Greetings

bemental · Dec 30, 2014

Hello!

Name's Andrew, found the forums after doing a bit of research for the home my wife and I purchased over the summer up in mid coast Maine.

I'm a recently (medically) retired United States Marine, and I find myself with plenty of time on my hands now. I've turned my gaze towards the heating situation in our home, and have been toying with ideas of photovoltaic solar arrays, hot water solar heating, and supplementing with wood to hear our home.

To finish up, we've an old box-style wood stove in the basement of our home made by LL Bean that we've been experimenting with. It (obviously) doesn't heat the upstairs completely, but in combination with our oil furnace it is able to maintain a daytime temperature throughout the home of approximately 65°, and when loaded full and set for a slow burn overnight there are plenty of coals in the morning to start over anew.

Looking forward to the future conversations,
Andrew

firefighterjake · Dec 30, 2014

Welcome Andrew.

Learned something new here today . . . never knew LL Bean sold a stove.

Have you given any thought to eventually installing a newer stove upstairs? In our home, 65 degrees F is generally considered on the cool side . . . you quickly become accustomed to the warm temps with a woodstove in operation.

And if I may be so forward . . . mid-coast Maine means a lot of different things to different people . . . what city/town or county?

bemental · Dec 30, 2014

ffj,

Let me first say thank you for the warm welcome! We didn't know that LLB made wood stoves either, but we love their return policy so that might be something to look into when we find ourselves purchasing a new stove. I believe the stove is original with the home, or purchased sometime thereafter, so I'm ball parking its date from around the 1970's.

I mistakenly quoted our home temperature at 65 degrees, we actually keep it around 60... so yes, we've been talking and thinking a lot about putting a wood stove upstairs! We actually have a fireplace in the main living area directly above the wood stove downstairs, and while we attempted to use it for a few nights to heat it was definitively, poor. We're considering many options, including a fireplace insert, a new wood stove, and moving the old stove upstairs, but haven't moved forward on anything yet.

Finally, we're located just north of Bangor, in the town of Orono. Purchased in May of this year, moved in late fall. Transitioning from the military is never easy.

Thanks again for the input, love to hear more on what you and others think.

bsruther · Dec 30, 2014

A newer stove would burn less wood, but if your just using it for supplemental heat and it does a good job, keep doing what you;re doing. The drier the wood the more efficient it burns, no matter what you're burning in.

bemental · Dec 30, 2014

bsruther said:
A newer stove would burn less wood, but if your just using it for supplemental heat and it does a good job, keep doing what you;re doing. The drier the wood the more efficient it burns, no matter what you're burning in.

The home we moved in to had a stockpile of wood in the basement from the previous owner (elderly man, died unexpectedly). Unfortunately, the drive would have to be running full bore to have the desired effect on the upstairs of the home (although the downstairs temp in the basement is between 70-80 degrees with the inlet closed 4/5 and a solid bed of coals).

I'll have to have someone come out and give us an estimate, but I think the large box stove may be a bit too large for our upstairs. That and it's age, it might be worth it to purchase a newer model.

Any thoughts?

Wildo · Dec 30, 2014

Welcome and thank you for your service.

bemental · Dec 30, 2014

Wildo said:
Welcome and thank you for your service.

Thanks Wildo, appreciate it.

bsruther · Dec 30, 2014

bemental said:
The home we moved in to had a stockpile of wood in the basement from the previous owner (elderly man, died unexpectedly). Unfortunately, the drive would have to be running full bore to have the desired effect on the upstairs of the home (although the downstairs temp in the basement is between 70-80 degrees with the inlet closed 4/5 and a solid bed of coals).

I'll have to have someone come out and give us an estimate, but I think the large box stove may be a bit too large for our upstairs. That and it's age, it might be worth it to purchase a newer model.

Any thoughts?

I heat 1000sf with a large stove and it does a superb job. Finding the right stove can be frustrating, but be rewarding in the end.

bemental · Dec 30, 2014

bsruther said:
I heat 1000sf with a large stove and it does a superb job. Finding the right stove can be frustrating, but be rewarding in the end.

I was thinking too large a stove for the space, and not too small a stove, but I get the gist.

Thanks again everyone.

begreen · Dec 30, 2014

The nub of the matter is that you need to make a judgement call. If the space is tight and well insulated then the mfg sq ftg may make sense. If you want to be extra sure, maybe add a bit of capacity just to be safe. Try +25%. However, if the place is a leaky barn and you have trouble keeping candles lit, get a much larger stove or get a caulking gun and some Great Stuff.

In the meantime, check to see if the old stove has a full liner to the top of the chimney. It probably doesn't. If that's the case, have it cleaned every 1 cord burned until you determine how cleanly the wood is burning. And check to see if there is a proper block-off plate at the damper level.

Osagebndr · Dec 30, 2014

You came to the right place, keep posting as you figure your set up out and these folks will help get you squared away in no time. Semper fi

jatoxico · Dec 31, 2014

Welcome aboard Andrew. As you gather up some info one thing you might be able to do right away is to use a small fan to blow some air down the basement stairs and maybe get some more of the heat upstairs.

Woody Stover · Dec 31, 2014

Welcome, bemental. If you detail the level of insulation and tightness of the house, sq.ft. to be heated, and floor plan (open layout, or many individual rooms,) you'll get good advice as to what's needed to get the heat you want. 60* is not even close to acceptable here.

firefighterjake · Dec 31, 2014

Random thoughts . . .

Going out on a limb here, but I suspect you're right about the stove being from the 1970s or maybe the 1980s . . . I'm not an expert on all things LL Bean, but I haven't seen or heard of them selling anything like this woodstove . . . maybe some camp cooking stoves, but not home heating. That said . . . if it's in good shape I wouldn't stop burning with it . . . just returning it for a replacement may be a bit of a challenge.

60 degrees . . . egads . . . that's the temp that I set my thermostats at for the oil boiler. Brrrrr . . . my wife would probably divorce me and move to Florida if I kept the house at that temp. There are some "tricks" as some folks mentioned to moving the heat upstairs . . . although many folks will suggest that having a woodstove on the main floor generally has the best results.

Mid-coast . . . never thought of Orono as mid-coast . . . maybe mid-Maine . . . but it's all good . . . and I guess depends on your frame of reference . . . as I said in an earlier post . .. mid-coast means different things to different people. In any case . . . we're practically neighbors . . . well, I work in Bangor at least.

Sizing a stove . . . as mentioned there are a lot of variables . . . mostly in how well insulated the home is, home lay out, climate, etc. A bit of advice I took away from this site when I was sizing the stove for my house was to find a stove sized to the square footage of the home and then go just one size larger . . . this has generally served me pretty well with my stove doing pretty well 95% of the time.

Supplemental heat . . . I would be sure the stove is installed safely and correctly, see if you could use a fan to move some heat into the rest of the home . . . and keep using this stove. Down the road if you feel that you would like more heat or would like to burn cleaner, have a view of the fire or get into heating with wood more I would suggest looking around for a stove, insert or even a wood pellet insert for upstairs. There are a few local dealers -- Evergreen Home and Hearth in Brewer and McVetys Home and Hearth in Bangor.

bemental · Jan 1, 2015

begreen said:
The nub of the matter is that you need to make a judgement call. If the space is tight and well insulated then the mfg sq ftg may make sense. If you want to be extra sure, maybe add a bit of capacity just to be safe. Try +25%. However, if the place is a leaky barn and you have trouble keeping candles lit, get a much larger stove or get a caulking gun and some Great Stuff.

In the meantime, check to see if the old stove has a full liner to the top of the chimney. It probably doesn't. If that's the case, have it cleaned every 1 cord burned until you determine how cleanly the wood is burning. And check to see if there is a proper block-off plate at the damper level.

Thanks begreen, I can already tell that leaving the stove in the basement isn't going to cut it. Im going to ask a local installer what he thinks about moving it upstairs and putting it in the fireplace in the living room, I have a feeling it will put off more than enough heat there.

Osagebndr said:
You came to the right place, keep posting as you figure your set up out and these folks will help get you squared away in no time. Semper fi

Appreciate the warm welcomes Osagebndr, everyone has been very welcoming indeed. Looks like I've already stumbled upon another Mainer who lives right down the road from me

Semper Fi

jatoxico said:
Welcome aboard Andrew. As you gather up some info one thing you might be able to do right away is to use a small fan to blow some air down the basement stairs and maybe get some more of the heat upstairs.

I appreciate this tip jatoxico, I keep hearing about this. I will give it a shot, but I do believe we're going to look into moving the stove instead of attempting to move the heat around.

Woody Stover said:
Welcome, bemental. If you detail the level of insulation and tightness of the house, sq.ft. to be heated, and floor plan (open layout, or many individual rooms,) you'll get good advice as to what's needed to get the heat you want. 60* is not even close to acceptable here.

Thanks WS, I can agree that 60 isn't anywhere *close* to acceptable, it's merely better than paying for oil!

As I said before, I'm retired (and only 31!), so these home projects are beginning to consume all my waking hours. I will post the information, in addition to my own heat studies of individual rooms for the HWBB we have installed (once I figure out how to do that sort of thing).

bemental · Jan 1, 2015

firefighterjake said:
Random thoughts . . .

Going out on a limb here, but I suspect you're right about the stove being from the 1970s or maybe the 1980s . . . I'm not an expert on all things LL Bean, but I haven't seen or heard of them selling anything like this woodstove . . . maybe some camp cooking stoves, but not home heating. That said . . . if it's in good shape I wouldn't stop burning with it . . . just returning it for a replacement may be a bit of a challenge.

60 degrees . . . egads . . . that's the temp that I set my thermostats at for the oil boiler. Brrrrr . . . my wife would probably divorce me and move to Florida if I kept the house at that temp. There are some "tricks" as some folks mentioned to moving the heat upstairs . . . although many folks will suggest that having a woodstove on the main floor generally has the best results.

Mid-coast . . . never thought of Orono as mid-coast . . . maybe mid-Maine . . . but it's all good . . . and I guess depends on your frame of reference . . . as I said in an earlier post . .. mid-coast means different things to different people. In any case . . . we're practically neighbors . . . well, I work in Bangor at least.

Sizing a stove . . . as mentioned there are a lot of variables . . . mostly in how well insulated the home is, home lay out, climate, etc. A bit of advice I took away from this site when I was sizing the stove for my house was to find a stove sized to the square footage of the home and then go just one size larger . . . this has generally served me pretty well with my stove doing pretty well 95% of the time.

Supplemental heat . . . I would be sure the stove is installed safely and correctly, see if you could use a fan to move some heat into the rest of the home . . . and keep using this stove. Down the road if you feel that you would like more heat or would like to burn cleaner, have a view of the fire or get into heating with wood more I would suggest looking around for a stove, insert or even a wood pellet insert for upstairs. There are a few local dealers -- Evergreen Home and Hearth in Brewer and McVetys Home and Hearth in Bangor.

I absolutely agree with you, I totally meant central Maine. I'm a Mainer by transplant, not by birth but we'll get there in time.

60 degrees... 60 degrees.

Thanks for the business recommendations, I've already called and left messages. I'll post the results as they come about.

cuttingedge · Jan 1, 2015

Andrew,
I will second Evergreen Hearth and Home. We recently had a Jotul F55 installed by them. I also have never seen a stove by Bean. It may be in your best interest to have a newer stove installed in the living area of your home and keep the one in the basement in case of a power outage. We have two stoves and it has saved us due to being able to heat the basement during power outages which would have left us with frozen pipes had we not had the second stove. Just a thought! BTW I am in Bucksport.

bemental · Jan 1, 2015

cuttingedge said:
Andrew,
I will second Evergreen Hearth and Home. We recently had a Jotul F55 installed by them. I also have never seen a stove by Bean. It may be in your best interest to have a newer stove installed in the living area of your home and keep the one in the basement in case of a power outage. We have two stoves and it has saved us due to being able to heat the basement during power outages which would have left us with frozen pipes had we not had the second stove. Just a thought! BTW I am in Bucksport.

A very good point about the frozen pipes, I may just have to keep that in mind (although our basement does stay well above freezing, but I'm not sure how much the boiler has an influence on that).

I left a message with EH&H, I'll let the forums know what develops after the holidays come through.

cuttingedge · Jan 1, 2015

bemental said:
A very good point about the frozen pipes, I may just have to keep that in mind (although our basement does stay well above freezing, but I'm not sure how much the boiler has an influence on that).

I left a message with EH&H, I'll let the forums know what develops after the holidays come through.

Since we try not to use the oil heat other than for hot water, it will not keep our basement warm when it gets really cold. We have only had to use the stove in the basement a few times but it is nice to have. It also warms up the floors above which is nice. Any chance you could take some more pics of your stove? I am intrigued.

bemental · Jan 1, 2015

cuttingedge said:
Since we try not to use the oil heat other than for hot water, it will not keep our basement warm when it gets really cold. We have only had to use the stove in the basement a few times but it is nice to have. It also warms up the floors above which is nice. Any chance you could take some more pics of your stove? I am intrigued.

bemental · Jan 1, 2015

cuttingedge said:
Since we try not to use the oil heat other than for hot water, it will not keep our basement warm when it gets really cold. We have only had to use the stove in the basement a few times but it is nice to have. It also warms up the floors above which is nice. Any chance you could take some more pics of your stove? I am intrigued.

My Google-Fu is usually pretty good, but this is a pretty obscure item and I'm having a bit of trouble finding any information on the stove. I might swing by the outlet in Bangor tomorrow and see if anyone there has any additional information on the box for us.

jatoxico · Jan 1, 2015

Yikes on the plumbing!

begreen · Jan 1, 2015

That's a very basic and inefficient box stove. No baffle, no secondary burning. I'd estimate efficiency at below 50%. You can get a lot more heat per load of wood with a modern stove and it will burn a lot cleaner.

The chimney connection looks dangerously leaky. I would not use the stove with that rusted and shifted connection.

bemental · Jan 2, 2015

begreen said:
That's a very basic and inefficient box stove. No baffle, no secondary burning. I'd estimate efficiency at below 50%. You can get a lot more heat per load of wood with a modern stove and it will burn a lot cleaner.

The chimney connection looks dangerously leaky. I would not use the stove with that rusted and shifted connection.

Thanks for the advice, not knowing much we figured about the same regarding the safety of the connections. Verification appreciated.

Much obliged on the efficiency estimates as well. The more information we have when deciding on installing a stove on the main floor of our home, the better!

Phoenix Hatchling · Jan 2, 2015

In the words of the great Ronnie Mund---"whoah whoah whoah, stop the clock!" I would heed the advice of begreen in regards to that connection! NOTHING good could come of that!

Greetings

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