So now I live in a house with a wood burning stove. Now what?

[Matthew]

I rented a home in central Ohio this weekend. Nice place. Unfortunatly all electric heating. However, there is a wood burning stove centraly located in the home. I got to thinking, Hey, I could maybe save a little bit of money on my heating bill with that thing. Then I started looking into wood burning stoves and now I'm thinking, Hey I could save a lot of money with that thing. I'm not sure exactly what I've got (I'm moving and I'm home in my current home so I can't look) but from what I remember it was a pedistal setup. The stove looks like a Napoleon 1150P (Yes it has a cooktop) with a 1400 pedistal type base. Remembering back to the setup the stove sat on a layer of bricks and had a brick wall built behind it. In other words it looks like much more than a showpiece, I'm pretty sure it can be used for heating. The owner also told me the stove will heat the house. There is no blower on the stove.

OK so being new to this I don't even know where to start (I'll get the exact model when I'm back at the house). The home is one story tall, has lots of windows (living room is 70% windows) and is about 1500 square feet, with a 375 square foot basement/storage areas.

Now I'm wondering if I should buy wood now and season it myself or what I should do. I need some kind of plan before I go out and start buying cords of wood. Anyhow I'm looking for help in figuring out how I can heat the home cheaply this winter (07-08). I'm only going to be in the house for 1 year so I don't want to over buy wood.

So now I guess the question is, what should I do first to make sure I'm ready to heat for the winter. What should I expect from wood heating. I'm not really in a position to cut my own wood so I need to order it the way I need it. Also is it going to be a problem heating the home if my wife an I both work and aren't home during the day to feed wood to the stove? I guess one could do a slow burn overnight and another one during the day, or maybe just let it get cold during the day and then pump the heat up after work. Also I thought heating with wood and programing the central heating blower to go on for 5 minutes out of every 30 minutes might help keep a constant temperature throughout the house.

OK that's a lot of questions. I'll keep reading the forum and maybe some of the experts here can get me up and running the correct way.

Thanks in advance for getting this noobie on the right path to cheaper heat.

 

[begreen]

Is the house heated with central resistance electric heat or does it have a heat pump?
Cool stove. It may not give overnight burn times, but should heat well. My guess is you will be using it mostly evenings and weekends. I'd consider getting 2-3 cords for this winter. If you have a good place to stack them now, that would be good, but a reputable dealer will deliver dry seasoned wood. The trick is finding a reputable wood dealer. You'll want one that 1) sells an honest, full cord 2) sells well-seasoned hardwood and will tell you what the mix of wood is if multiple types 3) will deliver wood of the length you need and no longer (order an inch or two shorter than your stove max) 4) will give you a discount on multiple cords (maybe)

 

[keyman512us]

Matthew:

What should I expect from wood heating. I’m not really in a position to cut my own wood so I need to order it the way I need it.

First off welcome to the forum. To answer your question above...."what to expect". I would grab a cup of coffee...sit down at the computer and "do a little homework right here on the forum first"...to find out "what you are in for". Wood heat being "cheap" all depends on your perspective. This time of year is probably the time to start looking for a local supplier. Don't be afraid to post lots of info in your posts...everyone here, for the most part..is a "friendly bunch". Take some time (hard to do in this day and age) and if you need help with something don't be afraid to ask.
Once again welcome to the forum.

 

[Todd]

Welcome,
Smart move thinking of wood heat instead of putting up with huge electric bills. Like BG says, look into 2-3 cords and buy it as soon as possible so it has all summer to dry out. Even if the firewood dealer says it's seasoned, most of the time it isn't.

 

[Matthew]

Keyman, Thanks for the welcome. Yup. I've been reading. Trying to pick up what I can. Also you hinted heating with wood may be cheaper. I can't see how it could be more expensive?

BeGreen, It's a heat pump. Yeah I have a carport where I can store the wood. I can probably get 4-5 cords in there easy, depends on how high I can stack it I guess.... The roof of the carport is actually a deck for the house (house is on a slope) so the celing of the carport is made of wood boards. How much of a problem would rain or snow be going through the cracks? The distance between the wooden boards is small, but enough for water to fall through. I suppose I could rig a tarp system to drain water away from the wood, and still have the wood open to the air.

Also it looks like people burn different size pieces of wood, I suppose I could make my own kindling from larger split pieces of wood, but I don't really know if I want to be chopping wood a lot. Also how hard is it to buy wood in winter (like if you run out in february?).

I really would like to make a go at using wood as the primary heat source for the home next winter. It seems feasable, but maybe not if there aren't people home to feed the stove. (although I can come home and feed the stove at lunch as I only live a few minutes away).

Thanks for the help. I guess I'll have to look for a good wood supplier (once I figure out my maximum wood size for my stove).

 

[Bob512]

Matt, Welcome Have the stove and chimney inspected by a local stove shop to make sure everything is safe. If something is wrong you have plenty of time to fix it. Have fun with your new hobbie! :coolsmile: Quick

 

[begreen]

If it's a heat pump in good condition/efficiency and of recent vintage, then it may be less expensive to use the heat pump until it gets below about 40. This will depend on the model and installation, but it is possible. If that's the case, then I wouldn't worry about the lunch time wood loadings. But go for it if you're into it. You'll be likely warmer and have a nice fire to look at.

It sounds like you have a good setup, storing dry wood under the carport should be fine. You can put a tarp on top of the pile if there is too much rain dripping on it through the deck cracks. If the wood is not seasoned it may be better to stack it where air can blow through the stack and the sun can beat down on it.

 

[Matthew]

Great information here. OK. I'm going to be back to see the stove on Friday. Is there any easy way to determine the make and model of the stove. (I was totally guessing when I said Napoleon, it is simple the closest picture on the internet to what I saw in the house). I would love to download an owners manual if possible. I'd also like to learn how that particular stove works. The stove is almost inevitably a newer EPA approved stove (house built in 1990, stove looks like it was installed a lot later).

In case I can't determine the make and model is there anything I should look for. Specifically it would be nice to know what size wood to order, and also to know if the wood should be put in west to east or north to south (with north to south one end of the stick points towards you and the other end points towards the back of the stove right?).

I know, I know a lot of questions. I'm reading the older posts too so I'm putting it all together.

 

[jtp10181]

Look on the back of the stove for the rating plate, should have some sort of testing agency seal on it. You will need an inspection mirror to read it usually. There should also be a MFG, MODEL, MFG DATE and some other information on the plate. Sometimes it is also on a hang tag hanging on the back. If all else fails take some digi pics of the thing and post them here. Chances are someone can identify it just from some pictures.

 

[begreen]

Actually it sound like a pretty nice rental if all is in good shape and done well. Good woodstove and current heatpump, that can be a good combo. It's what we're running now.

 

[Matthew]

It's a darn awsome rental with an option to buy, and across the street from a lake. Actually it was the only rental which looked livable. People just kick the sh** out of things when it's not their own. Sad really. Just for one year though, then my wife and I will move into something we can acually afford (easily). I digress...... I'll get the make and model. Hopefully it's a Napolean like I think it is because the Napoleans have their documentation online.

I'll put a couple picks up here reguardless. The house is an open area design and the stove sits in the middle of a 660 square foot kitchen/dining/living room. I'm hoping the open design will help with heating. I'm a cheapskate so that's why the stove infatuates me so much. I also wondered if putting 500 pounds of rocks/bricks behind the stove would be helpful in providing constant heat to the house. I'm just thinking. I have a lot to consider. The help here is wonderful.

 

[Gooserider]

If you will be going for full time heating, you'll probably want to go for more wood. You will pay less for it now than you will in Feb, and you will have a much better set of options on the suppliers - lots of guys run out by that time of the year, and may or may not have what even a wood guy would call seasoned wood... Ask the wood guy about the size of his splits, most will vary enough to supply you with the different sizes you need, some tend to run short on the larger sizes that you need for long duration burns.

Your burn time will depend on the size of the firebox, but 6-8 hours is fairly typical time for good heat production, and it will keep enough coals to re-start for a few hours after that. I'd plan on roughly three loadings a day, when you get up in the AM, when you get home from work, and just before you go to bed.

Unless your landlord can tell you when it was done last (and by who) you should definitely plan on having the chimney inspected and cleaned, even if there has been only a little use on the stove since the last inspection. I'd also ask the landlord if he had a reccomended chimney sweep.

I wouldn't count on the HVAC system to move the stove heat around, it seems most folks don't have good luck trying that - the systems loose to much heat in the ductwork among other issues. You will probably be better off using the stove's blower (if it has one) and possibly a few small, strategically placed box fans to move the air around without the ducts.

Gooserider