Background:
My wife and I recently purchased a house in Northern Michigan, 5 acres forest with 1/2 acre cleared where the house and barn sits.
The main source of heat is propane and an outdoor wood boiler. Being in Northern Michigan, the power goes out due to bad weather. Wood boiler needs electricity to run as does the propane heat. I plan on having backup kerosene and indoor propane heaters as well as wiring the place for generator hookup.
But...3 days with no power in the middle of winter you can't run a generator to keep the wood boiler or propane heater going all the time.
Is it possible to hook the boiler to a solar set up?
Or should I just invest in my back up to back up and buy a wood cook stove that I was planing on buying for a summer kitchen anyways? I know a wood stove/cooker will make the insurance go up substantially...
Thoughts? Ideas?
My wife and I recently purchased a house in Northern Michigan, 5 acres forest with 1/2 acre cleared where the house and barn sits.
The main source of heat is propane and an outdoor wood boiler. Being in Northern Michigan, the power goes out due to bad weather. Wood boiler needs electricity to run as does the propane heat. I plan on having backup kerosene and indoor propane heaters as well as wiring the place for generator hookup.
But...3 days with no power in the middle of winter you can't run a generator to keep the wood boiler or propane heater going all the time.
Is it possible to hook the boiler to a solar set up?
Or should I just invest in my back up to back up and buy a wood cook stove that I was planing on buying for a summer kitchen anyways? I know a wood stove/cooker will make the insurance go up substantially...
Thoughts? Ideas?