Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Oct 23, 2008, at 3:00 PM, bob ford wrote:

> Gene, I found these (6) listed in countryside.  I have no idea if  
> one or more will have what you need. .....bobford
>
> http://centralboiler.com/
>
> http://charmaster.com/
>
> http://hardyheater.com/
>
> http://www.greenwoodusa.com/index.php
>
> http://lamppakuuma.com/
>
> http://heatmor.com/

Bob, thank you for making that effort. These are all big home-heating  
units intended to be installed outside the home and are very expensive  
to a homesteader mindset. They send heat to the house via water in  
insulated pipes. I bought plans to build one--it may have been called  
Hhasa or something like that--several decades ago. Should I decide on  
that design I would build it and save thousands.

Years ago a builder friend built a house for a lady who wanted hot  
water heated by wood. I looked at the unit and it was not much bigger  
than a typical electric- or gas-fired water heater that all urban  
houses use. Looked like a skinny upright cast iron heating stove.  
That's what I am looking for.

The thing about the big units, other than the multiple-thousand-dollar  
price, is that they are designed for winter. They will heat a house  
plus provide domestic hot water. But hot water is needed year round.  
To keep throwing wood into these big units would be pretty inefficient  
from about April through October at Heartwood.