Hello! New here- can you help me with some questions?

[AmyJ]

Hello everyone! I am Amy from central Ohio. My husband and I have just started budgeting for a wood stove, and I have just started to gather information. We are not going to purchase the stove for at least two years, so I have plenty of time to gather info and weigh my options, but I would really like to get started so I can prepare myself for the correct amount of money we will need to save up (thinking it will be about $3,000 for the stove and installation along with all the extras).

We live in a two story farmhouse built in 1885. It is insulated pretty well, new windows, but we lose a lot of heat through the floor because the wood floor is original and has a lot of cracks which allow cold air to come up from the cellar. We put insulation in the cellar ceiling, and we have rugs on the floor, but it is still pretty chilly. We currently use propane to run our boiler furncace (radiant water heat) and it is a big expense, the biggest monthly expense we have after our mortgage. We keep our thermostat low, but there is just no way around the expense. We would like to get a woodstove with a cooktop installed in our dining room to make it cozier, and also help us with our heating expense.

Here is the issue. Our home is old and we don't have a nice, large dining/living room with good air circulation that would be ideal for a woodstove. Our rooms are smaller and cut off from one another. I don't know how realistic it is for me to expect a woodstove to help with our heating bills because the heat would probably not be able to heat much more than the room that it is in. I don't want to buy a powerful stove that puts out a lot of heat and then have our dining room be boiling hot while the rest of the house is still cold. However, I am willing to cut vents in the ceiling to take advantage of heat from the stove rising, and install blowers or fans to help move the heat around to other rooms (if that is an option). Even if we can't really cut much of our heating bill, I still want the woodstove for the coziness factor and the versatility of using it for cooking at times. Our home is 1800 sq ft, half on the bottom, half on top.

Right now we have a chimney in our dining room where a stove previously was used. The dining room is not the center room in the house, but it is next to the center room. I would like to put a new stove there, because we do eat there and spend a lot of time in the dining room during the day (we homeschool and the kids do schoolwork there), and it is currently the coldest room in the house. We would have to build a hearth and probably upgrade the chimney.

So that is our situation. I would really love some input regarding the costs that are involved in purchasing and installing the stove, possible stove models, and especially info regarding the heating situation and how much realistically we can expect to cut our heating costs. I would also love to hear some stories about how much you love and use your own stoves and how you make it work for your own living situation (especially if you have an older home with some "issues").

Thank you!

 

[Arc_Dad]

2 years ago I was in a similar situation as you. The 2 best pieces of advice I got were; 1. start working on getting as much wood as possible cut, split and stacked. 2. Spend a lot of time at this web site reading these forums. In 2 years you'll be able to make the best decision and heat your family for a reasonable cost. If you know you're going to burn wood then I wouldn't WORRY about which stove you are going to buy for a while, but if you enjoy shopping and the decision process go ahead and look around at different stoves now, just don't stress about which stove now.

 

[begreen]

Hi Amy, welcome. Would it be possible to post a sketch of the first floor plan? Some floorplans lend themselves to a nice circular heat circulation with the assistance of a fan. It that would work for your layout, that might affect the stove recommendation. Also, affecting this would be how much room there is for stove clearances to combustibles.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Amy.

As Arc_Dad mention, the number one thing you can do immediately is to start getting your wood supply on hand. This might seem odd for new burners but if you get your wood cut, split and stacked now, you will save yourself many many problems in the future. Most folks think like they do with gas and oil. PUt the furnace in and then buy the fuel. That will now work worth a hoot with wood. Wood needs time to dry to burn properly. Don't be afraid to get 2-3 years wood on hand because then it will have the time it needs to day. Also, don't believe the wood sellers who sell "seasoned" wood. It is not.

Good luck on the stove, but get your wood first.

 

[ruserious2008]

Hi Amy,
I'm relatively new here myself but I'm also a real estate agent so I get to see lots of houses and how people deal with heat circulation issues like yours and deal with it myself at home and on some of my rental property (not with a wood stove but similar situation with a big space heater in one room and the need to move the heat elsewhere.)
Depends on how much work you want to do but here's what I've done and seen others do. The easiest are "corner door fans". Here's a pic of one I use.

you can buy them at Home Cheapo or Lowes for around $30. In my current home I use one to move air out of my living room where the wood stove is and into my bedroom and then from my bedroom to the kitchen is another one. (I shut down the other 4 rooms in the house for the winter) Works nice and low electric use on them. I also have these in my apts to move heat for the space heaters.
For your second floor I've seen plenty of houses with grates in the floor open to the first floor allowing the heat to rise. Many older homes in this area have no heat at all on the second floor and these "holes" in the floor contain original antique hardware showing our ancestors had smarts too
I've also taken and cut holes in walls for rooms where someone wanted to be able to close the door for privacy making the corner door mount fans not practical. Basically I've taken a small piece of rectangular heating duct and mounted it in the wall between two rooms. I put a fixed grate on the side facing the heat source and again at HD or Lowes they have a rectangular thermostat controlled fan that I mount in the room to receive the heat. Don't have a pic of one but they are in the heating duct section at HD and lowes along with the door frame fans. They also sell round ones that would mount in a round duct.
I've also seen people use a fan like the muffin fan you would find in your computer for either of these applications.
Other thing is what some have said already. Start getting and seasoning your wood NOW. The mistake I made and many newbies make is we get sucked into the ads for "seasoned" wood which as far as I can tell really means its no longer connected to mother earth by roots! I bought some "seasoned" and was even told by the guys wife that they burn it and it burns great and its so full of moisture you can hear it hissing in the wood stove. Not good for heat and makes creosote build up worse. Read the stickys and other posts on this great forum and you will see the "pro's" have wood for 2+ years to correctly season it.
With fuel prices doing what they are you may want to consider a used stove so you can get up and running faster than 2 years. I would imagine that stove would more than pay for itself in a year. Also watch Lowes and Home Depot for 18 month no interest deals on their credit cards if you want to go that route. As long as you make payments and pay it off before the 18months its a great deal and you could be into a new stove for next heating season. I use those 18 month deals for rehabs when I'm buying a property to flip. Good luck

 

[DanCorcoran]

ruserious2008,

Shouldn't your fan be installed with the corner of the fan in the upper corner of the doorway, letting the cord run down the doorframe?

 

[raybonz]

ruserious2008,

Shouldn't your fan be installed with the corner of the fan in the upper corner of the doorway, letting the cord run down the doorframe?

LOL not gonna add to that..

Ray

 

[Dune]

Hi Amy, welcome. Sounds like you have a lot of cold air entering your basement (cellar). It might be a good idea to seal it up a bit.

 

[Jimbob]

Hello everyone! I am Amy from central Ohio.
I don't want to buy a powerful stove that puts out a lot of heat and then have our dining room be boiling hot while the rest of the house is still cold. However, I am willing to cut vents in the ceiling to take advantage of heat from the stove rising, and install blowers or fans to help move the heat around to other rooms (if that is an option). Even if we can't really cut much of our heating bill, I still want the woodstove for the coziness factor and the versatility of using it for cooking at times. Our home is 1800 sq ft, half on the bottom, half on top.

Right now we have a chimney in our dining room where a stove previously was used. We would have to build a hearth and probably upgrade the chimney.

So that is our situation. I would really love some input regarding the costs that are involved in purchasing and installing the stove, possible stove models, and especially info regarding the heating situation and how much realistically we can expect to cut our heating costs. I would also love to hear some stories about how much you love and use your own stoves and how you make it work for your own living situation (especially if you have an older home with some "issues").

Thank you!

If I were you, I'd put in a large wood stove (Summit comes to mind), and install in-line fans like I have pictured here, and insulated ducts under the floor, bringing air FROM the colder rooms, and having them exit into the dining room right behind the stove. Doing this will draw the heated air into the rooms where needed, and keep the dining room from getting too hot. You might then cut return vents into the walls and cover them with decorative grilles so they look nice.

 

[moosetrek]

I live in a 1926 house, old (by WY standards), 9' ceilings and no insulation when I bought it. The windows are double-pane but old wood, and leak cold air, lots of glass exposure and small rooms like you have. Mine's only one story plus a basement, but I think if you make the main floor warm the upstairs won't seem so bad. As others have mentioned, the best thing you can do is insulate and seal the house, which you've got a good start on. I'm currently in the middle of widening a couple doorways for better airflow, and insulating the walls. Going to a convective stove with a blower made the heat much more even, and adding thermal curtains helped immensely with keeping the heat inside. Sounds like you're on the right track, and don't be afraid to buy a bigger stove than you think (or the salesman tells you) you need; with a convective stove it's hard to make it unbearably hot if you use smaller fires and have the capacity for those really cold nights. One thing I've noticed is that because the main floor is heated with the stove, the furnace never kicks on to get the basement warm - you might need to consider where the thermostat is located so the rest of the house gets some of your (soon to be) limited boiler use. Good luck and spend some time reading as much as you can stand!

 

[redhorse]

We have a cape cod 80s home that has lots of little rooms, all closed off, not an open floor plan at all. For 16 years we've heated with a wood/coal stove in the family room downstairs, with very few circulation problems. We do have an entree air fan to blow the heat down the hall to the master bedroom; that seems to be the only place the heat does not reach well without a little help.

 

[AmyJ]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies! I really do appreciate you all taking the time to post. I did not even think to worry about getting wood at this point, I am glad that many of you brought that up. I will definitely put that in to the budget so we can get a stockpile going. So if I am correct, you all basically store your wood at least a year before you burn it? We do have a large pole barn that we can store our wood in. I am going to get reading on these forums and start my planning. I do like the ideas of the door fans, and the grates in the ceilings. I really wish that I could have a wood stove up and running this next winter but it is just impossible, hopefully at this time next year we will actually be starting some of the work that needs to be done to get the stove in.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Amy, you are very welcome and also wise to consider the wood now.

Here is what we will be burning next winter. It was cut in 2008-2009 winter. Split and stacked in April 2009. It will burn very nicely next winter.

If you get to the point of having 2-3 years wood supply on hand at all times you will take care of 99% of a wood burner's problems and you will keep warmer while burning less wood.

 

[AmyJ]

Wow Dennis! I am so impressed. Is that wood all from your property?

 

[SolarAndWood]

If you get to the point of having 2-3 years wood supply on hand at all times you will take care of 99% of a wood burner's problems and you will keep warmer while burning less wood.

I think that is probably the best way you have ever stated that.

 

[yooperdave]

welcome, amy. lots of good advice (as always) from this page. you and your husband will find yourselves spending a lot of time on here once you get a stove and are up and running.
hands down, first and foremost, get going on the woodpile. the stoves sold now-a-days are designed to burn wood that is very dry as opposed to the stoves manufactured in the 70's/80's. most of the stoves you will be looking at will have a "secondary burn" feature built into them that enables the stove to re-ignite the unspent gases that would normally be vented up the chimney. this reburn technology enables the stove to burn more efficiently and cleaner, also, it squeezes out more heat from the process of burning. the key element for this reburn process to occur is-DRY WOOD! that is why so many of the posters suggest to get going on the woodpile 2-3 years advance.
also, look around on the entire web site. you'll find reviews of different brands of wood stoves, tons of pics, and as always, plenty of burners eager and ready to respond to questions you two may have!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wow Dennis! I am so impressed. Is that wood all from your property?

Yes Amy, that is all from our place but is only about 1/3 of what we have cut, split and stacked! It is better than money in the bank. One thing I have always stated too is that it pays to have extra, not only for drying purposes but what if some year you are not able to get out to cut the wood. For example, this past winter I cut less than half of our normal amount. Still, I do not have to ask friends and relatives (even though they are continually offering).


Solar: Thanks.