1920 house size 1000sqf
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Take 1/3 of what you budgeted for the stove and spend it on insulation. Go nuts on insulating, sealing air leaks, and minimizing heat loss. You'll then need a smaller stove than you would have before. 1000 sq ft is really a pretty easy space to heat once it's insulated. I'm heating 1100 sq ft, 9 ft ceilings, R60 in the ceiling, uninsulated walls, with a Quad 2100 (1.5 cu ft. firebox), which is considered a small-to-medium sized stove.
I have the same size, age, and layout house, and heat it with the stove in the signature (can you say overkill?). However, prior to insulating, adding a blower, and covering windows, even that beast had trouble heating our house. Plaster is great for reflecting the heat, but we wanted some more insulation so used two techniques. One was to strip the plaster off, blow insulation behind the lath, stud out the walls 2", and add foil-faced foam and an airspace. R-19+ in the walls. Second techniques was to tear out the P&L, throw up R-19, and call it good. Not too much difference between the techniques, as the heat loss in walls is minimal compared to the ceiling and throught e drafts; but the heat retention in the house is much better overall. Cost for the insulation was some labor, some drywall (pretty cheap), and rolled insulation (also pretty cheap). ABout $3-400 you could do the whole house exterior walls. And get 30% back on your taxes. And need a smaller stove (though the bigger one is always better!).
Everyone!
Thanks, for this info. I will continue reading on regarding insulation. I'm going to go with the larger stove , the shelburne. And look into insulating more.
@ Fire Honor, did I understand you correctly that on the exterior walls you ripped off the plaster and lathe and put insulation in then SHEETROCK?
Thanks all,
V
Thanks, for this info. I will continue reading on regarding insulation. I'm going to go with the larger stove , the shelburne. And look into insulating more.
@ Fire Honor, did I understand you correctly that on the exterior walls you ripped off the plaster and lathe and put insulation in then SHEETROCK?
Thanks all,
V
Random thoughts . . .
One of the best bits of information I got here BEFORE I bought my stove was to first work on insulating and tightening up my house . . . otherwise I would simply spend a lot of time and money buying a larger stove to heat my house . . . and the outdoors . . . the goal of buying an efficient woodstove is to produce more heat with less wood . . . and keep that heat in the house where you want it . . . not outdoors where the squirrels will enjoy it. Insulate first.
Between the two stoves listed . . . I would go with the larger Shelburne. I have always been a proponent of going one size larger . . . although I'm not sure if the Shelburne might be a bit of an overkill once the house is insulated and tightened up. Honestly, I also remember one current/former Hearthstone dealer who once remarked that they never had good luck with the Crafstbury and even dubbed it the "Crapsbury."
Stove pipes do get hot . . . hot enough to burn you. Thermometers are more than nice . . . in my book they're very important . . . if you want to run your stove efficiently and safely. One could possibly argue that stove pipes today are a bit cooler thanks to cats and secondary burns vs. the smoke dragons which -- when ran wide open -- set a lot of heat up the chimney . . . but I'm not sure I would completely buy that argument.
Double burn = secondary burn. I would say many stoves utilize this type of tech to achieve clean burning . . . but not all stoves as other members have explained there are two other types of tech out there.
Fans . . . one of the best bits of advice I got AFTER I installed my stove was to use a simple fan pointed towards the stove from an adjacent room to move the heat throughout the house. Works well . . . very well.
One of the best bits of information I got here BEFORE I bought my stove was to first work on insulating and tightening up my house . . . otherwise I would simply spend a lot of time and money buying a larger stove to heat my house . . . and the outdoors . . . the goal of buying an efficient woodstove is to produce more heat with less wood . . . and keep that heat in the house where you want it . . . not outdoors where the squirrels will enjoy it. Insulate first.
Between the two stoves listed . . . I would go with the larger Shelburne. I have always been a proponent of going one size larger . . . although I'm not sure if the Shelburne might be a bit of an overkill once the house is insulated and tightened up. Honestly, I also remember one current/former Hearthstone dealer who once remarked that they never had good luck with the Crafstbury and even dubbed it the "Crapsbury."
Stove pipes do get hot . . . hot enough to burn you. Thermometers are more than nice . . . in my book they're very important . . . if you want to run your stove efficiently and safely. One could possibly argue that stove pipes today are a bit cooler thanks to cats and secondary burns vs. the smoke dragons which -- when ran wide open -- set a lot of heat up the chimney . . . but I'm not sure I would completely buy that argument.
Double burn = secondary burn. I would say many stoves utilize this type of tech to achieve clean burning . . . but not all stoves as other members have explained there are two other types of tech out there.
Fans . . . one of the best bits of advice I got AFTER I installed my stove was to use a simple fan pointed towards the stove from an adjacent room to move the heat throughout the house. Works well . . . very well.
firefightjake, great post/info..
I will do more insulating, but I am not sure about opening all plaster/lathe exterior walls, put in installation, then sheetrock as someone suggested.
I downloaded the manual and learned that Hearthstone recommend NFPA 211 code for rear walls if I want to go closer. Do you recommend this even though I will go with mfg spec with rear heat shield/dbl insult pipe? Should I do this extra protection even tho not mandatory?
Also, the stove has an add on of a blower, where apparently it sucks the air from the floor and moves it up between the heatshield and stove, which then would circulate the hot air. Initially I was just going to get my own fan but do you think this would be a good idea, from what the salesguy was saying this ultimately helps keep the back of the stove cooler and therefor the wall 30/40 degrees cooler. Thoughts?
I will do more insulating, but I am not sure about opening all plaster/lathe exterior walls, put in installation, then sheetrock as someone suggested.
I downloaded the manual and learned that Hearthstone recommend NFPA 211 code for rear walls if I want to go closer. Do you recommend this even though I will go with mfg spec with rear heat shield/dbl insult pipe? Should I do this extra protection even tho not mandatory?
Also, the stove has an add on of a blower, where apparently it sucks the air from the floor and moves it up between the heatshield and stove, which then would circulate the hot air. Initially I was just going to get my own fan but do you think this would be a good idea, from what the salesguy was saying this ultimately helps keep the back of the stove cooler and therefor the wall 30/40 degrees cooler. Thoughts?
Cheap solution is to cut/drill a small (1-2") hole at the top of every stud cavity in the wall, blow insulation behind the plaster, then patch and repair. Won't get every stud cavity completely, but will definitely make a difference. If you want sheetrock you can then run 3/8" sheetrock over the plaster, tape and texture and paint. But if the plaster's in good shape, why bother, just leave it - it's a lot more solid than sheetrock. If I could have saved ours I would have, the stuff stood for over 90 years - try to find sheetrock that old in good shape!
vixster said:
Even downstate, insulating a 1000 sq ft home can't cost a fortune and will pay for itself. If you don't insulate and get rid of air infiltration, you will still have the drafts, maybe even more so heating with wood. With a forced air heating system the air is moved around by the furnace and you don't feel the drafts as much. With wood heat you may find that the rooms farthest from the stove are draftier. Since it sounds like you aren't really comfortable ripping the walls apart and insulating or blowing in insulation yourself, you'd be farther ahead finding a reputable insulation contractor and getting an estimate on the job. A good insulation contractor can insulate your house with minimal plaster or exterior siding damage (and a reputable pro will do a better job than you or I could).
Don't get me wrong. I love heating with wood, and think wood heat is a great way to go, Just don't expect it to be the fix for a drafty house that lacks insulation.
FWIW, I'd also go with the larger stove.
I think blowing in cellulose or fiberglass insulation would be a lot easier than you expect, maybe one weekend including pathing the holes, and probably less than $250 total. I had never done it before, btu it took my wife and I about 5 minutes to figure it out and two hours to completely insulate the attic and a large chunk of the house walls, including cleanup. It's kind of fun when you get going. Insulation is one of those industries where you can pay a huge premium for labor, unless you go with something like foam-in-place that only professionals typically use and the premium cost gets added benefit.
However, it sounds like you are more concerned about the drafts. Stopping drafts is even easier than insulating (find draft, caulk or use spray foam, no more draft), the trick is finding the drafts. Once you've sealed the obvious (caulked baseboards, insulated outlets, sealed around windows and doors), I think it may be a wise investment to get a home energy audit or whatever they're called. They specialize in finding the leaks, cold places, etc. in a home and from what I hear are reasonably priced. Some states / counties / cities may even have programs and incentives to help with the cost.
As for the stove - I advise you to get the blower, others will say try the stove first and see. Most blowers are a night and day difference from fans, so if you feel you will want to move the air off the stove then the blower will do it. If you think the stove alone will heat the place ok, then don't worry about it and maybe use a fan as needed. Made an enormous difference in our application.
However, it sounds like you are more concerned about the drafts. Stopping drafts is even easier than insulating (find draft, caulk or use spray foam, no more draft), the trick is finding the drafts. Once you've sealed the obvious (caulked baseboards, insulated outlets, sealed around windows and doors), I think it may be a wise investment to get a home energy audit or whatever they're called. They specialize in finding the leaks, cold places, etc. in a home and from what I hear are reasonably priced. Some states / counties / cities may even have programs and incentives to help with the cost.
As for the stove - I advise you to get the blower, others will say try the stove first and see. Most blowers are a night and day difference from fans, so if you feel you will want to move the air off the stove then the blower will do it. If you think the stove alone will heat the place ok, then don't worry about it and maybe use a fan as needed. Made an enormous difference in our application.
Insulating your floors and attic space is easy - you can do this yourself. Just make sure you seal the floor penetrations with fire stop caulk first, and seal the attic penetrations with spray foam from a can or a good flexible caulk (depending on the size of the opening). For my floor and attic, I used fiberglass batts. There are other approaches as well. Just remember that insulating is all about patience and details - if you are just going to throw it up/down and not get the details right, then it won't do as much good as you think.
For the walls, you can get a contractor to blow them in with fiberglass or cellulose. They will remove a course of siding on the top and on the bottom, cut a hole in the sheathing, and blow down from the top and up from the bottom. Then they will re-install the siding. I avoided doing this for years since I thought that they would cut holds directly in the siding and destroy the appearance of it, but that was an unfounded fear. All I had to do was touch up the paint after they were done.
Keep the plaster walls - plaster is a great vapor barrier (far superior to drywall). Having a good vapor barrier on your inside walls will make any any paint job on your house last longer by keeping moisture from peeling the paint off from the back side. If you don't have wood siding, good vapor barriers are still important to keep the moisture out of your walls.
After you do insulating, you'll have a better idea as to the right stove to buy. 1000 square feet is not a lot of house, and your climate is not unbearably cold (though we all have different definitions of comfortable temperatures).
I just looked at the Hearthstone website, and I can't imagine putting a Shelburne in a well-insulated 1000 square foot house - that's a pretty decent sized stove. Unless you have a really open floor plan and like it really hot in the winter, you'll be running this with half loads all the time, and that would mean that you bought a stove that is too big. Just my two cents, take it for what it is worth.
For the walls, you can get a contractor to blow them in with fiberglass or cellulose. They will remove a course of siding on the top and on the bottom, cut a hole in the sheathing, and blow down from the top and up from the bottom. Then they will re-install the siding. I avoided doing this for years since I thought that they would cut holds directly in the siding and destroy the appearance of it, but that was an unfounded fear. All I had to do was touch up the paint after they were done.
Keep the plaster walls - plaster is a great vapor barrier (far superior to drywall). Having a good vapor barrier on your inside walls will make any any paint job on your house last longer by keeping moisture from peeling the paint off from the back side. If you don't have wood siding, good vapor barriers are still important to keep the moisture out of your walls.
After you do insulating, you'll have a better idea as to the right stove to buy. 1000 square feet is not a lot of house, and your climate is not unbearably cold (though we all have different definitions of comfortable temperatures).
I just looked at the Hearthstone website, and I can't imagine putting a Shelburne in a well-insulated 1000 square foot house - that's a pretty decent sized stove. Unless you have a really open floor plan and like it really hot in the winter, you'll be running this with half loads all the time, and that would mean that you bought a stove that is too big. Just my two cents, take it for what it is worth.
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