Questions about wood burning furnaces

[blakesavage20]

I am sure that this question has been answered a hundred times on these forums, but I am new and do not have much experience in wood heating.

I currently have a 0% efficient fireplace in my living room, and a brand new high efficient propane furnace in my basement. I am looking for an inexpensive way to supplement my heating costs due how expensive propane is. My house is pretty well insulated, and I already have a solid duct system running through my house. I figure I have two options, I can put an insert into my current fireplace, or I can put an add on furnace into my basement. I do not plan on paying more then $1500 on either option.

My question is which option is best for me? It would be for suplemental heating, but the more it supplements my propane costs the better.

Here are the positives for each side:
Insert:
I have talked to someone who has put an insert in for less then $1400, and they love it. I have an open floor plan on my first level, and the heat in the living room would most likey spread. The insert would be in my main living area, so we would still be warm, and be able to enjoy the fire.

Furnace:
The furnace may be able to offer more even heating across the house. I have an access door in my basement, and would be able to get the wood in my basement without getting things dirty. My dad could probably help me hook it up becuase he has a lot of experience with duct work.

Other questions:
Would an affordable furnace like the Norsemen or Fire Chief be able to do the job with lower wood use? Meaning, I don't want to have to put like 10 chords of wood through it in one winter. How efficient are the lower priced furnaces? Any help would be very appreciated.

Thanks

 

[leaddog]

An other option is to put in a pellet insert in the fire place. I have one and it does supplement when I run it. I like it for the effect and because I have a huge and high living room it will take the chill out when I get one of those east raw winds. It's cheaper than propane but nowhere as cheap as wood. It is easier to load and take care of. It depends on how cheap you can get cord wood, how much you want to mess loading, cleaning and such. Also if you put in a furnace you have to have a seperate chimney so that is another proplem. If you burn wood this year you need to have dry wood and that is hard to get as it takes a year to season wood properly. If you use green wood you will have lots of creasote problems and chance of chimney fires. There are better options but the $1500 price tag elinates most of them.
leaddog

 

[blakesavage20]

I was under the impression that I could attach the wood burning furnace chimney, to the same chimney that my propane furnace uses. Is this not the case? Do I actually have to run a completely new chimney for the wood burning furnace? If this is the case, then it probably completely eliminates my option of a furnace, because I will not be running a new seperate chimney pipe. I have at least 4 chords of dry wood stored in a dry place so that is not a concern, I am just trying to make the best decision on what I should get to burn that wood. Which one has a lower maintenance a furnace or an insert?

 

[leaddog]

codes say you need a seperate chimney but some people cheat. Insurance co's really frown on that and it is a safty issue. co2, chimney fires and draft problem. One way to get around it is if you can powervent your lp furnace and then use your chimney for the wood.
leaddog

 

[leaddog]

The safety issue is very real. if you get your chimney partly pluged and it is hooked up to anyother furnace the co2 can backfeed and fill the house and you and your family will never wake up. If you get a chimney fire air can be drawn in from the other furnace and not let you shut things down and burn the house down, crack the chimney or plug it up and smoke and co2 you out. If you burn the house your insurance co probably won't pay because it is totaly against code. Back in the 70's lots of houses burnt down from this and insurance co's really came down hard on this.
I speak from experiance. I had a huge chimney fire and didn't know until the stones in my 12ft fireplace wall started to POP out back in the late 70s. Thats why I have an eko out in a shed away from my house.
Wood burning is cheaper but do it right and it will save you lots of money and is a good way of life but do it wrong and ----------------
leaddog

 

[blakesavage20]

Wow, I am seriously glad that this question came up before I made a decision. It would be much easier for me to put in an insert then it would to put in a whole new chimney line for a furnace. Thank you all for your experience and knowledge.

 

[Gooserider]

I am sure that this question has been answered a hundred times on these forums, but I am new and do not have much experience in wood heating.

I currently have a 0% efficient fireplace in my living room, and a brand new high efficient propane furnace in my basement. I am looking for an inexpensive way to supplement my heating costs due how expensive propane is. My house is pretty well insulated, and I already have a solid duct system running through my house. I figure I have two options, I can put an insert into my current fireplace, or I can put an add on furnace into my basement. I do not plan on paying more then $1500 on either option.

My question is which option is best for me? It would be for suplemental heating, but the more it supplements my propane costs the better.

Here are the positives for each side:
Insert:
I have talked to someone who has put an insert in for less then $1400, and they love it. I have an open floor plan on my first level, and the heat in the living room would most likey spread. The insert would be in my main living area, so we would still be warm, and be able to enjoy the fire.

Furnace:
The furnace may be able to offer more even heating across the house. I have an access door in my basement, and would be able to get the wood in my basement without getting things dirty. My dad could probably help me hook it up becuase he has a lot of experience with duct work.

Other questions:
Would an affordable furnace like the Norsemen or Fire Chief be able to do the job with lower wood use? Meaning, I don't want to have to put like 10 chords of wood through it in one winter. How efficient are the lower priced furnaces? Any help would be very appreciated.

Thanks

You pretty much have the basic concepts down, and have gotten a lot of other good advice in the thread... Essentially the difference in wood consumption between a furnace and an insert is from the fact that an insert is a space heater, while a furnace is a house heater, so the furnace is generally going to heat more volume - heat isn't free, so assuming the same target temperature in the heated space, heating more area means burning more fuel... There is also a possible benefit to the insert in that an EPA approved insert MAY have a cleaner burn than a non-EPA furnace, especially a low end one, and cleaner burning also gets more heat out of every split (smoke = unburned fuel....)

If your house design and lifestyle are such that you mostly live in the areas that the insert would heat, and don't mind that the outer parts of the house might be cooler, then it would sound like an insert might be a better match for you.

Gooserider