Unfortunately, a legal woodstove hookup has become pretty expensive. The building inspectors and insurance people don't make it an easy or cheap thing to do anymore. Probably good as woodstoves are potentially dangerous. The approved stoves are pricey and then one has to put in an approved chimney. Brick or tile surround to prevent fire and all that sort of thing. Then if one does not live on an acreage, one has to buy wood and then has to store sufficient wood to last for the unknown number of days that one will need heat. We have a woodstove at the cottage and need to move it so need to do the new chimney and tile to permit it to be in a different spot. These days the insurance people are pretty careful about coverage for houses with woodstoves. One must have so many inches of clearance behind, in front, and to the sides so it also ends up using up a fair amount of space. I have often thought it would be good to have one in our house as a backup but have not done it as I lack space and the desire to spend enough to do it well. I therefore have a 7000Watt gas powered generator, a Coleman stove and a propane BBQ and hope that any power outage will be short lived. I don't keep a whole lot of gasoline on hand but assume that one or more of our vehicles will be reasonably full and provide quite a bit more for the generator if need be.
Randy -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dan Weeks Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 12:36 PM To: mercedes@okiebenz.com Subject: [MBZ] EMERGENCY HOUSE HEAT I agree that a car engine won't produce enough heat to make a real difference, especially sitting in the middle of a garage. Wood furnaces and exterior wood furnaces are problematic, too. The exterior ones are pretty inefficient: 50%, from what I've read. Interior wood furnaces are more efficient, but not much, as they shut down the fire when no heat is needed, resulting in a lot of smoldering and smoke. Woodstoves, especially the new ones, are vastly more efficient, as you set them for a consistent burn, and they're surrounded by living space and capture all the heat they don't put up the flue. And new ones don't put much up the flue, either. But for backup use, pretty much any safe stove will do. My folks live on the end of a peninsula in downeast maine. They have frequent power outages, many lasting several days, some more than a week. Their neighbors all have propane or diesel generators. Aside from the racket, they're fine--for a couple days until their fuel runs out. Then, they freeze. My folks have a woodstove and a small propane camp stove. They're toasty warm and can cook hot meals indefinitely. They stockpile a bit of water in 10-gallon containers for toilet flushing, cooking, drinking, and washing. If they need something that uses 110, they plug a power inverter into their Scion, which will probably idle for a month on a tankful of gas. For charging the computer and cordless tool and flashlight batteries, it's all they need. I have a similar setup, but haven't had to use it yet, tho I heat my basement with wood, and am looking to put another stove in the garage. Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
