[Greenbuilding] Sustainable Home Heating Systems

[Bobbi Chukran]

>Does anyone have any related insights, or knowledge of recent innovations
>that might influence the outcome of my assessment?
>

Hi Ross,

Just a suggestion, but you  might want to look at the very high 
efficiency wood stoves that are out on the market.  When we built ten 
years ago, we bought a stove made in Canada by Security, a BISII 
woodburning stove that is efficient enough to heat a 1500 sq. ft. 
home.  We use it as a fireplace down here in Central Texas, but it 
could easily be the main source of heat for a home.

It's approved by the EPA, highly efficient, so efficient that the 
stovepipe almost never needs cleaning because it burns so hot.  The 
particulate matter is supposedly very minimal and it's possible to 
burn other woods in it, too.....such as cedar, scrap lumber 
(untreated, of course), etc.

With the model we got, there's the possibility of running ductwork 
from it to other rooms of the house, although we never did that. 
Ours was non-electric, but if I remember, they did have models with 
electric blowers, etc. at that time.

We bought ours from an air conditioning company down here, but other 
places carry them.

Here's the link to the manufacturer's site with specific info.:

http://www.securitychimneys.com/pages/fireplace/high_Bis2.asp?country=us

http://www.securitychimneys.com/

BTW, they are built-in like a normal fireplace insert, but have glass doors.

bobbi c.