I'm going to heat with wood this winter, but...

[LJ4174]

Hello... I'm new here and new to burning wood. I'm sure many, many, many other people are thinking the same way I am this winter. Last year I heated with oil, went through 800 gallons, so at $5 or $6 a gallon that is pretty expensive... Price aside, I also want to heat with wood so I have a heat source in the event I loose power. Also, I have access to free wood or cheap wood and a neighbor and I are going to be cutting and splitting together... He currently has a Jotul wood stove that he heats his 3000 sqr. ft. house with...

So there's a few facts... My issue/concern is I really don't know what type of burner I want to get. I have 2 options... The way my house is laid out, I don't have an option to put a wood stove on the 1st floor. So, if I do a wood stove, I would put it in the basement. Leave the basment door open, put some vents/grates in the 1st floor at a few places. My foyer is vaulted and my house is very open as far as room to room. I basically have 2 Large rooms in my downstairs. 1 room is the kitchen living room, the other half of the house is the dining room, foyer and family room. My home is 2400 sqr. ft. So that is option 1, wood stove in the basement. This would obviously be easier and cheaper to install... Thoughts on this option? Will this make my basment too hot to go in? I'm a drummer and I have band practice down there. Also, I have a bunch of drums, will wood heat affect them?

Option 2, is an RSF factory built fireplace... This would go on the first floor. They have blowers and I can even hook this up to my current heating system, although I don't think I'm going to. This option is more expensive, but would look nicer in my house and I think it would be more convienent to watch the fire etc. Although for this option I need to cut a hole in the side of my house to install this. I also have 2 young children 3 years and 1 year and I'm worried about them burning themselves on it. Also, the fire place would have to go in the room we spend all our time in. So would it be too hot in there to be comfortable?

I have a whole house blower system to circulate the air...

Please anything anyone can tell me would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance...

LJ

 

[BrotherBart]

I will let everybody else weigh in on the pros and cons of your heating options. But as a drummer I haven't seen any negative effect on my Gretsch kit in all the years I have had wood stoves burning in my basement office/practice area. The kit is 20 years old and the shells look like the day I bought them.

 

[begreen]

Welcome LJ. I think you summed it up. A lot of folks start off by thinking there is no room on the first floor. But then, after thinking some more about it, they realize that maybe there are options. Put the fireplace or a freestanding stove on the first floor. It will take rearranging things and at first seem like a big hassle. But by Christmas, you'l be told to wipe that silly grin off your face.

Don't worry about the kids, there are protective gates if required. But almost all kids have an innate respect for something very hot. This is reinforced by a strong parental warning of - Owee, HOT! Our neighbor has two very active boys (3 & 6) and they give the stove wide berth even when they are racing around the living room. The house will not get too hot unless you want it to. You control the fire by the size you build and the length of time you let it burn.

 

[LJ4174]

I will let everybody else weigh in on the pros and cons of your heating options. But as a drummer I haven't seen any negative effect on my Gretsch kit in all the years I have had wood stoves burning in my basement office/practice area. The kit is 20 years old and the shells look like the day I bought them.

Thank you, that's good to know... I build custom kits and have a 20 year old Tama I keep down there. I also have a gretsh catalina, but I'm refinishing that to sell...

Welcome LJ. I think you summed it up. A lot of folks start off by thinking there is no room on the first floor. But then, after thinking some more about it, they realize that maybe there are options. Put the fireplace or a freestanding stove on the first floor. It will take rearranging things and at first seem like a big hassle. But by Christmas, you'l be told to wipe that silly grin off your face.

Don't worry about the kids, there are protective gates if required. But almost all kids have an innate respect for something very hot. This is reinforced by a strong parental warning of - Owee, HOT! Our neighbor has two very active boys (3 & 6) and they give the stove wide berth even when they are racing around the living room. The house will not get too hot unless you want it to. You control the fire by the size you build and the length of time you let it burn.

Thanks for the response, but... When I say there is no room on the first floor for a wood stove, I really mean I couldn't put one in, just the way it is laid out, it would stick out too far into the living room, and the only way I could put it in the family room is to get rid of furniture and I really don't want to do that. It has to go in one of these 2 rooms if I go on the 1st floor because of chimney locations... So if I did a wood stove, it would have to go in the basement and heat 3 floors, however the zero clearance EPA certified fire place is very appealing, but much more work and cost to install...

 

[begreen]

What if the stove sat in a corner of the room? That is where we compromised and put the stove and we have a very modest sized living room. It meant one less piece of furniture, but that ended up not a big deal at all. While there are a few success stories heating from the basement, there are also a lot setups that don't work out that well. Expecting to adequately heat 3 stories with a basement stove will probably need the basement to be kept quite hot and the upstairs 2nd floor to stay quite cool.

 

[LJ4174]

got a dedicated flue for stove or furnace in cellar? consider wood furnace in cellar to work in conjunction with present air ducts.

Nope, got this stupid power vent thing, it's basically a blower, that sticks out of the side of my house, very dumb design...

What if the stove sat in a corner of the room? That is where we compromised and put the stove and we have a very modest sized living room. It meant one less piece of furniture, but that ended up not a big deal at all. While there are a few success stories heating from the basement, there are also a lot setups that don't work out that well. Expecting to adequately heat 3 stories with a basement stove will probably need the basement to be kept quite hot and the upstairs 2nd floor to stay quite cool.

Can't do it... There is only 1 corner in the room, I know that probably doesn't make sense, but the other side of the room is my stairs... The living room is open to the kitchen and eat in kitchen so I can't put it in the middle either for a bunch of reasons, but also considering the chimney... I want to run a double insulated chimney on the outside of my house, I don't want to go through floors and ceilings... Also, in the corner I have a window and it's the opposite side of my peak on my roof, so a chimney wouldn't work there either... Another reason I can't and don't want to put a stove in that corner is, I want to build onto my house eventually and that area will be the entrance into the new room... Trust me when I say there isn't a room for a stove on the first floor, there really isn't, which is why if I want to put this on the first floor, I have to do a zero clearance fire place and build it into the wall... This is what I'm considering:

http://www.hearthwear.com/RSF-FirePlaces/Opel.cfm

Other than that, I don't know... I appreciate all the suggestions and comments...

 

[LJ4174]

cant run woodstove thru powervent.

Yeah, I know... I have to put up a seperate chimney...

 

[Hogwildz]

A layout of the place &/or pics would help alot.

 

[savageactor7]

Hi LJ both those options are...well not that good. What does your friend that has the Jotul wood stove say about this? If you want to be warm you don't want a stove in the basement or a fireplace...maybe you could solicit opinions from your local hearth shop...they know what they're doing. what you really want is a free standing wood stove esp since you have a source of wood and a battle buddy to show you the ropes and cut with you...you can't put a price on that.

 

[BrotherBart]

Fact of life is that a good EPA rated fireplace isn't a bad choice. Expensive, but it oughta get the job done.

 

[Todd]

I have heated 3 different homes with basement woodstoves and all three acted different but worked to some degree. If you go with the stove install it as close to the stairwell as possible? This can work but you need other cold air returns that run into the basement to create a air circulation loop. Think of supply/return by bringing the cool air down to the basement to be heated by the stove and naturally rise. It will be hotter in the basement of course, but you will get some heat upstairs. The difference in temps between floors can be anywhere from 5-10 degrees.

I'm not familiar with the RSF fireplaces, but if they can be installed with duct work that vents to the upstairs it seems like it would work better than a free standing stove.

 

[karl]

You mentioned chimneys. Do you have a fireplace now? Why not put a wood insert in there. Also maybe buy a reallly cheap zero clearance fireplace and put an insert in it?

 

[jeffman3]

.......Option 2, is an RSF factory built fireplace... This would go on the first floor. They have blowers and I can even hook this up to my current heating system, although I don't think I'm going to. This option is more expensive, but would look nicer in my house and I think it would be more convienent to watch the fire etc. Although for this option I need to cut a hole in the side of my house to install this. I also have 2 young children 3 years and 1 year and I'm worried about them burning themselves on it. Also, the fire place would have to go in the room we spend all our time in. So would it be too hot in there to be comfortable?

I have a whole house blower system to circulate the air...

Please anything anyone can tell me would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance...

LJ

If you have to cut a hole in the wall anyway, build the alcove and put in a free standing stove, and run the pipe up the side of the house. Watch your clearance's, and enjoy the efficiency of a free standing stove (probably with a blower on the stove to push the heat into the room), and the placement options of a fireplace.

You are right, you will want to watch the fire (I watch mine more then the TV when we are burning!), and the kids will be fine after some training. If you are worried, put up some child fence around it till they learn.

 

[savageactor7]

LJ there's nothing better than getting out of a shower on a cold winters morning and towel drying by a free standing stove. With a stove in your 'living area' you're just not warm enough to survive winter...you're gloriously warm.

 

[LJ4174]

A layout of the place &/or pics would help alot.

OK, here you go... I figured it'd be easier to put this up on a website...

http://www.badrums.com/woodheat.htm

Thanks for all the replies and help thus far, keep em' comin'...

 

[LJ4174]

Boy, so many replies... I play in a band and it was a late night last night... Anyway, here goes...

I have heated 3 different homes with basement woodstoves and all three acted different but worked to some degree. If you go with the stove install it as close to the stairwell as possible? This can work but you need other cold air returns that run into the basement to create a air circulation loop. Think of supply/return by bringing the cool air down to the basement to be heated by the stove and naturally rise. It will be hotter in the basement of course, but you will get some heat upstairs. The difference in temps between floors can be anywhere from 5-10 degrees.

I'm not familiar with the RSF fireplaces, but if they can be installed with duct work that vents to the upstairs it seems like it would work better than a free standing stove.

Yeah, I have cold air returns throughout the whole house...

You mentioned chimneys. Do you have a fireplace now? Why not put a wood insert in there. Also maybe buy a reallly cheap zero clearance fireplace and put an insert in it?

No, no fireplace now, but from what I seen, the zero clearance fireplaces is kinda like an insert with a built in fire box...

LJ[/quote]

If you have to cut a hole in the wall anyway, build the alcove and put in a free standing stove, and run the pipe up the side of the house. Watch your clearance's, and enjoy the efficiency of a free standing stove (probably with a blower on the stove to push the heat into the room), and the placement options of a fireplace.

You are right, you will want to watch the fire (I watch mine more then the TV when we are burning!), and the kids will be fine after some training. If you are worried, put up some child fence around it till they learn.[/quote]

I just posted some pics, I really can't put a wood stove on my first floor. Also directly above my living room is my master bedroom, the chimney needs to be on the outside of the house... I don't want to cut through floors and the roof...

LJ there's nothing better than getting out of a shower on a cold winters morning and towel drying by a free standing stove. With a stove in your 'living area' you're just not warm enough to survive winter...you're gloriously warm.

Oh man... If I put a fire place in and get out of the shower to dry off (shower is up stairs) could have issues with the wife. She can't keep her hands off me now as it is...

 

[LJ4174]

Hi LJ both those options are...well not that good. What does your friend that has the Jotul wood stove say about this? If you want to be warm you don't want a stove in the basement or a fireplace...maybe you could solicit opinions from your local hearth shop...they know what they're doing. what you really want is a free standing wood stove esp since you have a source of wood and a battle buddy to show you the ropes and cut with you...you can't put a price on that.

My neighbor with the Jotul has it in his living room. His house is probably 2700-2900 sqr. ft. His living room has a vaulted ceiling and it is very open to the upstairs. His stove is rated at 3500 sqr. ft. and his house was very comfortable last winter. He only has a ceiling fan in the living room, and runs his whole house blower to circulate the air. His stove isn't hooked up to any blowers or directly into the duct work...

From the local hearth shop http://www.shortsstoves.com/ it sounds like either option would work for me. The guy that owns this shop is extremely knowledgable and spent probably an hour and half with me talking about options. There is a heat and glow fireplace that is very nice, but you have to have an insulated chimney and can't use the double insulated stainless pipe. That's what I really want to use for now. I don't want to have to build a chimney the whole way up. However he sells the RSF and the BIS fireplaces as well and they both use these chimney options.

 

[LJ4174]

OK, so the wife just sent me this link, these are the plans for our home, I think they updated them some but this is the jist of it...

http://www.berkshomes.com/Data/Models/Amberleigh/Amberleigh_Floor_Plan/Amberleigh_Floor_Plan

Any and all information is greatly appreciated... I want to purchase my fireplace or stove in the next week or so...

Thanks...