New Install

[Kato659]

Good day everyone,

I wanted to start by saying thank you for all the knowledge and discussion at this site and forum. I've been wading through old and new posts for a couple of months now. It's been very helpful to read advice from the experts as well as folks who have already staggered down a path similar to where I'm at.

I am planning to install a free standing wood stove in a 1500 square foot mobile home built in 2012. There is no existing fireplace or hearth. I'm aware the stove will need to be Mobile Home Approved (lots of choices in 2021), and will need an Outside Air Kit.

This will be secondary/emergency heat backing up an electric forced-air furnace, which works fine but is pricy to run. Water lines are a concern since they are run under the floor. If running the furnace fan off and on doesn't send enough heat down, I can flip the furnace on once in a while to blast some heat down. Or just use the water in the lines. And when we are away the furnace is running anyway.

I'll be doing the floor protector and wall heat shields myself, but I have asked for quotes from 2 local shops for the chimney install. I am a bit fuzzy on how a properly sized chimney is mounted on a mobile/bungalow like mine. On an Osburn 3300/Drolet Myriad III it calls for 12 feet of flue system from the top of the stove. The PE Summit says minimum system height is 15 feet from base of appliance (I take that to mean the bottom of the fire box?).

Either way, I have a ceiling that vaults from 8' to around 9'6". The stove will be going near to the outside wall, so barely more than 8' floor to ceiling. That will make for quite a bit sticking out the top of the house. How much will this complicate cleaning? The house is fairly exposed to wind; what sort of bracing should the installers be using?

Thanks again! Time to read some more articles...

 

[begreen]

Both of the mentioned stoves are large and work well on a shorter chimney. I would suggest that you look at the Drolet Baltic instead of the Myriad. It has side shielding like the Summit for closer clearances.

How well insulated is the home? 6" or 4" walls? The more centrally located the stove is the better. The chimney will need bracing at the 5' level above the roof.

 

[Kato659]

Thanks for the Baltic recommendation. Has it been discontinued? I can't find it on Drolet's site, or find any places carrying it.

The house has 6" thick walls with decent insulation. I had looked at a smaller fire box, but we do have the room to fit a big guy and sometimes our windchills push down below -50. This year we had several weeks below -30 C (-22 F).

The whole middle of the house is open (living room/dining/kitchen), the ceilings are vaulted, and we have a big ceiling fan in the middle of the living room.

 

[begreen]

That's interesting. Look at the Legend III. Same firebox, with vented side shielding and legs. Also consider the Drolet HT3000, but I do have a concern that these big stoves might overheat the living area.

The house is well insulated. It looks like the actual area heated by the stove is going to be more like 7-800 sq ft. The bedrooms will also get some heat, but the doors will limit it unless fan-assisted. I would also consider the 2 cu ft PE Super or Alderlea T5.

 

[Kato659]

Awesome, I was wondering what the difference was between the Legend III and Myriad III. I had spotted the HT3000 and will give it another look. I will take a closer look at the Super and T5 as well. Thanks for the info!

 

[begreen]

Awesome, I was wondering what the difference was between the Legend III and Myriad III. I had spotted the HT3000 and will give it another look. I will take a closer look at the Super and T5 as well. Thanks for the info!

The T5 would be my first choice.
Is the crawlspace sealed and well insulated? Does the furnace have a vent into the crawlspace?

Also, dry, fully-seasoned firewood is essential for getting the best performance out of a modern woodstove. If you will be purchasing firewood, buy it now and stack it top-covered off the ground.

 

[Kato659]

Thanks begreen. The crawlspace is ventilated to the outside (code required) and the house has belly insulation and wrap. The furnace ducts are under the floor but not into the crawlspace (would be code prohibited around here to heat under the house).

Good advice on the firewood. I have heard stories of buying so-called "seasoned" wood that is green and wet. If there's two things my area has, it's sun and wind so I'll be putting both to work.

 

[begreen]

Code required our crawlspace be "ventilated" when we put in a new raised foundation. The amount of ventilation was ridiculous. Once the job was done and passed final inspection I closed off the openings, laid down a heavy vapor barrier and insulated the entire crawlspace. It has been a conditioned space for the past 15 yrs. No regrets.. I have heavy stainless screens on a couple of the "ports" and remove the covers once the heating season is over. But it stays closed up 7 months of the year.

FWIW, I have a friend that lives in a Marlette manufactured home that was specced with the far north package. It has 6" walls also and a vented crawlspace with an insulated underbelly as yours does. They have heated it exclusively with wood for the past 12 yrs with no plumbing freeze-ups. They have never run the electric furnace. However, their lowest temps are in the teens (ºF) and not sub-zero.

 

[Kato659]

We've had a little icing once in a while. Usually when I turn the thermostat down too far and it's very cold (-40 and below) and we've been away (not using the water). They are PEX lines that can tolerate a little icing.

A co-worker of mine had his furnace quit in his double-wide in the middle of winter. While waiting for it to be fixed, he gathered up a bunch of electric space heaters and was able to keep the house reasonably warm but the pipes froze on him. If he had thought to jumper the furnace fan, I'll bet it would've stayed warm enough. Or just run the water if it's a temporary thing.

I don't think I can get to heating exclusively with wood, but I think running the furnace fan will push enough heat under the house for most of the winter. It will move air around as well, though I don't expect it will heat the far rooms very much.

With an outside air kit pulling from the crawlspace, would sealing it up impact the stove's air supply? The manuals talk about the kit needing to pull from a well ventilated space. There would probably still be some leakage between skirting panels, so I might not be able to strangle the stove that way even if I tried.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Code required our crawlspace be "ventilated" when we put in a new raised foundation. The amount of ventilation was ridiculous. Once the job was done and passed final inspection I closed off the openings, laid down a heavy vapor barrier and insulated the entire crawlspace. It has been a conditioned space for the past 15 yrs. No regrets.. I have heavy stainless screens on a couple of the "ports" and remove the covers once the heating season is over. But it stays closed up 7 months of the year.

Have you done a radon test since you sealed up your crawl space like that?

 

[begreen]

Have you done a radon test since you sealed up your crawl space like that?

That's a good question. Fortunately, radon levels in our county are generally very low and our community is all glacial till underneath. As one gets close to the Cascades there are a few places where high radon levels have been detected, but none here.

 

[begreen]

With an outside air kit pulling from the crawlspace, would sealing it up impact the stove's air supply? The manuals talk about the kit needing to pull from a well ventilated space. There would probably still be some leakage between skirting panels, so I might not be able to strangle the stove that way even if I tried.

If the crawlspace was converted into a conditioned space then the OAK would need to be routed to the outside, either behind the stove or through the crawlspace wall.

 

[MR. GLO]

Both of the mentioned stoves are large and work well on a shorter chimney. I would suggest that you look at the Drolet Baltic instead of the Myriad. It has side shielding like the Summit for closer clearances.

How well insulated is the home? 6" or 4" walls? The more centrally located the stove is the better. The chimney will need bracing at the 5' level above the roof.
View attachment 277348View attachment 277349

How did the double snow bars hold up on this roof. any damage to the chimney or rods at the roof connection ? Thanks.

 

[begreen]

How did the double snow bars hold up on this roof. any damage to the chimney or rods at the roof connection ? Thanks.

No idea, this is just an example picture found on the internet.