- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
Until recently I knew nothing about wood stoves. My wife and I are having a house built and we will be installing a wood stove. We have been looking at companies (Vermont Casting- Waterford- Hearthstone...) and gathering info. First off- I have learned much by reading your digest pages. From this I have learned about a lot I did not know (class A chims- barametric draft controls- reverse flows- etc). However- I realize now how little I do know...thus my question.
1) is there a good book to explain "all there is to know about wood stoves?"Also- can any builder install a new wood stove or should we bring in someone special for the installation
2) How do I know which dealer to go with. It seems from the digest pages that many people get "wrong" advise or "bad" advise from their local dealers. I am afraid we will pick the wrong dealer and have costly problems to fix.
Answer:
Good Woodheat Books - Not at the moment...but if you can find some older ones in the library "Wood Heat Safety" and Woodburners Encyclopedia" by Jay Shelton.First- make certain the dealer is a member of HPA (our trade group). This- at the least- shows they care about education and other concerns. Then- make certain they've been around for awhile. Many stores have been in the business for 20 years or more..this is also a good sign. A store that has "in-house" installation may be technically savvy.You're probably better off with a qualified installer...there are a lot of little tricks and codes to apply. Any good store should be able to recommend one for you.
Until recently I knew nothing about wood stoves. My wife and I are having a house built and we will be installing a wood stove. We have been looking at companies (Vermont Casting- Waterford- Hearthstone...) and gathering info. First off- I have learned much by reading your digest pages. From this I have learned about a lot I did not know (class A chims- barametric draft controls- reverse flows- etc). However- I realize now how little I do know...thus my question.
1) is there a good book to explain "all there is to know about wood stoves?"Also- can any builder install a new wood stove or should we bring in someone special for the installation
2) How do I know which dealer to go with. It seems from the digest pages that many people get "wrong" advise or "bad" advise from their local dealers. I am afraid we will pick the wrong dealer and have costly problems to fix.
Answer:
Good Woodheat Books - Not at the moment...but if you can find some older ones in the library "Wood Heat Safety" and Woodburners Encyclopedia" by Jay Shelton.First- make certain the dealer is a member of HPA (our trade group). This- at the least- shows they care about education and other concerns. Then- make certain they've been around for awhile. Many stores have been in the business for 20 years or more..this is also a good sign. A store that has "in-house" installation may be technically savvy.You're probably better off with a qualified installer...there are a lot of little tricks and codes to apply. Any good store should be able to recommend one for you.