Stove replacement ?

[vwboomer]

I'm sick of running up and down stairs 40 times a day to check the temp, adjust the inlet, etc.
Part of the appeal when I bought the house was the woodburner. I've always wanted to heat with wood.
This things not tied into the main ductwork with decent fans, and the fans that are for the burner basically suck off radiated heat out of an enclosure in the basement.

The house is only 1250sqft, insulated 1948 brick ranch. It holds heat pretty well.
The NG furnace is 94% efficient and NG is at $1/therm right now.
Is it worth it to put in a new woodburner? Probably not but I like burning wood.


Any ideas on a stove/furnace? I'm looking at the sub 1k range, but most of the stoves have either no blower, or just a small room blower. I'd probably need about 1000cfm to spread the heat effectively.
The existing chimney is about 25', brick lined with tile in good shape with the exception of 1 or two at tiles at the top that are broken.


As a side note, the other day there were 15mph winds, and I dont think temps got above 15. My NG furnace only ran for 3.5 hours set at 65. Thought that was pretty good.

 

[begreen]

If you are going to invest in a stove, consider strongly putting the stove where the heat is needed and the fire view can be appreciated. That is on the first floor. You will eliminate all trips up and down the stairs and the appeal of woodburning will go up considerably.

 

[Todd]

Is your basement finished off and insulated? If not the concrete is probably sucking up most of the heat. I agree with Begreen that your wood burner should be in the living area, unless it's a wood furnace or boiler.

My gas bill with all the other charges added up comes to 1.40 per therm, but my furnace hasn't come on yet. :cheese: If you don't mind me asking, what is your total monthly gas bill?

 

[vwboomer]

The basement is unfinished. The chimney is at the back of the house between 2 bedrooms and wouldn't be a good candidate for a main floor burner - plus the associated mess is something I'd like to keep in the basement. I don't care about seeing the fire, just feeling the heat

I've only been living in the house since Nov 10th or so. Bout 3 weeks after moving in the gas company called me to find out if everything was ok cuz the gas meter hadn't moved :D
Anyway, the first full month bill was $16 - $11 of which was meter charge. During that same period, the elec bill was $65 even with the two fans running about 20 hours a day. Now, I paid $125 for a cord of ash/elm. A cord could last probably 1.5 months. What I should do is just run the furnace for a month to see how much it would cost. It may end up being cheaper to run the furnace than buy a new burner and wood.

FYI I've had zero luck finding a significant pile of free wood within reasonable distance.

 

[begreen]

Not a good start, up to 30% of the heat generated will be wicked out the walls heating the surrounding earth. The under the bedroom location is also not ideal. How will the heat get out of the basement to the upstairs?

 

[myzamboni]

maybe look into an add-on wood furnace so the ducting can spread the heat?

 

[begreen]

In a small home, an add-on furnace might be a bear to manage, particularly in the spring and fall. I suspect most of the time the btu output would be overwhelming.

 

[myzamboni]

Yeah, but you could have a couple ducts to take the chill off the basement as well. Not the most efficient but worth a thought. Besides the owner can opt to use the NG furnace during those periods.

 

[vwboomer]

maybe look into an add-on wood furnace so the ducting can spread the heat?

That's why I was looking for a stove that has a big blower on it since they are cheaper than furnaces. I wouldn't want a room blower, but rather one that blows into a duct.
A furnace may be my only option - and throwing some heat into the basement would be nice.

Maybe come late winter/spring some furnace units will go on sale. I need to check with the city though to make sure I can actually do it. I know they outlawed OWB so who knows. If I'm grandfathered in I'd either be stuck with the antique I have, or do it in the middle of the night.

 

[trouba]

You might take a look at these http://www.dakacorp.com/furnaces.cfm . There's some videos showing installation and operation the Menards near me stocks them so if there's one near you you can check one out, I believe they were priced around $900.

 

[vwboomer]

Thanks I'll check Menards. I'm there at least once a week anyway, but have only seen the stoves not an actual furnace.

 

[trouba]

The Menards near me is one of those new super Menards I stop and drool over those wood furnaces every time I'm there, they seem very well built. I have been working on the wife but shes been giving me the deaf ear so it looks like ill have to keep one on my wish list for now.