First-time Wood Stove Guy!!!

[needsmorewood]

Hi All,
I'm a newbie to wood stove heat. Sure, I grew up here in Newfoundland, Canada, so I'm no stranger to them.

I guess it's best if I give you an idea of what I'm working with: Ok, so my wife and I have recently bought a house. It's an older home that has been rebuilt and well-insulated. It's a two-storey with an attached double garage (directly beneath two of our upstairs bedrooms). The house is about 4,400 square feet including the garage (it's 2,200 square feet on each floor). That said, I also have a full-basement.

The house has electric heat (10 baseboards - total). This doesn't seem like a lot - I don't know if this is a testament to the good insulation, or if the house will be cold in winter. We only moved in a month ago, so I'm unsure of what it will cost to heat using electricity or if the ten baseboards will even get it warm here.

Given where I live, access to cheap/free dried wood (birch and witch hazel, predominantly) is not an issue. With that in mind, I've decided that I'm going to put a wood stove but I'm a little overwhelmed and looking for advice:

A few questions:
- If I put my stove in the basement, I know that the heat rises and will keep the first floor of my home warm. However, should I expect much, if any of this heat to rise to the second floor of the house?

- Is it better to put the stove in my garage (first-floor, beneath second floor bedrooms)? Is it likely that the heat will distribute through the walls garage and keep the rest of the first floor warm?

- I have 2,200 square feet per floor. I'm looking at the following stoves with the prices in my area:
DROLET HT2000 : $1,500
PE SUMMIT: $3,000
Napoleon 1900: at least $2,500
I always believe that you get what you pay for but I'd rather hear your comments as some of you may have advice to share.

Thanks all,
Jon

 

[mellow]

Think of the stove as a zone heater, put it on the floor where you will spend most of your time, that is a lot of sq ft per floor to heat.

 

[begreen]

Welcome Jon. If you want good heat on the first and second floors, then put the stove on the put the stove on the first floor. Treat the basement and perhaps the bedroom over the garage as separate zones. For sure don't put the stove in the garage. It is illegal to do this in many jurisdictions. You are on the right track, go with a 3 cu ft stove if the 1st floor plan is relatively open. Try to keep the stove and chimney somewhat centered in the house if possible.

 

[Grisu]

Hello Jon, welcome to the forum!

First, putting a stove in a garage is usually against local building codes and may not be approved by your insurance either. Basement installs can work if you have an open stairwell and good airflow but most of the time people are not too happy with the results. We usually recommend putting the stove in the main living area as stoves are space heaters and you want to keep the rooms warm that you use most. If you have a living/family room in your first floor that would probably your best bet. If you can post a sketch of your floor plan that would help.

Your stove selection seems pretty good already since you are looking at large stoves with a firebox of more than 3 cu ft. That is what you will probably need for your house although the fact that it is so well insulated could change that. Do you think you can get some old electric bills from last winter from the power company to see what the heating load was? In addition: When your house is sealed that well you may need an outside air kit (OAK).

Stoves can range from simple steel stove designs through cast iron to soapstone. They can also come as catalytic or non-catalytic stoves. All of them will heat your house well for many years with only minor differences in efficiency. Steel stoves are usually the cheapest and often have a no-frills design. They heat up quickly, but also cool down comparatively quickly. Many require larger clearances than other stoves. Soapstone stoves take longer to warm up due to the larger mass but give an more even, radiant heat. Cast-iron ranks somewhere in between. For the most part, people decide between looks and their budget which stove to get.

Most stoves on the market are non-catalytic stoves but you can also still get some with a catalyst. They usually achieve slightly better efficiencies and a more even and longer heat output (good if you are concerned about overheating your space). However, the catalyst needs replacement about every 5 years and you need to be really careful not to burn any treated wood or colored paper.

Another important point: You seem to have a lot of wood around but is it seasoned? Usually wood needs a minimum of one year better two to three, cut, split and stacked with lots of sun and wind exposure to get to a moisture content of less than 20%. All modern stoves require dry wood or you will not be very happy about your new stove and risk a chimney fire.

 

[FyreBug]

Hey a Newf! Whatya at old man?... I married one (a Newf I mean).

BTW, where are you belongs to buy?

 

[bag of hammers]

Lard tunderin' -- a guy from Newfoundland, asking about a wood stove? I'm sure Jon has never seen this one before (he said sarcastically...).

 

[FyreBug]

For those of you who cant speak Newfanese, Newfies are the salt of the earth...

 

[bag of hammers]

For those of you who cant speak Newfanese, Newfies are the salt of the earth...

+1

Add to that, the best sense of humor anywhere (hence my previous juvenile post) - and they make great pups too (just ask my Landseer....)

 

[jharkin]

4,400 + square feet in Canada? That sounds like Blaze King King territory.


Ignore the "heat rises" thinking. This is a misconception that trips people up - heat does not rise, hot air does. A lot of the heat radiated by the stove will be absorbed by the walls, furniture and other mass of the room its in and that wont migrate up. If you want to put a stove on one level and be warm on another level you have to move a lot of air. This is not easy and its why so many basement installs disappoint.

 

[lumbering on]

I've got 2,000 square feet per floor, and have been struggling with trying to embrace it as a zone heater and heat the livable space on the first floor, or go big and hope I can move air around and not overheat my 300 square foot living room. I'm not saying I have the answer, just empathize with the problem.

 

[Swedishchef]

Welcome to the forums...are you still in NFLD? Or elsewhere?

A furnace would work great if you can squeeze some ducts in...If you want to heat with stoves you will certainly need 2! There are lots of options out there. All depends on budget, etc. The Osburn 2400 is a mammoth.

FYI, one of my best friends lives in Gander.

Lots of great advice here...the above replies certainly are true to their word.

CHeers

Andrew