Comments on: My family’s sawdust furnace http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace Adam Schabtach's Blog Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:47:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: jerry http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/comment-page-1#comment-1879 jerry Tue, 06 May 2008 12:19:09 +0000 http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/#comment-1879 My Parents rented a a house on Davis st next to girls poly in Portland from 1955 to 1974. I have vivid memories of our sawdust furnace. The truck would dump the load in the driveway and we would shovel it into the room. There was a 2' wide opening into the room that we had a board across to keep it in the room when first delivered. We had a "manual" thermostat. The chain for the flue was on pulleys and there were hooks on a decorative plate in the kitchen. Pull the chain and set on a lower hook for more heat. I remember many times that I had come home from school and the sawdust had hung up in the hopper. We had a pile of kindling and newspaper next to the furnace. I would get it going grab the cats and a blanket to sit on the register waiting for the heat. We had to replace it in 1971 due to the fact that the company suppling the sawdust would not deliver into the city anymore. I now have a pellet stove but there is no charm there. My Parents rented a a house on Davis st next to girls poly in Portland from 1955 to 1974. I have vivid memories of our sawdust furnace. The truck would dump the load in the driveway and we would shovel it into the room. There was a 2′ wide opening into the room that we had a board across to keep it in the room when first delivered.

We had a “manual” thermostat. The chain for the flue was on pulleys and there were hooks on a decorative plate in the kitchen. Pull the chain and set on a lower hook for more heat.

I remember many times that I had come home from school and the sawdust had hung up in the hopper. We had a pile of kindling and newspaper next to the furnace. I would get it going grab the cats and a blanket to sit on the register waiting for the heat.

We had to replace it in 1971 due to the fact that the company suppling the sawdust would not deliver into the city anymore. I now have a pellet stove but there is no charm there.

]]> By: Adam http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/comment-page-1#comment-1629 Adam Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:38:17 +0000 http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/#comment-1629 None whatsoever. None whatsoever.

]]> By: furnace http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/comment-page-1#comment-1628 furnace Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:16:59 +0000 http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/#comment-1628 Have you had any experience with corn pellet furnaces? Have you had any experience with corn pellet furnaces?

]]> By: Nancy http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/comment-page-1#comment-1622 Nancy Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:55:55 +0000 http://studionebula.com/blog/2007/08/31/my-familys-sawdust-furnace/#comment-1622 We had a sawdust furnace when we moved to Eugene in 1983. The house had been retrofitted with electric baseboard heat which was considered the main heat source. The house had insulation typical of the 1940's which meant that the baseboard could not really heat the house when the temperature dropped below 25. The home had come with about a half room worth of sawdust which we used to heat the house on extra cold days. It worked great. We thought it was wonderful. We ordered another roomful. I made the mistake of not paying to have the sawdust blown into its special room. It took me the better part of a day to shovel it all down there. That was just the start of the problems. The original sawdust had worked well because it had been drying for several years. The new sawdust made so much smoke that neighbors called the fire department. After a year or so of drying we were able to finally use up that load of sawdust but never bought any more and eventually put in a gas furnace. We had a sawdust furnace when we moved to Eugene in 1983. The house had been retrofitted with electric baseboard heat which was considered the main heat source. The house had insulation typical of the 1940′s which meant that the baseboard could not really heat the house when the temperature dropped below 25. The home had come with about a half room worth of sawdust which we used to heat the house on extra cold days. It worked great. We thought it was wonderful. We ordered another roomful. I made the mistake of not paying to have the sawdust blown into its special room. It took me the better part of a day to shovel it all down there. That was just the start of the problems. The original sawdust had worked well because it had been drying for several years. The new sawdust made so much smoke that neighbors called the fire department. After a year or so of drying we were able to finally use up that load of sawdust but never bought any more and eventually put in a gas furnace.

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