Increasing your Wood Stove output?

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mjunker

New Member
Jan 23, 2011
2
WNC
www.wnccn.com
I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but, the question of wood stove output is something I'm looking for. I currently use a wood stove for my primary heat source and I have a problem. If i use it the house gets to hot will in use. I know make a smaller fire. But the problem with it is that around 2:00 am the house cools down to 60 or less.

The question I have is, has anyone any information about wrapping the stove with masonry to retain the heat and release over time. Is this possible or do I need to spend a ton of money buying a masonry stove? I was looking at them on line and they run upwards of $7000.00.

I was thinking about block filled with sand and covered with tile?
 
Smaller fires for daytime, heat the house hot for night time - you can let the house cool in the morning if too hot. You have a good problem to deal with! No way I'd spend that king of money if you have a stove that keeps your home toasty. Cheers!
 
Welcome. For good overnight burn I use our best hardwood and large splits. In your neck of the woods that might be white oak and locust. What stove is this that you are burning in?
 
Too hot.....open window
too cold.... close window


:)
 
I would go with better insulation and windows for the house, then the temperature wouldn't drop so quick.
What kind of stove do you have? Is it capable of overnight burns?
A wood stove capable of burning 6-8 hrs can be had for <$1500.00
A sand-filled block wall would work, but it would also cost money.
 
As for stove which will hold their heat overnight, most catalytic stoves are very good at long burn times, and soapstone stoves have great heat retention. There are many options out there for far less than $7000.
 
mjunker said:
I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but, the question of wood stove output is something I'm looking for. I currently use a wood stove for my primary heat source and I have a problem. If i use it the house gets to hot will in use. I know make a smaller fire. But the problem with it is that around 2:00 am the house cools down to 60 or less.

The question I have is, has anyone any information about wrapping the stove with masonry to retain the heat and release over time. Is this possible or do I need to spend a ton of money buying a masonry stove? I was looking at them on line and they run upwards of $7000.00.

I was thinking about block filled with sand and covered with tile?

It is, and welcome.

Good questions--they show that you're really thinking about how to make this work rather than throwing up your hands and saying that this wood-burning is for the birds. I'm thinking some simple tweaks might be a better place to start solving your problems.

It would really help to get more detail to answer your questions. For example, if you're new to wood-burning, you may just be in the learning curve of figuring out how big a fire to have. I've found that a moderate-sized fire, sustained, keeps my home more uniformly warm over both time and space then does the roller-coaster of big-fire-burn-out-rebuild. If you're an old hand at this, it might be something else going on.

Also, details of stove, wood, stack, house, insulation, climate, all factor in. Also, what time of the day do you need the house warm? At 2 a.m., I just pull the covers up if the house is cool, but that's me; I'd rather save my wood for heating the house when it's used. Does everyone in your house get up in the morning and head off to work/school, or does someone occupy it all day long? Does the sun help heat your house during the day?

You've probably heard of the concept of Occam's Razor, the idea is that the simplest explanation for something is probably the right one. I propose a new one: Occam's Maul, to wit: the simplest solution to a problem is probably the one you should try first. Or Occam's Wallet: the idea that doesn't cost $7000 might be worth another look.

Most of us heat our homes adequately without a masonry stove or a heat-retaining wall (creative idea, that one). So before you implement something like that, I'd encourage you to eliminate all the more easily done (and undone) solutions first.

Smaller fires, yes, but burn it down to coals, set your overnight wood on a low bed of coals with the stove shut down as far as you can, and then get up at five and open up the stove and throw on another piece of wood, and slip back under the covers until the house is warmer.

If you know that the sun will have the house up to 65 by the time you get home from work, you may just want to get up in the morning, put on a sweater and have a hot cuppa, lay the evening fire, and head off to work. When you come home from work, light the fire, feed the dog, start dinner, and by then your stove will be kicking out some serious heat.

Along w/fire mangement, you may want to look at the wood you're burning. Some of it burns hot and burns out fast, other wood gives you a longer, slower fire. How long it's been seasoned matters, too.

Lots of variables, lots of if-then-buts. Set the trowel down--carefully--and tell us more.
 
Okay I read everything you all said and here are a few more details and info.

1.- I live in the Mountains of North Carolina and my home sits in a bowl. This prevents the sun from doing any major heating during the day.
2.- My current stove is probably 25 years old and is constructed of 1/4 sheet steel. Since it is rectangular in shape it has a flat top that I can use to cook on when the power goes off. (which is quite often)
3.- As far as wood supply goes, most of the trees around here are poplar trees.
4.- Both my wife and myself work all day and the stove is the primary heat source, except for some electric baseboard heat that makes the meter warmer then the house when in use. and runs my bill over $300.00 a month in the winter.
5.- The last 2 years have been extremely cold, night time temps into the single's to 0.
6.- I'm doing a remodel and adding an additional 1 1/2 inches of ridged foam on the exterior on top of the 6" in the walls and better windows and doors.
7.- I just don't like to major temp swings and since I'm the first up and have to start the fire, was hoping that the masonry would keep this more balanced.
8.- I got the masonry idea from the new stoves that are clad in soap stone.
9.- The European masonry stoves have been around for ages and I know that they heat with small amounts to wood anally verses our stoves (a lot less wood to chop). The temp also stays more uniform in the home.

these are some of the reasons behind my post.
 
Welcome to the forum mjunker.

Well, you do not live in a cold area but it does still get down there a bit now and then. In your original post, it sounds to me like you need a Woodstock Fireview! You can get long burn time from this stove and the heat does indeed feel different and probably would not roast you out. The Fireview is our only source of heat here in MI and we get along just fine.

The other thing is your wood. Popple is okay if handled right but you can't get very long burn times from it. You did not state how you put up your wood and this is extremely important when i t comes to burning wood. Even popple should be split and stacked out in the wind for a year or at least over the spring, summer and fall before attempting to burn it. If not, you simply will not get the heat from it and will have nothing but problems with the stove.
 
Agreed, a soapstone cat stove sounds like a nice affordable solution. Way below $7K. The only caveat might be cooking. This has a nice soapstone top that you might not want to spill stuff on. But perhaps in this case utility far outweighs aesthetic needs. Or, a large cookie sheet could be used on top to protect the stones when cooking.
 
BeGreen, you have to know that my wife does a lot of cooking on our soapstone stove. She has used wood stoves for cooking for many, many moons and it also saves us a lot on energy costs besides the excellent food. She even made apple butter one year on the wood stove.
 
I think you may be on to something here.......thermal mass is a concept that has been in use for centuries now, it's simple and it works. So with that in mind, how about a big old lobster pot.....you know about 6 or 7 gallons of water on top of your stove, by the time it boils, the stove is on it's way down from it's high and then the water radiates for the remainder of the night. Even better, get a big steel pot and weld a bunch of fins around it like the jug on an air cooled motorcycle. Water is a much better conductor than masonry/sand.

Believe me, your not the only one that lays awake at night thinking about just this kind of stuff. We are 1st year chicken farmers, got 6 egg layers. It's been mighty cold and even though I built them a small but well insulated home without a heat source that doesn't keep them warm at -20. Last night at 8 when the timer shut off their 100watt bulb for the night I went out and set a 3 gallon pot of wood stove heated water in their coop. It's wasn't frozen this morning so I guess it helped, 22 degrees inside! I don't think the birds cared much they are pretty hardy.

Good luck!
 
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