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Wood Stove?

XMP

XMP

Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
1,655
We are thinking about diversifying the way we heat our house by adding a wood stove. We think it will be good on an everyday basis, but will also be an insurance policy, if we are without gas for any period of time. Does anyone have any recommendations of things to consider in purchasing one. What are the best brands? Is steel or cast better? Any thing along those lines, or other factors I should consider would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
My buddy has one. It burns pellets he buys at Fleet Farm. He got the stove at the fireplace store in Maple Grove. I will get more info and let you know.
 
That's funny we were at the fireplace store in Maple Grove today, but I think a wood stove will be more versatile than a pellet one. But I could be wrong.
 
We have a nice Lopi stove, which is rated to heat the square footage of our house. They're lovely.
 
I have both a wood furnace and an oil furnace – hot water heat – I use mostly wood during the winter 8-10 cords. It takes a little work, but man it is warm in the winter! Power has gone out periodically over the years, but with the wood furnace we always have heat.:thumbup:
 
I have a small wood stove in the basement of my house. It came with the house. The previous owners bought it with the intent of using it as a supplemental heating system. In reality, the placement was a bad idea, and it's mostly only good for heating the basement. If you want it for heating the house, make sure that you place it on the main floor.

Pellet stoves are much easier to own and use. Many pellet stoves have an automatic feed system for the pellets. All you have to do is to fill the hopper every couple of days, and the feed system will feed the stove for you. Pellets generally burn cleaner than wood, making them more environmentally friendly than wood. Pellets also keep the chimney cleaner, making them more safe.

In the long run, the only real reason to choose a wood stove over a pellet stove is if you have a steady free or inexpensive supply of wood.
 
Erasmus, the Lopis look nice.

Fivefold, what kind/size of wood stove do you have?
 
I just installed a new wood stove this Fall - a Napoleon Independence model (http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Stoves/stoves_wood/1450.html). It's amazing. It throws a tremendous amount of heat and smoulders nicely overnight. I find that I can go from a cold ash base to an inferno in about ten minutes, after which I simply reduce the air flow and let it do its thing for hours on end. Very efficient. While I am no expert with such things, I think that one of the key features to pay attention to is the quality of the interior fire bricks.

Best of luck with your search!

- Mike
 
I have used several types over the years, blaze king/blaze princess are known for long burn times, Regency is a good solid no-nosense brand. Vermont Castings if you want good looks as well as high output.
 
I use a forced air wood furnace for primary heating and a high efficiency oil furnace tied into the ductwork for supplementary heating when nobody is home. With this arrangement I burn less than 1/4 tank of oil per heating season, and less if the winter is really cold, as the wood furnace doesn't get a chance to go out.

If you planning on getting a wood stove, ask questions and research the unit. Look for a unit that doesn't let ash and soot into the room when opening the door to add wood.

Don't cheap out on the chimney, many people make a mistake here. If you are adding a wood stove to an existing chimney it is likely that it will need a chimney liner. The liner will enhance the burning ability and reduce chances of back draft. Liners are worth every penny.

Burn dry wood, cut and pile firewood a year ahead of time so it will have a chance to dry and season. Use greenwood as a last resort, it produces less heat as the heat from the burn is lost to boiling off the water within the wood. Green wood will plug up your stove and chimney making messy cleanups more frequent. Neglecting to clean will result in chimney fires.
 
I have heated with wood, as a primary source since 1969, in many parts of the U.S., as well as overseas. Most pellet stoves will only work with the pellets, leaving you stuck without them. Also, many/most pellet stoves require ELECTRICITY to run the worm/feed mech. A regular woodstove gives you far greater versatility. Cast iron over sheet steel. Iron will last you a lifetime, especially if it is brick lined. Iron also is far better at providing radiant heat over entended time, even if the fire were to go out. There are several factors you will have to look at. Air tight vs non. Catylitic vs non. Cookstove vs heat. Stone vs non. UL certified vs non. If you have home insurance, will it cover the use of a woodstove? Many will not. If you already have a fireplace, look at installing an insert type stove, or connecting a wodstove to it. There are areas in the U.S. that will not allow installation of wood heat stoves due to EPA guidelines. This can be loopholed by installing a wood cook stove. There is far more to this subject than meets the eye. Research will provide you with the knowledge required to make the right decision.
 
Pellet stoves are nice but if you lose power you've lost the use of the stove. Unless you have an alternate method of powering the fan - such as battery and solar.

Woods stoves...the key is the heavier the stove the better it will perform. Do some research and find stoves that have good door seals, low maintenance, and high customer ratings. I took about 3 months researching our newest stove and am not disappointed!
 
The last two posts covered what I was thinking:
1) You need the woodburner most when you don't have electricity, hence a pellet stove is not an option.

2) If something else happens and there is no resupply of pellets, you need to have quite a supply on hand if you want to use it or it is useless.

Hence, I'd recommend sticking with a regular woodstove.

Now I grew up in a house heated by wood/coal stove exclusively! If you have access to coal, I suggest you get a stove that can handle burning coal. It's much better for retaining a coal and heat through a cold northern night!

Good luck!
 
XMP..this is exactly what I do. I supliment my heat with a wood stove.
Brands...nah...don't get too crazy with that. I bought my used on ebay for $50 because the guy wanted a flat screen tv and the wood stove was in the way.
That works for me!
I found a local handyman to install the single wall chimney and have had no problems for 5 years now.
Last year I got from a friend one of those heat reclaimers. They attach between the pipes and when it gets hot enough a fan blows from behind and out comes hot air. Does a great job heating the house FAST, but I found problems with it.
1. Need electricity to run the fan.
2. Creates TONS of creasote!
3. Kind of noisy.
You can see from the attached pics the creosote that had run down the outside of the pipe during a heavy rain storm. I'll clean all that up this summer when I take the pipe sections apart to clean. Get them re-painted too.
I was going to go the wood pellet way, but they too have problems.
From what I understand...if you want the pellets cheap, you have to buy them by the ton. Storage becomes a issue because you must keep them dry.
Also, you need electricity to run the auger that feeds the pellets to the stove. No electricity, no heat.
This is why I didn't go that route. I wanted to have available heat if I had NOTHING else. True, you need dry wood, but that can be accomplished with regular spring and summer work.

I am sooooooo happy I went the route I did!
If you want ambiance, you have have the doors open. If you want efficiency, you can close the doors and regulate the heat with the dampers.

They are nice, but there's work involved with them.

Hope I either helped or inspired you!
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You guys are providing me some great advice. Thanks.

I'm definitely planning on wood, not pellet for the reasons outlined. I was leaning toward cast iron. I already have a gas fireplace on the main level of the house. The wood stove will go on the second level where all the bedrooms are. It won't primarily be used to cook, but I'd like it to be able to in an emergency. Oh, it will have a new dedicated chimney pipe too.

All advice is appreciated.
 
I heat primarily with wood. I have a Vermont Castings Intrepid II with a catalytic combustor. It is amazingly efficient, I'd buy another in a heartbeat.
 
make sure you put in a double insulated stainless flu the right diameter for the stove to get the most effecency, if you have a flu fire wont burn your house down. use to burn 20 rick a year till someone told me my flu was to large, since replacing with a smaller flu only use 10 to 12 rick a year, flu fires are cool once had flames shooting 10feet out of the top of mine took 20 minutes to burn out, clean flu every year now with a flu brush.
 
I've used wood as a suplement for quite a while. Most of the time power is not a problem and so the small fan is used to circulate heat out of the stove. It will certainly work without it to heat about 1/2 my house using natural circulation (it is in the basement and the stairwell is really just a huge duct to the upstairs). While not a "cooking" model, we got by for a week one time cause its got a large flat surface for pots etc. Remember how to cook with a fire? Same stuff. Older Englander style so it takes up a pretty large floor "footprint" and I dont have to worry about kids and hot metal. Due to the changover to propane (gas logs) there may be plenty of these units around cheap. Great points on chimneys though- very important part of the whole system.
If I were starting from scratch I'd look very hard about the "outdooor boiler" kind of setup with a hot water radiator to solve the "dirt" factor. With the right design it should work (albeit not as efficiently) in the power failure mode. Anybody got experience or thoughts along this line?
 
Just saw this thread. I'm also looking for a wood stove. Those of you who have wood stoves that you would recommend....could you post links (if you have them) to a site that sells them?

There are so many choices out there I really don't know where to start. I have a 12x30 barn that's being insulated and made into a room. I'd like to get a wood stove to heat it...and one that allows you to cook on it if needed. Any help would be great!


Thanks....
 
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