Inserts vs Indoor Stoves vs Add-on Furnaces?

[oregonian]

We just went through 5 days of no electricty and we have two fireplaces that were built with the home two years ago. We sadly realized that the fireplaces (without any blowers) provided barely any heat. After five days of running a generator and powering a space heater for one room we are desperate for a reliable heat source as well as a hot water source so that we can happily endure the next power outage. We are trying to decide what the best solution would be a wood insert, indoor wood stove, or an add-on furnace (such as a Big Jack)? The two existing fireplaces (Superior brand, non-masonry) are in our bedroom and in the great room which is in the center of the one story house and we currently heat the home with a heat pump. The insert would not allow us to cook on it or heat water if need be?; the wood stove would allow us to cook or heat water on it; and the add-on would allow us to have a continual hot water source but would need to have back up power for the blower and well pump (which is possible in our situation). Any thoughts on the efficiency of wood burning, economics, or additional advice on specific units for any of the options would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance!

 

[rickw]

Let me tell you what I did. I got a little insert thinking that it would be fine for backup. And it was. I then tried to burn 24/7 with it and it didn't work out very well. Its a primal thing - once that flame is going you just plain don't want to let it go out (me - fire GOOD; wife - fire BAD). I ended up replacing it after only 3 years with a great hearth stove. Kinda wish I hadn't done it twice.

So figure out what you want. If you want backup or occasional heat an insert will work fine. If you are looking for a primary heat source consider a good-sized hearth stove. Do everything right - hearth pad, liner, blockoff plate, wood rack/shed. Maybe the best thing you can do is visit some friends with stoves and see how theirs work. Don't rush. Realistically this season is too late. Do your research. Be sure to consider the advice of users as well as (instead of ?) the advice of installers or sellers

From an efficiency standpoint you're much better off with a hearth stove; and you can cook on it too. I'm very happy with my Woodstock.

What's an add-on furnace? You mean an outside boiler? Those things are abominations. If you want to incinerate 10+ cords of wood a year and smoke out the entire county then go for it. Personally I don't care for them.

Well, you asked... Best of luck!

 

[LeonMSPT]

There are a couple outdoor wood boilers that have been developed over the last few years that are EPA tested and don't make any more smoke than an EPA compliant woodstove. Just shop carefully, and buy right.

Installation costs are obviously much higher with add on boilers. I just put one in, had a second chimney available and figured I might as well heat it all, apartments, domestic hot water, the works, on the add on.

There are some long burning fireplace inserts out there, but inserts generally have a smaller firebox and shorter burn times. Again, buy what you want, and buy right.

Either running a woodstove into the existing chimney, or putting an insert in, is going to require the chimney to be lined in order for it to be right. Just bite the bullet, line the chimney, you'll be happier, feel better, and be safe.

Chimneys penetrate all the way to the basement? Add on boiler, burning coal, appears to be the way to go, if you're buying wood to any degree. You'll nearly always be able to burn wood in it, if you decide to do so, but coal burns much cleaner, and requires much less fiddling around than wood. Get your fire established and walk away, don't go back for 8 hours or so.

 

[begreen]

Can you post some information about the house size, floorplan, etc.? Usually a free-standing stove will have an advantage in a power outage, especially one that doesn't need a blower. And many freestanding stoves have good cooking surfaces on top. Climatewise, are you in western or eastern OR?

 

[mike1234]

I have an (abomination according to rick) big jack wood furnace that I heat with 24/7. I actually put mine in the garage, not in the house because to run the stovepipe from the basement would of been almost impossible, and wood is messy and I did not want to track it through the house. You still need some electricity to run this type of furnace because you need to power the blower. I think you could power it with a backup power supply, like one for a computer, but you need to recharge that ever so often with your generator (this is the project I am currently working on, still don't have it all figured out).

I also have 2 wood stoves in the house, and they will make the room they are in nice and hot with no electricity, but the bedrooms will be freezing, I guess in a pinch, we could all sleep in the wood stove rooms.

Hope this helps.
Mike

 

[oregonian]

Thank you all for your replies and advice... Here is some additional information on our home... The house is 1800 sq. ft. it has four bedrooms, with a very open floor plan (no walls between kitchen, great room, or dining room) and the main fireplace is located in the center of the house (great room) where a vaulted ceiling is also present. It is a single level home with a crawl space and no basement. The furnace and water heater are located in the garage. We live in western Oregon within the Coast Range surrounded by forest (easy access to on-site and off-site wood sources). The add-on furnace we were considering would be placed in the garage with a separate chimney and duct work to the existing furnace (see Yukon - Big Jack models at www.yukon-eagle.com for a reference).

 

[oregonian]

Mike, Just had a couple of questions for you... With the Super Jack have you noticed a significant cost savings with your heating? How often do you fill the fire box with wood? Have you heard of the fire box cracking? Do you heat hot water with the unit as well? What is the sq. ft. of the home you heat it with? Thanks!

 

[mike1234]

I have a propane furnace, over 90% efficient but a very leaky, very large house (4800 sq ft). Last year my propane costs were just under 400/ mo in the winter (November - March). This year, I filled it up at beginning of season (500.00), and have used about 10% so far all for hot water. I think I will go from about 2500 in propane last year to 500 this year, so 2000 savings pays for my whole install in 2.5 years.

I do not use it to preheat the water, it would take a lot of plumbing I was not ready to do this year (need to have a bypass and drain, so if I am gone on vacation that loop would not freeze, plus it would be long runs), but I will probably eventually put that in.

My big complaint is how often I fill the stove, every 5 hours or so, but I think I could do much better if the garage was insulated, I just loose too much heat to cold air in the garage. I will fix that problem this spring.

I don't think you could crack the firebox, it's made like a tank, big thick steal, round firebox. I use some hedge in this stove, it will turn my inside stoves red if I am not careful, but it does not seem to get close to that in the super jack.

My other complaint, too much creosote, but I think I am getting better at that, it's a learning curve, I was always packing in the wood, that is a mistake. In the meantime I clean my stovepipe every month.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ken45]

With a freestanding woodstove, you can heat the house and cook food without any electricity. You can also heat small quantities of water (a couple of gallons at a time).

Our power outage was only three hours but my wife cooked breakfast (bacon and eggs and biscuits). Of course we had plenty of heat since that's our normal heat anyway. It may be a bit more effective with the blower running but it wasn't noticeable.

Ken