Stove recs to replace pellet stove in our 1040 sq ft single level ranch? Palladian?

[slippered sally]

I'm new to home ownership, and to wood stoves. We just bought a house that had electric baseboard heat- we took that out and are installing mini splits. There is currently a pellet stove, but we'd love to replace that with a woodstove.

For looks, I love the Woodstock Palladian, and found one nearby for $1000. If I can find someone to pick it up and deliver it, I may go with that but wanted to hear from the expertise of the group. Would that work well to heat our home, in combo with the heat pumps (as needed?)

Our living room currently has the pellet stove and we'd love to put the Palladian in its place- and also have a couch nearby. We'd love to put a sectional up against that wall, if it fits. I'm not sure how much clearance we will need or how much room that will leave. I'll attach a pic of the room where we want to pic the stove (it is a work in progress!). It is a 3 bedroom and we are opening up a wall from the living room to the kitchen. The room is 12 feet by 17 feet.

What do you all think of the functionality of this? How much might installation cost? We will likely have to build out the hearth a bit more?
TYIA

 

[moresnow]

Anything is possible. Believe I'd be inclined to see how your current combo works this winter.
Considering the additional expense of the wood stove, remodeled hearth and completely new venting system.
Not to mention that most firewood takes 1-3 years of sitting in a stack after being split.
just an opinion!

 

[Ashful]

Agreed. You have the rare opportunity to run the pellet stove a year or three, while you prepare for becoming a woodburner. Hardwoods generally need 2 - 3 summers to dry appropriately for burning in a modern stove, so if you start putting up wood now, you'll be good to go by fall 2025 or 26.

Most people can't or don't want to wait this long, so they struggle thru their first two or three years. But unlike them, you have a working(?) pellet stove! I'd be splitting and stacking firewood now, shopping for a good deal on a good stove (maybe Palladian, maybe you find something you like even better), and running that pellet stove all the while.

But to answer your other question, it's a great systems, as minisplits are a perfect compliment to a woodstove. They're most efficient when it's less cold out, which is exactly when the stove becomes most challenging to manage. So, run the stove when it's cold and shut it down when it's not. Also, since each minisplit indoor unit is generally its own zone, you can set them all to 70F (or whatever temperature you like), and just let the stove cruise in cold weather. The stove will do most of the heavy lifting, but the minisplits will modulate the final degree or three in each room to keep your living space comfortable. I do the same, but with 6 zones of oil, 3 zones of minisplits, and 2 zones resistive electric.

 

[slippered sally]

Tha

Agreed. You have the rare opportunity to run the pellet stove a year or three, while you prepare for becoming a woodburner. Hardwoods generally need 2 - 3 summers to dry appropriately for burning in a modern stove, so if you start putting up wood now, you'll be good to go by fall 2025 or 26.

Most people can't or don't want to wait this long, so they struggle thru their first two or three years. But unlike them, you have a working(?) pellet stove! I'd be splitting and stacking firewood now, shopping for a good deal on a good stove (maybe Palladian, maybe you find something you like even better), and running that pellet stove all the while.

But to answer your other question, it's a great systems, as minisplits are a perfect compliment to a woodstove. They're most efficient when it's less cold out, which is exactly when the stove becomes most challenging to manage. So, run the stove when it's cold and shut it down when it's not. Also, since each minisplit indoor unit is generally its own zone, you can set them all to 70F (or whatever temperature you like), and just let the stove cruise in cold weather. The stove will do most of the heavy lifting, but the minisplits will modulate the final degree or three in each room to keep your living space comfortable. I do the same, but with 6 zones of oil, 3 zones of minisplits, and 2 zones resistive electric.

Thanks for your reply. The pellet stove may work ok, we aren't really sure yet. The sellers said that it did, but the inspector said it was "end of life" so we will see what we can get out of it. We also have a shed full of free pellets so def going to give it a chance. This was our plan, actually. But we found a Palladian for sale for 1k, and are wondering if we should buy it now. We prob couldn't install it right away...and like both of you mentioned, we need more time to get the wood together. There is a firewood company place that does their own wood just on the corner tho so I'm not sure how hard getting wood is? But maybe it isn't ready to burn.

Do you think the Palladian would fit in the space, if we wanted it to?

 

[slippered sally]

PS- re the mini splits, we went through a lot of different scenarios, but with our small space we don't have enough outdoor places to put 4 separate boxes for single zones, so we are doing two smaller multi zones. They are confident they can heat the whole house except in extreme weather, and much of the time we will only need one of the condensers on most likely, so we can save money that way when it isn't very cold. Then turn on pellet stove when it is cold. We took out the baseboards but were thinking of putting a few newer ones back in as back up, back up. Not sure that is really necessary however.

 

[EbS-P]

PS- re the mini splits, we went through a lot of different scenarios, but with our small space we don't have enough outdoor places to put 4 separate boxes for single zones, so we are doing two smaller multi zones. They are confident they can heat the whole house except in extreme weather, and much of the time we will only need one of the condensers on most likely, so we can save money that way when it isn't very cold. Then turn on pellet stove when it is cold. We took out the baseboards but were thinking of putting a few newer ones back in as back up, back up. Not sure that is really necessary however.

That sounds like a plan. You just spent a good bit of money to keep warm. I don’t see myself wanting to put in a woodstove for a space that small. Pellet stove may be just the ticket.

 

[begreen]

Give the pellet stove a thorough cleaning inside and then run it through its paces before the weather turns cold. Do you know the specific brand and model? If not, it should be on the UL label on the back of the stove.

 

[slippered sally]

Give the pellet stove a thorough cleaning inside and then run it through its paces before the weather turns cold. Do you know the specific brand and model? If not, it should be on the UL label on the back of the stove.

Thank you! There is a manual with it at the house, I'll go look this week. Do we clean it ourselves or hire someone? I saw a birds nest in the stove pipe going out of the house...

 

[begreen]

Thank you! There is a manual with it at the house, I'll go look this week. Do we clean it ourselves or hire someone? I saw a birds nest in the stove pipe going out of the house...

That depends on the stove's condition and one's abilities. If in doubt, see if you can get a good pro to come out. But hurry, the season is beginning and their schedules will get booked up for the next month or two soon.

Go to the pellet forum and post the stove's make and model. Ask if there are any recommended pellet service people in the area. If you want to DIY, then ask them for guidance for this particular model.

 

[Ashful]

Agreed. Always good to have a pro give it the once-over. After that, seasonal cleanings on your own is a pretty easy DIY.