So now that winter is winding down across the region I decided to take a moment and talk about heat. It may seem to make less sense as we head into Spring but I wanted to drive one point home: Planning to heat your homestead and enjoy a comfortable winter off grid can in many cases cost less if you purchase a heat system AFTER winter. For three periods of my life I have lived in a wide range of locations in one of the most unforgiving cold regions in the northern hemisphere: Alaska. There is a great deal of conventional wisdom we can learn from the Alaskan homesteader. For purposes of my planning for heat management I like to use Fairbanks and the surrounding area as a prime example of how to plan for winter the right way. With temperatures sustained well below freezing and winters that last for most of the year, any heat system and building technique used for that environment is sure to save those in the lower latitudes a great deal of discomfort.

Wood heat takes time. It consumes it. The benefit is physical effort and exercise at a cost of time. Planning for wood heat is a cyclical event and any homesteader living in a forested area generally cuts, dries, and burns wood as part of their annual routine. What if I could tell you I could easily save half of that time so you could dedicated it elsewhere? It is easily done in 80% of the homesteads I've visited.

Step 1: Use the resources you have. At depth the ground maintains a constant source of heat in the winter. Die hard earth structure homesteaders take heavy advantage of this. Even building into the side of a hill with 3 sides of your main living structure will significantly insulate your living space and require less wood or other heat source to maintain. Some homeowners jump completely off the cliff to solve this problem - by literally building an entire home underground. There is a huge benefit to using geothermal (heat/cooling generated from the constant temperature of the ground). Root cellars are a great example of this. I recently started examining some designs used by one of my favorite Alaskan families - the Raineys (Homestead Rescue) - with greenhouse / planter structures dug into hillsides. To understand the benefit think of any home as generally a box. If you count the roof and floor as sides of the box and four typical sides as also exposed sides, you have six prime areas susceptible to heat loss. If you are living in a log cabin the chinking (material used to seal the gap between your logs) is citical. Simply having the floor sealed with skirting takes some advantage of the residual heat in the ground. Having an excavated area deeper into the ground under your cabin is better. Having the back of your structure again eliminates one more side of the box. The trend follows with each wall you have buried under earth. Although not a direct physical link to your heat loss, having wind breaks built into your landscaping can protect you from substantial loss from wind chill effects.

Step 2: Build in a practical manner. Most of the structures I experienced in the extreme colds of North Alaska took advantage of what is called an Arctic Entry. What is an Arctic Entry? Glad you asked. Most modern homes have a main entrance front door conveniently located to allow you to enter and exit frequently throughout the day. It might be near your parking area. It could even be into a cold garage without heat. An Arctic Entry is simply a small room between your front door and the outside world with a SECOND DOOR. What this does is prevent heat loss from the immediate heat loss convected air in your heated home straight out into the atmosphere. An added advantage of an Arctic Entry is the benefit of a few shelves and coat hooks for winter garments. Add a few benches for family or guests to remove their snow covered boots? Like magic you are on your way to experiencing the joy of an Arctic Entry.

Vapor Barriers: In Alaska the cold is so extreme even a small hole in exterior sheeting on a standard stick frame home can create massive problems. As heated pockets of air in your walls are exposed to the extreme jets of cold penetrating from even a nail hole, you can experience ice formation in side your wall. As spring heats the surrounding air going into summer this ice will then melt inside your wall. The way to add a layer of protection is with a vapor barrier. House wrap allows moisture to escape and thus lets your home breath but a vapor barrier is generally a layer of plastic that can flex behind your sheeting and sometimes prevent a hole from penetrating the actual air pocket.

Windows facing south: The sun is our greatest asset for free heat in the winter. If you match some good picture windows with multiple panes (insulated gas between the panes) you can harness the suns heat in the day to keep your home warmer. Another trick to remember - dark surfaces behind the windows can absorb and radiate heat. Having stone work near your picture windows in the form of a stone floor or walls will also hold heat going into night.

Step 3: One is none and two is one: Always have a backup. Heat source, food source, water source, make contingency planning a part of your yearly assessment. Heating with wood is great, and inexpensive. It also requires great physical exertion when done correctly. What happens if you get hurt? Have to take an emergency trip? End up caring for a loved one in the hospital? Having a heat source that can keep your home thawed out while you are gone is huge. There are several ways around this problem. My favorite way around it is based entirely on my experience in Alaska - hydronic heat.

Hydronic Heat is simply the process whereby one heats a volume of water and pushes that water to colder portions of a home. A small wall mount water heater can be purposed for this with a simple closed loop "zone" that regulates a hot water radiator or baseboard strategically located in the home. In Fairbanks the general rule was to counter heat loss from windows so many of the baseboards were generally under the window at the base of the wall. You can size an energy efficient boiler for almost any home, from a few hundred square feet to a few thousand. My boilers of choice are generally Buderus or Bosch. There are many great brands out there that work great for this purpose.

Toyo stoves for smaller structures. You may be asking yourself: What if my budget is small and I don't think a full boiler system is worth it? I have an answer to that problem in the Toyotomi stove. I was first introduced to the Toyo stove in Alaska by a great business called "Wood Way" in Fairbanks. The Toyo stove is incredibly compact - about the size of a small suit case. It mounts on your wall and you don't even need to run a stove pipe up through the inside of your cabin through a roof. The flu/venting goes directly through the wall itself. Add a diesel storage tank on a raised stand outside of your home (or buried) and the second you leave the home turn it on and the built in thermostat will regulate the cabin heat. It is literally one of the easiest backup heat systems I've had the great joy of finding for smaller structures.

Ways to go wrong: Let your Solar Power do what it should do, power your essential devices. Remember my rule of thumb for planning is to avoid using a Solar electric system for heat purposes, it will suffer (primarily your battery bank). There are much better ways to get heat. Any device, even a hair dryer or toaster, that uses a heat element will sap your battery reserve unnecessarily.

Inefficient Windows: single pane windows are horrible for heat loss. Heat loss can be reduced by 20-30% by simply changing to double pane windows. Don't forget to make sure your windows are also mounted correctly on the window frame itself. Foam and caulk sealant between the window frame itself will significantly help. South facing windows to take advantage of the sun help. Whatever you seal the window frame with, remember that homes expand and contract from seasonal temperature extremes. Foam that flexes with that expansion and contraction will help.

Roof venting: Around the edge of your roof on most homes you have what is called a "soffit" - which is meant to allow adequate ventilation for your roof framing. This prevents moisture retention and mold (and warping). In some homes I have renovated in the past homeowners unfamiliar with the appropriate amount of venting can OVERVENT a roof - and because of this allow too much cold air into the roof/attic space. The goal is to provide a balance. As heat rises in a home some of that heat will venture into your attic, and out through the soffit or even gable vents. Directly between the roof and the living space you should have insulation. That insulation in turn provides a thermal layer to protect your roof pocket from getting too much heat. A prime way to know if you have too much heat loss in your attic / vent space is ice damming on a roof. This results from heat melting the snow layers on a roof and throughout the course of a winter the ice will build up layer upon layer until you have a virtual glacier on your roof.

Roof pitch: Steep roof pitches prevent snow build up. Snow buildup (with a poorly structured thermal roof layer) can lead to ice damming. Ice damming can damage your roof significantly. A steep pitch prevents that.

Any experienced homesteader will tell you that creativity and a willingness to explore new ways to build can have great and unexpected benefits. Especially in regards to heating. For every thing I listed above there are many more techniques that can cumulatively add to heat gained versus heat lost. In time I will write more articles here to capture what I have tested and know will work for you.

If you do plan to install a wood burning stove this year, I strongly recommend Blaze King wood burning stove. Hundreds of warm Alaskans will tell you it's the way to go.

Welcome to Spring and thanks for reading!