Hello, first post here.
I'm looking for advice for a stove for an uninsulated but well-built house/cottage on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The cottage is around 1200 square feet, on two levels, with a basement. The basement is walk-in height (8 ft?), dirt and gravel floored, and has a huge cement block in the middle (maybe 6x5) running from floor to ceiling, whose original use I've never figured out, and which takes up a lot of space. The main floor has living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bath. Upstairs, above the kitchen and bedroom, are two small bedrooms and a bath. The living room has a high, sloped, "cathedral" ceiling. The layout on the main level is quite open; the stairway is also open with no door at either end.
The place was built in 1970 on the foundations of the original farmhouse. It was designed by my father (an architect) for my grandparents as a summer home. That's why there's no insulation (though it seems, to my untrained senses, to be quite "tight" for what it is). As far as I know, it has only ever been used from around June-September/Oct.
There is an old Franklin #2 stove in the living room. The stove pipe runs straight up, for probably 20-25 feet, through the ceiling to the chimney pipe. Although there is good passive solar energy from southerly windows, the stove is the only active source of heat. There's an electric hot water heater in the basement.
Currently it is rented during the summer. For the past few years, I've gone with my kids for a few weeks at the end of the season. But every time I go, I love the house and the place more and more. So the thought has been entering my mind that at some point in the next stretch of years (3, 5, 10?), I might want to try living there longer. I imagine this could range from simply spending the whole summer, to stretching out into Feb/March/April or Oct/Nov, to at the extreme spending most of the year. So in that light, here are some of my concerns:
1. The old Franklin is what I've seen well-described here as a "smoke dragon." I really noticed it this year: every time we lit a fire, the interior of the house smoked up, and the stove wasn't even really heating the place well, unless really cranked up and roaring away. So the Franklin is inadequate right now. It's also dangerous--sparks do fly out of the front doors. It makes me nervous if renters are inattentive.
2. The main question: how reasonably comfortable for how long in the year do you think I could expect to be with a modern stove? In that part of Maine, the average low temperatures are Feb: 14, March: 22, Oct: 38, Nov: 29. Lowest lows in Feb/March: -10, -15. Does trying to stretch the livable period into the colder months even make sense in an uninsulated place in those conditions?
3. There is a pretty big range of uses to which the stoves would be put. For renters and during the summer, the occasional fire to take off the chill and for viewing pleasure. In the earlier spring or later fall, as suggested above, the demands would be considerably higher. Are there stoves that can accommodate such a wide range of applications? Can bigger stoves make satisfying smaller fires, without being overpowering?
4. I think wood heat is the only option: the stove is central to the character of the place, and I wouldn't want to change that. I grew up in a wood-heated house (stove and furnace): it's something I'd be happy to return to. Given that, it's important to me that the stove be good looking (subjective as that is). And given that if I ever did decide to live there for the colder months it would be necessary for life and comfort, it's important that it be robustly reliable, long-lived, etc.
5. My strong preference is for a stove that could last the night on one burn. If I ever decided to live there, I'd want to be able to live more or less normally, with a regular sleeping and working schedule, etc. Long burn time seems crucial.
6. To give you an idea of my current thinking: from reading around on the forums as much as I could, I like the sounds of the Woodstock stoves, also maybe also the Jotuls. But how big on either of these (or any others)?
7. Does anyone know if the tax credit would apply to a house that's currently mainly used as a rental? Sounds unlikely.
Thanks in advance for any help! The decision is not imminent (though I do find the Woodstock sale tempting)--I'm asking partly because it's all in my mind since we recently returned. And in part for medium-term planning, to begin to figure out if any of these fantasies are even possible.
I'm looking for advice for a stove for an uninsulated but well-built house/cottage on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The cottage is around 1200 square feet, on two levels, with a basement. The basement is walk-in height (8 ft?), dirt and gravel floored, and has a huge cement block in the middle (maybe 6x5) running from floor to ceiling, whose original use I've never figured out, and which takes up a lot of space. The main floor has living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bath. Upstairs, above the kitchen and bedroom, are two small bedrooms and a bath. The living room has a high, sloped, "cathedral" ceiling. The layout on the main level is quite open; the stairway is also open with no door at either end.
The place was built in 1970 on the foundations of the original farmhouse. It was designed by my father (an architect) for my grandparents as a summer home. That's why there's no insulation (though it seems, to my untrained senses, to be quite "tight" for what it is). As far as I know, it has only ever been used from around June-September/Oct.
There is an old Franklin #2 stove in the living room. The stove pipe runs straight up, for probably 20-25 feet, through the ceiling to the chimney pipe. Although there is good passive solar energy from southerly windows, the stove is the only active source of heat. There's an electric hot water heater in the basement.
Currently it is rented during the summer. For the past few years, I've gone with my kids for a few weeks at the end of the season. But every time I go, I love the house and the place more and more. So the thought has been entering my mind that at some point in the next stretch of years (3, 5, 10?), I might want to try living there longer. I imagine this could range from simply spending the whole summer, to stretching out into Feb/March/April or Oct/Nov, to at the extreme spending most of the year. So in that light, here are some of my concerns:
1. The old Franklin is what I've seen well-described here as a "smoke dragon." I really noticed it this year: every time we lit a fire, the interior of the house smoked up, and the stove wasn't even really heating the place well, unless really cranked up and roaring away. So the Franklin is inadequate right now. It's also dangerous--sparks do fly out of the front doors. It makes me nervous if renters are inattentive.
2. The main question: how reasonably comfortable for how long in the year do you think I could expect to be with a modern stove? In that part of Maine, the average low temperatures are Feb: 14, March: 22, Oct: 38, Nov: 29. Lowest lows in Feb/March: -10, -15. Does trying to stretch the livable period into the colder months even make sense in an uninsulated place in those conditions?
3. There is a pretty big range of uses to which the stoves would be put. For renters and during the summer, the occasional fire to take off the chill and for viewing pleasure. In the earlier spring or later fall, as suggested above, the demands would be considerably higher. Are there stoves that can accommodate such a wide range of applications? Can bigger stoves make satisfying smaller fires, without being overpowering?
4. I think wood heat is the only option: the stove is central to the character of the place, and I wouldn't want to change that. I grew up in a wood-heated house (stove and furnace): it's something I'd be happy to return to. Given that, it's important to me that the stove be good looking (subjective as that is). And given that if I ever did decide to live there for the colder months it would be necessary for life and comfort, it's important that it be robustly reliable, long-lived, etc.
5. My strong preference is for a stove that could last the night on one burn. If I ever decided to live there, I'd want to be able to live more or less normally, with a regular sleeping and working schedule, etc. Long burn time seems crucial.
6. To give you an idea of my current thinking: from reading around on the forums as much as I could, I like the sounds of the Woodstock stoves, also maybe also the Jotuls. But how big on either of these (or any others)?
7. Does anyone know if the tax credit would apply to a house that's currently mainly used as a rental? Sounds unlikely.
Thanks in advance for any help! The decision is not imminent (though I do find the Woodstock sale tempting)--I'm asking partly because it's all in my mind since we recently returned. And in part for medium-term planning, to begin to figure out if any of these fantasies are even possible.