anyone have one of those wood/corn cob furnaces for home heat?

[MizMoneyPenny]

We have an Alaska Stoker Stove that burns coal. Before we installed it, we contacted the Fire Department for installation requirements, and it was quite a deal, but we know that it is safe.

We burn anthracite (non-polluting) coal. We live in Upstate New York, and we have had our furnace on for a coupla hours twice - although the mild fall has contributed to this. The coal is about $140/month, and it is thermostat controlled.

It is nice not to be a prisoner to fuel oil; we wouldn't be able to afford to heat this 1860's old house, although we rehabbed it and it is completely insulated, and the windows were redone.

eta: It is also nice to front up to a heat source on a bitter day, and have a place to set wet goves and boots to warm and dry....

[primitives]

We installed a wood boiler about three years ($7000) ago best money we have ever spent. We live in a 100 year old house on a hill in IL. Before we bought the stove we avg. about $500/mo in the winter heating the house. Now 200 gal of propane last about 9 mo. We use the propane for hot water and the kitchen stove and back up heat on really cold days when the stove can't keep up. You can hook the boiler up to the hot water heater we just never did. Good luck

[motherofmolly]

We installed a wood boiler about three years ($7000) ago best money we have ever spent. We live in a 100 year old house on a hill in IL. Before we bought the stove we avg. about $500/mo in the winter heating the house. Now 200 gal of propane last about 9 mo. We use the propane for hot water and the kitchen stove and back up heat on really cold days when the stove can't keep up. You can hook the boiler up to the hot water heater we just never did. Good luck

central illinois here. i think i would like to keep the propane and then we wouldnt have to heat the stove in the summer. kwim? heck we only really use heat for 4 or 5 months out of the year.

i appreciate all the comments. i am considering it greatly so we arent having to be a slave to propane. the prices are not stable and keep rising. who knows what they could be in 10 years. and as far as wood goes, we are surrounded by woods and there are plenty of down trees that we could use.