Opinions On What i should do for farm house?

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clemsonfor

Minister of Fire
Dec 15, 2011
2,513
Greenwood county, SC
Here is what i am debating. Its obviously a wood stove. I figured i would come here to get some expert opinions.

I have a farm house on my land. This property is NOT my residence yet a second home. Mostly i will be there in the winter for weekends for deer hunting. The current heat setup is a 30+ yr old oil fired boiler. With fuel so high (even though were not there often) i am trying to think of alternatives to heat it to a comfortable temp cost efficient. So were talking no more than say 8-12 weekends a heating season. I have close to 100 acres of woods so close fuel is not a problem.

It currently have 2 fireplace that back up to each other and share a single masonry chimney. Say a diameter of 12x12, i really dont know how big it is, i have just not paid close enough attention recently?? That really dosent matter cause i will probly just put black pipe down it (or flex) and put a top plate on and stuff Roxul into the smoke shelf area to limit heat loss.

The fire place opening is very tall but not as deep as modern places. The home is not a grand old farm house like you may be thinging. Was build around 1950s and has 8ft ceinlings and is around 1200sqft.

I am going to put a stove into the fireplace as much as possible to run the chimney up the current exit.

I am wanting to do this cheap, yea id love a pretty stove but the economics of it just dont make sense. I was thinking one of those cheap "boxwood" stoves made by Vogelzang, that you can get at Northern tool, HF or TSC. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_346054_346054

I have ran one like this at a hunt camp before, it seemed like i was feeding it constantly, but i did not know how to draft them then and i think it was leakier than it should of been, plus not sure if it had a key damper and i did not use it if so.

Or would it be worth the extra money to go with a stove like this that has longer burn times and you can see some fire. Im not going to go much more than this price if at all due to my limited time there. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_425015_425015

Tell me your thoughts?
 
I would say 'no' to both of those. ESPECIALLY the boxwood stove. That thing is dangerous.
 
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I'd think about an Englander NC-30. It is big enough to heat up the place pretty fast, and not terribly expensive. I think you'll want an oversized stove because you will be heating up a cold house, which takes more heating power than keeping a warm house warm. Maybe a used stove makes sense here, but I wonder if you'll end up spending more time here than you expect and wood use will become an important concern.
 
black pipe does not go down a chimney for liner. it must be stainless.
 
black pipe does not go down a chimney for liner. it must be stainless.
Point noted. I have looked at the liner and think it looks to be just a bit more and way easier anyway.


Also to answer some other comments. The oil still works, and will be used to take the chill off the house. When we arrive on fridays or thusdays its usually at say 10-11pm. There is no way i can come into a house thats 50F and build a fire to heat it fastenough to be comfortable. So the plan is to hopefully (have family near there) have the furnace heat the home up to low 60's then start a fire when i get there and maintain it the rest of the time.
 
I also did think about something used.
 
My vote is for a 30, either new or used. Best bang for the $$$$$$. It will do everything you are looking for.
 
This is in SC, yes? What are the weather conditions you normally deal with?
 
Ok, I am going to go out on the limb here and suggest something I usually do not, go with an older timberline or fisher insert with a working blower. If you retro fit it to have a baffle I think you could keep your costs down to maybe $400 or less for the stove. I don't know the height of your chimney but if it is tall enough you could get away with using an insulated 6" liner, reason I say insulated is having to warm up that chimney every weekend would be a pain to get your draft going.

If this was going to be used 24/7 I would suggest going with an epa insert, but for weekends I think a nice modified older insert would do you fine with all that free wood you have, plus they throw massive amounts of heat quickly.
 
Whatever you do, run a liner and don't connect it as a slammer. And install smoke detectors if they are not already in there.
 
For what you are looking at and since you are not in a real hurry, why not look out for some used stove?
 
Jeff. This is in upstate SC. Day temps will stay sometimes into the 60s or more likely 40's or 50s during most of the hunting season. The nigt temps will be ususlaly from 30f to 40ish on the cold nights. NOw it can get colder but this is the most common temps while were there most.

Oh the chimney will be around 15ft high.

Mellow this is just for weekends. ANd not even every weekend. a few a month. and a few after the first of the year. Also i have a stove insert in my home i live in. Its an EPA stove and i would not go any other way for a main residence!! I burn it 24/7 mostly. The wood i must save over an old dragon is huge. Although i have never had a dragon in this home so i cant compare.

Used was what i was thinking. Even an old smoke drgon will work honetly. Wood is not an issue there is plenty of it around and the amout of time were theere wont add up to 2 truck loads a year.

I think i may ride into town to the stove shop and see what they have in the basement for used stoves. And then start looking on CL.
 
1200 sq ft, more like a Engander 13, They also have an insert of about the same size. I think the 30 would be way over kill, considering the temps quoted above. I have 2000 sq ft ranch with a 30 ,,current temps are what you described above avg temp in house 78 on willow and other low btu shoulder stuff, and I have not even pushed it to anywhere near its design.
 
This is a drafty house with little insulation as well. Im thinking a 30 would be overkill based on what i have heard some of you heating your homes with it though.

I can shut off a room though that is a second bedroom that will reduce that SQftage to around 950ish as well
 
This is a drafty house with little insulation as well. Im thinking a 30 would be overkill based on what i have heard some of you heating your homes with it though.

I can shut off a room though that is a second bedroom that will reduce that SQftage to around 950ish as well

Draft old farm house reporting in, currently, the 30 is responsible for heating 700-1000 sq ft depending upon the time of year. I'm not saying you should get the 30. Just saying that you should not underestimate the draftiness of the space you are trying to heat.
 
I think I saw NC 30s for about $900 at Home Depot recently.
 
$900 is a bit more than i want to spend on this application, id love to have one though. What about those $550 prices on the 30 i been seeing?

And what is so bad about the boxwood stoves?
 

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So it ran away, is that why its white?
 
So it ran away, is that why its white?

They aren't known for being airtight, or any sort of controllable. There is also some argument about cheap Chinese paint. I definitely would not put one in my home.

That pic is from a local craigslist. The guy was trying to sell it for $250, with some pipe and a heat shield.
 
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