Woodstoves, We're going to be looking for one soon!

[lupinfarm]

I need some advice.

After we had our power outage on Christmas day, my dad decided we need to look into a wood burner for heat, especially with the puppies.

There is a supplier in town, who install and sell woodburners, pellet, and gas, etc. We decided for sure we're going with wood burning.

Our house is roughly 1300 sq. ft., and the woodburner would be located in the double brick portion of the house in the living room next to the office, and bathroom.

If we bought a 1800 sq. ft. one, with a heat powered fan on top would that be enough to push hot air into our kitchen 17ft away from it? I'm assuming it would be, since burners these days are much more efficient than our crappy fireplace we had at the old house.

Also, there WAS one at one point in the house, and they had a vent hatchway to the upstairs bedrooms so air could circulate upstairs and heat the bedrooms upstairs. Should I leave this open and just pretty it up a bit?

Any information is helpful! PS. We would be venting directly out the double brick wall, it would sit on a bracket, and then run up the side of the 1 1/2 story house.

What size logs does yours take? we were thinking 18" would be enough as my mum isn't a big lady, and would need to be able to bring logs in herself. 18" would be manageable for her.

What did you use for your backer, mum doesn't want the metal backer panel you can buy and instead wants to use the backer board with brick veneer on it (the old fashion 1/2 inch brick veneer that looks like real old brick).

Anything else you think I should know, that'd be fab!

 

[shareneh]

Good thinking on your dad's part. I spent about $3500.00 on propane heating my little 1200 sq ft house last year and didn't get that bill paid off until June.

I went and bought a woodstove that heats 1200 sq ft. and have been happy ever since. It cost about $600 and it has paid for itself. I didn't have to order propane until a week before Christmas. It is a little hard if you don't have someone there all the time to keep the fire going. The one I bought heats really nicely and keeps the house warmer than propane does. At night I have gone to letting the propane furnace take over.

I think wood heat is great and I am so happy I made the decision to switch.

I have a fake brick backing and it never gets hot. I have a 42in floor cover that keeps the floor safe from heat and logs that roll out now and then.

My stove holds up to 16in logs but we cut them about 12in or less so that we can stack them and put logs in easily.

It's simple heating and I think you will be satisfied.

Good luck
Sharene

 

[dacjohns]

Installation clearances will depend on the stove and local and national codes. Canadian codes might be different than US codes.

I would recommend a stove that will take a bigger log than you plan on using. That way you have room for logs that were cut a bit long and you can always put smaller logs in the stove. An 18 inch log can get pretty heavy but I would still go with a stove that takes one.

Ceiling fans and little fans strategically placed will help move the air around.

We don't have a backer board because it is not required by code or stove installation instructions. Our stove is also more than required from the back wall.

 

[lupinfarm]

Installation clearances will depend on the stove and local and national codes. Canadian codes might be different than US codes.

I would recommend a stove that will take a bigger log than you plan on using. That way you have room for logs that were cut a bit long and you can always put smaller logs in the stove. An 18 inch log can get pretty heavy but I would still go with a stove that takes one.

Ceiling fans and little fans strategically placed will help move the air around.

We don't have a backer board because it is not required by code or stove installation instructions. Our stove is also more than required from the back wall.

I believe stoves have to be 18 inches from combustible materials. I also believe we have to have a backer board, fire rated.

I know the venting I mentioned is code, and we'd be cutting our own wood so we could go with whatever size log we figure, but yeah I figured getting an 18 inch capacity would be a good idea.

 

[Beekissed]

You will probably get more heat than you want with your vent to the upstairs....I sleep with both bedroom windows open all winter long!

I just have a little boxwood stove in a two-story old farmhouse with an addition on the back. Our little stove heats everywhere except the very farthest point away and even that is warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing and for comfort. No blowers either. It takes a 24 in. cut log and will hold a fire that is banked well for up to 12 hrs, depending on how windy a day it is.

I have a slate heat shield mounted on the wall behind the stove with a convection spacing. Our electric bill in the winter runs from $17-$60(when overused by a teenager!) We have baseboard heat but never have to use it. After being raised with wood heat and now returning to it, I hope to never be without it again. I can't imagine why more folks don't do wood heat!

 

[lupinfarm]

You will probably get more heat than you want with your vent to the upstairs....I sleep with both bedroom windows open all winter long!

I just have a little boxwood stove in a two-story old farmhouse with an addition on the back. Our little stove heats everywhere except the very farthest point away and even that is warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing and for comfort. No blowers either. It takes a 24 in. cut log and will hold a fire that is banked well for up to 12 hrs, depending on how windy a day it is.

I have a slate heat shield mounted on the wall behind the stove with a convection spacing. Our electric bill in the winter runs from $17-$60(when overused by a teenager!) We have baseboard heat but never have to use it. After being raised with wood heat and now returning to it, I hope to never be without it again. I can't imagine why more folks don't do wood heat!

Oh it sounds so promising! ... We have a newer energy efficient oil furnace, a propane fireplace in the master bedroom which is the extension off the back, and a baseboard heater in the laundry room.

Oil is expensive, like $1000 to fill up the tank so we'd like to fill it up in the summer, buy the woodburner, and live off that until we absolutely have to go to the oil.

 

[Homesteading_Bound]

We are on our 2nd. year of wood heat. Our heat bills were cut in half. One of the keys to good heat is hard wood... Less time feeding the stove.

We were without electricity for 3 days last winter. Warmed leftovers on the stove. Opened cans of veggies to warm on the stove. Melted snow in pyrex bowls on top of the stove so the horses, Ducks, Dogs,and Cats had water etc...I truly enjoyed the challenge.

I like it cooler so during the day I keep it low. About an hr before my H comes home I throw in a few logs....get that coal base up and all are happy. Took me some time to get into the rhythm of the vent...when to add..... and when to just leave it alone...

Like I said...a good dry seasoned hardwood takes so much of the work out of this great way to stay warm....and I know it gets mighty cold up there in Canada....Best wishes to you and your family.

 

[roosmom]

Lupinfarm, Dac is right about the fans. When we had a woodstove in the house, it was on one end. We had to have a fan to blow the air thru the 1st floor. My parents use a small fan in the corner of each of the doorways to move that warm air.
We were lucky, the room that held the woodstove had a cement floor. The insurance company told us we would not have a problem insuring it because of the cement floor.
Make sure you have smoke detectors throughout the house. Try not to put any close to the stove tho as the smoke that comes out of the door when you open it will set it off.
HB is also right. Dry hardwood will burn better and longer than any other wood. Pine is ok for starting the fire like in the am's.
Your chimney should be at least three feet higher than the nearest peak of the roof to make sure you have good venting.
Good luck.......

 

[lupinfarm]

The burner would be on a wood floor, but around here part of the code says that you have to install a base, usually you can buy them already made and you just slip it under the stove, but we'll probably have to build one as the floor is rather uneven (1870's farmhouse lol). We don't have any ceiling fans in our house as the ceilings are low in most places, being an old house the highest ceiling is in the living room and office, and the rest are maybe 7ft high. We do use tower fans in the summer, so I can bring those out, and we can get a heat powered air pusher from our home depot and from pellet power (the store in town) which supposedly pushes the air away from the stove. We do have smoke detectors, we had to for our insurance as we're 5km from the closest ambulance/fire truck and 26km from the nearest hospital with an emergency ward, 44km from a GOOD hospital.

We have A LOT of cedar offcuts from our horse fencing, which was whole log fencing. We'll probably use that up first, and then move over to the hardwoods.

 

[lupinfarm]

Well we went into Pellet Power today, found a beautiful Enviro Wood burner, however they want for the total including installation $3800! ... What do you guys think? That is A LOT of cash, and now we're considering buying a cheaper model for the first one from Some Like It Hot in our old town, and having it installed by someone locally, who is WET certified.