# What to grow on 12 acres for heating fuel?



## tommydog (9 mo ago)

I have recently purchased 12 acres of land, but I don't have any woodland. I am trying to be as self sufficient as possible, so wondered what crops I could grow which would provide a high efficiency for heating my home? I have seen videos of people heating their homes with straw boilers, such as this:





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But if I am starting from scratch what is the best approach if I want to be as self sufficient as possible?


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## Alteredstate (Jul 7, 2016)

Regardless I think you should stick with wood. And concentrate on the efficiency of a wood fired central heater. We have a pse caddy wood furnace for 20 years and have been very successful heating our home in mid michigan on 4 to 5 full cord of fire wood. I used to cut it myself. And due to deterioration of my health I buy firewood. It host us 900 this year and 850 last year to buy all of out wood delivered. When I was a kid my mom and dad owned 8.9 acres with about 4 of it wooded. My father was born in 1933 and was extremely frugal. He would "clean up the woods" and heat our home on every stick available. My 18 acres of woods heated three homes for 20 years. It really does not take that much to heat your home frugally with an indoor furnace.

On the other hand an outdoor wood boiler is ridiculously inefficient and will eat 16 cord per year. All you will ever do is cut wood and feed the furnace.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Plan A: Start planting trees.
I know it's a novel and ludicrous idea, but you'll be thankful in 20 years.
Until then, get to know your nearby neighbors who will have the wood you need when you need it.
100% self-sufficiency requires controlling the right variables. It doesn't sound like you have them.

Plan B: Start digging, and hope you hit coal.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Maybe when society totally breaks down a person could grow wacky tobaccy and tade it to imbred cedar hackers for firewood. Probably not legal to do that currently except in Sunny CA maybe. Kindly keeps us posted.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Kauboy has a good point. Dig yourself some trenches and put a underground heat pump system in. Then you only have to "heat" your boiler water up a little bit. Saving yourself all the needed wood. Being it should be 55 degree's year round plus you get a free AC for summer cooling. Maybe a solar heater to help a little more. Could use solar powered electric to get that water up the 15-20 degrees you need for heat.

Besides picking up free pallets. Call the local logger and have a couple loads dropped off. 

Forget the planting trees unless your 20 years old. 12 acres isn't enough land.


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## nondakotagroer (Jan 11, 2022)

If you are in area that trees are few and far between, I would suggest researching switch grass. I remember as a child visiting a Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead site and learning how they managed to heat thru the winter by tightly twisting grass and then burning it like firewood. I have been reading some on techniques for pelletizing the switch grass. It is suggested that the furnace for grass pellets is best if it is designed a bit different than normal pellets. Something to do with the high ash content of the switch grass.


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## Aetherwizard (Aug 8, 2017)

tommydog said:


> I have recently purchased 12 acres of land, but I don't have any woodland. I am trying to be as self sufficient as possible, so wondered what crops I could grow which would provide a high efficiency for heating my home? But if I am starting from scratch what is the best approach if I want to be as self sufficient as possible?


The best approach when starting from scratch is not to focus on the heat source, but to focus on the energy efficiency of the building. I built my house with 10" thick walls with 9" of insulation and a 1" air gap on the outside wall. The inside wall also has an aluminum reflecting vapor barrier, which reflects heat back through the wall into the room, and prevents air infiltration from outside. It is necessary to have ceiling fans running all the time, to keep the air circulating.

I live in an area where the Winter temperature falls to as low as -20 F. My only heat is from computer monitors, body heat, and light bulbs. When the power goes out, I have a generator and I can also temporarily burn canned heat during exceptionally cold days. It doesn't take much to warm up the house or to cool it during the Summer. I also installed high efficiency windows, and it is necessary to have awnings over the windows and on each side of the house so that air flow can be managed during the warmer days. The awnings are so the windows can be opened while it is raining out.

The extra money spent on thicker walls and insulation pays for itself in the first year's heating bill. Plus with thicker walls, which are sturdier, the house withstands high winds and other assaults much better than a 2x4 frame. The outside of my house is covered in steel siding, which is Earth grounded. This, along with the aluminum barrier on the inside walls, blocks various forms of radiation from entering the house. We cannot use our cell phones in our house without connecting them to our wifi.

We also use a heat pump style water heater. The water heater is kept in our food pantry, and during the Summer, it acts like an air conditioner and dehumidifier that keeps the pantry at the right temperature and humidity.

Our house is built on a cement foundation, and there are tubes running through the concrete floor that we could pump hot water through if we wanted to. However, I found that with the 10" thick walls, it was not necessary to have a heater in the house. We have lived through twelve Winters already and are very comfortable. Our electric bill peaks out around $225 per month during the Winter running seven computers, indoor grow lights and good lighting throughout the house, a hot water heater, electric stove, two refrigerators, five chest freezers, a treadmill, four ceiling fans running 24 hours a day, 36 surveillance cameras, and several food processing appliances. We have no gas or other heating bill.

We also have a washer, electric clothes dryer, and dehumidifier. We run the clothes dryer in the house during the Winter with a good quality lint trap. When the dryer is running, we also run the dehumidifier for a couple hours. The dehumidifier also produces heat. During the Summer, we operate the dryer outside on our back porch. By timing our laundry with the weather, the dryer and dehumidifier keep the house warm even on the coldest nights. Often during the cold winter nights we have to open our windows to cool the house down. 

The way I see it, there is plenty of heat in the house already. Just manage it properly and there is no need to buy any more heat.


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## Weldman (Nov 7, 2020)

I'm with Aetherwizard on this one, or option B you can build a earth berm passive solar home, it's what I'm doing. Trees here but I don't want to cut them all down to heat my home.


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## tommydog (9 mo ago)

Aetherwizard said:


> The best approach when starting from scratch is not to focus on the heat source, but to focus on the energy efficiency of the building. I built my house with 10" thick walls with 9" of insulation and a 1" air gap on the outside wall.


The problem is I am not starting from scratch, as I already live in a house situated on the land. At present there are fireplaces in each room. This makes me dependent on others for fuel, which I do not want. I have been speaking to a few people knowledgeable on heating briquettes and they told me that 12 acres should be enough to fulfill my needs, as long as I prepare the briquettes properly to increase the energy density (such as carbonizing like in the video I posted from Africa). There is also the prospect that I can make small amounts of charcoal from sea driftwood, which I can mix with the briquettes and increase the energy density further. I plan to use a power scythe to cut the Hay and then will make a homemade press like this:






I will do it this year as an experiment and see if I am able to provide 100% heating for my house. If necessary I will only heat one room. If I need all 12 acres, I can buy a few more acres of land for food growing. Plus, I have two 40ft shipping containers at the back of my house that I am planning to fill with canned food.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Dent corn, dry it, burn cob and all together.
This is the fastest thing you can do for what is coming soon.
You can eat it too, if needed.
Lots of corn farmers use it for that purpose.
Best in a cast iron wood stove.


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## tommydog (9 mo ago)

SOCOM42 said:


> Dent corn, dry it, burn cob and all together.
> This is the fastest thing you can do for what is coming soon.


Problem with corn is it will take a lot of resources to grow. Additionally, I don't think it will do well here as it is too windy. Potatoes, cabbages, beetroot seem to do well here. I think its important that I go with what works. One advantage of making fuel from Hay is that its a very low input system. Its so wet here and the grass grows like crazy without any fertilizer.


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## CC Pereira (9 mo ago)

12 Acres of land need not be wasted on space heating. Growing anything will require resources, such as land and water, which could be put to better use. There are other space heating methods (i.e., passive solar temperature regulation, good insulation, geothermal heat pump, solar space heater, solar evacuated tube hot water heater + hydronic baseboard space heater, friction heater, etc.) that are far better, more efficient, and less wasteful.


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## tommydog (9 mo ago)

CC Pereira said:


> 12 Acres of land need not be wasted on space heating. Growing anything will require resources, such as land and water,


Actually the grass grows like crazy here without the application of any fertilizers / resources. Water is not a problem as it's a very wet place. In terms of resources required for this its very minimal and self sufficient. Any other system will require greater expense and maintenance. I don't want to be dependent on anyone else for a basic need such as heating. If society truly collapses, it may be difficult to get parts for more technical heating solutions.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

Wheat grass grows pretty quick as i heard it some locations can get two harvests a year; 

Hemp was what came to mine when I read your OP. It also grows fast.

Bamboo probably bites for burning IDK about that option but its a 2-3 year production run.

I would plant some large trees. You mentioned wind makes corn tough but corn was the best answer so plant some big leafy trees to block the wind on the edges.


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