Looking to add a wood burning stove, not sure which direction to go.

[geoffm24]

Hey guys,
To give you a little background we moved into out current house in Oct or 2008, the house was built int 2005. We have a full two story brick chimney with 2 flues. Downstairs in the finished basement we have a Big E pellet stove that pipes into the chimney via a 4" pipe. Upstairs we have a one of those fireplace systems that has the metal back and sides and four vents in the masonry work on the sides. There are two fans to suck in the cold air and blow it out the top vents. We have found that we simply love having a nice fire in the fireplace and we can get the living room over 80 degrees with a roaring fire. The room is probably 15"x18" with 9" ceilings and a cieling fan.

Last winter we started thinking about taking something we love (the fire) and using it to also help heat the house at least to some degree. We currently have a two zone (upstairs and downstairs) gas system and that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg to heat with the current nat gas prices and insullation in the house

We have 2.5 acres with lots of hardwood trees so we have plenty of free wood.

Our fireplace opening is 35" wide and 28" at the top of the arch. The sides at the start of the arch at approx 23". The hearth is 22" deep.

Our chimney has rain caps that are made out of 1-2" think stone that slopes to the side. They are fixed in place with mortar and not removeable. They are approx 12 inches above the chimney top.

This all begs the following questions.

1) Can you install a liner from the bottom since the caps are fixed in place?
2) Can liner be installed without the metal cap since we already have the stone rain guards?
3) Is an insert or hearth stove the way to go? The insert would have to be smallish due to the fireplace opening size.
4) It seems like a rear exhausting hearth stove is needed due to the height issues of the fireplace opening.
5) Can we just run a liner up part way into the flue since we have the rain cap issues?
6) Is this all worth it? With stoves costing $500-$2,500, liners costing $500-$700 and someplaces asking $750 for the install the break even seems many years out.

Thanks for the help as I am driving myself crazy with this!

 

[branchburner]

I'll start with your last question first: it's all worth it if you love fires AND you love cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling wood. I love all those things, so I don't count my labor in figuring the break even point. So for me, the $1500 spent on a liner and used stove was paid back in roughly one year. Not bad. And not burning a single drop of oil last year was very satisfying. (Okay, it's true I couldn't get the furnace to work, but it was still very satisfying.)

If you count all the time invested, well, you may be counting for a while.

Personally I prefer stoves to inserts, but either way, you definitely want a liner to the top, not halfway up. What is the size/lining/condition of the flue you are planning to use?

 

[gpcollen1]

While the stone caps look nicer, I just removed mine and installed the liners to the top with metal caps.

Is it worth it? Yes. While I loved the fireplace, I understood completely that that thing warmed the Living room WHILE it sucked the heated air from the rest of my house right up the chimney and outside...

 

[firefighterjake]

Hey guys,
To give you a little background we moved into out current house in Oct or 2008, the house was built int 2005. We have a full two story brick chimney with 2 flues. Downstairs in the finished basement we have a Big E pellet stove that pipes into the chimney via a 4" pipe. Upstairs we have a one of those fireplace systems that has the metal back and sides and four vents in the masonry work on the sides. There are two fans to suck in the cold air and blow it out the top vents. We have found that we simply love having a nice fire in the fireplace and we can get the living room over 80 degrees with a roaring fire. Yowzers -- that's pretty darn hot . . . I think I would be walking around in middle of January wearing nothing more than my boxer shorts at those temps . . . OK, now that your eyes have stopped bleeding . . . not bad . . . but as you may or may not know, fireplaces are not all that efficient . . . a lot of the potential heat you could have had was also sucked up the chimney. The room is probably 15"x18" with 9" ceilings and a cieling fan.

Last winter we started thinking about taking something we love (the fire) and using it to also help heat the house at least to some degree. We currently have a two zone (upstairs and downstairs) gas system and that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg to heat with the current nat gas prices and insullation in the house. Natural gas conversions have been going on here for the past three years . . . and with the price of natural gas so good I can't say as I blame a lot of folks for switching over from oil . . . combine that with good insulation in a modern home and I would say you're doing pretty well . . . then again . . . there is something about wood heat that is rather appealing . . .

We have 2.5 acres with lots of hardwood trees so we have plenty of free wood. OK, here's the best piece of free advice . . . if you really truly think you will be burning wood in a year or so now is the time to start cutting wood . . . most wood needs a year of seasoning to be ready . . . I'll also mention that 2 1/2 acres isn't really all that large . . . I don't know if you would be able to have sustainable harvesting on this property unless you're only burning part-time or supplementing the wood supply by buying or scrounging more wood. I have two acres and short of cutting it all down there is no way I could heat my home on just the dead and dying wood . . . then again I'm also burning 24/7.

. . .

Our chimney has rain caps that are made out of 1-2" think stone that slopes to the side. They are fixed in place with mortar and not removeable. Trust me . . . just about everything can be removable . . . now "easily removable" -- that's a different story. They are approx 12 inches above the chimney top.

This all begs the following questions.

1) Can you install a liner from the bottom since the caps are fixed in place? Honestly . . . I'm not sure. I'm not really a liner expert.
2) Can liner be installed without the metal cap since we already have the stone rain guards? Again . . . I'm unsure.
3) Is an insert or hearth stove the way to go? The insert would have to be smallish due to the fireplace opening size. Opinion here only . . . at one time I would have said that if I had a fireplace I would go with an insert simply to have it look a little more like a fireplace and to take up less room . . . however, after hanging out here my thinking has changed a bit . . . I've seen some beautiful hearth stove installs, kind of like the idea that more heat will be radiated by the stove body to the room and like the idea of not having to rely on blowers to move the heat (especially since we have power outages here) . . . plus the close clearances of many newer stoves means that oftentimes you are not sacrificing that much space to the stove.4) It seems like a rear exhausting hearth stove is needed due to the height issues of the fireplace opening.
5) Can we just run a liner up part way into the flue since we have the rain cap issues? I'm not sure . . . but I'm thinking that would not be a good idea . . . hopefully folks who know more about liners will chime in soon.
6) Is this all worth it? With stoves costing $500-$2,500, liners costing $500-$700 and someplaces asking $750 for the install the break even seems many years out. Ah, the $64,000 question . . . and one only you can answer. The true answer varies from person to person . . . what their goals are . . . why they are thinking about heating with wood . . . and if they're willing to put in a little work.

Let me explain more thoroughly . . . I originally started burning wood when the price of heating oil was through the roof . . . I came to it out of economic necessity . . . but now after having burned for several years I like the fact that I am in part in charge of my own destiny -- not some foreign country or Wall Street traders. If I work hard and get enough wood, I save money . . . but it's more than the economics or the political aspect . . . or even the whole green-is-good belief . . . plain and simple . . . I enjoy working the wood . . . in fact for me it's not work -- it's a way to destress by whacking wood, being outdoors, etc. . . . perhaps the only thing better is enjoying the fruits of my labor in the winter when the winds are howling outside and I'm sitting in front of the fire watching the mesmerizing flames, listening to the snapping and crackling and enoying the smell of the simmering potpourri . . . not to mention enjoying those great temps. Is it worth it? For me, the answer is a resounding yes

Thanks for the help as I am driving myself crazy with this!

 

[geoffm24]

Thanks for the help guys. I have a chimney guy coming next week to check things out to see what my options are.

As for the wood I have been chopping a stacking for about a year and a half now. I've got a pretty good supply at this point since I has quite a few standing dead trees and some downed dead ones as well. I also cleared out some of the woods to plant fruit trees so I've got a bunch to last me awhile.

For some reason I enjoy cutting trees, chopping wood and stacking it.

 

[branchburner]

For some reason I enjoy cutting trees, chopping wood and stacking it.

Yup, you need a stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for the help guys. I have a chimney guy coming next week to check things out to see what my options are.

As for the wood I have been chopping a stacking for about a year and a half now. I've got a pretty good supply at this point since I has quite a few standing dead trees and some downed dead ones as well. I also cleared out some of the woods to plant fruit trees so I've got a bunch to last me awhile.

For some reason I enjoy cutting trees, chopping wood and stacking it.

OK . . . that line right there confirmed it for me . . . if you enjoy the "work" then you would enjoy a new EPA stove . . . because then you would get to enjoy the other benefits of good heat, a fantastic light show and the sounds and smells that is the final, sweet reward of a job well done. No question in my mind now . . . time to go stove shopping.

 

[begreen]

Would it be a big deal if the top rainguard stones were carefully removed for the installation then re-cemented in place after the liner is in?.

 

[vvvv]

Would it be a big deal if the top rainguard stones were carefully removed for the installation then re-cemented in place after the liner is in?.

great idea,thermo speaking, but hassle come time to clean the chimni?

 

[geoffm24]

OK here is the update after the chimney guy stopped by.

We are going to run a full liner and remove all the bricks and stone rain guards on top of the chimney. We are going to go with the SS rain tops but possibly upgrade to copper in the future.

We bought a used Jotul F 500 as we needed a rear exhaust stove and we figured we'd get better heat from a hearth stove over an insert with fans.

Chimney guy comes out on Oct 1st, we are pretty excited!

 

[begreen]

Nice. Good to hear it worked out for you. You might want to consider ordering a proper topper for the flue to dress it up:
http://www.extendaflue.com/pt.html

Don't forget to take some pictures and post them here.

 

[firefighterjake]

Good deal . . . another Oslo user . . . matte black or another color?

 

[geoffm24]

Good deal . . . another Oslo user . . . matte black or another color?

Matte black