On this podcast episode, I’m joined by guest Kerry Brown to discuss the basics of getting started heating your home with firewood even if your home doesn’t currently have a woodstove.
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The Modern Homesteading Podcast, Episode 116 – March 02, 2019 – Heating Your Home With Firewood With Guest Kerry Brown
Homestead Updates:
- Days are getting longer so the quail have really started laying eggs more consistently.
- Lots of water in the yard means lots of mud!
- The ear mite problem in the rabbit is completely healed.
- I’ve been really diving into my permaculture reading list and thinking about more applications to my homestead.
- Currently reading: One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
Homesteading In The News:
- Permaculture 101 March 5 at Thompson Free Library – https://observer-me.com/2019/02/15/permaculture-101-march-5-at-thompson-free-library/
- Gardening can do what medicine only ‘tries to mimic’ for mental health –https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/24/gardening-can-do-medicine-tries-mimic-mental-health-monty-don/
Main Topic:
Heating Your Home With Firewood With Guest Kerry Brown
Kerry Brown is not a professional installer or expert of wood stoves, just a homeowner with 10 years of experience running a wood stove. Chimney sweep companies, installers, and the local fire department are the best resources for safety questions. That being said, Kerry is passionate about the benefits of burning wood as a heat source for your home and he has some great advice.
Kerry and I Discuss:
Wood heat: Is it right for your household. -proper clearances -dealing with the mess -generally not recommended for mobile homes -considerations with smoke/ash/allergies
Choosing a Stove Type: -fireplace inserts -freestanding -cast iron, steel, soapstone -Does it use a powered blower and catalytic converter?
Installation: -Probably not for the DIY -Know your clearances -know your weight/floor strength -limit bends in the pipe -know the difference between single wall and shielded pipe -spark arrestor at the roof
Operation: -obtaining wood, buying vs collecting and self-processing -how to stack and dry -a proper cord dimension 4x4x8 -types of wood -the importance of using seasoned wood -keeping a coal bed, sifting and saving coals
Safety: -Clearances again! -using a thermometer -don’t get distracted with the door open, air control, keeping gaskets and cement in good order -disposal of hot ash -smoke and CO detectors are a must -signs of creosote -signs of a chimney fire -the pizza box danger
Basic Maintenance: -cleaning rust -paint -checking for cracks, warps -using a mirror to check stove pipe -cleaning and brushing -an efficient stove is a safer stove
Other: finding a moisture balance in the home, using humidifiers and fans to move the warmth around.
Conclusion: we’ve been heating nearly for free for most of ten years. The stove paid for itself in one season. In our experience with heat is wife, dog and cat approved
Resources:
- The Forums at Hearth.com
Homestead Recipe Of The Week:
This week’s recipe comes in from Megan on Instagram as @auntiemeg2005 and she is going to give us a recipe for a Quiche that can be made from the overabundance of our homesteads.
This Week’s Listener Question:
This question comes in from Rachel, she asks – What do you do with the kitchen scraps you collect for compost in the winter? She is in Michigan and she says she can’t even begin to get to her compost pile.
My Answer:
When snow isn’t on the pile I keep a heavy layer of leaves covering the top and I just move the center of the leaves away, add my scraps then cover it back up.I add it to the vermicompost that is always going under the rabbit cages. Nothing happens quickly in the winter as I don’t try to keep it really hot but at least I am adding the material to the compost and it eventually turns into what I want it to be.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” ― Theodore Roosevelt, Strenuous Life
