OT wood stoves

Looking for recommendations on a wood stove. Plan to place in our cellar, house is 1200sf, so cellar is also 1200sf. We have propane heat and we were cold all winter last year. Grew up heating a northern NY house with wood.

Wood stove question didn't involve a tractor, so letting yall know i use my MF 35 and homemade trailer to haul the wood to me house. Good machine, making improvements when its not in use.

I have a Napoleon brand stove. I think they're made in Canada. I've been using it to heat 1200 square feet for twelve years now with no complaints. It's a good stove. It really surprises me how well it does.

you can't go wrong with an add-on,..hook it into your ductwork and be done,...tried the stand alones and they just didn't cut it,...

Check with your insurance company first! Fires cause by wood stoves added after the policy was issued may be excluded and or be grounds for canceling your policy! May be cheaper to just turn the stat up and burn more LP after you add in the cost of keeping yer saw up, gas and yer time added to maybe additional insurance premiums

That being said before it got to be too much for me we heated 1300 Sq Ft with a box wood burner for a couple of years in MN. Bad side was filling it every 3-4 hours....but man we were warm! If I was doing it again I'd go with a system tied into the duct work with stat flue control and big enough fire box to hold at least 12 hours worth.

Rick

Insurance companies will have to change their ways.On long trips with my wife driving I notice every house large and small has a wood pile in the yard.4 buck oil has changed their minds.Wood is dirty ,hard work but many people have no choice.An old friend used to say Times are hard and money is tight.Stinking banks are paying a half percent and lending it out a 12 percent.Friend bought a used truck last year best rate he could find was 7%.I used to insure the farm for 60 bucks now its close to 1000.00.Fake real estate valuations are taxing people off their land here.

(quoted from post at 04:53:52 09/10/11) Insurance companies will have to change their ways.On long trips with my wife driving I notice every house large and small has a wood pile in the yard.4 buck oil has changed their minds.Wood is dirty ,hard work but many people have no choice.An old friend used to say Times are hard and money is tight.Stinking banks are paying a half percent and lending it out a 12 percent.Friend bought a used truck last year best rate he could find was 7%.I used to insure the farm for 60 bucks now its close to 1000.00.Fake real estate valuations are taxing people off their land here.

Click to expand...

LOL insurance companies are not going to change that. Here in MN lots of folks burn wood cause of the cost of oil or gas. And most of the winter house fires are cause by wood stoves! Lot of time cause they never cleaned the chimney. When the insurance company is paying out claims because of woods stoves the rates are going to go up. Same basis fer young men to pay more for auto. They evaluate the risk and charge accordingly.

Rick

We put a wood stove in the living room a couple of years ago with a stainless steel chimney. I checked with the insurance company first and they told me what had to be done to get it insured. They sent a guy out to inspect the installation, he took a couple of pictures and added the clause to our policy; premium went up by less than $100 per year. I also have a certified chimney sweep clean it every year so I have documentation that it was properly cleaned and inspected. We're real happy with it, burn 1 1/2 to 2 cords of wood a year here in central PA. Stove is a Jotul F100.

I considered one of the "gasification" furnaces which would provide heat for the entire house. They use a lot less wood then the older design outdoor wood furnaces and don't make nearly as much smoke (higher temperature in the firebox burns the smoke instead of sending it up the stack), but I didn't want to commit to hauling 10 to 12 cords of wood every year. They're kind of pricey too. But still keeping it in mind if we have to replace the furnace in the basement one of these years.

If my insurance says I cant burn wood they will be gone.People with mortgages are screwed because they have to have insurance.My ins co has photos of both my wood stoves.They take far greater risks insuring automobiles.I will be 74 in 3 weeks and have spent 2 winters in a house without wood heat.Friend sold his house after ins co said he couldnt use wood heat any more.He lives in a rented trailer now.In any case the bank only requires you to have enough ins to cover balance owed them.People on SS are right against the wall these days.If I were alone here I would have to sell.My RE taxes, fuel oil,electric and farm ins use up ALL my SS.No money left for food, clothes shoes or a bottle of beer now and then.My book and sharpening business are dead in the water.The town is looking to collect personal property taxes on anything used to produce income.I build a few picnic tables every summer.I expect Ill have to pay a tax on my hammer, skil saw and electric drill and router I use building tables.Any attempt to make a dollar brings out a bunch of parasites.

woah!personal property tax? whose brilliant idea was that? geez dont let them know about that here

I have an outdoor boiler which is the best of both worlds. I burn wood and heat the entire house without having to drag wood into the house or have my Ins. premium go up. There's no chimney to worry about just a short stack on top. All that comes into the house is hot water...

I have found that when the complaint is 'too cold', its usually because the furnace is too large. I know that sounds wierd, but a smaller furnace will run longer, not necessarily using more fuel, and warms the objects in the house that in turn radiate the heat longer back to the residents. We went from a 140,000 BTU furnace with 80% efficiency down to a 85,00 BTU furnace with 90% efficiency and our heat bill went down nearly 30%.

I have a Englander with the Cramic Disk I think it is about 87% eficent. Will heat a 2400 sqf House. Reburns the fumes off fire in the fire box. Fill about three times a day with 6 to 8 small sticks of wood. The only drawback to it is you have to cut wood a year ahead of time will be cutting this year for next . They are pricey but well worth the price. There are stoves on the market that are more eficent now if you look.

We're buying a Lennox brand this month. They seem to be a little pricey but it's 86% efficient. There are alot of good stoves out there, but I wouldn't buy the cheapest one. Good Luck

Pete...

I have run the Vermont Castings and been very happy. One thing you may or may not have thought about and I wish I had (assuming you"re not going the outdoor wood boiler route mentioned above):
Looks like you"re in Tennessee (I"m in SE Indiana). I use the wood stove for most all of my heating, have a propane fired central heat unit that"s 90% efficient. I use more propane in November and March than I do all winter. The reason being the temps are almost too high to stand having the wood stove going but low enough the furnace runs if no stove. You use more wood getting the stove up to temp than when it is running steady, and in those months all I do is get it up to temp then shut it down. Having installed some of the newer heat pumps in some of our projects, they would have been a better choice for me as they operate a lot more efficiently than my furnace when the temps are more mild.
So, keep that in mind if you get to the point you need to replace your furnace.
Good luck

Tony

We put a Buck Stove 91 insert with SS flue pipe in our fireplace. Used as our primary heat source, with heat pump for backup. Loaded up at night before bedtime, it burns all night long, with plenty of coals to refire the next morning. It's a catalytic unit, 86 percent efficient. Our house is 1800 sf with full basement, it does a great job. Usually has a fire from late November through late February. Insurance approved installation, minimal increase in premiums. All the Buck Stoves can be either inserts, or freestanding units. We're very happy with it. Mark



Tractor related, I use my 8N to haul the wood to the shed.

(quoted from post at 07:42:07 09/10/11) We put a Buck Stove 91 insert with SS flue pipe in our fireplace. Used as our primary heat source, with heat pump for backup. Loaded up at night before bedtime, it burns all night long, with plenty of coals to refire the next morning. It's a catalytic unit, 86 percent efficient. Our house is 1800 sf with full basement, it does a great job. Usually has a fire from late November through late February. Insurance approved installation, minimal increase in premiums. All the Buck Stoves can be either inserts, or freestanding units. We're very happy with it. Mark

Tractor related, I use my 8N to haul the wood to the shed.

Click to expand...

Very nice.... Did you build it yourself

Those little 3ph carryalls sure are hand aren't they... I like yours with the receiver hitch on it.......Got the gears turning..... :roll:

Try to find a good used one. There are plenty of used wood stoves cause some folks get lazy and dont want to stack/haul/load firewood.

(quoted from post at 09:44:00 09/10/11) Try to find a good used one. There are plenty of used wood stoves cause some folks get lazy and dont want to stack/haul/load firewood.

Click to expand...

LOL I know people who are too lazy to cut fire wood too, even though they have plenty that could be cut.

Rick

I would suggest placing the stove and chimney somewhere fairly close to an outside door. Wood needs to be carried in often and ashes carried out. Both are dirty and messy. So you don't want to carry them any farther than you need to.

If your house already has a chimney, it is probably most practical to use it, assuming it is in good shape and designed to handle a wood stove. If you don't have a chimney, and plan to use a manufactured chimney, I prefer the Metalbastos (type) insulated stainless steel system rather than the triple wall system. The insulated chimneys have lots less problems with creasote buildup than the triple wall ones. So you have to clean them out lots less, if at all. I like a chimney that exits near the roof peak, rather than on an outside wall, but your installation might have to be a compromise. Tall chimneys tend to draw better than short ones.

There are lots of stoves out there, new and used. It might not be the easiest to get an old used stove approved, if you need to deal with a building or use permit.

Before I did anything at all, I would check with my insurer to see what they have to say about adding a wood stove. It might change your mind. Years ago my family lived in a mobile home with electric heat. Even with cheap electric rates, I was paying about $350 a month for electricity to heat it. So I added a specially designed, approved and expensive wood stove. I got a permit and the installation was inspected and approved. The wood stove kept our family warm for years at really low cost...my electric bills went down in the Winter because I pumped less water. But then my insurer decided that they would no longer insure ANY mobile homes with wood stoves, and they cancelled me. I ended up paying about 5 times what I had been paying for insurance with a "high risk" company for lousy coverage because of the wood stove. What had been a good deal, heating with wood, became something that was pretty expensive. We ended up building a new house, with natural gas heat, since a gas line went down our road about that time.

I have thought about putting a wood stove in the basement of that new house, and even designed it with a space to run the chimney. But I haven't done it, since my insurer said it would definitely add to my insurance bill. And my wife is now asthmatic, and I am afraid that the little bit of smoke that occasionally escapes from a stove might irritate her condition.

Lots of things to consider. Good luck!

This tax has been laid on gas pumps and mechanics tools for many years.Old farm tractors and tools have been left alone for the most part.A former selectman from a small town south of us said that they ignored things worth less than 5 grand but the state tax assesor said that was illegal.The town of Knox has been taxing electric fence chargers for many years.This would bring 1 dollar a best to the town.I had an old tax collectors account book that showed that violins and pianos were subject to tax 100 years ago.The highest tax in town was 60 bucks.I paid a poll tax and a tax on each cow I owned in the late 60s.The first town report I saw here said that you must furnish a list of taxable property owned to the assessors on April 1 or be doomed to any tax abatement for ever.My real estate tax is 10 times what it was in 1966.

As others have mentioned (and argued about), insurance is your biggest concern. At the bare minimum you need a UL listed wood stove to get fire insurance these days. You also probably need a stainless steel chimney (or liner) in most areas. Other than that, you should be good.

If you really want a good stove, go for a coal/wood furnace with an 8" pipe out that back that is about 80 years old and made completely out of cast iron. You can't get insurance if you have one of those though. They really do last forever, but the trouble is the last for longer than the rest of society wants you to use them. Believe me, I know.