free standing wood stove to replace ventless gas thing

[LiamFitzpatrick]

The "bunk house" has a OWF but i'm worried about a heat source as a backup if we lose power so I'm thinking about a actual wood stove. Cook, heat and atmosphere that could use the same wood we'd have on hand for the OWF.

I haven't done any research but I hate this ventless gas thing that has zero character and is really expensive to run. It uses a lot of gas and doesn't have a blower so it heats a corner of the house and is virtually useless to get heat to other parts of the house.

The house was designed by caretakers that had been state park camp hosts. We have a vaulted ceiling in the main room that includes a common room, dining room with table and kitchen all-in-one. The bedrooms are in the back of the house with two down and one upstairs. I consider this floor plan a "difficult to heat" layout that has lots of character and looks a lot like a hunting shack/state park cabin with wrap around porch. The living space is about 1600 square feet.

I appreciate any advice about how to resolve this confusing and complicated issue.

 

[SpaceBus]

I would invest in a generator that can power your fridge and OWB pumps. As far as a wood stove you would need to post some pics of where you want it to go. A woodstove chimney can pretty much go anywhere you need it to go these days, so don't restrict yourself to just placing the stove wherever this room vented heater is located. You can do limited cooking on hot wood stove top, but I would keep it to just power outages.

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

I would invest in a generator that can power your fridge and OWB pumps. As far as a wood stove you would need to post some pics of where you want it to go. A woodstove chimney can pretty much go anywhere you need it to go these days, so don't restrict yourself to just placing the stove wherever this room vented heater is located. You can do limited cooking on hot wood stove top, but I would keep it to just power outages.

Spacebus: Thanx for your suggestions. I already have a generator that could power the OWF pump but it's the inside air handler that would worry me. Well, that and the frig too...placement of a wood stove would be in the common area where the vaulted ceiling would allow heat to the main living area and plumbing. Cooking in a power outage would be reduced to coffee and a pot of soup/stew.

Regards,

Liam

 

[begreen]

What are your average winter temps? What is the coldest it can get? Is there a loft balcony from the upstairs bedrooms or another way for heat to get up there?

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

What are your average winter temps? What is the coldest it can get? Is there a loft balcony from the upstairs bedrooms or another way for heat to get up there?

begreen: Average winter temps are about 30° but that's the problem. We get a lot more ice that we do snow and can lose power for a few days because of the ice. Food storage at these temps isn't normally a problem because I've put food into coolers outside and everything has been fine for our food storage. It's freezing pipes that get to be an issues. Coldest I've seen in 20 years was a few times approaching zero but that's rare. The loft is open to the main floor by way of unobstructed stairway. We have ceiling fans to move the air.

Thanx

Liam

 

[begreen]

Something in the 2-2.5 cu ft range will do. Larger won't hurt, but you may be running partial loads frequently. Have you determined the stove location and how it will be vented? The best plan is to centrally locate the stove and go straight up and through the roof if possible. If you can post a sketch of the floorplan that can help.

 

[Tron]

Welcome to the show. I did the same thing early this year, replaced a ventless gas fireplace with a free-standing stove. Our house also has a very labyrinth-like layout, and while I do not get the heat into the bedroom, it's astonishing how well running the ceiling fan distributes the heat through the living area/kitchen.

BTW, what is a OWF pump? A heat pump?

 

[SpaceBus]

You could heat that house with a freestanding wood stove and not have to deal with the H2 at all.

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

Welcome to the show. I did the same thing early this year, replaced a ventless gas fireplace with a free-standing stove. Our house also has a very labyrinth-like layout, and while I do not get the heat into the bedroom, it's astonishing how well running the ceiling fan distributes the heat through the living area/kitchen.

BTW, what is a OWF pump? A heat pump?

outside wood furnace.
Might be the wrong terminology but my acronym

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

 

[Grizzerbear]

That layout doesn't look to challenging to heat. Honestly its basically the same as our house minus the upper room...which will be the easiest to heat....and our 3 bedrooms are to either side of the living/dining/kitchen area. Like begreen said sumthin 2-2.5cf range is where I would start and I bet you will heat that place with the stove alone. Probably will want a ceiling fan in living/kitchen area to push heat down if it doesn't have one.

Edit: Nice pad by the way. I love the carsiding.

 

[Tron]

Probably will want a ceiling fan in living/kitchen area to push heat down if it doesn't have one.

Maybe it's just me, but I always find the downward airflow from the ceiling fans uncomfortable, which is why I run them backwards pushing air upward. Works just as well, the air flows upward and down again all around the fan. Yes, I might be losing a bit of the heat, but for us it's much better this way.

 

[begreen]

In winter, with a single ceiling fan, I like running it in reverse (winter) mode. In this way, it does not blow down air on the room occupants, but instead flows it down the exterior walls to be warmed up again.

 

[SpaceBus]

How is your insulation and windows? What is your budget for this stove?


I'm biased but I would totally put a wood cookstove in that house with the great open space you have. Your house is a similar layout to ours, albeit without the open cathedral ceiling but bedrooms above instead and our house is also only 1300 sqft. We have a small woodstove and a "medium-ish" wood cookstove. Last winter was mild but even in Maine we heated for most of the season with the wood cookstove and only had to use the cast iron Morso when it was very cold. The Morso can heat the whole house, and it did for our first winter. The house came with a cord of seasoned wood so we used Bio Bricks and dead standing fir that I bucked and split right after we moved in.

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

How is your insulation and windows? What is your budget for this stove?


I'm biased but I would totally put a wood cookstove in that house with the great open space you have. Your house is a similar layout to ours, albeit without the open cathedral ceiling but bedrooms above instead and our house is also only 1300 sqft. We have a small woodstove and a "medium-ish" wood cookstove. Last winter was mild but even in Maine we heated for most of the season with the wood cookstove and only had to use the cast iron Morso when it was very cold. The Morso can heat the whole house, and it did for our first winter. The house came with a cord of seasoned wood so we used Bio Bricks and dead standing fir that I bucked and split right after we moved in.

SpaceBus: I have no idea about the insulation. The windows are pretty new and in good shape, as is the roof. Liam

 

[LiamFitzpatrick]

Over the last two days we split almost a cord of oak. My wife and I worked together and this was our first experience splitting wood of any kind. I whacked a round with an axe and tried a splitting wedge with a sledge and all just bounced off; I laughed out loud because I felt like I was in a woody woodpecker cartoon.

My MIL hired the tree felling because it was next to the chicken coop so I didn't have to worry about my first felling job. Those guys estimated that there would be 1.4 cords in this tree and I have a volume calculator I received the forestry service that suggested 1.3 cords so I figure they know what they're talking about. They asked what size I wanted it bucked into and they did pretty good keeping most of the sizes at about 20 inches. I won't be doing that again with a tree this size. The rounds were very hard to handle alone. All could be rolled into position but you'd better get it where you want it when you tip it over on the flat face for splitting. It's chore to move them once they've been tipped.

After the first experience with an axe and based on the advice of someone here, I rented a 32 ton splitter. I wouldn't call it easy but it's was a lot easier and I'm glad it's done. Some of those rounds we HUGE ! I was forced to use a pipe for leverage to get the largest round from the base of the tree into position because I tipped it up too soon and it wasn't close enough to the footplate of the splitter. We worked it out and I learned a lot about splitting. I saved one of the smallest and straightest rounds for a chopping block for future use.

Oh, I figured out that I loved the smell of fresh cut oak. It's like one of the freshest scents, like pine, and I have been outside to look at the wood pile just to smell it again.

 

[SpaceBus]

The appetite of that H2 will pretty much necessitate owning a gas powered splitter. There are some electric models with double digit tonnage that will also work. Some folks with freestanding wood stoves or inserts manage with hand splitting, but I wouldn't suggest it.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Use a dolly on those big splits. Sometimes on uneven ground it's hard rolling them to the splitter. Gathering wood can be hard work but there are a lot of tricks to make it easier and you will learn them with time. I would think seriously upon investing in a splitter down the road. It will save you time exponentially and your joints lol. It will pay for itself in this aspect alone.

 

[Tron]

Depends a bit on the size of the trees and the amount of wood used. I mostly fell dead pine trees with a max. diameter of about a foot and a half, and I manage with a good axe and a splitting wedge. I call it exercise...