New house build question

[logibear25]

Hey guys,

Looking for opinions based off your experience. My wife and I are building a new home next year located in Southern Illinois. The home will be one level, approx. 2,000 sq feet, open concept, as well as a finished basement. I want the primary source of heat to be wood, particularly an indoor wood furnace (I have my eye on the Drolet Heat Commander).

I am having difficulty determining whether or not a wood furnace will be overkill for our house and location. Being a new house, it will obviously be well insulated as well. I would consider a wood stove for heat, but the stove will have to be located in the basement, so it may be inefficient at heating the upstairs area. What do y’all think? Thanks.

 

[maple1]

Have you checked with your insurer on whether they will allow wood as primary?

If I was building new it would be some combo of wood, and heat pumps. Wood would be either a furnace or good wood stove. If insurance told me my heat pumps weren't good enough for primary I would add some cheap electric baseboards. That in reality would likely never get used but would satisfy them.

 

[begreen]

I second the recommendation for having a modern, high-efficiency, inverter heat pump system as the primary, even if you don't use it all the time for heating. Then a woodstove on the main floor where you can enjoy the warmth and fire view makes good sense. To explore wood stove options start a new thread in the main forum. Note, there are several threads on heating with a woodstove from the basement. It can be done if the stove and stairwell locations work and the basement is fully insulated.

What will be the insulation value in the walls and ceiling? How much glazing will be in the house? Any cathedral ceilings? Will this be a ranch layout or a center living area with bedrooms on both sides of it? Will the basement have outdoor access? Whether a wood furnace makes sense will depend on the heat loss calculations for the house. Get some heat pump estimates done soon for this data.

 

[peakbagger]

I agree with the prior posters, if its new constructon build it to with energy efficient standards (Pretty Good House ) include requirements for blower door testing that the builder has to meet with a substantial penalty if they do not. In your area air source heat pumps, either air to air cold climate minisplits or air to water heat pumps with low temperature radiant for heat and air handlers for cooling. Definitely incorporate solar on the roof, attached building or ground/pole mount to offset house electric power. Now put in a wood stove for backup and supplementing heat when you are home. I would recommend leaving room to add additional solar later for charging electric cars or building it in now as its almost impossible to match solar panels a year or tow after they went in.

 

[EbS-P]

Question of about wood furnace. You will have AC. So a heatpump makes sense. I highly in the strongest word’s possible recommend at a minimum two zones or separate systems for upstairs and downstairs. That makes the wood furnace install more complicated if you do two separate systems.

What are your plans for the basement? If it’s used occasionally I’d plan differently than if living down there on a daily basis.

I wish like crazy my basement was on a separate heatpump system.

So I think the wood furnace depends on several factors.

 

[maple1]

Question of about wood furnace. You will have AC. So a heatpump makes sense. I highly in the strongest word’s possible recommend at a minimum two zones or separate systems for upstairs and downstairs. That makes the wood furnace install more complicated if you do two separate systems.

What are your plans for the basement? If it’s used occasionally I’d plan differently than if living down there on a daily basis.

I wish like crazy my basement was on a separate heatpump system.

So I think the wood furnace depends on several factors.

Mini-splits can go darn near anywhere. Completely separate, usually an easy install, and not really that expensive compared to other solutions.

 

[brenndatomu]

Hey guys,

Looking for opinions based off your experience. My wife and I are building a new home next year located in Southern Illinois. The home will be one level, approx. 2,000 sq feet, open concept, as well as a finished basement. I want the primary source of heat to be wood, particularly an indoor wood furnace (I have my eye on the Drolet Heat Commander).

I am having difficulty determining whether or not a wood furnace will be overkill for our house and location. Being a new house, it will obviously be well insulated as well. I would consider a wood stove for heat, but the stove will have to be located in the basement, so it may be inefficient at heating the upstairs area. What do y’all think? Thanks.

To answer your question, yes the HC will easily do the job...but you will have to load less wood...easiest way is to cut to 16" instead of 20-21", that way you can load in a nice pile of wood to make 'er purr, but it just won't last as long as full length wood would...less likely to over heat the house that way.
I'd probably use mini splits for the AC, that keeps the ductwork simpler too...and you can regulate the heat to outlying rooms to (xx temp) with the MS thermostat too, and that also means the ducts to the outer edges of the house are not as important...so maybe ductwork could even be run more so just to the core areas of the house. But at that point a stove might could do the job too?
But if you go furnace, strongly consider a Kuuma Vaporfire...unless maybe this is a home that you will only be in for a few years maybe...otherwise, buy the Kuuma and you will never need another...you never see people coming on here a year or two (even ten) after buying the Kuuma to complain...only praise. (broken link removed)

 

[flyingcow]

R-40 walls R-60 ceilings?

A 2nd on talking to your insurance company. See what they want for particulars in a wood furnace room. And don’t forget the possibility of a neighbor pissin’ n moaning about the smoke…..another reason to buy a Kuuma. Build your basement to be able to put wood easily. We’re not getting any younger.

And a a hot air wood furnace? Kuuma for sure. Top shelf stuff right there.

But I’d still scratch out costs for wood heat in southern Illinois. I’m sure you see a decent winter, but heat pumps plus a good wood stove(or pellet) for back up heat financially May make more sense. If built properly your heat load won’t be that much.

I went over to wood heat in 2008. I’m in northern Maine. We were using 1,000 of heating oil a winter season. And the house thermostat was kept down to 68/70 all winter. Not all that comfy. But not bad. I put in à gassifier wood boiler with thermal storage. Wood boiler next door in an unattached building, piped the hot water underground. That keeps my mess/smoke/dust next door. (I grew up in an old farm house that had 3 woods stoves. I understand about handling wood too many times plus the smoke n mess of having wood stove in a house.)
I had the money for the install/investment for that set up. And I was apx 7 yrs to break even. Made sense to me up here where winter is 6 months.

If you build a tight house you may be smoldering the wood furnace more than you’d like.

Good luck on your new build. I’d love to rebuild my house. I’d be leaning towards what you’re planning. One story, well insulated house.