Burning Pine to heat your house?

[Okhotnik]

I’ve heated my 3800 sq ft log home 15 years with ponderosa, fir no problems

Will burn a bit faster. Very little creasote build up. One hot fire a week

 

[Olsolitaire1]

Pine, aspen, juniper

I grew up in New England, coming out to the Rockies 30 yrs now (N.NV., WY, MT, CO,) burnt a lot of pine & aspen. Easy to split with an axe, did that today.
Key, buy a quality efficient woodstove, been using Quadra-Fire's they are clean burning and can get long burns out of them (near 10 hrs with just pine) Very little if any build up in the stove pipe. Toss in one of those cleaner canters once every couple of weeks helps.

 

[Porterka]

Same as everyone else here burn what grows near by. We Mostly burn Doug fir or the occasional hardwood as it is available. All softwoods burn poorly compared to what your used to but it all still burns.

 

[ThrowawayPNW]

Doug Fir will do you just fine

 

[ODB]

I used lots of Doug fir. Took me a while to get used to it because i grew up burning oak, hickory and some maple. Keep it dry and it will do fine. I ever had any issues with the chimney.
Although I love a fireplace, if I built a house I might put in a very efficient stove. I love the radiant heat just pumping off a cast-iron stove.

 

[Ralphie]

I’m in nw Wy. I’d forget the wood fired furnace, put in a propane forced air furnace and a good wood stove like a blaze king. Use the wood stove all you want. And the propane furnace when you are gone or whenever else.

 

[DAOutfitters208]

I’m in nw Wy. I’d forget the wood fired furnace, put in a propane forced air furnace and a good wood stove like a blaze king. Use the wood stove all you want. And the propane furnace when you are gone or whenever else.

I have seen some success stories with wood burning furnaces, but they seem to be more of a pain then they are worth. I wanted to get one badly, but they are spendy for a quality one, and it just wouldn't work with my set up. You are building though, so I would get the installation manual of any furnace you are looking at and make sure you can build around that for the best results.

As far as wood goes, pine will do just fine. Use the pine a majority of the time, and when you need a longer burn, through in the tamarack or doug fir.

 

[grfox92]

I’m in nw Wy. I’d forget the wood fired furnace, put in a propane forced air furnace and a good wood stove like a blaze king. Use the wood stove all you want. And the propane furnace when you are gone or whenever else.

why would you not recommend the Wood Furnace?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Brooks]

I have a new natural gas fired furnace and a Jotal wood stove , I burn a lot of ponderosa pine, the house is 2800 sq feet and the stove will heat it to 80 degrees with the outside temp around 10 ....I’m in southern NM it doesn’t get sub zero here. I used to clean the chimney a few times a year then an old timer told me to drill a couple small holes in several used batteries , wrap them in a paper towel and burn them every couple months.... I haven’t had to clean the chimney in 3 years.... I check it but it’s always clean. People think pine creates more creosol but in reality it’s the other way around. Pine burns hotter and burns off the cresol. Look into it .

 

[Ralphie]

With a propane furnace you have the convenience of heat with just a button, even when you are gone. Combine that with a quality wood stove and you still get the nice wood heat feel. The wood furnaces are expensive you still have to feed them wood and you don’t get the nice feel of wood heat.
with the propane furnace and a wood stove you have the best of both worlds. Plus during a power outage as long as you have any kind of wood you can heat and cook.

 

[bluetick78]

I've had the wood stove/propane forced air furnace for 13 years. It's the best way to go in East Idaho-Western Wyoming if natural gas isn't available. I have a Quadra Fire in the basement and a Blaze King Princess on the main. Usually only the Blaze King gets used until it gets into the single digits. Then they both get used. I get 8-10 hrs burn time out of either stove with properly seasoned Doug Fir, but lodgepole is a close 2nd because it's easy to split....time is money. I clean my chimneys annually weather they need it or not, and inspect all pipe connections at the same time. Keep the blowers clean and dust free. I cut about half my firewood, and have the rest delivered on a semi. Splitting the wood is a great way to keep in shape, and teaches my kids to work. It gets sub-zero pretty regularly here, with -20° to -30° not uncommon. We keep the propane furnace set to 65° all the time because I'm not going to get up at 2am to build a fire. I'll let the furnace run until it's time to get up, then build a fire. OP, if you have questions feel free to PM, I've been heating this way comfortably for quite a few years in a very similar climate to where you're moving.

 

[Antarctica]

As a fellow east coaster, you're spoiled on hardwood. Pine is fine. I got over burning it years ago. I burn mostly crap - pine, sweet gum, poplar, because its available free. I haven't paid to heat my home for 12 years because I'm willing to split and burn what others won't. It will make more creasote, but if you properly dry and store it, you shouldn't have to clean the flue more than once a year, which you should probably be doing anyway.

If it were me, I'd build the house with a basement, and put the 'working stove' down there, with a basement level access for loading wood. Make vents up through the floor from the basement and just let he heat come up. My dad had this set up when I was a kid and it worked like a hot damn.

In the same chimney, I'd put a firebox up stairs and second wood stove flue in case you want to put a second stove upstairs. Sometimes its nice to just curl up next to a hot stove in the house.

If you add a fireplace, research a Rumsford fireplace design. They are very shallow, and the fire sits halfway int he room practically. it reflect so much heat you'll be backing away from it to cool down.