Unrealistic expectations........

[buckeye]

Im not banging on anyone here, but I think that some ppl have unrealistic expectations when it comes to heating with wood stoves. I have been really happy with my heritage, but in the last week my boiler has had to run some to keep up with the fridgid ohio temps that we have been seeing.

My house set up really doesnt allow heat from the wood burner to get back to my kitchen, so I have a kerosene heater that I kick on and knock the chill off. We pretty much only use the kitchen at meal time and as our main entry, so its not that big of a deal.

I have been pleasently surprized with the job that my stove has done. It will heat the main rooms on the first floor except for the kitchen 68-72 degrees and all the rooms on the second floor 66-68. We do keep the laundry room closed off on the 2nd floor too. Last week and early this week when it was 0 degrees out with wind chills at -15 to -20, it would only keep the downstairs about 63-64 and up 58-60........thats when the boiler had to be used.

I have no way to insulate my walls as they are plaster and lath laid right against the brick. They stay cool to the touch no matter how warm we get the house. SO, with no insulation in the walls, a 2500 sqft house, boiler only running periodically!! I am HAPPY that I chose to go with WOOD HEAT and HAPPY that I chose the heritage.

Not to mention, Im HAPPY that I found this web site, it has been extremely helpful. I have learned a ton! I thought I had a good idea about how to burn wood, boy was I wrong. :red:

Just a quick a THANK YOU to everyone for all the help.

 

[jtp10181]

Yeah a lot of people do, we have to remind them the wood stove is a ZONE heater. If you are fortunate to have a perfect house layout (open) and a central chimney you might be able to heat the whole house.

 

[Harrison]

Buckeye, I hope you have exterior venting for the kerosene heater. A couple of friends of mine were overcome (rescued in time, thank heaven) by one of those things in an outbuilding they were using as a woodshop. I use one in extremis, but the wind practically howls through my shop. When I get my stove up and running I'll repair the cracks and holes.

Harrison

 

[adrpga498]

On a different point of view... I replaced a pre epa 20 year old steel smoke dragon with a new stove in 2001. WE only used the old stove to "take the chill out of the first floor of a bi-level house. Having done the research on this web-site and running with enough wood supply I have exceeded my expectations and reduced my fuel oil consumption by 80% and I'm not worried about the oil burner running 20 minutes on the coldest mornings to take the chill out. The stove will carry out the heating for the next 23.5 hours.

 

[Rockey]

The past week was pretty rough here in southwest Ohio. Below zero temps and decent wind. Although my house size is similar to yours (2700 sf) I am fortunate to have insulated walls and an open design that allows for good heat circulation through the house. I am usinga mediium sized EPA insert for most of my heating. My propane furnace was on 3 nights this past week and so far i have used about 50 gallons of propane since October, but some of that was used by the water heater. If we dont get below 15 the rest of the season then I should be good for the rest of the year. What part of Ohio are you in?

 

[johnsopi]

I have a wood furnace and it heats the house evenly. I do wish it had a veiwing window.

 

[Hubjeep]

So far my Napoleon has met all my expectations and more! I did not expect to be able to heat the back room without some sort of duct/fan, and was uncertain if hot coals would remain in the AM for re-light.

So far I have been burning "24/7" for 6 days, both thermostats have been off in the house, boiler room is cool, only heating water. The temp in the room with stove is not dropped below 70*, even overnight, feeding just before bed, back room is about 8* less, which is ideal for sleeping.

Still figuring out draft setting/wood size/stove temp/blower speed to minimize hot coal life (turn to ash quicker), reduce frequency of fueling, and maintain comfortable room temp.

My house is a 980 sq/ft nearly half of the house is the living room with 12' ceilings that opens into the kitchen, if it was made up of smaller rooms it would prob not heat nearly as well.

 

[jeepin in maine]

we had a rough start to our wood burning winter.my set up is far from ideal at this point but it works.with the frigid temps of the last 2 weeks the only time my furnace has kicked on is to heat our hot water.the coldest temp we've woke up to in the morning was 64(very cold night),and i still had plenty of big coals to refire in the morning.we burn 24/7(kindling?whats that?)the house averages right around 70-71 pretty much all the time.its a poorly insulated 30+ year old ranch(about 2500 sq. feet with added room and basement) with junk windows,an added on 18x18 master bedroom(temps in there are right around 60),and the stove in the basement.the key to doing it for us?an old lakewood smoke dragon with an approximate 8 cu. foot firebox,a furnace blower,some duct work, 4 floor registers,and a large amount of wood.we've burned about 6 cord since october,but the oil boiler is only using enough oil to heat the hot water.

 

[laynes69]

We have a wood furnace tied in series with our gas furnace. Our lp furnace hasn't ran this year and the whole house has good even heat. It can be done with the correct layout, but of course a woodfurnace is a big difference from a wood stove. During those temps here in ohio, our home was between 70 and 74

 

[buckeye]

im in n.central ohio, near mansfield. I use the kerosene heater most days for short periods of time. I do have a co detector in the kitchen, so I dont have any real worries with that.
Im just kinda glad to hear from others who's expectations have been exceeded. We usually only hear the complaints.

 

[laynes69]

I'm outside of ashland towards wooster. Your pretty close then.

 

[buckeye]

im in new washington, I used to camp in loudenville. camper got trashed in the flood.