Newbie in NC Piedmont Needs Advice

[ngraysmith]

With the heat in our new-to-use house being out for the past week, and power outage possibilities, I have decided to get a woodstove to heat our house. Here are the specifics:

We live in the NC Piedmont, so it is only "cold" for about 3 months out of the year, I am sure there are nights outside this range that we would also use the stove, depending on the winter/spring. This one is turning out to be cold!

I want to be able to cook on the stove when the power goes out since we have an electric cooktop and no plans to change to gas, and I am not particularly good at being careful, so soapstone is probably out.

We have 2 acres plenty of hardwoods and access to plenty more well seasoned (a friend who is an arborist). We lost a 30 foot tall oak this summer, working on getting that ready to burn for next winter (1 1/2 years at that point).

Our house has a very strange floorplan, as follows:
First floor is almost 2000 square feet: Large open downstairs with entry sunroom (180 square feet) open to living/dining room (325 sq ft) which has cathedral ceilings. Off of the living /dining room there is an opening to a kitchen (156) and on the other side of the kitchen there is a bar with a family room (390) off to the side. Also open from the living room is the staircase to the second floor. There are two back rooms after the staircase (bed/bath and a room that used to be a porch that the former owners enclosed. The cathedral ceiling in the living room opens to a loft office space, our bedroom which has a "juliet" window - aka a large hole in the wall looking down into the living room and a smaller - second floor has a total of about 900 square feet. There is also a third floor with a 500 square foot finished attic which is completely closed off - we don't need to heat it with the woodstove. No basement, only crawlspace.

There was a fireplace originally in the family room but it was collapsing and had to be removed.

Two options for locating the wood stove: living/dining room where it would vent the side wall and then up the side of the house or in the family room where it would vent out the roof.

We do plan to be here for at least the next 18 years, possibly for the rest of our lives (we have three children, ages 10, 6 and almost 2).

We don't want to spend more than $3,000 to purchase and install.

My thoughts after reading these forums : 2+ cubic foot firebox because the house is large, definitely need a blower to move the heat around. Catalytic so I can run it at lower temperatures for when the weather is mild, and hopefully to get longer burns so that I don't have to keep loading all the time. Also, we currently keep the house around 60 - we don't mind it cold and I prefer it to be around 65. Of course, that may change as we age

Since we live in NC, we are looking at local stoves (I have not talked to any dealers yet): the Buck 80, the High Valley 1500 and 2500, Appalachian 52. Anything else I should consider? Any advice?


Thanks,

Nicole

 

[mellow]

Figure out your costs for going Class A chimney to the top of your house, Selkirk has a good online planning page: http://www.selkirkcorp.com/installation-planners/supervent.aspx so once you figure out what you will need and costs for that then you can figure out how much you have left over for a stove.

Just a heads up that the High Valley stoves and the Buck 80/91 run on an 8" chimney which will be more expensive, Appalachian bay 52 has it in writing that it will work on 6" or 8".

Depending on how much chimney pipe you need you might need to increase your budget or find a used stove.

 

[RickBlaine]

Nicole,

Welcome to Hearth.com. I am new here too but just wanted to comment on your downed oak tree and time frame. One of the things I learned on here is that oak may be one of the best woods to burn, but it takes a loooong time to get dry enough to burn effectively. It will need at least two years, and most likely three full years of seasoning.

And by "seasoning", they don't "start the clock" when the tree fell, but only AFTER the tree was downed, quartered with a log splitter or axe, split into smaller width pieces, and stacked outside with airflow running over/under/next to it. You will of course want a rain cover but only for the top of your wood pile. You can search how to make the proper wood pile for drying/seasoning wood, but I am sure your neighbor can offer help.

Please post pics! Many ideas and suggestions can happen with just a few pics.

Smart thinking about preparing for power outages and such.

Good luck.

 

[rideau]

Keep in mind no blower is going to work during a power outage. Maybe plan for a stove that will provide for your needs pretty well without a blower. Not saying not to get one with a blower, just don't be dependent on it for sufficient heating ability.

Not being careful is no reason to avoid soapstone. It is very easy to polish soapstone and remove surface stains. But your budget pretty much excludes soapstone unless you look used. Looking used, what ever stove you choose, is not a bad idea. There may be a lot of people changing stoves after this winter, so there may be some good stoves available on the used market. Also, people move and sell their stoves, or just try a different brand...anyway, suggest you keep an eye on local ads an Craig's list.

Another stove to consider, which might be perfect for you, is the new Woodstock Ideal Steel, which has a cooktop (cast iron), is catalytic, and should be big enough to heat your home. It is supposed to be available for purchase this summer. If you investigate at their website and find you are interested, put your name on the list NOW. There is no commitment, but it will keep a stove lined up for you It will not run more than $2000, and may retail for somewhat less, so you might run slightly, but hopefully not much over$3000 once stovepipe is included, but you'd have a great catalytic and secondary (it's a hybrid) stove that is very efficient, gives very long burn times and is made by a great company that provides excellent direct customer support; the stove has no blower, but a fan will move air fine for you if required, and no blower or fan will work when you have a power outage.

It is certainly worth researching the Ideal Steel.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like you would do ok with a 3 cu ft stove. It will have the reserves you want to heat the place with the power out with cold weather in the teens. To stay on budget I would look at the Drolet HT2000, Buck 74 and Englander 30NC. All non-cats. We heat our place in a similar winter climate with a big stove and it doesn't drive us out of the house. We just burn smaller hot fires in the fall and spring and let them go out. Above 45-50F outside we let the heat pump do the heating.

 

[Dix]

Hay Nicole, welcome to the forums !! Always nice to see a new member of Dah Sistahood here

Keep asking questions, as they will change as you learn more.

Think of the biggest firebox you can handle, and get working on that wood supply !

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't think a blower is necessary if the stove is free-standing. As somebody pointed out above, the blower won't work in a power outage. I wouldn't make cooking on the wood stove a major factor in choosing a stove. There are plenty of other, easier ways to cook without electricity (for example, a coleman camp stove is a lot easier and more versatile than a wood stove and probably costs under a hundred bucks. Your BBQ is another way to cook). For me the major factor would be burn time and the ability to burn at less than peak output . Both of these factors indicate a big cat stove.

For firewood I'd get come soft maple, pine, or maybe yellow poplar (tulip poplar), or something else that will season fast and also burn faster and hotter than oak. You will probably be starting a lot of fires and want quick heat. Oak is great for long burns, but lighter woods are better for quick heat and short-lived fires. You'll have lots of 'shoulder season' when you won't burn all day long, but need some heat in the evening or morning.

 

[Lead Hot]

I'm also in the piedmont. If your close enough to creedmoor you can call granville pallet company. They have been selling loads of wood blocks to burn dirt cheap. Also if your interested I have at least a chord of tulip poplar and sweetgum you can have. It is still in the round cut to 18 or 18.5 inch lengths. Just needs to be split. Burns up quite a bit faster than oak or hickory.

I'm not the stove expert around here but I'd still consider the englander NC 30. It's not a cat. stove but they are priced right for your budget and available locally. If you look at the progress hybrid they have cook top that gets covered up when not in use.

 

[rideau]

The Idea Steel will be about half the price of the Progress Hybrid. The Progress hybrid itself is more than his budget for stove and chimney installation.

 

[ngraysmith]

Wow, thanks everyone for your replies! I had no idea that an install would cost me that much money. Hmmm....okay, new plan: get the install folks out here (looking at Chimneys Plus in Pittsboro) to give me estimates on 6" and 8" installs and then go from there, doing research on all the stoves everyone here has suggested. I have been looking on craigslist daily with not a lot of luck. My husband thinks we should just get a cheaper stove, install it and save up for a more expensive one. I just want to be done. Of course, we also need to go and apply for that home equity loan! Lots to do with running our own business and homeschooling three kids - ack! And it is time to get the spring garden going!

As far as wood, clearly we should focus on that first! I am going to build a wood holder from some 4x4s and start getting that oak split and stacked over the spring and summer, with hopes to burn it 2015-2016. Will ask my friend the Arborist about some cheap options for 2014-2015 and look into the other suggestions on this list.

I do really like the idea of cooking on the stove. We do camp and have a propane stove and grill (as well as a Biolite - great camping stove which runs on twigs and small wood and cooks your food and charges your cell phone) but I don't want to use any of those indoors in the winter.

Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming if you have them! Nicole

 

[mellow]

I would plan on stocking up on Pine or Maple for next year and split it small so it has a chance to season in time.