Wood Stove Part 1

Since the weather has turned colder I have noticed that the furnace has been kicking on a lot recently. I knew our 3 inch wide walls were not the most energy efficient and so I am not surprised at how often the propane furnace is running. The problem is, everytime it turns on, I see dollar signs floating out the chimney and that got me to thinking. I and my wife live in the middle of the woods with a few hundred acres of accessable firewood all around us and so in essence, fairly inexpensive fuel for heating. I say inexpensive since it is not quite free. Cutting wood takes time which in some eyes is money and also the cost of the saw, maintenance on said saw and gas for said saw. Compared to the cost of propane, the saw cost is little and so acceptable.

Wood for heating means woodstove. At first when I broached the subject, my wife had two things to say to me: 1. You just like to find things to keep you busy. 2. We don't need such a thing. Well, for the first choice she is right, I like having projects to do. I dont like being to idle, prefering to better the area around me or my quality of living. I was doing this before we married and I hope she realizes that I will continue to do this probably until I am put into the gorund. For her second thought, I had to sit down and show her the long term costs of propane everymonth with only 3 inch walls in a late 60's era trailer for the next 2 - 3 years while we build. I dont know if she got it or not, but I told her I was going through with my plans. She did state that there would be no woodstove in the trailer due to the associated hazards that come with it which I agree with. Not being able to put a woodstove inside then made the decision of where it would have to go-outside!

Problem is, my trailer is heated with forced air and so if the woodstove is going to be outside, it will have to be forced air too or else I could put in a wood boiler with an air exchanger in the furnace plenum. This approach would be more costly and in the end plain moot due to the fact that I found a Monarch forced air woodstove that is in very good shape which therefore dictates that the outdoor stove would be forced air with insultated ducts feeding into the existing ducts of the house. My cousin's wife's father who lives only a few miles from me has done just this and it works very well for him.

My first step was to go to menards and get building material for the shed that I will build around the furnace. The furnace itself will set on a 4x4 floor up on skids so it can be moved when I am done with it. I put it up on cement patio blocks for heat protection. For the walls I used 2x2's for a lighter weight. Onto this frame will be attached steel siding and a steel roof. The wood frame near the furnace will have flashing between the stove wall and the 2x2's. The chimney will come out the back into a tee and extend up the back side of the building several feet above the peak and on the bottom will be a cleanout.

It rained all weekend, turning the time I had availabel for this project into a quagmire. Even though I was soaked, I pushed forward and got as far as getting the steel on the roof. Next will be piping and wiring.

Insulation and Light

It was one busy weekend again. The weather was beautiful, probably one of the last warm weather weekends we are going to get this year and I had the unfortunate task of having to spend it working hard on finishing up some loose ends on the trailer in preparation for winter. The first order of business was going to Menard's and purchasing insulation and vapor barrier for under the trailer. The insulation was relatively cheap having decided to go with unfaced batts. Not only that, but currently there is some hefty rebates to be had for home heating improvements. What did cost a bundle though was the roll of 6mm black plastic I got for the vapor barrier. That itself cost $40 for a 8x80 foot roll! I know that this is not the best way to insulate, many trailer enthusiasts calling for actual mobile home under wrap, but money is important and as I have said in many posts, this home is temporary and so good enough fits the bill.

After purchasing the right material, it was then a matter of suiting up and putting it in which was not fun. I put on a pair of mechanic's coveralls (I once owned a Heavy Diesel shop) and a dust mask and proceeded to crawl under the whole house putting up batt after batt, enjoying the itchiness and dust and mouse nests. After a few hours I was done and was very dirty but happy with how easy it really was (up until suiting up I had been dreading the time it would take). Once the insulation was in place, I then proceeded to pull out the length of plastic I would need on the roll and pulled that under and pulled it into place and stapled it up. That whole process did not go to bad either. Once I was done I went and cleaned up which felt good but was not the signal for the end of the work day.

Next on the list was to skirt in that forth side that I had previously left open so I could have easier access to the underside for insulating. This took a few hours: digging trench, laying out 2x4's and cutting and screwing the skirt sheets in place and then laying pea rock in the trench to finish off the perimeter. The last thing I did was leave an access opening that I cut a piece of plywood to cover. Overall, the effect of having insulation was felt immediately that night, the temperature remaining warmer than it had been on previous nights.

Last on the list was digging a three foot deep hole at the top of the driveway and putting up a 16 foot tamarack pole that had been drying for a few months. On the top of this pole I mounted an outdoor floodlight that my cousin had given to me. I have not dug the wire in for it, but I did hook it up to an extension cord and tested it once it got dark and wow, it was like a mini sun was lighting up the yard and driveway. It will be hooked up on a switch in the house, that way it can be put on only when I want it on. It will be nice though to have if a person wants to work on a car after dark or do something in the yard.