Greetings from Northern New York. Ive picked up alot of good information checking out the forums. I managed to make it through this winter just using the oil boiler, but it was expensive as hell. So Ive decided that in the next few months I'll be buying a woodstove. I have to start from scratch as i have a chimney for the boiler in the basement but i want to put the stove on the first floor. I dont think my setup is that great as my house has a addition with the entranceway living room and a bedroom and the kitchen dining room and bathroom at the other end of the house. Over the dining room i have a loft with two bedrooms. I really want the woodstove but im concerned about the heat getting to the other end of the house instead of just making the one end of the house 80 degrees. My question is do you think it would make more sense to just put a pellet stove in the original part of the house and take care of everything but the living room and one bedroom. The addition part of the house is pretty well insulated but the old part could definately use some upgrades in the insulation department. I really like the wood stove idea, but im just concerned about heating the other side. The house is far from large, only about 1400 sq ft total. Thanks for any replies.
first wood stove for house
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Backwoods Savage
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Welcome to the forum swelch.
For sure a wood stove will give you much better results than a pellet stove. As for one end of the house being warmer, yes, that will happen but it does not have to be extreme. It sounds completely backwards, but the key to moving that warm air around the house is to use just a small table fan (not a pedestal fan) and then blow the air....towards the stove room. For example, we have a long hallway with our bedroom at the far end. We like it cooler in there but not in the bathroom next to the bedroom. Easy fix. A small fan sitting on the floor in the hallway blowing towards the stove room and the rear of the house warms quite fast.
Same for ceiling fans. Lots of folks blow the air down in the winter and up in the summer. That surely sounds right but if you reverse the direction it will work much better. I well remember when I learned these tricks here on hearth.com and I thought it was pure baloney. However, I had to give it a try even if to prove it wrong. Wow! I was amazed. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
With your location, I would highly advise you take a day and visit the Woodstock factory in West Lebanon, NH. They have some fantastic stoves, decent prices and the very best guarantee on the market. These folks are also extremely easy to talk to and are very willing to help. You can call them for information or look on their web site (www.woodstove.com). Tell them Dennis sent you. NO, I do not work for the company but am an extremely happy customer.
Good luck.
For sure a wood stove will give you much better results than a pellet stove. As for one end of the house being warmer, yes, that will happen but it does not have to be extreme. It sounds completely backwards, but the key to moving that warm air around the house is to use just a small table fan (not a pedestal fan) and then blow the air....towards the stove room. For example, we have a long hallway with our bedroom at the far end. We like it cooler in there but not in the bathroom next to the bedroom. Easy fix. A small fan sitting on the floor in the hallway blowing towards the stove room and the rear of the house warms quite fast.
Same for ceiling fans. Lots of folks blow the air down in the winter and up in the summer. That surely sounds right but if you reverse the direction it will work much better. I well remember when I learned these tricks here on hearth.com and I thought it was pure baloney. However, I had to give it a try even if to prove it wrong. Wow! I was amazed. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
With your location, I would highly advise you take a day and visit the Woodstock factory in West Lebanon, NH. They have some fantastic stoves, decent prices and the very best guarantee on the market. These folks are also extremely easy to talk to and are very willing to help. You can call them for information or look on their web site (www.woodstove.com). Tell them Dennis sent you. NO, I do not work for the company but am an extremely happy customer.
Good luck.
Good morning, and welcome.
I can empathize--my house didn't seem well set-up for a woodstove, either. Was forced to think a lot through before the first hole was cut, and it worked out well in the end. Expect uncertainty and a few mental dead-ends while you're going through the process, but know that it's worth it in the end--hang in there.
Yes, a wood stove can do what you want it to do, and very well. You're wise to start with a fresh install, leaving the oil burner in the basement intact for those times when you need to travel/get sick/have a busy schedule/have a wood shortage. Options are wonderful to have. You're also wise to put the stove up on the first floor instead of the basement, for many reasons. We have folks here who try the basement and end up moving the stove upstairs (others who leave it--so it works for some).
Yes, you can get even heat throughout the house--that's as much a factor of insulation and circulation as the stove. You're working on that--very good. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how level and even heat can be throughout a house with a woodstove. I too feared the hot-spot/cold-corner outcome, thought I was just getting a space heater and would be happy with any warmth to corners I got. Instead, I ended up with whole-house heat from a modest-sized parlor stove in a 2000sf house in the middle of Alaska. You shouldn't need a huge stove for what you have--medium-sized stove, great chimney system, and put the extra money into insulation. Locating your stove with at least the back of it in the under-loft area will help move heat over instead of all going up if you have open ceilings in front of the loft.
Some folks love their pellet stove. Twenty minutes in a showroom listening to one run confirmed my idea that I did not want one. I also wanted the independence that wood gave me--in case the boiler went out, in case the power failed, in case the price of oil went through the roof. This was my first winter with the stove in this house, and my boiler, in fact, did fail, and then we had some mighty storms and the power went out, too. And now it looks like oil will be going through the roof again. My wood stove just keeps cranking away and keeping me happy. Your call--but just think through all the reasons you want another heat source and you'll end up knowing what you want.
Agree with Dennis that soapstone would be a good choice given what you've described, and that the folks in Lebanon are top-notch and build a great stove. I'm happy with my Hearthstone, but had actually made the decision to go with a Fireview at first, but it didn't work with my configuration. I love the big window and the great flickering blue flames of the Hearthstone, and the simple lines of the Hearthstone worked better in my house than the more ornate, Victorian look of the Fireview. A non-cat stove is also a better choice for me because I have teenthings (and their friends) operating the stove as well as me, and the attention span of a teener can be amazingly short. I'm learning to speak in very short sentences with them, using words of one syllable or less. I think cats are great, and that wasn't really a factor for me in consideration, but only because I didn't think that part through. Got lucky.
Recommend you start getting firewood for next year, and the next, asap. Also start thinking about how you're going to store it--consider a woodshed project this summer if you don't already have storage taken care of. Site the shed as a windbreak if you can--killing two stones with one bird. Or plant some trees that will help with that. Think things through about where you're going to store the day-or-two pile inside the house, which entry you'll use, how you'll get the ash out, etc.
A sketch/detailed description of your house would help us give unasked-for advice about location, circulation, etc. It's how we keep ourselves amused. Important info: ceiling heights, windows, orientation to sun, is plumbing centrally-located, or on outside walls?
Wild thought: you may end up deciding to go with two wood stoves--a middlin' sized one centrally located, and a cute little back-door stove or dining room stove to take the chill off the far end of the house. Although folks used to do it all the time (google `four-o'clock stoves for examples), stoves in bedrooms are not advised. But there may be another location where you can have a little Squirrel stove or a a marine stove, or some other backup stove like that. Just don't put it on the `no-way' list yet. Know that it's an option. Wood stoves get addicting--I'm kind of disappointed that I don't need two. But not everyone is wired like that.
I can empathize--my house didn't seem well set-up for a woodstove, either. Was forced to think a lot through before the first hole was cut, and it worked out well in the end. Expect uncertainty and a few mental dead-ends while you're going through the process, but know that it's worth it in the end--hang in there.
Yes, a wood stove can do what you want it to do, and very well. You're wise to start with a fresh install, leaving the oil burner in the basement intact for those times when you need to travel/get sick/have a busy schedule/have a wood shortage. Options are wonderful to have. You're also wise to put the stove up on the first floor instead of the basement, for many reasons. We have folks here who try the basement and end up moving the stove upstairs (others who leave it--so it works for some).
Yes, you can get even heat throughout the house--that's as much a factor of insulation and circulation as the stove. You're working on that--very good. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how level and even heat can be throughout a house with a woodstove. I too feared the hot-spot/cold-corner outcome, thought I was just getting a space heater and would be happy with any warmth to corners I got. Instead, I ended up with whole-house heat from a modest-sized parlor stove in a 2000sf house in the middle of Alaska. You shouldn't need a huge stove for what you have--medium-sized stove, great chimney system, and put the extra money into insulation. Locating your stove with at least the back of it in the under-loft area will help move heat over instead of all going up if you have open ceilings in front of the loft.
Some folks love their pellet stove. Twenty minutes in a showroom listening to one run confirmed my idea that I did not want one. I also wanted the independence that wood gave me--in case the boiler went out, in case the power failed, in case the price of oil went through the roof. This was my first winter with the stove in this house, and my boiler, in fact, did fail, and then we had some mighty storms and the power went out, too. And now it looks like oil will be going through the roof again. My wood stove just keeps cranking away and keeping me happy. Your call--but just think through all the reasons you want another heat source and you'll end up knowing what you want.
Agree with Dennis that soapstone would be a good choice given what you've described, and that the folks in Lebanon are top-notch and build a great stove. I'm happy with my Hearthstone, but had actually made the decision to go with a Fireview at first, but it didn't work with my configuration. I love the big window and the great flickering blue flames of the Hearthstone, and the simple lines of the Hearthstone worked better in my house than the more ornate, Victorian look of the Fireview. A non-cat stove is also a better choice for me because I have teenthings (and their friends) operating the stove as well as me, and the attention span of a teener can be amazingly short. I'm learning to speak in very short sentences with them, using words of one syllable or less. I think cats are great, and that wasn't really a factor for me in consideration, but only because I didn't think that part through. Got lucky.
Recommend you start getting firewood for next year, and the next, asap. Also start thinking about how you're going to store it--consider a woodshed project this summer if you don't already have storage taken care of. Site the shed as a windbreak if you can--killing two stones with one bird. Or plant some trees that will help with that. Think things through about where you're going to store the day-or-two pile inside the house, which entry you'll use, how you'll get the ash out, etc.
A sketch/detailed description of your house would help us give unasked-for advice about location, circulation, etc. It's how we keep ourselves amused. Important info: ceiling heights, windows, orientation to sun, is plumbing centrally-located, or on outside walls?
Wild thought: you may end up deciding to go with two wood stoves--a middlin' sized one centrally located, and a cute little back-door stove or dining room stove to take the chill off the far end of the house. Although folks used to do it all the time (google `four-o'clock stoves for examples), stoves in bedrooms are not advised. But there may be another location where you can have a little Squirrel stove or a a marine stove, or some other backup stove like that. Just don't put it on the `no-way' list yet. Know that it's an option. Wood stoves get addicting--I'm kind of disappointed that I don't need two. But not everyone is wired like that.
You're going to do great. You know you want this, we know you want this. The stove revews on this site are a great resource, and look hard at all the `oh no I hate my stove!' threads--it's a lot better to make the mistakes on paper first, or let other people make them for you. Life's too short to make them all yourself.
I think you will be ok. It may take a fan strategically located to help distribute the heat better, but often this is an easy matter of just using a common table fan. You will be able to make a significant dent in the oil bill.
Install the stove where the family congregates if possible. A convective stove that doesn't radiate intensely will help keep the area from overheating and staying comfortable. They have closer clearance requirements also, which helps with placement. There are several stoves that can fit this need depending on the size, style and budget. If you can post a sketch of the floorplan we can help a bit more with placement options.
Install the stove where the family congregates if possible. A convective stove that doesn't radiate intensely will help keep the area from overheating and staying comfortable. They have closer clearance requirements also, which helps with placement. There are several stoves that can fit this need depending on the size, style and budget. If you can post a sketch of the floorplan we can help a bit more with placement options.
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