2700 Sq. ft. Cape Cod: Stove recommendation

[Jonathco]

Hi folks,

I'm relatively new to heating with wood. I've got a 2700 sq. ft. cape cod that we've been heating with geo-thermal ever since we bought the place, but the $600 electric bills in the winter months, to achieve barely 60 degree temps, has us convinced to go wood.

We have a rather modest budget to maintain and therefore are looking for a functional stove that won't break the bank. What's your recommendation for a house our size?

Thanks in advance,
Jon C.

 

[tabner]

Can you describe your chimney setup? Is there an existing chimney in place you hope to utilize? If so describe in detail. Be aware that installing a new chimney will likely cost more than the stove. Also home layout, size of the room the stove will be in, etc

 

[Jonathco]

Can you describe your chimney setup? Is there an existing chimney in place you hope to utilize? If so describe in detail. Be aware that installing a new chimney will likely cost more than the stove. Also home layout, size of the room the stove will be in, etc

Thanks for the quick reply. Currently, there is not a chimney in the house; I know that will likely be our biggest upfront expenditure. The living room where I plan to put the stove is roughly 30' x 20', with an open layout to the rest of the main floor. My thought was to put it on the outside wall.



The room is currently under construction, as I ripped out a non-load-bearing wall next to the stairway, to open up the house for wood heat. Am I reading correctly, that wall chimneys are not ideal? Should I plan to go through the roof instead? Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[moresnow]

If possible, going straight up and out is recognized as being most efficient. Any vent system with bends invites potential issues with ease of stove operation/draft etc.

 

[EbS-P]

Thanks for the quick reply. Currently, there is not a chimney in the house; I know that will likely be our biggest upfront expenditure. The living room where I plan to put the stove is roughly 30' x 20', with an open layout to the rest of the main floor. My thought was to put it on the outside wall.

View attachment 296106

The room is currently under construction, as I ripped out a non-load-bearing wall next to the stairway, to open up the house for wood heat. Am I reading correctly, that wall chimneys are not ideal? Should I plan to go through the roof instead? Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks!

If you went straight up what’s above the stove location? Up 3’, two 45s and out to insulated class A works for many. What’s the budget? What’s your skill and comfort level for doing it yourself? How important are the exterior looks?

Many things to consider.

 

[begreen]

If at all possible, consider going straight up through the house with the flue system, but if that is not an option then so be it.
For a stove, the best values are in the Drolet line. I would look at their large Austral/Myriad/Legend III series and their HT3000.

 

[marty319]

My friend has the drolet legend 3.nice stove and almost identical to my 3300 osburn ,they are good stoves.

 

[Ashful]

Seven responses in, I honestly can't believe no one has said it yet, so I guess it's my turn: If you don't already have dry wood stacked, get on it now. Most modern stoves require very dry wood, as their reburn systems must run at exhaust temperatures not easily maintained on steam.

If you get some wood stacked now, and rig up one of Poindexter's solar kilns (clear plastic sheeting), you could have some dry wood this fall. Normally figure on 2 - 3 summers to dry hardwoods, excepting maybe ash (1 - 2 dry summers).

The open floor plan looks ideal for heating from a single stove, and the square footage is very do-able. Assuming soffits are only 9 feet above that floor with a 10:12 or 12:12 roof pitch, in a typical Cape Cod, you're going to have some chimney extending above the roof penetration if you choose an outside wall location (unless you're talking about a gable wall). Not sure how you feel about the cosmetics of 6+ feet of stainless pipe sticking out of your roof, but if you're on a budget, that's the way to go. If you have some more coin, I can try to dig up photos of the exterior granite chimney we put on the modified Cape Cod my parents owned. Another option is going up thru the center of the house, or the center of an outside gable end wall, to minimize exterior height requirements, by the 10-3-2 rule of chimneys.

 

[Jonathco]

If you went straight up what’s above the stove location? Up 3’, two 45s and out to insulated class A works for many. What’s the budget? What’s your skill and comfort level for doing it yourself? How important are the exterior looks?

Many things to consider.

We had planned to put the stove in the left corner, but going straight up with the chimney would be a challenge, given the dormer on the roof directly above. We had considered going out the wall right there, but then again, that's an eye-sore right on the front of the house.

We're hoping to stick under $3k for the stove, and then we're aware of the chimney costs on top of that. I'm hearing Drolet seems to be the way to go?

 

[Jonathco]

Seven responses in, I honestly can't believe no one has said it yet, so I guess it's my turn: If you don't already have dry wood stacked, get on it now. Most modern stoves require very dry wood, as their reburn systems must run at exhaust temperatures not easily maintained on steam.

If you get some wood stacked now, and rig up one of Poindexter's solar kilns (clear plastic sheeting), you could have some dry wood this fall. Normally figure on 2 - 3 summers to dry hardwoods, excepting maybe ash (1 - 2 dry summers).

The open floor plan looks ideal for heating from a single stove, and the square footage is very do-able. Assuming soffits are only 9 feet above that floor with a 10:12 or 12:12 roof pitch, in a typical Cape Cod, you're going to have some chimney extending above the roof penetration if you choose an outside wall location (unless you're talking about a gable wall). Not sure how you feel about the cosmetics of 6+ feet of stainless pipe sticking out of your roof, but if you're on a budget, that's the way to go. If you have some more coin, I can try to dig up photos of the exterior granite chimney we put on the modified Cape Cod my parents owned. Another option is going up thru the center of the house, or the center of an outside gable end wall, to minimize exterior height requirements, by the 10-3-2 rule of chimneys.

Good advise and great questions. We've just secured 4 cord of pretty dry slab hardwood (mainly oak and ash) from a local guy, that I aim to start cutting and stacking under my lean-too next week.

I am actually thinking potentially I'll could put the stove in the right corner (rather than the left corner), and that would allow me to go up and then out through the garage attic, close the top of the garage roof. I'd likely have a pair of 45's like @EbS-P suggested, but it sounds like that's acceptable? Since it's a 2 story, and there are front and rear dormers, where I can go through the roof is limited.

 

[Ashful]

I am actually thinking potentially I'll could put the stove in the right corner (rather than the left corner), and that would allow me to go up and then out through the garage attic, close the top of the garage roof. I'd likely have a pair of 45's like @EbS-P suggested, but it sounds like that's acceptable? Since it's a 2 story, and there are front and rear dormers, where I can go through the roof is limited.

Without seeing a complete floor plan, that does sound like a better plan. Two 45's are definitely better than 90's. There are rules of thumb chimney installers (where's @bholler?) use to "discount" a few feet of chimney height equivalent for each 45 or 90, but someone else will need to remember them for me. Point is, if you go thru a soffit, given the pitch of most cape cods, you're going to have a lot of pipe in the air to both meet the 10-3-2 rule and your stove's minimum height spec. Going thru a higher point in the roof resolves both of those issues.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the right corner location might work out. The loss equivalent from the offset is about 2ft in height. Drolet's are easy breathers so it's likely this offset wouldn't be an issue for this installation.

We have a pair of 45's in the stove pipe making an offset to line up with the chimney support for the prior stove. The overall flue system height is about 20'. It performs well with our stove.