If You Were Building a Home Today...

[Trooper]

This may seem like a strange question, but I've been doing a litle dreaming lately.

If you were building a new home and wanted to heat with wood, would you build a fireplace and stick an insert in it, or go with a wood stove? It seems like it would be much cheaper to go the stove route, but didn't know if I was missing something.

 

[fossil]

Masonry fireplace/chimney structures are very expensive. If I had no particular reason to go that route, I wouldn't spring for the $$$. Design the house with freestanding woodstove(s) in mind, and I'd have lots of flexibility on placement & such. Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

I agree with Rick. A masonry chimney can be in the neighborhood of twenty grand here. I had an insert because the house was 95 percent complete before I found it. I would have preferred a pipe.

 

[Todd]

I'd build my house around a giant masonry heater.

 

[Xikar]

I'd still have a masonry chimney put in as I love the look of the roof line with a chimney as opposed to the stainless metal flue. I would not go with an insert though, I would most likely build the hearth to accommodate a a large free standing stove.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

One of the main considerations would be to locate the stove area in a central location. And if you are building a "tight" house insulation wise allow for access to an outside air supply.

 

[Grisu]

If money would not be a concern a passive house with a nice masonry heater would be my dream. Otherwise, a freestanding stove has quite a few advantages compared with an insert so that would be a no-brainer.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

If money would not be a concern a passive house with a nice masonry heater would be my dream. Otherwise, a freestanding stove has quite a few advantages compared with an insert so that would be a no-brainer.

Great combination,a passive solar house.well insulated with a wood stove backup for those cloudy/rainy/snowy winter days.

 

[Sprinter]

Inserts are designed for buyers who already have an existing fireplace and want to convert it's use from open fireplace to an efficient appliance. There is little or no reason to build a fireplace just to stick an insert in. If you like the look of a masonry fireplace, there are many ways to build a great looking masonry hearth around a stove.

If you did build a fireplace for an insert, at least locate it centrally, not on an outside wall.

 

[firefighterjake]

Free standing woodstove . . . but as others have said . . . I would try to design the house with an even more open design, super insulate, go with a passive solar design and try to make the stove a little more centrally located.

 

[DevilsBrew]

Small Russian stove or a kiva.

The problem I will always have is that I can't let go of the experience of a fire.

 

[wazzu]

Inserts don't work well at all in my opinion. You have to run the blower all the time to get any heat out of them.

 

[Stax]

Wood stove, centrally located with open floor plan. Bad ___ built up hearth of PA field stone.

 

[begreen]

Free standing woodstove . . . but as others have said . . . I would try to design the house with an even more open design, super insulate, go with a passive solar design and try to make the stove a little more centrally located.

Good points. I would add to try and keep the home size and ceiling heights reasonable, 10 ft or under for the ceilings. Go to church if you want to experience a cathedral ceiling, but don't want the heating issues of one. On the stove, there are so many ways to go that it really depends on your aesthetic desires and the degree to which you want to be involved with the fire. Personally I would love to have a masonry heater like a Tulikivi in the house. A friend put one in up in AK and it was stunningly beautiful. Designed right it becomes a visual focal point and a gathering area during winter. That said, I love many freestanding stoves too, but then I'm a stove geek and a firebug. Some folks prefer a grander fireview and have a house layout that requires ducting the heat. For them a ducted ZC fireplace is a good idea. All will work with good planning.

 

[Trooper]

Personally I would love to have a masonry heater...

How do those masonry heaters vent, or do they even need to?

 

[begreen]

Yes, they need to vent. They have a chimney.

 

[dougstove]

Stove and stovepipe. Masonry chimneys leak, crumble, are a massive heat sink to the outside, mess up the roof with flashing, waste heat if on an outside wall, or need a footing if inside.
I was very happy to get ride of mine.

 

[begreen]

I'm not a fan of masonry fireplace or flues on exterior walls But masonry chimneys can be put in the core of the house where they do the most good and gently radiate the heat back into the home as the fire dies down. This is how you will see it done in old colonials. FWIW, our 80 year old chimney never leaked. If it does it is a sign of poor workmanship. The same can happen with a metal chimney. We see bad installs several times a year here.

 

[firecracker_77]

Like the idea of a stove or 2 more centrally located.

 

[Grisu]

How do those masonry heaters vent, or do they even need to?

Here are some examples and more info about masonry heaters are also on that website:
http://www.mha-net.org/html/gallery.htm
They work a little bit different than modern woodstoves. You try to get a hot fire going without restricting air. The exhaust will vent through a bunch of channels thereby transferring the heat to the masonry which will then radiate it over hours into the room. They are supposed to have an efficiency of 80% to 90% and a well built masonry heater will last decades if not centuries. In a passive house it may be all you need for heating maybe with some electric baseboard as backup if you are away for a longer time.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We had intended on building a new house. It would have had one side completely open with 3 sides under ground. There would be a second level to the house too. A free standing wood stove should serve it well as we also planned on super insulation it. The SSW is the side that would be open with lots of glass. But, we are very happy with what we have.

 

[DevilsBrew]

We had intended on building a new house. It would have had one side completely open with 3 sides under ground. There would be a second level to the house too. A free standing wood stove should serve it well as we also planned on super insulation it. The SSW is the side that would be open with lots of glass. But, we are very happy with what we have.

I would like something like this but above ground and one level. Similar to the passive greenhouse designs. Living in this old farmhouse has taught me that layout, size, and insulation are key. It really wouldn't take a whole lot to heat a small house if built correctly. I cut my heating bill almost in half simply by insulating this place as best I could. If I could make even further improvements, then I could cut that down to 1/4 easily.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure. We cut our heating bill in half or more just by installing the new stove. Then we insulated, installed new windows and doors plus an addition. It did not add to our wood needs at all. We may have gone just a tad over 3 cord last winter but we're very happy with that. We also keep our home 80 degrees or more all winter. We used to close off part of the house and still were cold with the old stove. The Fireview does a super excellent job.

 

[rideau]

Money no object, I'd build a very large country kitchen, and allow room for a nice wood cookstove. I'd have a full bath on the main floor, a south facing large family room, which could be used as a masterbedroom on invalid bedroom,with a built in Renaissance rumford fireplace from ICC. Then, I'd have the entire North side of the home one big living/dining room, with a soapstone wood stove. doors to the kitchen and hallway, wide stairs with steps to kitchen and hall to assist air flow upstairs. I'd have all windows to the south in window seat areas with windows angled for maximum solar gain in winter, and have built in shutters between the double pane glass. I'd insulate very well. I'd have a mud entrance/summer kitchen on one end of the home, and a library with renaissance rumford fireplace on the other end of the home. I'd have a full basement, with insulated slab, to help moderate temps. And I'd have an attached greenhouse of some sort. Designed to absorb and store heat during the day, radiate it at night.

I don't mind the look of a steel chimney.

My sister in Maine put in a huge soapstone masonry heater, steel chimney, and framed around the steel chimney of the roof, put up a brick faux chimney. Looks like a masonry chimney at much less cost and no maintenance issues.