My wife and I bought our first house last year and would like to install a wood stove. Since it’s a brand new install from scratch, I’d like to get the design right the first time and avoid having to make modifications later because I missed something. We’ve got the spot picked out and I’ve already built the hearth which I'm describing in this other thread.
I’d like to tap the knowledge and wisdom of this community for advice on the design of the system. Some overall details: the total livable area for the house is about 1,800 ft. See the attached photo of the downstairs floorplan and location of the stove. Upstairs is two dormers. Despite being an old house build in the 1930’s, it’s fairly well insulated (walls, attic, rim joists, brand new windows) and I’ve done some air sealing since we’ve moved in (a recent door blower test ran at 2,500 cfm at 50 PA). I got about 1.5 cords of 16” red oak splits this past winter and built some storage/drying racks for them, so they’ll be ready to go when the temperature drops. In terms of usage, we won’t be daily burners since we both have desk jobs and need to go to the office but we will light it up from time to time during the week and will probably run it all weekend, so overnight burns are needed.
Our original logic was to install a VC Aspen that my parents gifted to me, but given the issues with that model, the fact that it’s undersized for our house, and the fact that it needs some money put into it to get it up to code (firebricks, bottom heat shield, gaskets, cement, etc.), we’re going to retire it and buy a different stove. No need to comment on how bad the Aspen is – I get it. Right now I’m looking at the PE Super LE and the Drolet Escape 1800, both of which are 2020 EPA compliant and have small clearances to easily fit on the hearth. The PE ($2,150) is significantly more expensive than the Drolet ($1,000) even though they have similar specs so we’re leaning towards the Drolet.
As for the chimney, the preliminary design is a straight shot fully double walled pipe, with about 5’ indoors, then a pass through 4’ of void adjacent to the upstairs dormer, and then 13’ above that to clear the roof ridge. So we’re looking at about 22’ stack height. See the other photo with a sketch of where the chimney will exit the roof.
Anyone have thoughts on this setup, and whether the PE or the Drolet would operate better under those conditions? How about a flue damper above the stove? Should I ask the installer to put one in? Anything else that I might be missing? Thanks!
I’d like to tap the knowledge and wisdom of this community for advice on the design of the system. Some overall details: the total livable area for the house is about 1,800 ft. See the attached photo of the downstairs floorplan and location of the stove. Upstairs is two dormers. Despite being an old house build in the 1930’s, it’s fairly well insulated (walls, attic, rim joists, brand new windows) and I’ve done some air sealing since we’ve moved in (a recent door blower test ran at 2,500 cfm at 50 PA). I got about 1.5 cords of 16” red oak splits this past winter and built some storage/drying racks for them, so they’ll be ready to go when the temperature drops. In terms of usage, we won’t be daily burners since we both have desk jobs and need to go to the office but we will light it up from time to time during the week and will probably run it all weekend, so overnight burns are needed.
Our original logic was to install a VC Aspen that my parents gifted to me, but given the issues with that model, the fact that it’s undersized for our house, and the fact that it needs some money put into it to get it up to code (firebricks, bottom heat shield, gaskets, cement, etc.), we’re going to retire it and buy a different stove. No need to comment on how bad the Aspen is – I get it. Right now I’m looking at the PE Super LE and the Drolet Escape 1800, both of which are 2020 EPA compliant and have small clearances to easily fit on the hearth. The PE ($2,150) is significantly more expensive than the Drolet ($1,000) even though they have similar specs so we’re leaning towards the Drolet.
As for the chimney, the preliminary design is a straight shot fully double walled pipe, with about 5’ indoors, then a pass through 4’ of void adjacent to the upstairs dormer, and then 13’ above that to clear the roof ridge. So we’re looking at about 22’ stack height. See the other photo with a sketch of where the chimney will exit the roof.
Anyone have thoughts on this setup, and whether the PE or the Drolet would operate better under those conditions? How about a flue damper above the stove? Should I ask the installer to put one in? Anything else that I might be missing? Thanks!
![[Hearth.com] Brand new system design - advice welcome](/talk/data/attachments/245/245022-8627137fa866c9f570e646830165e388.jpg?hash=gpCdh_aHEg)
![[Hearth.com] Brand new system design - advice welcome](/talk/data/attachments/245/245023-d88d3a90fe6fe199e82cca1c88f9169b.jpg?hash=9dx949r_rY)
