To install a stove or not in house

[begreen]

With a stove in the house I'm betting you will be spending a lot less time in the garage, so hopefully the wood consumption will be about the same, just in a different location.

 

[laynes69]

Are you heating a small garage with a woodfurnace? I would have that in the house and place a duct or two to supply heat for the garage. If it's the wood furnaces I'm thinking of, they are pretty inefficient. Placing a EPA stove in the home will save alot of wood compared to the Clayton.

 

[clutch25]

Are you heating a small garage with a woodfurnace? I would have that in the house and place a duct or two to supply heat for the garage. If it's the wood furnaces I'm thinking of, they are pretty inefficient. Placing a EPA stove in the home will save alot of wood compared to the Clayton.

The garage is 26x26, unatached...my shop and hangout most of the time.

It is similiar to this unit, save for a single blower and slightly smaller....yes....grossly oversized for the garage...it could easily heat the garage and house.

(broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202398328/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)

The garage will still be heated regardless of what I do in the house. I have alot of stuff out there that I don't want to freeze and it saves me over $600 a year over propane heating it with wood.

 

[begreen]

Maybe move the Clayton to the house and the Summit to the garage? Or how close is the garage to the house? I'm wondering if an insulated supply could be ducted to the house if they are adjacent?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Maybe move the Clayton to the house and the Summit to the garage? Or how close is the garage to the house? I'm wondering if an insulated supply could be ducted to the house if they are adjacent?

That would seem like the way to go since that furnace is capable of heating twice what his house and garage consist of.

 

[firefighterjake]

There is a couple of stoves on the "local" CL right now. A PE Summit and another Lopi (not sure of model).

After 3 years of harping, I FINALLY got my mom to put a stove in her house. She lives on a lake and her house is FREEZING in the winter, plus she pays through the nose for heat (not like you guys out east, but not cheap either). Lopi Republic 1750 (used). I have no clue what her wood consumption will be per year, but I have about 8-10 cords cut/split at her place.

I heat my garage with a Clayton 1400 and end up going through 4-6 cords a year in that thing. It is WAY over-sized for what it's heating, but the plan is to eventually punch the garage out to a 26x40 for shop space.

The question is....should I put a stove in my house. The house is a 26x40 rambler with a full finished basement. Currently it is just me living in it and I'm dang sick of freezing (last year I would go out to the garage and read etc at night to get warm). I have electric forced air heat upstairs with propane "off peak" and electric baseboards in the basement.

Electric bill goes up about $150-$200 in the heating season (dead of winter) and I go through about $220 worth of propane a year to boot.

Several concerns/thoughts...

1. not sure I want to cut another 4 cords or so a year.... Currently I am clearing out a shelter-belt about 30 miles from my place, all Ash and it should be a good source for at least another 3 years worth at 10 cords a year. I hand process my wood...

2. Don't have much more in storage space for wood for the house.

3. Consider anything with longer than a 3 year payoff (stove and chimney only) not really desirable. Cost needs to be ~$1200 tops for entire system.

4. Upstairs install vs. downstairs. If I go upstairs, a hearth pad is about $200 and that would be about the same as the additional chimney needed for a basement install. I have more room in the basment family room. The PE summit would heat the whole house from the basement but probably cook me out with a upstairs install. Then you have the hauling wood downstairs thing...

Thoughts anyone?

Random thoughts . . .

I think you've come to the wrong place if you want us to tell you that you're crazy for thinking about heating your place with wood . . . especially after you've convinced your mother to heat with wood, you already know how nice it is to heat with wood in your shop and in fact find yourself going there at night to avoid freezing in the house which is currently being heated with very expensive electric heat. I think you really want us to simply convince you that it can be done and you should do so . . .

1) If you go with an EPA stove you will not go through as much wood as you would with a pre-EPA stove . . . of course the flip side is the wood has to be nice and well seasoned. As for cutting the extra wood . . . if you just putter away at it and get ahead you may well find that four extra cords of wood will not be all that hard to cut and process -- figure 12 rounded loads of wood in the pick up. Get one load each weekend and you're done in 12 weekends . . . although I suspect you'll get through it even faster than that.

2) I wouldn't store my wood inside the house anyways . . . maybe just have a woodbox or rack for that day's wood. I would store outside . . . either in a woodshed or top covered stack. If space is a problem outside you can always go with a holz miete and stack higher or make "privacy fences" out of your firewood as some members have done.

3) The price limits your choices . . . if this cost was just for the stove there are a number of choices . . . but if you factor in the cost of the chimney . . . well it adds up. The cost of the hearth should not be too bad if you build your own. Depending on your heating costs . . . it is entirely possible that you could recoup this investment in 3-5 years -- and best of all . . . be warm during the winter at the same time. Buying a decent used woodstove or going with a budget stove like an Englander might be a good move.

4) Upstairs or downstairs . . . my basic rule is simple -- put the stove where you plan on spending the most time. If you spend most of the waking hours downstairs and it is an insulated space I would consider putting it there and size things appropriately . . . otherwise I would go upstairs.

Final thought . . . I went with woodheat a few years back when heating oil prices were shooting throught the roof . . . now I'm not sure I would go back even if heating oil was to drop down to 79 cents a gallon . . . I like heating with wood -- the heat, the view, the independence from the oil company and foreign countries and speculators affecting what I have to pay to keep from freezing in the winter . . . for me the bit of extra work is time and money well spent since I doubt the price of fossil fuels will change anytime soon . . . for me it only makes sense.

 

[vdog]

I have a Lopi 1250 republic (the same as the answer) that we heat our living room and kitchen with and if I dont watch it it will run us out of the house. We love it. We bought it new and it has paid for itself in two seasons. We heat with propane. Looking at your picture The answer would heat your place fine IMHO.

 

[clutch25]

Well....I made the call and told them I would take the stove. 7 year old PE Summit, stove pipe etc. for $500. Hopefully I can get the whole works installed and burning for under $800.

Now to get it home and installed....

Thanks everyone for the help!