How to position many wood stoves

[Beno]

Hi there,

I plan to build a passive solar bungalow, having 3 wood appliances: a wood boiler in the basement, a wood stove in the basement and a wood stove on the main floor. For wood boiler I'd probably go with Kerr, for wood stoves I'd probably go with VC non-cat Dutchwest (everburn) large. I live in Ottawa, Canada.
The question is about how to position these 3 wood appliances, relative to the chimney location. I understand that each one will have its own flue, but do I need to position the all 3 appliances on the same side of the house (closer to the chimney's vertical axis), for the best draft?

Many thanks,
Beno

 

[begreen]

Beno, welcome. No, I don't think so, but do keep the flues in the interior of the house. Perhaps a central masonry chimney with multiple flues could work?

FWIW, 3 heaters in a well insulated passive solar domicile seems way overkill, even for your climate. But perhaps this is a very large house, how many sq. ft.? Have you run an energy analysis on the design yet?

 

[Beno]

Thanks BeGreen.
It's a 1800 sq.ft. bungalow. The boiler heats the (domestic) water, and not sure yet if I'll implement a hydronic radiant floor, in order to keep the building costs low.
So what counts for house heating are the 2 wood stoves. Since there are 2 levels (basement and main level) I think I need 2 wood stoves.
No, I didn't run an energy analysis on the design yet. Can you recommend one? I checked the Energy-10 but the tool is very expensive.

 

[Rhone]

I would personally go for solar hot water w/electric backup instead of a wood fired boiler. If you build your house with solar heating instead of wood even in Ottawa it should supply you with 80% of your heating and 98% of your hot water needs. The other 20% you use a single wood stove in the basement to heat both floors (have it near a stairway).

Did you research about burning wood in summer and wood boilers? The hotter it is outside, the more difficult it is to get a fire going, last I knew members on here that have a wood fired boiler don't use it in summer and I hear wood boilers are pretty bad. They're getting banned in places in the USA. I would do your research on the wood boilers in particular and if I could build it would be solar first not wood but, that's just me.

 

[Beno]

Thanks Rhonemas.
I am definitly considering solar hot water, and also the large concrete mass will store heat too.
Electricity is an expensive solution, and also makes me dependable on the grid. Maybe a good idea will be a combo oil/wood boiler, including a water tank to store the heat. I can use the wood boiler in the cold season, and the oil boiler is the backup.

 

[begreen]

Thanks BeGreen.
It's a 1800 sq.ft. bungalow. The boiler heats the (domestic) water, and not sure yet if I'll implement a hydronic radiant floor, in order to keep the building costs low.
So what counts for house heating are the 2 wood stoves. Since there are 2 levels (basement and main level) I think I need 2 wood stoves.
No, I didn't run an energy analysis on the design yet. Can you recommend one? I checked the Energy-10 but the tool is very expensive.

Here is a free tool to get you started. It's based on US energy codes, but will get you some real figures for a beginning. Also here is a quick calculator in Excel format.
http://www.energycodes.gov/rescheck/
http://store.h-mac.com/heloca.html
http://www.heatload.com/hotwater/

I agree with Rhone. Invest now in a tight envelope and solar heat. That investment is going to pay back for the rest of the life of the building. Be sure to budget for insulating the entire basement including the floor.

FYI - If you make the house 100% wood heated, will it pass local code and your insurance company requirements? It wouldn't in our area.