Good morning everyone 
We purchased a house in Western CT a few months ago that had a wood and a pellet stove. I originally found the forum when trying to decide if we were going to keep the wood stove - an old Meredith stove from mid-80s and replace the chimney pipe or if we would use that money towards a new wood or pellet stove. I received some awesome responses from both the wood and pellet community but ultimately, we decided to go for a new pellet stove. One of the big reasons being that the wood stove pipe is $2200 and the stove is already pretty old and we aren't sure how well it works (couldn't find much info on it) so we might do all that work and then end up having to buy a new wood stove anyone. Plus, our house is old and has a lot of work to do so adding in all the stacking, spilling, sourcing of wood -- we opted for the convenience. not that it's super easy to have a pellet stove - it's just less anxiety provoking for us when we already have our hands full with other repairs like figuring out insulation, upgrading electric, knob and tube wiring, fixing the well, possible new boiler. The list goes on and on!
The house was originally built in 1894 and then they added some additions in 1984. The house has "Good bones" but there is a lot of mismatched stuff going on so we are probably going to put it where the old wood stove it (there's already a brick hearth). The old portion of the house (dining room, front room and two smaller bedrooms upstairs) are lathe/plaster, no insulation in the walls. The rest of the house has fiberglass, there are two attic spaces with no insulation but will get blown in cellulose in the next week or so. At the far end of the house, there is a Kozi XL stove (that just finally petered out and we are trying to fix that, but that's a whole different thread). More centrally located is the wood stove/soon to be pellet stove, but it's kind of around the corner to the rest of the floor plan.
I was hoping some of you, who wanted a challenge, could look at the floor plan and let me know if this is a good or bad idea...and ideas of a type of stove, size of stove.
Originally, we were going to go super basic. Then, after reading these forums a bit and experiencing the trouble and noise with our kozi stove, we want to invest in a good stove. Money is always an issue, but I'm reading more and more about how important it is to invest in the right stove. We want this stove to off-set the oil bill significantly so that we barely have to use the oil at all. We are already investing in better insulation and air sealing for the house (still making decisions on what kind and how much but we are almost there). Everyone seems to learn toward Quads and Harmans here, but I don't know how big or many about BTUs. I'm off to read about them next (after I finish helping shovel the driveway)
If anyone can look at the floor plan and give us some advice on stove types, I would be eternally grateful. I know that moving the air around is going to be an issue, but it's one we are willing to work on.
Thanks!!
meg
ps: This place is pretty rustic and we plan on keeping the older look to the house. I know looks aren't everything with stoves, but if possible, we want to get one with legs, not a pedestal, to keep that rustic look. I'm going to have a very hard time convincing my husband to go with a pedestal stove but if there is a good enough reason, I can definitely convince him!!
We purchased a house in Western CT a few months ago that had a wood and a pellet stove. I originally found the forum when trying to decide if we were going to keep the wood stove - an old Meredith stove from mid-80s and replace the chimney pipe or if we would use that money towards a new wood or pellet stove. I received some awesome responses from both the wood and pellet community but ultimately, we decided to go for a new pellet stove. One of the big reasons being that the wood stove pipe is $2200 and the stove is already pretty old and we aren't sure how well it works (couldn't find much info on it) so we might do all that work and then end up having to buy a new wood stove anyone. Plus, our house is old and has a lot of work to do so adding in all the stacking, spilling, sourcing of wood -- we opted for the convenience. not that it's super easy to have a pellet stove - it's just less anxiety provoking for us when we already have our hands full with other repairs like figuring out insulation, upgrading electric, knob and tube wiring, fixing the well, possible new boiler. The list goes on and on!
The house was originally built in 1894 and then they added some additions in 1984. The house has "Good bones" but there is a lot of mismatched stuff going on so we are probably going to put it where the old wood stove it (there's already a brick hearth). The old portion of the house (dining room, front room and two smaller bedrooms upstairs) are lathe/plaster, no insulation in the walls. The rest of the house has fiberglass, there are two attic spaces with no insulation but will get blown in cellulose in the next week or so. At the far end of the house, there is a Kozi XL stove (that just finally petered out and we are trying to fix that, but that's a whole different thread). More centrally located is the wood stove/soon to be pellet stove, but it's kind of around the corner to the rest of the floor plan.
I was hoping some of you, who wanted a challenge, could look at the floor plan and let me know if this is a good or bad idea...and ideas of a type of stove, size of stove.
Originally, we were going to go super basic. Then, after reading these forums a bit and experiencing the trouble and noise with our kozi stove, we want to invest in a good stove. Money is always an issue, but I'm reading more and more about how important it is to invest in the right stove. We want this stove to off-set the oil bill significantly so that we barely have to use the oil at all. We are already investing in better insulation and air sealing for the house (still making decisions on what kind and how much but we are almost there). Everyone seems to learn toward Quads and Harmans here, but I don't know how big or many about BTUs. I'm off to read about them next (after I finish helping shovel the driveway)
If anyone can look at the floor plan and give us some advice on stove types, I would be eternally grateful. I know that moving the air around is going to be an issue, but it's one we are willing to work on.
Thanks!!
meg
ps: This place is pretty rustic and we plan on keeping the older look to the house. I know looks aren't everything with stoves, but if possible, we want to get one with legs, not a pedestal, to keep that rustic look. I'm going to have a very hard time convincing my husband to go with a pedestal stove but if there is a good enough reason, I can definitely convince him!!
