[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by carbking

Several years ago, a good friend's parents built one by putting two of the "kits" together end to end in north Missouri. Had a fireplace at each end. When the temperature down in the 'teens, and running both fireplaces as hot as they could, was possible to keep the inside temperature about 40 degrees. Got through the winter with a lot of space heaters; and in the spring sold the house at a tremendous loss!

Wood insulation is approximately R1/inch; so 12 inch logs have an effective insulation of 12.

Would be a beautiful home, in some location where neither heating nor air conditioning would be necessary.

Jon.

Jon, I appreciate your input, because I've asked for input.

To begin with, I've owned houses with fireplaces, they are incredibly inefficient for heating. Never better than 25% efficient at the very best. I've also owned air tight wood burners, that are so much more efficient if you want heat from wood. I have a barrel stove in my uninsulated garage currently, that heats it down into the single digits, far from ideal conditions to heat any building. But the air tight design is much more efficient than a fireplace.

Being a residence the bank requires another source of heat for financing so any wood heat would be supplemental over and above the conventional heat source in a house. Wood does have a lower R value than an insulated framed wall, but also has a thermal mass that retains heat, or cold. The people I've talked to stress that the air tightness, and sealing of the stacked logs has a huge bearing on how efficiently the space can be heated. The roof was 8 inches of foam board, this is typically where heat escapes a house as it rises. The ceiling R value is 40. The thermal mass will release stored heat, but by the same token it will release stored cold too. It is a different type of home than conventional construction without a doubt, but I'm aware of this difference going into the build.

We were at a log home model yesterday, outside air temp was 30s, inside had only a fire in a a conventional fireplace. My wife (which is always cold, all the time) had to take her jacket off while we were looking at the home, and talking to the salesman during the course of an hour and a half. The forced air furnace didn't come on while we were there, I listened for it.