[Greenbuilding] Wood-burning Cooking, Central Heating, & Hot Water: Advice Needed

[Mary Bull - Greenwood Earth Alliance]

MaizeGreetings, Greenwbuilders,

We are seriously considering a wood-burning stove for central heating,
cooking, and hot water. Waterford-Stanley makes several models that do all
this. There are other, cheaper wood-burning stoves, but we would have to
design our own interface for central heat and hot water (most of the lower
end woodburning cook-stoves have reservoirs, but that doesn't seem too
practical except maybe to do the dishes).

Evidently, willow is the fastest growing biomass for solid fuel. It grows
profusely on our land, and we can further cultivate it for fuel (however, I
don't know, as yet, how much is needed for a continuous supply; nor how it
should be prepared (does anyone know off-hand?).

The advantages are...

-zero carbon footprint.
-one unit performs all three functions (seems simpler...does this save
money?)
-we could lose the "backup" woodburning stove, which we would have in case
the power went out--saving space in the small room (note: probably no
$$-savings here as the unit costs as much or more than the woodburning stove
and a low-end conventional stove combined, but may save on dedicated
water-heating and central heating appliances...?)

The only disadvantage that we can see is...

-the lead-in time to fire up the stove for heat, hot water, and cooking.
(However, we could have a hot-plate for cooking when we are in a rush).

Could this work with a solar hot water unit, do you think? Has anyone had
any experience with this?

Waterford Stanley also has a compact electric stove with an lpg or oil
boiler that is compatible with radiant floor heating... The advantage of
this is that it is small, and does all three functions. The disadvantages
are that it relies on fossil fuel for two of those functions, and when the
power goes out, we have no back-up cooking or heating function.

Note: We are using solar panels to generate our electricity, but these will
be connected to the grid without a battery back-up (a condition for the
California rebate of half the cost of the hardware)

Thoughts on any of this?

Many Thanks!

Mary

Mary Bull, Co-director
Greenwood Earth Alliance, Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117 http://www.gapsucks.org
Chalice Farm and Sustainable Living Center, 748 Montgomery Rd, Sebastopol CA
95472
415-731-7924 - 415-509-1188 chalicenew at earthlink.net