Best part of owning a wood stove

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Wildflush

Minister of Fire
Dec 27, 2022
815
MA
For me since I installed the wood stove it has brought by family closer together. My wife who is always cold hangs out in our family room when the stove is on. Same with the kids.
 
As soon as I mention putting on a fire my 2 older dogs immediately head straight downstairs to the basement, with me following. My wife stays upstairs with the 2 pups, unless she needs to come down to warm her buns for a moment... 🥰

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My wood boiler sits under my living room and the thermal storage tank is right under my favorite chair. When I run the wood boiler to heat up the storage, the living room in general and the floor in particular come up to temp pretty quick and take a long time to lose temp after the boiler is out.

The somewhat practical aspect of a wood stove in one room is it depressurizes the house and pulls in cold air to the other rooms in the house so those other rooms are a lot colder than the stove room.
 
For me since I installed the wood stove it has brought by family closer together. My wife who is always cold hangs out in our family room when the stove is on. Same with the kids.
This is definitely a good benefit. We enjoy our time in the stove room. However........

Another good benefit though is time AWAY from the family lol. Just by myself out in the wood yard processing wood. It's a nice mental break and stress reliever after a tough day. We enjoy doing it as a family activity as well but I value the alone time when I get it.
 
This is definitely a good benefit. We enjoy our time in the stove room. However........

Another good benefit though is time AWAY from the family lol. Just by myself out in the wood yard processing wood. It's a nice mental break and stress reliever after a tough day. We enjoy doing it as a family activity as well but I value the alone time when I get it.
As an outdoorsman since I’ve been a kid I’ve always valued alone time. Nothing like working with my wood piles, deer and bird hunting and fishing. Heck I even enjoy my garden by myself.
 
My wood boiler sits under my living room and the thermal storage tank is right under my favorite chair. When I run the wood boiler to heat up the storage, the living room in general and the floor in particular come up to temp pretty quick and take a long time to lose temp after the boiler is out.

The somewhat practical aspect of a wood stove in one room is it depressurizes the house and pulls in cold air to the other rooms in the house so those other rooms are a lot colder than the stove room.
Sometimes I wish this was the case in my house but since we have an open floor plan my kitchen which is adjacent to our stove room which is 26x12 is 77 now. My dining room at the other end of the house where I like work during the day is very warm. My home is a cape 26x36. Upstairs is 73 now. My house is also well insulated with many newer windows and a slider.
 
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Sometimes I wish this was the case in my house but since we have an open floor plan my kitchen which is adjacent to our stove room which is 26x12 is 77 now. My dining room at the other end of the house where I like work during the day is very warm. My home is a cape 26x36. Upstairs is 73 now. My house is also well insulated with many newer windows and a slider.
We also have a gambrel cape from 1985 but it's still the more classic closed floor plan. 4 rooms downstairs plus a bathroom, and 3 bedrooms upstairs plus a bathroom. The tv is in the den. The "living room" is obviously where the stove is but is more of a formal living room, the dog hangs out there and my desk is there (only recreational use I don't work from home or it would be too hot). The air circulates well with just one fan. House is decently insulated but still has original windows and old doors which aren't the best. This is a nice temperature dispersion.

This will be our 4th year here. We've renovated literally every room in that time. Moving forward we'd like to replace the windows, add a breezeway/garage/extra room above, and remove the wall between the dining room and kitchen to have a more open plan with an island. Possibly connect the living room and dining room too. It'll definitely affect the way the stove heats but I suspect it'll still work well, I may just need a different fan location. That's probably a few years away though. For now it heats remarkably well for the closed plan we have.

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CAW that is perfect! Our house was built in 2000 and we replaced some of our windows as needed with Harvey Classics which we really like. One of my buddies is a carpenter and recommended these and the pricing was decent. Our old wood slider in our kitchen you could feel the draft. The new slider is tight.
 
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You mean you don't miss these bad boys? They've been painted so many times they barely open and shut. OG windows.

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You mean you don't miss these bad boys? They've been painted so many times they barely open and shut. OG windows.

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Caw, I made an interior storm from 1x2'' pine. I wrapped both sides with clear 4 mil plastic. Used foam weather stripping on the sides and sized them snug. They work remarkably well. Helps deaden outside sound too. My windows are much older and larger. Have about 28 more to do ...LOL
 
Yes looks similar to what we still have in parts of the house. We went with wood windows when house was built since we wanted stained doors and trim. Now my wife wants white trim and vinyl. 🙄
 
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Yes looks similar to what we still have in parts of the house. We went with wood windows when house was built since we wanted stained doors and trim. Now my wife wants white trim and vinyl. 🙄
I think just about every house built in MA from 1950-1990 has these windows. Modern ones are so nice but outrageously expensive. We might do the room by room plan every year once we finalize the addition plans.

@all night moe that's a good idea. We did something similar at our previous tire, the glass would shake they were so drafty. These work well enough, thankfully not that bad, just old.
 
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For me since I installed the wood stove it has brought by family closer together. My wife who is always cold hangs out in our family room when the stove is on. Same with the kids.
agreed...we all tend to snuggle up to the heat. I also love the flames dancing through the window. Hubby and I contemplated an old cook stove that was for sale online. Then I realized that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the flames and voted a firm 'no'. I have seen some cook stoves with windows so we still may go that route...more research is needed.

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I think just about every house built in MA from 1950-1990 has these windows. Modern ones are so nice but outrageously expensive. We might do the room by room plan every year once we finalize the addition plans.

@all night moe that's a good idea. We did something similar at our previous tire, the glass would shake they were so drafty. These work well enough, thankfully not that bad, just old.
Unfortunately the payback in saved energy for window replacement is terrible. Wood windows with triple track storms like you have (got to close them) really are not that far off from double pane windows without storms.
 
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i have handmade french windows,look fantastic but don't keep cold out in anyway shape or form.have 14 at 1500 hundred a pop not installed,throw another split on the fire honey ;lol ;lol !!!
 
Unfortunately the payback in saved energy for window replacement is terrible. Wood windows with triple track storms like you have (got to close them) really are not that far off from double pane windows without storms.
In our case you could feel the draft after 20 years with the wood slider. Good loss of heat. Some of the windows we replaced had trim rot that reached the window frame. All azek trim now no more painting. Resale of our home will also be higher with the improvements we made.