Heat
The dome is heated by a radiant (hot water-heated) adobe floor, which gives a comfortable even heat. The thermostat in the living area is usually set to 70-73 degrees, and the bedroom thermostat to 65 degrees. Please contact us if you wish to change the thermostat temperature (we can change it remotely).
Are you cold? Do you need heat now?
Please use the portable electric heater.
Woodstove
PLEASE READ! Woodstoves are wonderful, and also prone to problems! Fires are a liability; they are difficult to start, smoke can backflow into the house and activate the smoke alarm, ashes and soot end up on the floor, and there is an added cost of management and firewood.
Because of these problems, we require that you bring (or buy from us) manufactured wood and fire starters – this allows us to provide a woodstove experience – otherwise, we would need to remove the woodstove. Manufactured wood consists of compressed sawdust or wood chips, and sometimes mixed with a binder (e.g. wax).
We provide Green Mountain Firewood for $20 per bag (our cost with shipping), but it should be available at Ace Hardware or Home Depot for $15 per bundle or less. Another option is Bioblock, or look for similar products at box stores, Lowes, groceries, etc.. If you purchase from us, you can pay via AirBnB or Paypal or Venmo.
Follow the instructions that come with the product; manufactured fire wood still requires fire starters. Give the fire plenty of air (see below) Firestarters should be available at the dome; please use judiciously.
To light the woodstove,
- Slightly open a window in the dome to provide air for the fire
- Set the logs as per instructions, e.g.
- For Green Mountain Wood: See the video on Green Mountain Firewood (or Read more here)
- For Bio Blocks: see the video on how to start Bio blocks (or read about Bio Blocks here).
- Pull the knob on the front of the stove straight out for maximum air flow
- Light the firestarter, and then leave the woodstove door slightly ajar
- Once hot, push the front knob in to reduce air flow and slow the burn.
- To add more wood, increase the burn by pulling the knob out, wait for a little bit, and open the door slowly
To keep smoke from filling the dome, please follow the operating instructions for the woodstove below.
PLEASE CALL OR TEXT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WOODSTOVE USE OR FUELS.
ref: notes