Help with category selection of a new stove.

[thesmackdown]

Last summer we bought a old (1896/1921) farm house. It has an existing Monarch Add-A-Furnace. For those of you that are unfamiliar it is a wood burner that ties into a forced air furnace and uses the ducts to distribute heat through the house. Well, this one isn't connected to any duct work as the house has a boiler and radiators. There is just a large grate in the floor of one of the rooms. The Monarch has seen better days and is starting to really show it's age, from a wear and efficiency standpoint.

So, I need some help selecting a replacement.

The house - like I said, east part of the house was built in 1896 - west part 1921. The main part of the house is about 1900 sq feet and two stories with a basement. The stove is in the basement of the west side addition. The west side doesn't have radiators. I guess they just relied on the kitchen stove?

Since this is an old house the plan is not very open and there isn't much insulation in the house, yet.

Heating would primarily be for the first floor as we like the bedrooms cooler.

I think the stove would need to stay in the basement (unfinished) because of wood storage and flue connection.

I want something that I can use as a primary heating source.

Do I need something with a fan? Or would radiant action be just as effective?

As a side note, I am planning on installing a thermal solar collector for domestic hot water later in the Spring. If that can generate enough heat I was planning on tying it to the boiler system - so I might be interested in a water jacket stove so I can distribute heat to the east side of the house.

Thanks!

 

[Todd]

I think I would stick with a wood furnace for your situation if your going to install in an unfinished basement. There are some good efficient ones out there, Energy King in Chippewa Falls builds a good one. If you want a wood stove better to put it in that 1900 sq ft living area.

 

[Fsappo]

Look at the Non Cat EPA Certified Caddy furnaces. Just sayin..

 

[CarbonNeutral]

I think I would stick with a wood furnace for your situation if your going to install in an unfinished basement. There are some good efficient ones out there, Energy King in Chippewa Falls builds a good one. If you want a wood stove better to put it in that 1900 sq ft living area.

Yep, a wood stove in the basement would result in about half your energy exiting through the walls

 

[thesmackdown]

Look at the Non Cat EPA Certified Caddy furnaces. Just sayin..

Is the Caddy big enough?

 

[jeff_t]

You did say there is no forced air system? No ductwork? Be hard to get a furnace to do a good job. Is a boiler an option? It's a big investment, but probably the best choice.

 

[thesmackdown]

You did say there is no forced air system? No ductwork? Be hard to get a furnace to do a good job. Is a boiler an option? It's a big investment, but probably the best choice.

No ductwork now. I could see splitting the plenum and running two lines to opposite ends of the house.

Boiler? Outdoor?

 

[Peter B.]

Evan:

A friend nearby heated with a similar built in basement wood furnace (with ductwork) until a couple of years ago.

The system intrigued the hell out of me... and it worked well if you kept the furnace fed. But it was a dammed hungry machine.

A couple of years ago, he bought an 'upper middle end' outdoor unit and piped pex (?) tubing throughout the main living area. It took a while to shake the system out, but now he's got a rock solid 70* or better as long as he keeps a fire in the outdoor unit.

When he bought it, I thought it was going to be a 'stink bomb', and smoke the whole neighborhood, but when burned properly, the smoke factor is actually negligible.

In my tender youth, I would have done my level best to restore the furnace and retrofit it for a more efficient burn. These days, I confess I kind of envy the outdoor based system.

If most of the ductwork is gone now, I think much of the utility of the distribution system is gone as well. You could put a big (top cowled ?) radiant or convection heater right under the floor grate (is the grate labeled 'Homer' by chance?) and hope for the best, but I think it's probably a losing proposition if you're trying to heat the whole house.

PB

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[thesmackdown]

Evan:
A couple of years ago, he bought an 'upper middle end' outdoor unit and piped pex (?) tubing throughout the main living area. It took a while to shake the system out, but now he's got a rock solid 70* or better as long as he keeps a fire in the outdoor unit.

When he bought it, I thought it was going to be a 'stink bomb', and smoke the whole neighborhood, but when burned properly, the smoke factor is actually negligible.

In my tender youth, I would have done my level best to restore the furnace and retrofit it for a more efficient burn. These days, I confess I kind of envy the outdoor based system.
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The outdoor setup seems like a very expensive option.

How would one "restore" it and retrofit it for a more efficient burn?

 

[Peter B.]

Evan:
A couple of years ago, he bought an 'upper middle end' outdoor unit and piped pex (?) tubing throughout the main living area. It took a while to shake the system out, but now he's got a rock solid 70* or better as long as he keeps a fire in the outdoor unit.

When he bought it, I thought it was going to be a 'stink bomb', and smoke the whole neighborhood, but when burned properly, the smoke factor is actually negligible.

In my tender youth, I would have done my level best to restore the furnace and retrofit it for a more efficient burn. These days, I confess I kind of envy the outdoor based system.
-----

The outdoor setup seems like a very expensive option.

How would one "restore" it and retrofit it for a more efficient burn?

Yes, the whole bill for the outdoor setup was (I think) close to $10K.

Again, if the original ductwork has been removed, there's little hope in resurrecting the old system.

My friend's furnace and ductwork was basically still intact. There are ALL KINDS of ways that one can (incrementally) improve the efficiency of old wood heating units if one is so disposed and has the patience. If the steel is still sound, you can still work with it.

But I'm not necessarily advocating that at this point.

My friend (bless his soul) declined to let me 'adapt' his system for the better (as I saw it).

Probably just as well.

PB

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[thesmackdown]

Yes, the whole bill for the outdoor setup was (I think) close to $10K.

Again, if the original ductwork has been removed, there's little hope in resurrecting the old system.

My friend's furnace and ductwork was basically still intact. There are ALL KINDS of ways that one can (incrementally) improve the efficiency of old wood heating units if one is so disposed and has the patience. If the steel is still sound, you can still work with it.

But I'm not necessarily advocating that at this point.

My friend (bless his soul) declined to let me 'adapt' his system for the better (as I saw it).

Probably just as well.

PB

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There wasn't ever any ductwork - I have a feeling one of the previous owners got it second hand. It does an okay job of keeping the house comfortable, but does require a tremendous amount of wood.

Do indoor wood boilers exist?

Or something that does both?

 

[Peter B.]

Evan:

I will have to turn you over to the experts here and/or the Boiler Room (a 'sister' forum here at Hearth.com).

Yes, indoor - and high efficiency - wood boilers exist... but they are more often discussed here:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/21/

... than at this 'address'.

PB

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