Need advise from the pro's........

[thatbritishwoman]

We are looking into buying an old farmhouse in Ontario. At the moment the place has electric baseboard heater's, along with a wood stove in the basement and a propane fire in the main room. Its around 1,100 square feet.

My question is: How effective would it be to heat the main floor and the second floor with just the wood stove. It would be placed on one of the outside walls in the kitchen area underneath the master bedroom. Dh gets cold easily, whereas I am always hot. I realize we would have to heat the basement seperately, by hopefully have oil filled radiators ticking over to keep the chill off the basement. Both propane and electric heating seems to be expensive.

Also what are the advantages of pellet stoves, over a regular wood stove? Dh gets up at 4.30am, would we be able to keep the wood stove burning all night, so its still warm in the house when we get up?

We do have access to wood on the property which would also be a great help.

Sorry for all the questions, but we are unsure which way to go regarding heating the property.

 

[hkobus]

Welcome to the group, always good to hear from someone local.

As to heating with the wood stove, we have done it for many years in many old farm houses. Much will depend on the draftyness of the place and insulation, and of course how warm you like it. We used to invest in sweaters. :red:
You could use the electric for back-up, propane can be expensive but there are different ways of buying the stuff, we buy in buying groups and this can give good price breaks. If you can find an excuse to call it agricultural use it is much cheaper to begin with.

Feel free to send me a PM hopefully I can help.

Henk.

 

[Duetech]

Welcome ditto,
Hogstroker does have some very good points. We heated our home which is 1,700 sq ft including the basement but with a wood stove-furnace add-on. Home design is real important as well, if the structure is box shaped or has wings, the wings will not get adequate heating with just a wood stove (goes without saying) but simple boxed fans may be cheaper to run than the baseboard elements. Box shaped two story structures can benefit even more from the "fan" application as gravity helps to heat the home. However it might be better to invest in a wood stove that has a reasonably sized blower that way you won't have to break in to the wall and chimney in the kitchen area. Many of the older homes had vents cut into the floors and covered with grates to allow a gravitational drift of warm air and if your place has them you should utilize them. The main problem with the stove and trying to guess it's effectiveness for your application is in not knowing it's size. A small capacity firebox equals sleep that is interrupted every 2-3 hours, or less, to stoke the stove. Especially in severely cold weather. I am in Michigan The thought of winter in Ontario just causes me to think "severe Michigan winter". Even though there is wood on the property you need a seasoned supply NOW. Before you move in! So be sure to include that element in your "purchase needs" or you may find your self spending so much on propane and electricity that you won't have enough to buy the extra sweaters you need in case of power failure. An electric blanket might be a good investment along with a few goose-down quilts. There will be a few nights you out sleep the fire...Keep warm...Cave2k