just dreaming... (opinions wanted, please)

[Mt Ski Bum]

I'm just dreaming at the moment, but someday, money permitting, I plan to buy a little piece of land up here in Big Sky to build my own log house...

Here's one of the floor plans I really like- maybe just increase the sq. footage a little bit- maybe increase it up to 2,000 sq. ft. (the company that makes these places posts these plans as suggestions, & can customize or modify any plan you like). And of course, I want to heat with wood (why else would I be a heath.com member? ;-P) Keep in mind Big Sky is located in a relatively cold mountain climate at 7,500 feet.

Even though I'm just dreaming at the moment, I'd like your opinions on what wood-burning unit you'd suggest putting in the place, just out of curiosity.

Among the various units I'm dreaming to put in it:

Possibly a Heat N' Glo North Star fireplace, or maybe a Fireplace Xtrordinaire (do you guys think a 44-elite would overheat the place?- I do love things with large fireboxes. )


Or maybe a free-standing stove, such as the Avalon Olympic would be better? Maybe I should buy all of the above, plus a Hearthstone Equinox? (OK, now I'm really dreaming. LOL)

Again, I'm just dreaming- just curious what all you guys think.

btw- here's some side info & additional plans from that company- http://www.nordiqueloghomes.com/index.html

 

[snowleopard]

Hey, Ski,

I've lived around and in several log cabins, and love the ambiance, but have found disadvantages with them. The first is warmth. They are cozy only when heated up enough to get the logs warmed and reflecting back the thermal mass. Inherently, they are more of a conductor than an insulator, due to their density. Their insulation is directly proportionate to their thickness (R-value is greater with softwoods than hardwoods, but averages about 1=1"), and this cabin is built w/6-7" logs, unless they are two-sided (see how there are 14 logs per floor?) Not much warmth there at all. And they can be leaky. Siting would be critical to take advantage of orientation to the sun and protection from the winds.

Log cabins are beautiful, but require more maintenance than many other constructions, both inside (ever wipe down and re-oil logs?) and outside. They are limited in terms of redecoration if you want a different look, short of firring them out and hanging sheetrock.

They're a bit trickier in terms of running wiring--most people go with a casing on the inside. I knew one person who drilled logs and ran the wires through them--got hit by lightning and burned, but that's freakishly rare.

Lofts are not the greatest design when it comes to staying warm, either. I'm a fan of 8' ceilings in a truly cold climate.

One of the houses I looked at when I was shopping was very similar to your design, though no attached garage, and it had 8" logs. It was beautiful, and I liked a lot about it, but took a pass because I was concerned about heating it. Interestingly, a co-worker bought that house. She told me they were paying $700 a month to heat it with fuel oil until they got a Toyo installed for supplemental space heating.

This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but there it is.

Given all that, if I were building or buying a log cabin, I'd definitely go with wood heat because it works very well in heating up the logs, and getting that thermal mass thing working in your favor. I'm too partial to soapstone to be objective, but I think that steel might work better in warming those walls--especially if it's cooled off and you need quick heat. Some of our engineering brainiacs here could better advise.

Since you're still in the dreaming stage, have you ever looked into straw-bale housing?

 

[madison]

Bum,

I've fished bummed all around your neck of the woods, mainly south a bit on 191 off of 287 and/or 20. More important than the stove is the design of the place. One of the best places I visited was at a friends place, who bought a local "feather merchant's" residence off of 20 near Denny Creek, who had lived there yr round. And it was ~ 2000 sq ft, one stove (a quad) in the center of the home, three bed rooms, but the entire home had a common raised ceiling with four ceiling fans. So all of the rooms had ~ eight/nine foot walls, but no ceilings.

I would imagine if you were living with a bunch of noisy kids or friends, this house would not be ideal, but for wood heat heating, the place was great. It was a very nice place to hang...

 

[DanCorcoran]

You didn't ask about floor plan, but I'd suggest a dormer in the loft to make room for a second bath (even if it's only a half bath). The master bedroom would be a lot more livable.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

I'd say for 2000 sq ft in in Big Sky you could and should get the largest stove you can. I don't think it would overheat if it's a fairly open floor plan. I would vote for the 44 Elite for an efficient EPA zero clearance fireplace, the Hearthstone Equinox for the ultimate freestanding (nice even heat from the soapstone) or a Lopi Liberty for a more economical steel stove. I have a Lopi Liberty and love it.

 

[firefighterjake]

No real opinion on stoves . . . but I will echo the thought about the loft . . . I love the look of lofts and open to the roof line myself . . . but there is a reason why many of the older homes built in cold climates did not have lofts . . . well two reasons . . . first off you've got "lost" potential living space and the second issue is the challenge of heating. I know it can be done . . . and I have seen some folks' homes here that have lofts, but in my own case I opted to not get a home with a loft or build a home with a loft despite liking the look since my Uncle's home on a hill with a loft was a case where the loft in the winter was always miserably hot and on the first floor it was always cool unless you were within a few feet of the stove. Fans helped some . . . but not much.

 

[begreen]

+3. If I had a loft layout, that would be the livingroom/sauna and I would be sleeping in the downstairs bedrooms.

When building new, assuming that the builder is under contract to pay close attention to sealing and insulation is specced to be done to high standards, plus the house is sited to take advantage of solar gain, then a 2 cu ft stove should be sufficient. If not, add a cu ft capacity and more wood consumption. I would be thinking the Lopi Endeavor, PE Spectrum, Jotul Rangeley for a good tight place with serious insulation.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We too considered a log home and I love the looks of them inside and out. We even considered the half log for siding with our recent remodel but eventually chose vinyl siding simply because there is so much less maintenance with vinyl.

I agree with snowleopard except for the steel over soapstone. I think the soapstone would keep those walls warmer much better than a steel stove and one reason in particular is when we switched from a steel stove to a soapstone, everything has been warmer, including the floors. We have the stove on a 16" raised hearth and I thought the floors would be even colder. Not so! The floors are much warmer than before. And I figured heat always went up!

Good luck in Big Sky Country.

 

[xman23]

Ski, Big Sky is on my list of places I need to ski. That's about my cabin layout, with no garage and a full basement. Our Jotel is a corner install in the living room. One slider out to a deck 12' deck across back connected to 6' covered deck around the side. Our loft bedroom has a half wall, no doors. From bed you can watch a sun rise in a big picture and half round at the living room end of the house. You do need a gable roof dormer in the loft for a bath over the 1st floor bath. The stove has no problem keeping the house toasty at -10F. I think the open floor plan works well with the stove heat. Although I to wanted to build a log, but I didn't because of the maintenance and construction issues snownleopard explained so well. So we built timber frame inside and conventional framing on the exterior walls.

Hope you can make your dream happen, as I did.

 

[WidowMaker]

I Thank that place begs for a Blaze King... I heat a mediocore insulated 2000 sq ft house with a Endeavor and I here to tell you I wouldn't even consider trying to heat such a place as that in that country with one...It just ain't enought stove, Liberty might do, but my chioce would Blaze King....

 

[snowleopard]

I agree with snowleopard except for the steel over soapstone. I think the soapstone would keep those walls warmer much better than a steel stove and one reason in particular is when we switched from a steel stove to a soapstone, everything has been warmer, including the floors. We have the stove on a 16" raised hearth and I thought the floors would be even colder. Not so! The floors are much warmer than before. And I figured heat always went up!.

And there you have it! I retract my statement. Go with soapstone. But still---take a good look at strawbale.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

Thanks for all the advise, guys. I'm kinda leaning towards the FPX 44 if I ever built this place- something about the idea of a fireplace with a giant firebox that accepts 32" logs attracts me... haha. As I said, right now I'm in the "dreaming" phase, & probably won't move on to the "planning" or whatever stage for at least several more years (unless a big bag of money falls out of the sky onto my doorstep, or I win the lottery jackpot, or my pay rate suddenly triples (not likely, since the state legislature just killed a bill that would have gave us state employees a 1% raise this year, after being on pay-freeze for the past 5 years).- All of which I'd love to see happen, but highly unlikely, unfortunately)

As for log home maintainance, this "Nordique" system of building that this comany uses supposedly dramatically reduces the tradition extra maintainance required by log homes. They use nothing but standing dead lodgepoles to build (thus supposedly eliminating the shrinkage & warpage caused by green logs drying), & they pre-construct the house wall-by-wall in their lumber yard before shipping the pieces off to the site of the house. They also use vertical logs at each corner that supposedly help eliminate settling that would be found in a typical saddle notch home... I don't know how accurate those claims are, but wither way they seem like a pretty cool company http://www.nordiqueloghomes.com/a_abt_compare.html

Snowleopard- that's odd- I would've guessed that hardwoods, being denser, would have a higher R-value than softwoods- goes to show what I know As for straw/bale housing, it sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if it'd work here in Big Sky or not- we do have wolves around here- wouldn't want them to come & "huff & puff" my house down like they did to those 3 pigs :lol: %-P


Madison- maybe I'll bump into ya this summer... you'd better not avoid my angler check stations on the river!

 

[woodchip]

Can't give any advice on woodburners up there, but if I were to have a log cabin in that area, my dream would be to have a view of Chief Mountain, up near the Alberta border.

Just dreaming though

 

[madison]

Madison- maybe I'll bump into ya this summer... you'd better not avoid my angler check stations on the river!

Stealth is my middle name... haha april and oct are my typical times, though now and then I hit Hebgan in august. Keep dry, looks like you are about to get crushed with runoff.

 

[snowleopard]

Snowleopard- that's odd- I would've guessed that hardwoods, being denser, would have a higher R-value than softwoods- goes to show what I know As for straw/bale housing, it sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if it'd work here in Big Sky or not- we do have wolves around here- wouldn't want them to come & "huff & puff" my house down like they did to those 3 pigs :lol: %-P

Which is more dense, steel or goose down?

http://www.alternate-energy-sources.com/straw-bale-construction.html

 

[snowleopard]

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[Got Wood]

I have the FPX 44. It will heat your 2000 sq ft home easily. There are pro's and con's with a fireplace vs free standing stove that boil down to personal preference. From reading lots of your other posts I know you have a good handle on that. The one con I would mention for the 44 is it is one hungry tool - I go through a lot of fire wood. Now, I'm sure part of that is my burning style and air controls ... but I have 3 years with it now and I have played around a fair bit. Here in NY, I have averaged around 5.5 cords heating the house. My oil furnace is back up that very rarely kicks on. Reading about the wood consumption from some of these wood stove owners it appears that my 5.5 is quite high.