Many questions, multiple answers

[dmontemerlo]

Hello All,

I bought a house in October and since then have had a steep learning curve with wood fuels.
The house I bought came with a Harman Accentra pellet stove in the family room and a Lange wood stove in the unfinished basement. House is 2500 SQ ft, with only 1 stairway leading to the 2nd floor. I have since learned that cheap pellets are cheap for a reason and after using the Lange in the basement, I would like a wood furnace. I cut air registers in the floors on the first floor thinking that I could use radiant heat that way ( to no avail).
I am new to the forum and looking for insight into how to make wood burning my main source of heat. I live in northern Connecticut and while its pretty cold currently, I would like to help my budget out.
I'm really excited to find this forum, from reading it the last month before joining I can tell there is a lot of wisdom and this place is a tremendous resource.
Thanks in advance

 

[chken]

Hello All,

I bought a house in October and since then have had a steep learning curve with wood fuels.
The house I bought came with a Harman Accentra pellet stove in the family room and a Lange wood stove in the unfinished basement. House is 2500 SQ ft, with only 1 stairway leading to the 2nd floor. I have since learned that cheap pellets are cheap for a reason and after using the Lange in the basement, I would like a wood furnace. I cut air registers in the floors on the first floor thinking that I could use radiant heat that way ( to no avail).
I am new to the forum and looking for insight into how to make wood burning my main source of heat. I live in northern Connecticut and while its pretty cold currently, I would like to help my budget out.
I'm really excited to find this forum, from reading it the last month before joining I can tell there is a lot of wisdom and this place is a tremendous resource.
Thanks in advance

Posting your query in the wood burners forum would likely get you a whole bunch of good answers! As for the Accentra, from what I gather, the Harman owners say it will burn anything, equally well, perhaps, you shouldn't give up on your Harman, just yet. Stick around read the stickies at the top of the forum and maybe you'll find it works fine. If you aren't getting the air circ you want out of the registers, maybe a register with a fan in it would help.

 

[Bkins]

Welcome. I thought I would mention that cutting through floor registers can and does create a between floor fire chase if you were ever to have a fire. It really isn't recommended to do that and can, depending on your insurance carrier and wording, let them off the hook for paying. Might wish to read your policy and/or close up the between floor air registers.

Good luck on learning about a wood furnace and moving ahead.

Thought I'd throw something else out there for you. If you can get coal in your area it's another way to go. Coal has almost twice the btu's as dry wood for a ton to ton comparison. They also make coal furnaces and they can be controlled by thermostat. Just something else to confuse the issue.

 

[john193]

As stated, cutting holes in your floor compromises your house to a fire that could arise from the basement. Close them back up. They are likely against your local code as well.