Diagram and information included regarding p43

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Kara K

New Member
Nov 14, 2012
39
Pennsylvania
I posted this on my other thread as well, but I wanted to make sure it got out there:
Here is our DUPLEX the blue wall on the right is also the joining walls of the duplex HOUSE LAYOUT.jpg
My concerns are my childrens bedroom above the kitchen, and will the heat circulate enough in our 1100 sq. foot home? Should we put holes in ceiling/floor of childrens bedroom so heat rises up to childrens bedroom?? We need to supplement the outrages costs of our old inefficient oil furnace that is forced air, the duct work is shotty...

If you have read my other thread we cannot do insulation of outside walls at this time, I am wondering about the stove placement near windows, I read the guidelines for the stove, and am having a hard time understanding them, BUT I did read as long as you have a suitable termination point... something about the outside air supply...

Our current furnace does infact keep our house at 72, even through the coldest months.... its just its always running and its super expensive....

GIVEN ALL THE DETAILS, does anyone have any input....

Thank you
 
Have you had a dealer look at where you want to put the stove?
 
no, i dont trust them completely... thats why I am here first... i feel sometimes they will say anything to make a sale, I explained to him our situation to a "T" he believes it will work perfectly and we will go through 3 ton of pellets 4 ton max... he said he sold 600+ last year, to people like us with oil and such.... and that he doesn't HAVE to make a sale, bc they pratically sell them thereselves?!? he was nice, but i just wanted to get some input from people who are not trying to sell me something and are living these situations
 
Floor vents are illegal in most places these days. check with your town hall before cutting.
given the diagram, i'd suggest th ebottom left corner of the living room, on an angle. That would point most the air towards the stair case.

it will get heat close enough and with some fans, keep the place reasonable. but, the bedrooms will probably still be a bit chilly.
 
hi, the staircase opening is in the kitchen not the playroom.... thats why we were going to put it in the kitchen so it would go upstairs
 
Is that another doorway in the bottom left hand corner of the living room? Did you look at the am/fm energy link I sent to you?
 
I don't see a suitable place in your kitchen at all.
 
I think you'll do just fine with a P-43 in your 1100 sq ft space and would agree on the 3-4 tons (closer to 3 IMO). Its easy to underestimate those lil guys, but they are work horses. I guess the red diamond is the stove? You have no bathroom? Odd ;)
 
bathroom is upstairs... labeled BATH :)
 
Is that another doorway in the bottom left hand corner of the living room? Did you look at the am/fm energy link I sent to you?

Yes, however I need to ask my husband to explain it to me... sorry... I do not do well with that kind of stuff... yes that is the front door we never use
 
sorry, i dont read so good sometimes...I see it now.
 
no problem!! :)
 
the dealer had a pellet stove in his 3000 sq. ft showroom similar in size to the p43 and clained the whole place was being heated with it... all sounds amazing, and also im a little skeptical... i am willing to purchase corner fans...

remember each floor is only 550 sq. ft. roughly, we live in a very small house
 
Since you have the ductwork perhaps a small pellet furnace is called for and just what did you mean when you said the ducting is shotty?

What is under the first floor and where are the windows on the second floor?
 
im getting so many different responses.... some people are saying this will work and some are saying no it wont?!?! I just dont knwo what to do, and I am horrified about our situation... we cannot afford to purchase $800 worth of oil at one time.... 4 times this winter, its just not doable in our budget.... this was supposed to help that... now I am just so confused
 
unfortunately pellets will be at least $800-1000, I dont think we can find someone to insulate for $1000 :(
 
Since you have the ductwork perhaps a small pellet furnace is called for and just what did you mean when you said the ducting is shotty?

What is under the first floor and where are the windows on the second floor?

gaps and leaking heat in basement....basement is below first floor, and I cant draw a diagram of windows for upstairs at this time... however in the two large room, there are two windows in each room on outside walls... and one tiny window in the small bed
 
from what i understood these things p43's and such put off an intense amount of heat, and that this would be a LOWER cost effective way to do a decent job... for the time being.... and invest in this to help the cost a bit... and thsi summer see what our situation is for insulating....

I even considered the PELLET FURNACE the dealer said not necessary to spend the money when the p43 will do the job... ALSO please note as this is crucial, my husband cannot walk, I take care of him and my children, and our house, so I need something incredibly LOW maintenance and quality so it doesnt keep breaking down, etc. we dont have the money to pay someone to do repairs or buy parts
 
Can you physically (wo)man handel a 40 lb bag of pellets? every day? i know my gf can't lift it and feed it in to the hopper.
 
Also, your ROI is usually NOT met in your first year of owning it. It WILL be cheaper to burn oil this year than to install and buy a pellet stove and feed it.

ROI comes in year 2, sometimes 3 if you bought an expensive unit or like it relaly hot.
 
If your duct work is really a mess you can be losing as much heat as you need to heat the place and the last I knew fixing that would do a large number on your heating bill.

I'm just looking for any and all quick and easy things to do.

Can you provide a picture of the outside of the corner where you propose putting that stove. Venting is always an issue around windows.

I have no doubt about the 43 being able to handle the area it is just getting your air flow going that is likely to be an issue, you are going to loose the use of those bedroom doors if you want heat in them.

Is there a program in your state to weatherize, do heating system work, or such? You may be able to get help with really tightening up your house or even replacement of your furnace and such.
 
you wont need a furnace for that sized space. If you take a look at your exisitng heating system I'd guesstimate it has a peak output of 60K BTU...which would be normalish for that size space. If you consider the duty cycle of off and on a few times per hour, you're probably in the real world demand for anout 30-35K BTU per hour. Since the P-43 maxes out at 43K, and can output continuously, it is quite easy for it to create the same amount of energy as your central heating system does. Don't overthink the air circulation thing. With 550 up and down I expect and would wager a shiny nickle that you'll be quite pleasantly surprised at what some of these pellet units can do.
 
where in PA do you live?

Eric
 
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