Hi all,
I'm sure many of you have opined about variations on this theme before, but I want to run my plan to put a wood stove by this forum.
I live in coastal Humboldt County, California about three miles from the ocean. Once or twice a year it gets down to 32 Fahrenheit at night and hovers around 35 probably 15-20 nights a year. Mostly, it's in the mid-40s at night and 60s in the day. Even summertime is a range between 50 and 70. People here wear tank tops and complain about the heat when it's 75. In the winter, it is often raining and foggy. There is a lot of ambient moisture here all year round, although the summer can be dry.
My family and I recently moved into a house which is heated by a propane-powered wall heater in the living room. There is no ductwork and no furnace. Very quickly we realized the wall heater was not cutting it on cold nights. With 2,200 square feet, vaulted ceilings upstairs, and lots of windows and skylights, we are nearly 70,000 BTUs short for our space. We are paying through the nose to be quite chilly at night during the winter. The house is surrounded by very tall redwoods and gets almost no direct sun in the wintertime. Although it's never bitterly cold, it's often cold and dank in the winter. Close doors to the bedrooms and it's easily 50-55 degrees in the bedroom by morning.
There is an alcove on the first floor below a balcony to the second floor which looks perfect for a wood stove-- an internal flue of at least 20' can pass unimpeded there and the heat can go upstairs to the bedrooms.
I am thinking I want a Lopi Evergreen, which is rated for 2,000 square feet, and get the tax credit.
My questions are:
1) Is running that stove hot enough to avoid creosote going to roast us? My thought would be load it at about 5:30 or 6:00 pm when getting home from work, run it hot and try to circulate air throughout the house, and let it burn down through the night. If needed add a few logs in the morning but only burn hot once a day.
2) Is that stove too much for our temperature range no matter what I do?
3) Does anyone have air-management tips for a house without pass-throughs or vents?
4) Does anyone have any tips for seasoning wood in a foggy coastal climate? I have a lean-to that gets zero sun already but might want to put another covered lean-to in our sunny patch.
5) Am I out of my gourd? Should I just get a mini-split? (Yes, I am asking the wood stove forum. No, I do not expect an unbiased answer.)
And, anything else that occurs to anyone to tell this newbie would be great. Apologies for my attempt to end-run the obvious suggestion, which is the search function.
I'm sure many of you have opined about variations on this theme before, but I want to run my plan to put a wood stove by this forum.
I live in coastal Humboldt County, California about three miles from the ocean. Once or twice a year it gets down to 32 Fahrenheit at night and hovers around 35 probably 15-20 nights a year. Mostly, it's in the mid-40s at night and 60s in the day. Even summertime is a range between 50 and 70. People here wear tank tops and complain about the heat when it's 75. In the winter, it is often raining and foggy. There is a lot of ambient moisture here all year round, although the summer can be dry.
My family and I recently moved into a house which is heated by a propane-powered wall heater in the living room. There is no ductwork and no furnace. Very quickly we realized the wall heater was not cutting it on cold nights. With 2,200 square feet, vaulted ceilings upstairs, and lots of windows and skylights, we are nearly 70,000 BTUs short for our space. We are paying through the nose to be quite chilly at night during the winter. The house is surrounded by very tall redwoods and gets almost no direct sun in the wintertime. Although it's never bitterly cold, it's often cold and dank in the winter. Close doors to the bedrooms and it's easily 50-55 degrees in the bedroom by morning.
There is an alcove on the first floor below a balcony to the second floor which looks perfect for a wood stove-- an internal flue of at least 20' can pass unimpeded there and the heat can go upstairs to the bedrooms.
I am thinking I want a Lopi Evergreen, which is rated for 2,000 square feet, and get the tax credit.
My questions are:
1) Is running that stove hot enough to avoid creosote going to roast us? My thought would be load it at about 5:30 or 6:00 pm when getting home from work, run it hot and try to circulate air throughout the house, and let it burn down through the night. If needed add a few logs in the morning but only burn hot once a day.
2) Is that stove too much for our temperature range no matter what I do?
3) Does anyone have air-management tips for a house without pass-throughs or vents?
4) Does anyone have any tips for seasoning wood in a foggy coastal climate? I have a lean-to that gets zero sun already but might want to put another covered lean-to in our sunny patch.
5) Am I out of my gourd? Should I just get a mini-split? (Yes, I am asking the wood stove forum. No, I do not expect an unbiased answer.)
And, anything else that occurs to anyone to tell this newbie would be great. Apologies for my attempt to end-run the obvious suggestion, which is the search function.
