New home build, new wood heat options.

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tlhfirelion

Feeling the Heat
Aug 6, 2007
442
Hello everyone. Our build got delayed until this next spring so I’m revisiting our wood heat options. IF we go with an indoor stove, we will most certainly get another Woodstock soapstone stove. We really like our current one.

That said, I think both the wife and I would prefer an outdoor stove. Now, we don’t need an outside boiler and won’t burn that much wood in comparison to my brothers up north, so we thought about a furnace. The world of outside heaters of any kind is relatively new to me. I envision a fire chief type device but one that’s attached tot outside of the house and we load it as needed, keeping all wood and associated mess outside. I searched online and found Hyprotherm outdoor wood furnace. It looks like a small wood boiler but has no water jacket. This is more in line with what I envision. They’re only a couple hours from me. http://outdoorwoodfurnaceboiler.com/FORCED-AIR-OUTSIDE-WOOD-BURNING-FURNACE.htm?redirect=false

Are there better options? Any other brands I should look at? Our home won’t have a basement so it seems it’s either outdoor or indoor installs will be the best option.

Thank you for your assistance.
 
I also have not heard much good about any outdoor forced air units. Putting the burner outside and trying to heat via warmed air is doubly inefficient. If you want outdoor, look at Heatmaster G Series. That and radiant floor heat is an excellent combination in a new home.
 
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I don’t think this could be a effective way to heat, the duct loss alone could be crippling.

+1 on that, i don't get how this is efficient at all, their furnace isn't even that big so why not put it in your basement?


you can get hot water to air exhangers that mount in your air handler so you can heat with a normal wood boiler if you like. that would be an even easier set up than the typical hot water heating system
 
+1 on that, i don't get how this is efficient at all, their furnace isn't even that big so why not put it in your basement?


you can get hot water to air exhangers that mount in your air handler so you can heat with a normal wood boiler if you like. that would be an even easier set up than the typical hot water heating system


I won’t have a basement.

Thanks for the replies guys, I guess I wanted to make something happen that’s just not a wise choice. Oh well, live and learn.
 
In-floor heat with an outdoor boiler would be cats meow + by adding some storage or acquiring one of the models with its own storage it can supply hot water for other daily uses. Storage also cuts the amount of active firing of the furnace. It is not an in-expensive venture up front. In-floor heat can be done with conventional fuel boilers as well. The key lies in the preparation under the slab.
 
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There is a guy in town here that built his own stove to heat his log house.
It is outside and it is a furnace,he has 2 big ducts to his house.
Must work good,he only fills his oil tank every two years.
I am sure he has no insurance,but if you are interested i could try and get more info.
 
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A few years ago we made a new home and this is what I learned. Spend way more than you want on insulation. Insulate under the slab with rigid foam insulation and use other insulation in walls and ceilings. Definitely incorporate passive solar ideas into your home. We are in Maine and when the sun shines we have free heat and during the shoulder seasons we don't need to have a fire. We went with radiant floor heat with an indoor gasification boiler and love it. The floors only call for 120 degree heat, much less than other emitters. Radiant floors are nice and we are comfy but they are expensive.
 
Not to pile on, but not only is the outdoor furnace not a good choice, the newer FC and Shelter furnace line has been less than stellar also.
If you mind your P's and Q's on insulation...a good centrally located wood stove will be all you need. Maybe a soapstone cat stove, like a Woodstock Fireview...nice even heat...
 
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OP you can get a small indoor boiler and build a small say 10x10 "shed" onto one wall of your house and use that as your boiler room if you want to keep the "mess" outside and ease of access for things.

in my perfect house i would use an oil air furnace with AC built in then radiant floor heat hooked up only to a wood boiler system with 600-800 gallons of storage. the air handler would be use for spring/fall where you only get a day of cold weather randomly so it's not worth firing up the wood boiler. in the summer it would be used for AC as well as adding on a good filter to help keep the air cleaner in the house.

then most of the winter the wood boiler would be running and heating the floor with only 120* water where as the typical water to air emitters need 160+ water, then you won't need to feed the boiler as much. could even have a heated garage for about $300 more if you want as well.

with that type of system you can also build it in stages if the upfront coast is an issue or there are many easy DIY possibilities for laying the pex in the floor. after the house is finished and pex installed the next year you can get the wood boiler hooked up to the pre run pex zones.
 
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In-floor heat with an outdoor boiler would be cats meow + by adding some storage or acquiring one of the models with its own storage it can supply hot water for other daily uses. Storage also cuts the amount of active firing of the furnace. It is not an in-expensive venture up front. In-floor heat can be done with conventional fuel boilers as well. The key lies in the preparation under the slab.

I was looking at radiant first and due to the fact it’s not common here, the prices were astronomical, the skilllevel of the installers suspect, and the after install support was practically non existent. Plus, now that we’re on a crawl space vs slab, it just became a non starter. It’s too bad as I do like radiant heat!
 
There is a guy in town here that built his own stove to heat his log house.
It is outside and it is a furnace,he has 2 big ducts to his house.
Must work good,he only fills his oil tank every two years.
I am sure he has no insurance,but if you are interested i could try and get more info.
I appreciate that but I think we’ll need to go with an inside stove. I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Lol.​
 
Not to pile on, but not only is the outdoor furnace not a good choice, the newer FC and Shelter furnace line has been less than stellar also.
If you mind your P's and Q's on insulation...a good centrally located wood stove will be all you need. Maybe a soapstone cat stove, like a Woodstock Fireview...nice even heat...

I am planning 6” ICF walls and R50-60 blown in cellulose in the attic. The crawl space will be lined with a vapor barrier and have ICF walls so IF need be, I’ll add spray foam to the underside of the floor. Insulation will not be lacking.
 
OP you can get a small indoor boiler and build a small say 10x10 "shed" onto one wall of your house and use that as your boiler room if you want to keep the "mess" outside and ease of access for things.

in my perfect house i would use an oil air furnace with AC built in then radiant floor heat hooked up only to a wood boiler system with 600-800 gallons of storage. the air handler would be use for spring/fall where you only get a day of cold weather randomly so it's not worth firing up the wood boiler. in the summer it would be used for AC as well as adding on a good filter to help keep the air cleaner in the house.

then most of the winter the wood boiler would be running and heating the floor with only 120* water where as the typical water to air emitters need 160+ water, then you won't need to feed the boiler as much. could even have a heated garage for about $300 more if you want as well.

with that type of system you can also build it in stages if the upfront coast is an issue or there are many easy DIY possibilities for laying the pex in the floor. after the house is finished and pex installed the next year you can get the wood boiler hooked up to the pre run pex zones.

Your idea of an attached shed has crossed my mind a few times, and I even knew where to put it. It was the distribution and what exact stove to use that had me perplexed. I had envisioned a fire chief type wood furnace and ductwork, but my search online left my question unanswered. Any feedback there? I think at this point, we’ll just do another Woodstock soapstone absolute steel hybrid. It’s been a good stove so far.
 
Your idea of an attached shed has crossed my mind a few times, and I even knew where to put it. It was the distribution and what exact stove to use that had me perplexed. I had envisioned a fire chief type wood furnace and ductwork, but my search online left my question unanswered. Any feedback there? I think at this point, we’ll just do another Woodstock soapstone absolute steel hybrid. It’s been a good stove so far.

i don't know much about the wood furnaces, just from looking at the concept it seems terribly insignificant, unless maybe you are heating a massive area and the fans are on the entire time. the reason wood boilers work so well is they can store the heat energy in hot water that can then be used to heat for hours even after the fire dies down. the wood furnace looks like it has to be firing to heat your house.

Edited to add.....
it seems the wood furnace concept is a cheaper up front cost and it easier for most people or if they only have hot forced air heating basically the only way for wood heat. so in that application i guess it makes more sense than a typical wood stove.
like say my brothers house, he has a forced air furnace so for him to use a wood boiler it is a little more difficult.


as you said before if it is a slab house just put a conventional wood stove in the center of it and heat that way with wood. just spend a lot on insulation as others have said so it won't take much effort to get the house up to temp and keep it there.


also i don't see if you posted the size of your house, will it be a single story or 2? normal 8' ceilings or taller?
 
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One thing that came to mind also is to install a indoor wood furnace the way you would a stove, kind of as a centerpiece. I would have never thought to do this, but I've read about others here that did it. It would allow radiant heating and if you installed some ductwork, would allow you to heat the whole place evenly...might depend on the house style and your (wife's) decorating taste too.
Drolet and PSG make some furnaces that are pretty decent looking...to me doing the ductwork properly would be the challenge here...might be a dumb idea, just throwin it out there though...
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@tlhfirelion why don't you go with a boiler setup and then install a water to air exchanger in box with your duct work connected to that. That is exactly how my system is, I actually removed the LPG furnace when the boards crapped out and built an enclosure for my WAHX that went in place of the LP unit and that box houses the blower for distribution as well as a filter for the cold air return, it also supports the A coil for my central air. I run the distribution fan off the house thermostat with a relay and a low water temp override. If you want further info on my setup just PM I'll be happy to share.