Heating a big old farm house, curious about options

[Caydel]

Hi all.

I've burned wood in my small, 1100-sq ft home for the past 8 years or so, and have been happy with the cheap heat (since my other option is electric forced air).

However, 4 kids later and we're now looking at a big old two-story farmhouse in the country. The original house was built in 1875 with a big addition in the 1920's making ~3600 square feet. A previous owner ran ducts around the first floor, and the house contains a relatively modern high efficiency propane forced air furnace in the stone basement.

Anyways, the propane bill for that house last year was $3000 which is pretty high - I'm used to ~$500 for wood and ~$500 in electricity due to heat in a year.

I'm curious about options and recommendations for supplementing the propane heat in this house. A few thoughts:

1. The house has a lot of small rooms and doorways. A single stove on the main level may have trouble heating the whole area. Upper floors have no ducting, but big open stairwells and hallway should allow good airflow upwards.
   
2. In my current house, I am constantly concerned about my kids horsing around, tripping and getting a facefull of hot wood stove. I'd prefer not to have a free-standing stove in the normal living areas until my kids are a fair bit older!
3. There's lots of room in the basement, but access to the stairwells requires me to go through a fair portion of the house. I'm not super keen on carrying armloads of wood through the house and down the stairs - messy and
   
4. I have ductwork to help distribute heat around the house already in the big open basement. Wouldn't be hard to tie into.
5. Basement used to have stove flue / piping running up the exterior of the house. These have probably been closed up for 20-30 years or more, and I likely would have to invest some decent money in bringing these back up to snuff.
6. I'm not against punching a direct vent out of the basement. They already did so for the propane furnace.
7. Wood price here is $95 / face cord (16" lengths / third of a cord) delivered for good dry hardwood. Pellets can be had for $4.59 per bag.
8. I always have the option of buying wood for $55 per cord by the log delivered, but then I have to block, split, stack and season it myself. I'm not against hard work, but there is a time commitment there, and I don't need more projects.

I've been mulling over a few options:

1. Outdoor wood furnace / boiler. Huge up-front cost, questionable efficiency, smoky, and doesn't lend itself to the several weekends a winter we go for a weekend to visit family, holidays etc. On the plus side, I can buy the $55 / cord wood, just block it, and use that as fuel. Cheaper wood and less effort involved splitting (once it's started).
   
2. Indoor Pellet furnace - Direct vent is a huge benefit, and I could even find a way to build an indoor storage bin that I could fill via a chute from outside. Plumbing into the existing ducting would be fantastic.
3. Indoor wood furnace - Would need to refurbish one of the existing chimneys, more dust / mess etc. than pellets.
   
4. Multiple small pellet stoves through the house? Probably not cheaper up front, and have to carry bags of pellets around the house.

Doing some BTU / dollar math:

• For $95 per face cord (1/3rd of a 'real' cord), I get somewhere on the order of 7 million BTU.
• For $5 per 40lb bag of pellets, I get 320K BTU (8k BTU per lb * 40lb). For $95, I can get 19 bags or ~6 million BTU. Plus, I pay tax extra on the pellets, while taxes are included on the wood cost.

So, there's about a 20-30% savings using 'real' wood over pellets, but pellets have a tangible convenience factor, and I don't have to worry about a chimney.

Are there any other options I'm not considering?

 

[Lake Girl]

In a house that old, there should be existing fireplaces ....

Money spent on upgrading insulation, windows, doors...

 

[Caydel]

In a house that old, there should be existing fireplaces ....

Money spent on upgrading insulation, windows, doors...

There certainly was a wood stove in the basement originally. I can see the marks where the hearth was pulled up, and a 10" (I think) stove pipe existing the basement. However, at this point there is no stove or fireplace visible.

I'm sure there was a fireplace on the main level in the original 1875 house, but I couldn't find any evidence of it. I assume as well the kitchen had a wood kitchen stove with a chimney pipe than ran up into the upstairs rooms to heat them on the way to the attic, but there's no sign of that either.

It looks like sometime long-ish ago, they built a cinder block chimney for an oil furnace, which has since been removed as well and replaced with the propane unit. The chimney is there, but it doesn't look in great shape.

The windows and doors were replaced between 2000-2013. However, aluminum siding was put on some time in the '70s, and I have no idea what the wall insulation looks like under there.

 

[bcrtops]

Hi all.

I've burned wood in my small, 1100-sq ft home for the past 8 years or so, and have been happy with the cheap heat (since my other option is electric forced air).

Are there any other options I'm not considering?

Sounds like you have pretty well thought it through.
Comments:
--Pellet stoves were all the "rage" around here when they first came out. Most everyone has gone back to wood or propane heaters. Not as cheap to run as original thought, tied to power (if you have frequent power outages, an issue), & at least a lot of them have maintenance frequency issues.
--You can find attractive "fences" for wood stove to keep small children away. We build a temporary "fence" w/chairs, etc. when our small grandkids visit when stove is burning -- easier to do with a corner installation.
--I would probably consider an attractive EPA unit in the main living area (wood), as a supplement heat source, giving you nice ambience. Use your current duct-work (with a "summer" fan switch) to circulate the air when the main living area gets too hot.
--Insulation & window upgrades, if needed, should probably be a priority in an old house, maybe even exterior door replacement. Anything you can possibly do in this regard will help your heat bill situation. & give you a good monetary return in the long term.

Good luck & keep doing your research. Whatever you do, do it safely!

 

[kennyp2339]

Wood furnace? tied to your existing duct work, and a second pretty stove in the main living area for that little extra bump of heat?

 

[Lake Girl]

I think the ability to tie both a propane and pellet or wood furnace to existing ductwork is no longer allowed in Canada just based on what I've seen in owner manuals (haven't researched it). Termed "parallel installation" ... also found that statement in Caddy furnace manual.

Enviro Maxx Heat Distribution Kit manual in entry #17 https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/enviro-maxx-high-limit-sensor-tripping.133760/#post-1797344

 

[Caydel]

Thanks, Lake Girl.

I did some more reading, and it appears that 'add-on' wood furnaces that operate in parallel to your current system are pretty common here. There's at least 5 or 6 different manufacturers that sell add-on furnaces.

However, a few notes:

• They have to be designed as 'add-on' furnaces.
• They require the ductwork to be to *their* specs (of course).

I'm starting to think an add-on wood furnace in addition to the propane furnace may very well be the way to go.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm starting to think an add-on wood furnace in addition to the propane furnace may very well be the way to go.

And 2nd free standing stove in the main living area for additional heat to make it cozy and also to serve as a good back up incase of a long duration of no power.

 

[begreen]

Are the hot-air system ducts (supply and return + branches) sealed and fully insulated? If not, that is a good part of the propane bill. A wood furnace will overcome this by brute force, but the losses will still be there.

 

[Caydel]

Are the hot-air system ducts (supply and return + branches) sealed and fully insulated? If not, that is a good part of the propane bill. A wood furnace will overcome this by brute force, but the losses will still be there.

They are sealed, but I don't believe they are insulated.

 

[BenTN]

There are also zc epa fireplaces that have forced air kits which tie into your existing ducts. radiant heat and ambience on main level and heat distribute on thru ducts. I can't speak to their effectiveness but I know it is offered. also saves you trip (no pun intended) downstairs with an arm load of wood. are you sure there isn't a coal chute in your basement? would make bringing wood down there alot easier.

 

[moresnow]

Add on sounds appropriate. Slide the wood down a home built chute inside a basement window. The old steel playground slides work fantastic. I've been helping a buddy with this setup for years. Same style house as yours. Works super. Food for thought for you.