Total newbie

[Slim1950]

Hi all,
My first post. I have a house north of SAult Ste Marie, Ontario that up until now we have only used as a summer home. We live in Toronto, but we are moving up there to our house on Lake Superior permanently next year.

We currently have a wood stove in there, with a propane wall unit as a backup.

I am getting too old to split and stack firewood, and I do not have the room to stack and store up to 15 cord in my backyard.

So I want to look into the pellet stove. My place is about 1000 sq feet, all same level.

Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. Best brands, thinks to watch out for, etc.

 

[DAKSY]

If you burn 15 cords of firewood, you're probably gonna burn 15 TONS of pellets.
If you don't have room for the wood, will you have room for the pellets??

 

[Nigel459]

Welcome! The good folks here can help you out for sure.

My first reaction is similar to above: it's hard to believe you need that much wood stored for a 1000sf home at least moderately insulated, even north of the soo...

Tell us more about your setup. Layout, insulation, current wood stove, etc. For instance, is your current wood stove a relatively newer and efficient model? If not, you might consider that... pellet stoves do work but have their drawbacks as well, especially as primary heating.

We'll get you figured out!

Hi all,
My first post. I have a house north of SAult Ste Marie, Ontario that up until now we have only used as a summer home. We live in Toronto, but we are moving up there to our house on Lake Superior permanently next year.

We currently have a wood stove in there, with a propane wall unit as a backup.

I am getting too old to split and stack firewood, and I do not have the room to stack and store up to 15 cord in my backyard.

So I want to look into the pellet stove. My place is about 1000 sq feet, all same level.

Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. Best brands, thinks to watch out for, etc.

 

[Slim1950]

Thanks for your replies. OK, I have not experienced a winter in this home since 1996. And that was only one winter, so I do not truly know how much I will need. I just took an outside figure. My walls are 4 inch insulated walls, my house sits on a block foundation with a crawlspace underneath the house. Windows are fairly new, (I installed them about 8 years ago)

I have a small wood stove in there now with a 7 inch insulated stovepipe, which is now 22 years old. I have not had it inspected to see whether it needs replacing, but I imagine it will soon need replacing.

This summer I will blow a good 10 inches or so of insulation into the attic. BTW, what is the point of diminishing return on blown insulation?

Currently, I only have 4 inches both fiberglass over one section of the house and and formica (is that what those little pellet things are called?)..

Oh, about the storage thing - firewood needs to be purchased all at once - I imagine I can buy the bags over the winter in several lots. With bags, I do not need to purchase the entire winter's supply at once.

Any other questions?

 

[Don2222]

Hello
Personally, I do not like “blown in” insulation because it is ground up newspaper treated with rat poison ☠️ to make it fireproof and keep the bugs out of it. What happens when it settles and looses it’s R value and the rat poison wears off?
I would remove the insulation there and replace it with 100 percent fIre proof ROXUL insulation that has a better R value per inch than fiberglass and has no fibers to get into your skin.
https://www.rockwool.com/products/roxul-safe
Just my 2 cents.

If the old loose insulation is shiny it may be vermiculite which can be a heath hazard
See here
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/how-to-know-what-insulation-behind-your-walls

If not it could be loose fill cellulose
See here
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/how-to-know-what-insulation-behind-your-walls

You should have it checked out.

 

[pete7713]

not all of blown in insulation is ground up newspaper

(broken link removed)

 

[Slim1950]

Yeah, i knew that. I wish we could talk about pellet stove stuff...

 

[pete7713]

You are the one who asked about insulation.

This summer I will blow a good 10 inches or so of insulation into the attic. BTW, what is the point of diminishing return on blown insulation?

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com...science/diminishing-returns-adding-insulation

 

[Slim1950]

Yup. I did.

 

[blades]

1k sq ft- mid size stove like a Englander NC 13 or similar in size, Course with a stove you have firewood splits to stack and store and need to be about 3 years ahead for drying purposes and rotation ( do not know anyone who truly sells dry wood) Those that advertise kiln dried generally are only doing enough to kill bugs as it takes about 30 days worth at apx 190 degs to dry a 6" split to 15%. Pellets weekly and monthly cleaning routines, some are a bit noisy but convenient with their auto start and Temp controls much like a conventional furnace. still have the storage factor minimum 5 tons( 5 pallets worth = apx 5 cord of splits) which have to be kept dry. price per ton around here about $250 likely be some sales in a bit but supplies dry up long about Jan. so have to plan ahead. 40# bags to be poured into hopper.
New wood stove much more efficient that your 22 year old unit likely by 50% or more most use a 6" flue in your size range.
With either of these they are area heaters so layout of dwelling will have effects on heat dispersion. it is always better to have a larger than needed heater based on advertising- small fire in big stove rather than pushing a smaller one- pellet units are not much different in that respect.
Shiny beads insulation - vermiculite- blown in can be Fiberglass or cellulose of the 2 cellulose is better - it does not lose R value as it settles or as temps drop unlike fiberglass which does. I have been using Cellulose for 40 years in different homes - no problems ( I researched the heck out of the fiberglass vs Cellulose many moons ago) There are some newer insulation out there I have not looked into them ( cost more)- other than foam for side walls ( pricey) dense packed Cellulose can be put in walls retro also. By the way foam shrinks and then leaves air gaps so it is not perfect either. ( Vinyl windows do the same thing) regardless of the advertising hype I am speaking of what I see real world. Another problem with plastic windows and aluminum are the expansion contraction rates vs your structure. Fiberglass framed windows are the closest in that respect to wood framed to match a conventional stick built dwelling. Best wishes Chris