My first post and it's a doozy! :) (long read sorry!)

[tlhfirelion]

At least I think so. To make a painfully long story shorter, I'm in the early stages of building a concrete home. It's a very basic concrete home with a main level and a full sized basement. I will have a heat pump as my furnace and want to use a wood stove as the "main" source of heat. Now my problem is that I had this house already planned out layout wise, and it is a large open area with family room, kitchen, dining room, etc all in one large room with a large stone chimney in the middle to break it all up and now I've decided I want a stove, not a fireplace. However, the problem I now have is that above this chimney was going to be a crows nest of sorts with windows and 2 air intake vents that have small electric motors that will push that warm rising air into the bedrooms and basement so I don't have to run the heat pump as much and can still get the heat spread around. I'm however having a very hard time trying to figure out the layout with a stove, and taking full advantage of the radiant heat it will put out. Is it ok to put a wood stove in the middle of a room/house like that to send heat up as well as out in all directions? I just think it would look horrid to have a long black pipe going right up the middle of my house like that, and yet if I surround it in stone I'm losing a lot of the radiant heat I am after in the first place. I really can't change the layout of this house.....or at least I REALLY don't want too as it's exactly how I want it and my wife and I both just love it. We've been working on it for a few months now before we meet a construction guy but we both really want to make the stove option work. Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated. Great site and thanks in advance for your help.

PS is this a good stove? It's one of the only ones that fits our style of furniture.

(broken link removed)

 

[karl]

Well, I'm no stove pro but the general concensus here is that a 2 cubic foot firebox is the minimum. Why couldn't you enclose the pipe in something? Even stone. I'm sure there are alot of nice options out there.

 

[hilly]

Having your stove in the center of your house with a chimney going up the middle of your house is close to the ideal situation. If you enclose the pipe in rock you may get a better draft, and the rock may also put out some nice radiant heat.

I have an insert in the middle of my downstairs (relatively open floor plan) and it heats the downstairs nicely. The upstairs however, tends to get really warm, likely because the stove is close to the stairs. At least I get to sleep with the windows open in the winter!

 

[Todd]

The best scenario to heat a house with a wood stove is a centrally located one like you are planning. If you don't like the looks of a metal pipe running up to the ceiling maybe contact a few local masons and see what they can do for wood stove chimneys.

How many sq ft is your new house? If your planning to run this stove as primary heat I would look for a bigger stove. Less loading and more heat output when you need it.

 

[begreen]

Welcome firelion. Have you considered a masonry stove? This sounds like a great candidate for one.

 

[Robbie]

It's funny you mention that stove (mission), it is the exact stove I have...........discontinued though for about 2 years.

It is not the stove you want for heat to be felt in all directions because it has a "double" wall and top, which does not allow intense heat to be felt near the stove, though plenty will be, most will be felt when the blower is on.

I can lay my hand on all sides and top of this stove for a couple seconds or more when it is really hot and not get burned.

But the blower blows VERY hot air..........

This stove is not like a single wall radiant felt heat, but it will heat your whole house with a blower unit from very hot air surrounding the entire stove and then blown out into the room.

My stove will easily heat my 2 story 1850 sq ft house and then some, but your not going to feel the heat a great deal right next to the stove unless your using the blower which pushes extremely hot air from inside the lower back double wall all the way up the back and then accross the top to exit in front now blowing at a downward agle............believe me, it will run you out if your in front.

Which translates into your whole house eventually reaching a toasty 78 to 80 degrees with outside in the upper twenties to low thirties, depending of course on the size.

What size is your house ?

What state, weather etc. ?


Robbie

 

[wg_bent]

Welcome firelion. Have you considered a masonry stove? This sounds like a great candidate for one.

I'm with Begreen here. Look into a masonry heater. Do web searchs on Tulikivi or masonry heater. They cost a lot but if integrated into a new home, they're a small percentage of the total cost, and the folks around here who have them like them.

 

[tlhfirelion]

hey guys thanks for the helpful and numerous replies. I am in missouri so while it's not michigan, we do have issues with cold temps in the winter. We have a lot of ice and after this last winter and our ice storms with loss of power, I'm SOLD on wood burning as a staple of a home. I had friends and coworkers that lost power for weeks and had to use generators but my old insert fireplace kept us just fine and it's pretty old. I really like that mission style stove, but thats just from a cosmetic standpoint, I had a feeling it would be too small. I am VERY particular about things like this.....we have gotten our home exactly how we like it over the years and want a stove we like as well. I don't like the soft arched or rounded look like most stoves have.

Our home will be roughly 2300 square feet with 2 levels, the main and a full basement. I was wondering if I could have a small stove on each floor that shared a chimney, but not sure if thats more trouble than it's worth. If I place my vents right (the ones with the small motors to draw heat around the house), I don't think I would need or want two. I did have 1 thought about putting a air intake vent on the floor near the stove on the main floor to draw warm air straight down to the basement....any thoughts on that?

I don't know a single thing about masonry stoves so I will do a search on them and see.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[tlhfirelion]

Having your stove in the center of your house with a chimney going up the middle of your house is close to the ideal situation. If you enclose the pipe in rock you may get a better draft, and the rock may also put out some nice radiant heat.

I have an insert in the middle of my downstairs (relatively open floor plan) and it heats the downstairs nicely. The upstairs however, tends to get really warm, likely because the stove is close to the stairs. At least I get to sleep with the windows open in the winter!

I like that idea of enclosing the pipe in rock, but I'm having a hard time picturing it. How would I enclose a stove pipe in rock without enclosing the stove in the middle of the room like that? It may be very simple but I just can't picture how it would look exactly. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[tlhfirelion]

hhmmmmm......well I spent a little bit looking at masonry heaters and I'm not sold on them as what we would like. I don't doubt they work....and the science behind them I see.....but it's not what we would like I don't think. I'm still wanting a stove.

Sorry guys.

 

[tlhfirelion]

question - If I have a home that roughly 2300 square feet, should my goal be to get a stove as close to my square footage as possible, or whats the rule of thumb here? Get something for 500 more square foot for example or what? As always thanks for taking the time to reply to this newbie. Have a great day.

Funny thing....it's gonna be in the mid 90's today and I'm looking at wood stoves......geesh.

 

[Jags]

Firelion - I would like to touch on one subject that has not been mentioned yet. A cement home at 2300 sq ft will be able to be heated with a bic lighter. They are very efficient homes (I have a history of interest in cement homes for various reasons). I would guess that the only down side to the smaller stove, is firebox size and frequency of reloads. As far as heating the place, I'll bet you will be able to roast your chestnuts in your home on the coldest day.

Please keep in mind that a cement home is also VERY air tight. Remember, stoves pump quite a volume of air up the stack. It needs that air from someplace.

I think you are going down a path that many here (me included) are envious of. Very tight , efficient home, heated with wood. Sounds like a great project. Good luck and happy burning.

 

[begreen]

Wise words Jags. Stove manufacturer provided sq ftg heating specs are somewhat arbitrary. How well the stove will be sized depends more on the house design and climate.

firelion, you need to speak to the mechanical contractor that will be designing the heating system. Find out what the heat loss calculations are for the house. As Jags pointed out, the house may have an unusually low heat loss in which case some stoves sized for the house will drive you out as soon as you get past burning the kindling.

 

[tlhfirelion]

Firelion - I would like to touch on one subject that has not been mentioned yet. A cement home at 2300 sq ft will be able to be heated with a bic lighter. They are very efficient homes (I have a history of interest in cement homes for various reasons). I would guess that the only down side to the smaller stove, is firebox size and frequency of reloads. As far as heating the place, I'll bet you will be able to roast your chestnuts in your home on the coldest day.

Please keep in mind that a cement home is also VERY air tight. Remember, stoves pump quite a volume of air up the stack. It needs that air from someplace.

I think you are going down a path that many here (me included) are envious of. Very tight , efficient home, heated with wood. Sounds like a great project. Good luck and happy burning.

Great post thank you. I have been thinking about that very thing...not sure how I would add additional air for the stoves needs in a sir tight home. On a seperate note, I've not decided if I should just have cement walls made with steel forms and do 2X4 walls inside or use the foam block system, but thats another website all together. That and my solar panels.

I'm kinda stuck at a crossroads I guess. Smaller stove with adequate heat that requires more reloading and more attention versus a larger stove than burns much longer, but will make my nieghbors sweat.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

 

[tlhfirelion]

Wise words Jags. Stove manufacturer provided sq ftg heating specs are somewhat arbitrary. How well the stove will be sized depends more on the house design and climate.

firelion, you need to speak to the mechanical contractor that will be designing the heating system. Find out what the heat loss calculations are for the house. As Jags pointed out, the house may have an unusually low heat loss in which case some stoves sized for the house will drive you out as soon as you get past burning the kindling.

I've placed a call to my hvac guy now. Good idea thanks.

 

[Robbie]

tlhfirelion, you never commented any more on the mission stove..............

Opinion ?




Robbie

 

[tlhfirelion]

tlhfirelion, you never commented any more on the mission stove..............

Opinion ?




Robbie

oh sorry, I thought it was a great stove but since you said it was discontinued, I kinda let it die. I sure likehow it looks though....classic stove for sure.

 

[elkimmeg]

If your home is so tight you will need outside combustion air. Be real carefull directing air away from your stove .
You would not want to acidently draw Carbon monoxides along with that heat.

There are code concerning using Hvac ducting withing 10' of that stove. No air may be mechanically move away. No return duct shall be lsss that 10'
from that stove.. You too are also making the common mistake of thinking in terms of moving warm air. Moving warm air into colder air usually ends up with the cold air being
heavier and resist movement of warmer lighter air trying to subplant it. What will work is directing cooler air at the heat sourse . Onece the cooler heavier air is mechanically induced to move it allows the space to be occupied by the lighter warmer air .If moving the cooler air at floor lever, not only will it be replaced by warner air but the warm air will be drawn down to the lower levels of the room's confort zone.. Since you are spending money to build the perfect home boy do I have some HVAC suggestions that not only will save your fuell cost but increase effeciency
Most HVAC systems are poorly designed and installed As much as 35% of heat can be lost in transmission never making it into the living space..

Personal prefference I never liked the block styrofoam inserts I am not convinced of the over all insulation value..

Real world cord wood and opperation tend to be 1/3 less than manufactures claims. To achieve 8 hours of usefull heat out put and reloading, a fire box over 2cu ft seems to be sized for that
length.. Even if you found it too large one could still get a good clean burn using fewer splits, but reloding more often same as with a smaller fire box. When that week long cold snap arrives It is really nice to be able to load it up and ride it out in warm and comfort. Two stove is what I do, due to different floor levels. If you heat goes out in another ice storm and nothing is being generated from your HVAC system, again you will be thankfull you have the correct size stove and not undersized. What it gives you bragging rights, my home was so toasty I had to open windows. A problem others without heat don't want to hear

 

[Gooserider]

To me the sort of setup you are describing BEGS for a masonry heater setup, it would seem like it answers all your issues, and allows for doing fun stuff like building a bake oven into it and otherwise making it a center island of the house.

The dual stove approach is also not a bad idea, as it offers flexibility in how much heat you go for at any given time, but you would pretty much need to build a masonry stack with two flues in it - Note that codes prohibit multiple appliances from sharing the same flue under most circumstances.

Good luck,

Gooserider

 

[Jags]

Firelion - you have just been given a chance to work with Elk to get some good ideas on hvac stuff. Seize the opportunity. You only get to build it right the first time. He (as well as some others on the site) may also have some good info on the cement home building, although that may be a better thread for the DIY section.