Great forum guys. I've been reading all I can for a week now. Here's my situation. I have an old wood/coal stove that was given to me that we heated with last year. It sits in our basement directly under our ductwork (Electric furnace/Heat pump). I installed a register above the stove and the radiant heat (no blower) kept us the warmest we have been in years. The home is ranch style, approx. 1800 sq ft. This stove is shot and has to be replaced before this heating season. Should I go with an add-on wood furnace or would an epa stove like a qudra-fire Millenium 4300 (example) do the same job that the old stove did? Being that it will be in the basement it doesn't have to be fancy, just large enough to heat our home.
Need some guidance - which way to go?
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I would do both. The wood furnace like a yukon would be great for long burns and even heating through your ducts, just like a furnace. You guys with basements are so lucky. I could not be without the woodstove on the hearth though for that radiant heat and view of the fire.
If you are going to put it in the basement and don't care to look at or feel the radiant heat of the fire then you are a perfect candidate for a furnace. They are much cheaper than a stove too and have the benefit of automatic temperature control by thermostat.
If you are going to put it in the basement and don't care to look at or feel the radiant heat of the fire then you are a perfect candidate for a furnace. They are much cheaper than a stove too and have the benefit of automatic temperature control by thermostat.
But be aware that many/most of the "normal wood furnaces" are hungry beasts to feed when compared to a stove.
BuckeyeWilly said:
Depends . . . there are pros and cons to both ideas. If it were me and it's in the basement I would probably go with the add-on wood furnace . . . but I would suggest looking around for a newer, perhaps more efficient burning wood furnace vs. buying any old wood furnace in an effort to cut down on the amount of wood needed. One of the big things you want to look at is the pay-off for you to go with a more efficient wood furnace (gassifier) vs. traditional wood furnace vs. woodstove.
Thanks guys for your input. I've changed my mind about a dozen times already. The amount of wood consumption is definitely an issue and also the metal work I would have to do with a furnace. I am glad we are starting this process in July!!
We replaced our 1500 hotblast with the 1950 hotblast Epa furnace (Caddy). I'm sure there are efficient units out there as far as Furnaces go, but If you can do it I would look into the PSG Caddy. Not cheap, but they are well built. Fully automatic, large glass viewing door, secondary combustion furnace. As a bonus, they do qualify for the tax credit, which could offset some of the cost of the furnace. There is also a new kumma fire furnace here on craigslist in ohio. Not sure how far away you are, but here is the link.
(broken link removed to http://mansfield.craigslist.org/for/1270104708.html) Seems like a good deal. With an efficient woodfurnace, you can look at up to 30% less wood, and much more heat output. We could have well used our old furnace still, but I wanted something to heat better with less wood, and a cleaner chimney. There is also a smaller version of the caddy called the mini-caddy which is also epa certified. Good luck with whatever you choose, its a big decision, but will pay off in the end! I forgot to add, watch the forced draft furnaces, they can consume much more wood if the heating demand is not met by the thermostat. Some furnaces have a better placement than others. With our old 1500 with the forced draft running at the nigh, the burns would be reduced by 2 or more hours with it running. Sure its heating the home, but you would have to wake up to feed it. So I just turned the thermostat down. You'll want something to throw wood into and walk away. There are some cadillacs of furnaces out there. And some thats EPA ceritified.
(broken link removed to http://mansfield.craigslist.org/for/1270104708.html) Seems like a good deal. With an efficient woodfurnace, you can look at up to 30% less wood, and much more heat output. We could have well used our old furnace still, but I wanted something to heat better with less wood, and a cleaner chimney. There is also a smaller version of the caddy called the mini-caddy which is also epa certified. Good luck with whatever you choose, its a big decision, but will pay off in the end! I forgot to add, watch the forced draft furnaces, they can consume much more wood if the heating demand is not met by the thermostat. Some furnaces have a better placement than others. With our old 1500 with the forced draft running at the nigh, the burns would be reduced by 2 or more hours with it running. Sure its heating the home, but you would have to wake up to feed it. So I just turned the thermostat down. You'll want something to throw wood into and walk away. There are some cadillacs of furnaces out there. And some thats EPA ceritified.
Thanks for the craigs list link, master of fire. I called the guy and talked to him. The add-on is a kuuma, not to be confused with kuma stoves. He bought it on line from Minnesota 2 years ago and never installed it. He's asking the same price that he paid for it. I will check out the PSG Caddy.
If you can effectively heat your home on gravity only, I would do what was recommended and look into a stove. We had no choice but to heat with a furnace. If I could've gotten away with a stove I would have done it. This furnace was the closest thing I came to.
Keep it simple. If you have a working solution, a new EPA stove should make it even better. Get a 3 cu ft firebox stove with a simple design, long burn and low long-term maintenance and you'll be a happy camper.
OK, it sounds like its going to be an epa stove. When I first started the thought process on this it was an add-on furnace. I wasn't thinking about anything else.Then the other day we went to a local store to look at the woodchuck add-on furnace. Nice looking furnace but as we talked to the salesmen it hit me like a ton of bricks. Why not a regular wood burner - thats basically what we are using now. I guess I just wanted to confirm this by asking knowledgeable people on this forum. Since I have been out of the loop on stoves for a long time could you guys now suggest a stove that would do the job. Decent size firebox (3.0 or larger) that would do a great job from the basement.
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