I have an old kindlewood fireplace insert with no liner, and a wonderwood circulator, no chimney liner, old brick chimney, trying to heat a 2400 sq ft farmhouse, 10 ft ceilings. I have to set my alarm every three hours to get up and feed the fires, and a ventless gas stove is always running to help out. Would I get better performance out of a new insert with a liner? The old kindlewood eats wood and seems to put off little heat, it is a flush mount with blower. Maybe I'd be better off with an outdoor boiler, but don't want to be a slave to that either, thanks
tired and frozen!
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weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Yes, the new stoves are much more efficient than older stoves and need a liner to perform right. There's a lot of good stoves that are capable of heating your house, for your size house I'd look for the biggest one I could fit.
yes you would be much better off with a new stove and liner to go with it but an old 2400 squft house will be difficult to heat with one good stove not impossible but difficult. You also would be better off if possible to vent a freestanding stove out the fireplace but that depends on size and clearances
A new insert with a liner especially an insulated one would be an improvement. House sounds difficult to heat, house insulation probably could use a beefing up. A large freestanding stove would be best , also vented through an insulated liner.
Forgot to mention I also have a pellet stove on other end of house that runs when I'm gone, just curious how much improvement has been made in wood stoves in past 30 yrs. I'd like something with 8 to 9 hr burns , local dealer told me to stay away from cat stoves,? my wonderwood does probably 30% more heat than insert, and its still pretty old technology
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Your local dealer must not sell cat stoves. 
Bottom line, if you want superior performance, buy a catalytic stove. If you want simplicity and lower cost, buy a non-cat. Both are vastly more efficient than your old smoke dragon at all output levels. At high output levels, the catalytic and non-cat are virtually equal. The primary advantage of the cat stove is that it can also run efficiently and cleanly at very low output levels, better for shoulder-season heating, than a non-cat is capable of doing.
If you wander over to the Blaze King site, you'll see them touting 20 - 30 hour burn times on a single load. This is not marketing BS, they will actually do that, at very low continuous output levels. When you need more heat, they can still be run hard, and put out every bit the same rate as your current stove.
Not trying to sell you a BK, just demonstrating the extreme far end of the range.
Bottom line, if you want superior performance, buy a catalytic stove. If you want simplicity and lower cost, buy a non-cat. Both are vastly more efficient than your old smoke dragon at all output levels. At high output levels, the catalytic and non-cat are virtually equal. The primary advantage of the cat stove is that it can also run efficiently and cleanly at very low output levels, better for shoulder-season heating, than a non-cat is capable of doing.
If you wander over to the Blaze King site, you'll see them touting 20 - 30 hour burn times on a single load. This is not marketing BS, they will actually do that, at very low continuous output levels. When you need more heat, they can still be run hard, and put out every bit the same rate as your current stove.
Not trying to sell you a BK, just demonstrating the extreme far end of the range.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
For starters, try to seal as many air leaks as possible around doors and windows, maybe put up some window plastic film if the windows are far gone.
Welcome bugsy. What are the fireplace dimensions? Can you post a sketch of the floor plan that shows all the stoves' locations?
House has new windows, vinyl siding, laminate wood floors are very cold, lot of air comes in foundation. I can do ok when its above 20 outside, has been very cold lately, but need someone home to keep stoking fires. Local stove guy is coming later this week to clean chimneys, when we pull insert I'll get dimensions. Looks about 3 ft wide maybe 30 in tall, idk the depth, insert is about 17 in deep. The bk's look attractive, the stove guy sells buck. We have about twenty acres of woods that was just logged, so I have tree tops everywhere, considering an outdoor boiler, but that's a big investment, a friend has one that burns between a half to over a cord a week.
WoodpileOCD
Minister of Fire
Oh, the house is kind of L shaped from birdseye view with stove at each corner if you count pellet stove.
Yeah, he's an old timer, he says you'll have too much problems with them, and the cats expensive to replace. He says he has used smoke dragons for sale too. I looked at an old fisher insert, it had a big firebox, and I liked how it came out fast fireplace about a foot. I don't mind spending a couple hundred on maintenance every couple years on a cat stove if you can get good overnight burns on a load of wood. My gf is here when I'm working , she's good with a stove but don't know how difficult a cat stove would be for her?
maple1
Minister of Fire
You mention OWB - does that mean you have baseboard heating system there now? Or ductwork/forced air? Or ?.
Stoves are space heaters, boiler/furnaces are for central whole-house heating. Some can do their whole house with a stove, but I'd wager not with total comfort in most cases and with a LOT of work. As you're finding with your 3 hour loadings.
I think the only situation I would consider a stove for my heating, is if my current heating system was electric resistance - or I didn't have a big heatload & had a house layout (open & not that large) that would accomodate it. Even my old wood/oil combo boiler got too demanding for me if I tried to keep the oil from cutting in heating this place - darn near had me wore completely out by the time winter was over.
Stoves are space heaters, boiler/furnaces are for central whole-house heating. Some can do their whole house with a stove, but I'd wager not with total comfort in most cases and with a LOT of work. As you're finding with your 3 hour loadings.
I think the only situation I would consider a stove for my heating, is if my current heating system was electric resistance - or I didn't have a big heatload & had a house layout (open & not that large) that would accomodate it. Even my old wood/oil combo boiler got too demanding for me if I tried to keep the oil from cutting in heating this place - darn near had me wore completely out by the time winter was over.
No, I'd have to rig up an air handler and run ductwork. My house actually heats pretty good as far as heat flow goes. The downstairs bathroom is cold but other than that pretty even heat, but once it gets below mid twenties I have to keep them rolling. The pellet stove I have is a quad Castile, and it throws more heat than my insert. Maybe I'm expecting too much from an insert. My buddy has an old brunco freestander that will roast you. I feel like Im losing lot of heat out the chimney.
maple1
Minister of Fire
Wonderwood stove, but I'm scared of that chimney, don't run it unless its in 20s, insert, and wood pellet stove. Also have a wall mount lp heater, but that's it
Don't do that. An old stove is not gonna help you address your wood usage.
Have your dealer show you a Buck 91 and then figure out how you can make that work in your home. They are an EPA certified BEAST of a heater.
Edit - Hearth extension possible???
maple1
Minister of Fire
Man that's tough in a house that big. Although I don't know what a Wonderwood is - maybe I'll try some google...
WoodpileOCD
Minister of Fire
Don't be afraid of the cats. I'm on my fourth season with my Buck 91 that I bought uses and the combustors are running fine. Don't know how much use they had before I got it. Not that many 91's here but the people who have them seem to be very happy with them. More to it than just opening the door and throwing wood in but cats aren't hard to learn or use.
The hearth sticks out 30in past insert, and is 68in wide, would that be big enough? Wonderwood is a wood circulator, they sell them at tsc.
F4jock
Minister of Fire
I would be getting your tape measure stuck in your pocket and drive over to the dealer. That Buck 91 would/could./will eat that Wonderwood for breakfast and not even burp.
I don't mind burning a little lp and pellets when I'm gone, but like to come home and have a stove that has some coals left in it and can throw some heat without getting up twice in the middle of night to load it
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