Wood stove seems like a great idea... does it?

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squeakytherat

New Member
Jan 4, 2014
12
WI
Hi. I live on a couple of wooded acres, mostly oak and maple, in northern WI. Our home is a little under 1400sqft, built in the 70s, and not terribly well insulated. Right now we heat ourselves and our pets with a forced air furnace. The fireplace (brick surround) in our living room used to be of the wood burning variety, the previous owners converted it to gas. There appears to be a functional chimney. We've only ever had the fire lit once, right now we're using the fireplace as a TV stand area.
Just a few days ago I was struck with the notion that we should install a wood burning stove in the basement below the fireplace, pipe it into the chimney, and use the existing forced air ducts to encourage the heat around our home. Our basement is primarily a playroom for our children, and pets, but the 'room' just below the fireplace is unfinished, has concrete walls and floor, and is used as a storage area.
Most of our neighbors have similar sized wooded properties, wood burners, and use the wood from their land to fuel their stoves. I don't have any wood cut right now (the idea only just struck me), but I have a lot of trees that would love to become to fuel, and nice neighbors who I'm sure would loan me enough wood to get me through the rest of this winter and part of the next (the guy next door has stacks all over his yard - they had several trees cut in the fall - and he was telling me that he has enough to last him for the next 5 years or so!); I could easily repay his wood loan from my own yard once I got felling and splitting this coming spring.
I wonder if you wise folk think this plan is feasible, or doomed to failure? Of course, I would need to get my chimney inspected. Is there anything else I'm missing? I saw a pretty nice looking stove listed at Home Depot, and it was a lot cheaper than I'd anticipated (around $700). Does anyone know roughly what an install might cost in this situation.
Thanks in advance!
 
Hi and welcome. The flaw in the plan is that the fireplace chimney is on the main floor, not the basement. How would you tap in it from there? Also, the woodstove is an area heater. Ideally if you want heat upstairs that is where the stove should be. An easier plant might be to install a wood burning insert into the fireplace or if there's room to have a freestanding, hearth stove there.

To execute this plan successfully wood should already be cut, split and stacked for next season.
 
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Install would not be terribly expensive unless your chimney needs a lot of work. Most likely a liner and the stove install should be under $2000 unless there are some hidden surprises.
X2 on the insert up stairs , you want the heat where you need it , instead of heating the basement and trying to get the heat up stairs to where it will do some good.
 
Forced air circulators generally are very poor at moving air from room to room as it is designed to move hot air from the furnace to room, returning cold air to complete the cycle. A bit pricey as well.
Modifying an ash pit and firepit will likely be rather expensive with little gain over just putting an insert into the current fireplace upstairs or a wood stove on the hearth - if possible.

Cheapest solution may even end being a stove and chimney somewhere else upstairs depending on the layout of the home.
 
I also live in NW Wisconsin.A couple of acres won't supply you with a sustainable amount of wood but up here wood is plentiful and I get all of mine from lot owners within a few blocks from my home and maybe you can ask aaround and find scrounge wood too. I put my Drolet wood stove in 3 years ago and its the best thing I've done to the house. I thought about putting it downstairs at first but to monitor the fire and enjoy the heat better not to mention the savings from not having to install the additional class A duct vents out the chase was the way to go after some thought. I bought my stove on clearance at Menards in Rice Lake for $599. Its not a popular brand here but It works great and can heat my 1700 sq ft of upper levels and radiate it to the basement as well on even the coldest of nights but tomorrow night will be the real test at -35 to -static.Chow 2013-10-18 10.28.17.jpg
 
Hey! Thanks for all the replies! Maybe modifying the existing fireplace is the way to go, or putting a stove in its spot (I'll see if I can add a pic of the fire place from my tablet in a bit).
There is a Menards quite nearby. I'll take a trip there this week.. maybe not tomorrow.... it's going to be ridiculously cold. There are also a couple of stove-type businesses in town (I'm quite close to Green Bay). I'll stop in there and see what ideas they might suggest. Thanks again!
(hermancm: your little stove is beautiful!)
 
squeakytherat said:
Hey! Thanks for all the replies! Maybe modifying the existing fireplace is the way to go, or putting a stove in its spot (I'll see if I can add a pic of the fire place from my tablet in a bit).
There is a Menards quite nearby. I'll take a trip there this week.. maybe not tomorrow.... it's going to be ridiculously cold. There are also a couple of stove-type businesses in town (I'm quite close to Green Bay). I'll stop in there and see what ideas they might suggest. Thanks again!
(hermancm: your little stove is beautiful!)
Click to expand...

I have to second the upstairs stove idea... moving comfortable air around the house is always a challenge, a stove in the basement makes it even more of a challenge.

Let's see that fireplace, and let the official award-winning Hearth.com interior design team work the magic!
 
squeakytherat said:
Hey! Thanks for all the replies! Maybe modifying the existing fireplace is the way to go, or putting a stove in its spot (I'll see if I can add a pic of the fire place from my tablet in a bit).
There is a Menards quite nearby. I'll take a trip there this week.. maybe not tomorrow.... it's going to be ridiculously cold. There are also a couple of stove-type businesses in town (I'm quite close to Green Bay). I'll stop in there and see what ideas they might suggest. Thanks again!
(hermancm: your little stove is beautiful!)
Click to expand...

You can ship any stove listed on their website to their store for free. Which is a big savings as most websites charge in the $200 range to ship heavy stoves.So if you dont see one in the store you like. Check out their website for more options.

I would suggest at least a 2.0 cubic foot firebox stove to get an over night burn. Anything smaller gets to be hard to get an all night burn , which means having lots of coals left to start another load of wood. Stoves dont have flames for the entire burn cycle as 50% of the heat is in the coal stage.
 
Trying to upload some pics.. Wifi connection seems to hate me today. Also, border collie who hasn't been walked yet is trying to eat my legs. Will be back :)
 
Wood heat heats objects not the air so as the air moves along the warmed surfaces the homes air is heated. You will want the heat on the floor were you live for the best comfort. The cost for the stove an install is saved back rapidly, so shop around and get the stove that's right for your home. Both in function and looks, not just the cheapest price as this wood stove or insert if done right becomes an asset to the value of your home and comfort for your family.
 
Oregon aloha said:
Wood heat heats objects not the air so as the air moves along the warmed surfaces the homes air is heated.
Click to expand...

I would think a wood stove would have to heat the air..at least the moisture that is in the air.
 
HotCoals said:
I would think a wood stove would have to heat the air..at least the moisture that is in the air.
Click to expand...
how can you possibly heat something you can't see ?
 
A convective stove is heating the air. For some stoves, only the front is strongly radiant.
 
billb3 said:
how can you possibly heat something you can't see ?
Click to expand...
Trust me..there are molecules in the air.
Anything that radiates heat is going to heat the air.
 
Agreed with the suggestion of going with a fireplace insert instead. You already have the chimney, mize well put it to use. The chimney flue may need a liner, though.

Just a word about wood heater shopping - don't start shopping based on price, please. Research fireplace inserts and read customer reviews. Ensure that the insert will heat the area you want heated. The cheapest choice isn't necessarily the best choice.

Good luck. :)
 
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This looks like a small fireplace. We'll need some dimensions. It is arched in front? From what I can see I suspect you would need to tap in above the damper with a thimble and put a freestanding stove in front of the fireplace. Is there room for this?
 
HotCoals said:
Trust me..there are molecules in the air.
Anything that radiates heat is going to heat the air.
Click to expand...
sorry, vibrating molecules denier here
it's a well known fact one can only heat air with dripping sarcasm
 
Thanks, begreen, I took the pic with my tablet (hence, low res). I have another pic of the whole living room (which you might also have to fix because it's upside down... sorry, and I can't currently upload direct from tablet because tablet internet connection is somewhat sketchy today)Photo-1_5_14,-10.24.20-AM-5.JPG
 
billb3 said:
sorry, vibrating molecules denier here
it's a well known fact one can only heat air with dripping sarcasm
Click to expand...
Granted air is not a great conductor of heat..but none the less it does.
Heated air expands and moves on..much like we should..lol.
 
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squeakytherat said:
Thanks, begreen, I took the pic with my tablet (hence, low res). I have another pic of the whole living room (which you might also have to fix because it's upside down... sorry, and I can't currently upload direct from tablet because tablet internet connection is somewhat sketchy today)View attachment 122932
Click to expand...

Upside down or not, I expect you're going to get a lot of compliments on your TV, and a lot of requests to move it because it completely blocks the view and info needed to give you sensible advice.
 
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