I'll be going the Rocket Mass Heater with propane backup route. A large bulk fill propane tank is much cheaper than smaller bottles and you have the advantage of other propane appliances, fridge, stove and lights. Rocket Mass Heaters (RMH) are similar in principle to masonry heaters but about 1/10th the cost and they'll use 1/4 the wood of traditional wood stove heating.

We live in very similar circumstances. We had wood, hydro, propane and oil heat. Oil was the main heating source. Although the house is only 15years old I had all kinds of problems with the insurance company regarding the oil. We had a nice propane fireplace in the master bedroom and really enjoyed it. So two years ago we switched from oil to propane and replaced the furnace. WOW what a difference, our heating bills went down 50%. This year we locked in at 62.9c per litre, 10c less than last year! The furnace is much more efficient and the house feels warmer. I wish we had of done it earlier. The wood is a backup with a new airtight stove and a mass heater type fireplace with blowers. Propane is much more convenient than wood and hydro is just too expensive but those heating systems are there if we need them.

Just a note on alternate green energy. I have a solar backup system and looked at wind. Also living on a lake you are right about the gusts. However it is a constant, steady wind that you require for efficient electrical generation. I decided to pass on wind generation as if you research it you will find that you need BIG turbines to be useful. Solar is great in my area, Northern Ontario but it is not cheap to get into and requires a considerable monetary investment.

I have experienced both propane and just wood stove heated homes.

Propane is awesome. A large tank can not only heat the home, but be the water heater and cooking heat source as well. My inlaws farm house was recently upgraded to a propane system that does heat, make water hot and run their fidgeting and stove. Also, being older, they run a fireplace off the propane tank out behind their house. The tank is filled every other month or so.

My friend runs his house heat off a woodstove. He burns around 3-4 cords a year, with his furnace supplementing for the early mornings when he doesn't want to get up early. But he regularly says it's a rare thing when the furnace does kick on.

If it was me that needed to heat a home in an emergency situation, I wouldn't even bother trying heat the whole house. One room or even just a smaller portion of it. A woodstove would certainly do that.

I can recall being without electricity and household heat for three days when I was younger living in Niagara Falls (ice build up on trees and lines). A couple of heavy blankets and some thick candles in some emptied 2kg coffee cans do pretty good at warming up a room enough to at least decently bearable, if not sort of comfortable.

Thanks folks so far.

I did forget to say that I have propane for the kitchen stove and oven.

My question as a prepper deals with a WTSHTF situation where you might not be able to get fuel such as propane or oil. When the ice storm hit us I worked as a Telecommunications Engineer and was in charge of making sure the backup generator for the building had enough diesel to keep going but the Canadian Army was confiscating fuel trucks for their own needs and we found ourselves 20 minutes from fumes before a truck finally showed up. I am hoping to get everyone's thoughts on converting to a system that would take the WTSHTF scenario in mind. Is wood that obvious a solution for me? If so is a Newmac system the way to?

Thanks again

Anyone know any other options for heating a home say in a city with no propane or wood if say the power went out or something worse any ideas

Hello BFNOurplace and welcome! I heat my home with wood for the most part and love it. I have an oil furnace that comes on occassionally when I'm not home/the fire goes out. I have a wood cookstove upstairs which heats my home and provides a source to cook/bake and I have a wood pellet stove downstairs (I also can install a woodstove down there that I took out and still have in the garage if the SHTF). I'm biased, I admit, because I just love wood heat. Oil heat (forced air) sucks in my opinion. Interesting to hear others thoughts on propane heat......

Duffmanprepper - I know of one option by experience. During the IceStorm of 98 we were without power for 3 days and had no fireplace for heat. We ended up using something we don't normally advise, but it was a portable propane heater. We had the vent near a window that was cracked open to help vent fumes and we gained more heat than we lost (thankfully, it wasn't so cold outside that we could not get away with doing that. In truth, we had the good ol' Coleman 3 burner camp stove with an almost constant supply of hot tea or coffee - never underestimate the value of the old style coffee perk at times like these! 😀 ) I'm sure there must be safer options out there, but that's what we actually used and survived for those 3 days with no issues.

BFNOurPlace - Welcome! 😆 I almost composed that with a straight face. My husband comes home and says "I got on this great forum and asked about heating" - oh really, I says! Nice to know we're in synch love!

Here's a diy solar heater that could be helpful, depending on sunlight conditions.
I made one of these myself out of an old window purchased from re-store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsF9RvVxFc4&feature=related

I'm on the third year in my house, the first 2 years where heated 100% on propane. I put a woodstove in this fall and haven't had to run the propane furnace once. I like having furnace as backup - I set the thermometer at 5 - just to keep the house from freezing up if I the stove goes out for some reason.

I have a 1000 gallon propane 'bomb' which fuels my stove, dryer, and on-demand hot water (and I guess back up furnace) - that tank will last me years at my present consumption rates.

Thanks for the advice highlandsgal anyone else know of how u could heat your home in a city without firewood,propane, or any gas something that one could use just starting out in prepping

The only real way to heat a home in a SHTF scenario is wood. There will be no oil, electricity, propane, pellets or natural gas, unless you stockpile these things beforehand.

Put a wood stove in and start building up wood. A cord at a time if you have to.

Glad to see this topic.

An extended winter power outage is something I've always felt poorly prepared for. I live in a city environment so wood is not overly abundent but I do have a few trees in my backyard I could cut down if needed.

To try and prepare I've purchased a Volcanoe 2 cook stove which will run on Propane, Wood, or Briques (sp?) which could be used for cooking and/or heating if needed. I also have a large Bar-B-Cue for cooking. In looking for a "Safe" indoor heating source I recently opted for Propane Buddy Heaters. They are actually made for outdoor use, primarily ice fishing shacks and that sort of thing, but have a sensor on them that will turn themselves off if Oxygen levels drop too low. I figure using these indoors in combination with battery operated CO detectors (in case the heater sensors fail) should provide enough heat to survive at least anyway.

I'd love to put in a wood stove and stock pile wood, but as my home is older and not built with a actual chimney, the costs of installing a wood stove and proper chimney system are prohibitive.

I'm always open to other ideas and suggestions.

But isn't wood bad because people can smell it and they will know to come there because that person must have something
So there's nothing anyone might know to heat your home out side of conventional stuff
That sucks lol

The big issue with trying to heat your home during the Canadian winter is the availability of electricity. Without electricity, there's no way to run any type of forced air furnace system - be it propane, oil, electric, wood, etc. So the real question is how to heat your house - or a portion of your house - without using any electricity. Given that you have a ready supply of firewood, that's your best option for when the electricity goes out and it will go out.

A modestly sized certified wood stove - and your insurance company probably won't like that either - will throw quite a bit of heat. I had a small 2 bedroom bungalow that had electric base board heating - we never used it. We had a small wood stove in the finished basement that we kept going throughout the winter and it kept the place very comfortable. We would stoke it up before going to bed and tighten down the drafts. In the morning there would be enough coals to just toss in a few pieces and get it going again for the remainder of the day. We had a few grates installed in the floors to allow the heat to rise up to the main level of the house - don't tell you insurance company about that one - they'll have a bird. We burned less than 2 cords of wood per winter, and we kept our electric bill low because we didn't run a furnace.

Most insurance companies will give you grief if your primary heat source is wood or oil. I would recommend considering a propane furnace with a wood stove as a supplement/backup. That will usually keep the insurance company satisfied.

Good luck!