/diy/ - Do It Yourself

When electricity prices peak during the winter, buying firewood becomes cheaper than electric heating. This got me thinking, would it be viable to use the heat generated by burning wood to generate electricity as well?

A steam engine doesn't have a great efficiency in turning heat into motion, but if heating is the primary reason of burning wood, the amount of heat "lost" to the building around the engine isn't really lost at all. And with heating taken care of, a 2 horsepower engine producing 1 kilowatt of power would be enough to run the rest of the household appliances as a bonus.

I looked into steam turbines as well, but apparently the steam would have to be extremely hot to avoid reducing their lifespan. Steam engines on the other hand are way less picky about the heat and moisture, and have greater tolerance for manufacturing imperfections. The main issue I can think of is how to get the pistons tight enough that no steam gets out, because any moisture escaping the closed loop of boiler-engine-condenser could cause moisture damage to the building. So, what do you think?