Ideas For Heating With Wood

[Bk1]

Winter is coming, although it doesn't feel like it lately.

We want to use wood from our property to provide most, if not all of our heat in the winter.

We bought this place about a year ago. It has a LP boiler with baseboard radiators. The boiler is about 30 years old and will need to be replaced in the next year or so I would think. I did create a thread asking for info on how to tie into our existing system to supplement with wood:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/way-to-use-existing-hydronic-radiator-system-with-wood.155766/

I have read that a house should be built around the fireplace/wood stove and that makes sense. With this house though, I don't see how it's possible to accomplish that with the house already built. So, I'm trying to think of the next best thing.

I had considered an outdoor wood boiler and tying it into our boiler system. It sounds though like those use tons of wood and we have wood on our property, but not tons of wood. Also, it sounds like you have to keep the outdoor boiler 24x7. To tie into a boiler based system it sounds like you need a holding tank to store some of the extra heated water to move through the system. Figuring out where to put that is part of the problem of going that route. I have thought about whether converting to forced air would make more sense if we are needing to replace the boiler anyway. We could more easily get central air if we did that as well.

Our plan right now is to put a wood stove in our sunroom. To picture our house, imagine a ranch house east to west built into a hill. Basement is exposed on one side (picture the side coming out towards you). Then, coming out towards you is a two story sunroom/four seasons room with steps going up to the main living area and patio doors you enter through.

The idea behind putting it in that room is that heat rises and we want to use fans to move that air into the main part of the house.

We just have a hard time figuring out in the main part of the house where we would put a wood stove. We don't exactly have extra room and a wood stove along with the clearance needed around it takes up a lot of space.

The sunroom is extended out of the west side of the house. I also thought of putting an additional wood stove in the basement on the east side of the house. That should help balance out the fact that moving air from the west side won't make it all the way down to the east side of the house.

So, I guess I'm just wondering what you guys think. I am a complete rookie to heating with wood.

Let me know if you need any other info.

Thanks for the help!

 

[prezes13]

Wood stove is a space heater. Some folks are able to heat a whole house with them some are not. Generally you would want your stove where you spend majority of the time. If you put your stove in a sunroom I would suspect that majority of the heat will go to heat the great oudoors instead your house. Best would be installing a woodstove somewhere in a central location of your house.

 

[xman23]

A wood stove in a sunroom (all glass room?), not being the main body of the house doesn't sound like the best location. Unless it's a huge open wall connecting it to the house. Best for it to be in the core house, largest room, main floor living space. Basements are doable but have issues.

It's getting late in the year, get this planed, purchased and installed. If your going to do this don't wait until there's snow on the ground. Everyone needs a stove then.

Study this site and get yourself up to speed on burning wood. The wood maybe free, but It's a lot of work for free heat. We burn 3 year old seasoned wood. So your already 3 years behind where you should be.

 

[begreen]

How well does the sunroom heat up the rest of the house on sunny winter days? That will give you some idea of how heat will migrate from this space. Pics are always welcome.

 

[Typ0]

I don't understand how going up the steps you land on a patio? Sounds like that would be a deck please specify. What is the footage of these rooms?

You will want your stove more centrally located. From what I picture the room adjoining the sunroom that is inside the main house would make more sense. A little supplemental heat in the sunroom on cold nights would probably be necessary to keep your home warm. You kinda open up a can of worms installing a wood stove because the heating dynamics of your home changes and that requires environmental changes...

 

[Bk1]

I talked with my wife and we think we have a spot on the main level (upper level, remember built into a hill with walk out basement) for a wood stove to go. It would be in the corner of the living room. It would be on an outside wall but at least now in the central area where we live.

Our house (not including the four seasons room) is about 1800 square feet. Is there a model of wood stove you guys would recommend? We will also need to figure out a fan (maybe more) to move the warm air to the opposite end of the house where the bedrooms are.

One person we had out recommended a Pacific Energy Summit Classic but that was when the plan was to have one in the sunroom trying to heat everything.

In the new spot we are looking at, there won't be a ton of space though so a more compact unit would be better if possible.

 

[Typ0]

Remember if you put it on the main level your lower level will have no heat...the right stove on the lower level could heat your whole home.

 

[Highbeam]

Well your username already has BK in it so it only makes sense to select one of the BK stoves. They offer very close clearances to combustibles, are the most efficient, and have nearly double the burn time per load of wood as any competitor. I'm a fan.

Heating your water with wood is extremely expensive and is done with large and ugly appliances. I would love to have a wood heated water system but it would be in addition to a nice woodstove to heat the space from the hearth. Every house needs a hearth heater.

I too heat 1700 SF 100% with a woodstove. There is no problem circulating heat but my house is on one level. What I like most, and maybe what some folks call a failure, is that the stove room will be 10 degrees warmer than the farthest out rooms which are the bedrooms for me.

 

[Ashful]

Stove recommendation is a hotly debated topic, with many justified and unjustified loyalties on all sides. Highbeam is right, BK is at the top of the performance spectrum in almost all regards, but there are still good reasons to consider other stoves. Pacific Energy, Jotul, Englander, Woodstock, and BK all make excellent stoves, each with different characteristics. Your first job is finding dealers in your area that you like (there are probably a few), and look at what brands each carry. Then come here for some opinions on those brands, and how they might fit your house and intended use.

Most stove dealers, these days carry only non-cat stoves, and some may give you a false sales pitch about "troublesome catalytic stoves", based on some poor stove designs put on the market 30 years ago. The truth is, if maximum performance is your sole goal, then catalytic is the way to go. That's not to say you need to buy a catalytic stove, as there are many good non-cats on the market, it's just a warning to not take every dealer at their word. They're simply pitching what they have.

 

[PWash]

As far as stove placement, also consider the path youll be carrying the wood thru your house, from outside, porch, or garage. That said, you should still put the stove in the best room/location for heating, and not necessarily in the most convienent spot for hauling wood. But its best to know all the implications of stove placement before you start the project.

 

[Highbeam]

Stove recommendation is a hotly debated topic, with many justified and unjustified loyalties on all sides.

Oh for sure, there are very few "bad" stoves on the market. A lot to be said for simple non-cat stoves and PE makes an excellent non-cat with some superior features such as a SS baffle board above the wood and relatively long burn times.

 

[prezes13]

I have a raised ranch so my floor plan is kind of like yours I would imagine. I have a very open staircase from me basement/rec room(ground level) and if I was to heat my house with wood 100% I woul but a BK the king model in there.

 

[begreen]

I talked with my wife and we think we have a spot on the main level (upper level, remember built into a hill with walk out basement) for a wood stove to go. It would be in the corner of the living room. It would be on an outside wall but at least now in the central area where we live.

Our house (not including the four seasons room) is about 1800 square feet. Is there a model of wood stove you guys would recommend? We will also need to figure out a fan (maybe more) to move the warm air to the opposite end of the house where the bedrooms are.

One person we had out recommended a Pacific Energy Summit Classic but that was when the plan was to have one in the sunroom trying to heat everything.

In the new spot we are looking at, there won't be a ton of space though so a more compact unit would be better if possible.

Still a good recommendation.

 

[JA600L]

I think it would be very helpful to draw a picture and put it on here. I have a rancher built into a hill with a walk out basement as well. I am able to successfully heat the entire home from the basement. I also have a stove on the main level for back-up and looks. I'll describe my house a bit to give you a comparison.

Its a 1977 rancher with 2x4 walls. It is about 1800 sqft total and then a garage under the bedrooms. I have installed new dual pane windows. I air sealed the attic and updated the insulation. I also blew cellulose in between the garage and bedrooms. Then I finished insulating the basement walls.
The woodstove is a Woodstock Soapstone Ideal Steal Hybrid in the basement and a Quadra-Fire 4300 upstairs. The stoves are on the other side of the house from the bedrooms. The staircase is next to the stove and comes up to the center of the main level. I have no problem whatsoever keeping the house anywhere between the high 60's and low 80's with the basement stove. I only fire the 2nd stove up when temperatures fall below zero on a windy night. Even then it is not needed, but I like to add a little extra comfort as the wind pounds on those 2x4 walls. If I were to use the upstairs stove on its own it would overheat the place. I have used it from time to time for warm up fires in the spring and fall.

In conclusion, a basement stove done right will heat the entire house. It is not for everyone though.

 

[Bk1]

Here's the layout, hope this helps:



The two locations with the WS? are where we are thinking of putting the wood stove. The one to the left would be in our living room on the upper/main level. The WS? on the right would be on the ground level in the two story sunroom.

In the sunroom, there is a set of stairs that goes up to the main level. At the top of the stairs is a landing with a patio door that you go through. So, the patio door being inside might be throwing you guys off when I'm describing it as usually patio doors are to the outside of the house. This particular patio door separates the main living area from the two story sunroom.

The idea behind putting the wood stove in the sunroom (ws? on the right side) was to keep it more out of our living area (big family in a smallish house). We were hoping that with using a fan in the doorway where the patio door is and the fact that heat rises we could take a lot of the heat from that sunroom and distribute it to the main living area. At least the living room part, probably wouldn't make it down to the bedrooms.

One person we had in suggested installing a duct with a blower fan and running it through the basement. It would have a blower in the sunroom end of the duct and force air down the duct to distribute to other areas of the house.

If we wanted to put it in the main living area, the WS? to the left is the best we came up with due to layout, windows, and door locations.

It is possible to eventually put another wood stove on the north end of the house in the basement. That is currently a playroom/recroom so it could go in there. Our LP enters the house right where I would want to put it so that would have to be moved first and I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

Thanks for your time and ideas so far!

 

[Ashful]

I'll let others answer your direct questions, but will say that you'll be very surprised how well the heat from a wood stove running 24/7 distributes itself, without aid of a blower. The heat put out by a woodstove is fairly modest, compared to any furnace, but it's just cranking away 24 hours per day. This is a very different model from any central heating system, which might have 10x more horsepower, but cycles on and off as needed. If your house has any reasonable level of insulation, that heat being generated at a fairly low rate will find its way to all corners of the house with fairly minimal forced convection (eg. you just walking around will get the air going, and natural convection currents will establish after several hours of continuous running). So many people here anticipate needing to run blowers to distribute heat, and then find it unnecessary once the stove is installed. I was in that camp, myself.

That's not to say it will be perfectly even across the house, like a central heating system, but most people actually find this to work well. For example, we typically want our bedrooms cooler than our livingroom, for winter sleeping. Many will put a simple space heater, or install electric radiant floor heating, in their master bath. It's a different way of living, but I enjoy being able to move from one room to another, whether I'm too warm or too cold.

 

[prezes13]

I think ashful is right on the money. Most of the time I close door to my bedroom so I can enjoy the cold air for sleeping.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

1800 ft ranch here and the living room cooks along nicely in the low 80's,
the hall and bedrooms settle in around 65-70 degrees. Perfect system,
and each bedroom door is a thermostat for those who like to chill the room
and bundle up in the comforters.

CheapMark