out here too in August and September. I guess I had better start collecting
literature. Getting 95% of your heat from an outside furnace is a helluva
lot better than spending $2 a gallon for heating oil.

Cecil


-- 
The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
what you said.

Cecil E Monson
Lucille Hand-Monson
Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole

Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment

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