wood stove good or bad?

Started by diyfrank, January 23, 2009, 08:51:27 PM

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diyfrank

Good link CREATIVE1


The stove woodswalker offered to sell to me is listed on there.  [cool]

You all saved me the trouble of buying the wrong stuff.
Home is where you make it

cordwood

 Hmmmmmmm. I read the part on that link about "Burning Cleaner",.............. :-\...................... :-\.............. I get 20 minutes to get my fire EPA legal and I get 6 minutes in an hour to stoke it?!?!?!?!?! It also says to give my fire air,.......... :-\ Airtight/More Air....Airtight/More Air......  ??? Tastes great/Less Filling d* d* d*
Guess I'll freeze to death if the wind is blowing toward my neihbor too ::)
I am sure it will be a LOOOOOOOOONG time before those restrictions make it to Arkansas!!!!!!!!! ;D
I cut it three times and it's still too short.


zion-diy

Just a 50-ish chic an a gimp,building thier own house,no plans,just--work,work,work,what a pair :}

Squirl

There was a discussion on this stove in another topic.  They sell it brand new at tractor supply for $150.  $320 plus shipping is a rip-off.  The other issue that came up last time was clearance.  If I remember correctly this stove requires 3ft.  That can be a real issue in a small place.

Charcoals

I have never had (or been around) a wood stove, but am considering one for the home I'm designing.  If I go with the two-story Universal Cottage plans, I am concerned that heat from the woodstove (on the main floor) will not be able to heat--or at least won't reach--the living spaces on the second floor, even with fans in place.  Thus, I am thinking that choosing a woodstove as the heating unit may well "force" me to go with a 1 1/2 story design, and likely an open loft option.

Thoughts?

Second issue is that, for a backup heating system, I'm thinking of going with some type of radiant heat, but I envision it sized on the small side (i.e., just big enough to keep the house at, say, 45 degrees for times when I'll be gone and can't have a fire going).  I also envision putting a small old-style radiator on each floor, maybe two on the main floor.  I realize that the feasibility of this is related to the square/cubic footage I'm hoping to heat, but would it be feasible to have this back-up system run off the (gas) hot water heater, provided the hot water heater is rather robust? 

The reason I ask is based on past experience with doing just that (i.e., heating space with a hot water heater).  Several years back I converted a big school bus to an RV that I lived in for two years.  I insulated the heck out of that thing, even the floor, and installed a hydronic radiant heating system in the floor that ran off the hot water heater.  Granted, the living space was small, but the thing worked like a charm (with an air thermostat that told the circulating pump when to kick on/off).  Ideally, I'd like to use hydronic heat in the floors of my future cabin/home, but I want to have the primary heat source be wood, and I'm not sold on those outdoor wood-burning boilers.  Thus, I'm thinking that a good woodstove (with a small gas-based backup radiant system, albeit not in the floor) is the way to go.  Installation would certainly be cheaper.

Thanks in advance for thoughts and comments.




glenn kangiser

w* to the forum Charcoals.... and where do you hail from?  [waiting]  :)

I think the wood stove will do fine if you get a big enough one in a well insulated house. 
Also you can go to the remote sides of the upstairs and duct through the wall from the floor of the upstairs to the floor of the downstairs so there will not be a tendency for the cold air wanting to fall down while the warmer is wanting to go up and interfering with each other if you find it necessary.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Redoverfarm

Another  w*.   I wouldn't be too concerned with the heat in the upstairs provided that you have an open floor plan in the loft area.  Hot air by nature will rise.  Your biggest problem will be heating the ground floor because of this tendency.  In a closed floor plan as Glenn has stated a few well placed registers should heat the upstairs in that application. 

Jens

We lived in a 2 story house that had grates in the second floor.  When opened up, they allowed hot air to travel into the upstairs.  We had a furnace as well, but rarely used it, used fireplaces instead.  This was a 200 year-old colonial.
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Charcoals

Thanks for the welcome, Glenn and Redoverfarm.  I grew up on a farm in Kansas, have lived in numerous states since then, and now am set up in Minneapolis.  I'm looking to find some land within about an hour's drive of the Twin Cities and then hope to start building some time next year, doing as much by myself as possible.


glenn kangiser

Cool -looking forward to seeing your progress.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

DemianJ

Charcoals,

I built a super-insulated 2-storey universal (link below) and, if you leave the bedroom doors open, my woodstove easily heats the upstairs without any vents.  In hindsight, I'd have included a vent to my son's bedroom b/c we leave his door closed at night.  I also highly recommend the Dutchwest Federal Airtight (large model).  I grew up in a passive solar house with this as our only other source of heat and I currently use it in my own house.  I've seen them used for cheap.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=1275.0

Redoverfarm

Here is just a bit of experence talking so take it for what it is worth.  If youth is your thing then do nothing.  Wrong. You will not be young forever.  What I am referring to is the heigth of your wood stove.  I set my stove on the floor level.  Although it was an easy install being that there was a concrete floor.  Used slate tiles and the finished product looked good.  Now every time I go to fire the stove it's down on one knee. And given that I have fired my stove continuious since October that is alot of bending.  As mobility decreases with age you might consider a platform up off the floor for your stove.  Even 8"-1' will make the difference.  There are several different avenues to go in your platform.  Plywood with 1/2"concrete backer, tile or stone and a concrete poured with tile or stone.  I would give it some serious thought if I were you.

I was tempted to make my fireplace at the floor heigth to replicate some authenticity to the time period in Dogtrot.  But my mind kicked in and I opted for a raised hearth in lieu of the ease of tending the fire and fireplace. 

Jens

just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Charcoals

DemianJ,

I have checked out your home many times (I've been lurking for quite a few months before my first post the other day!) and I really like it, especially the porches.  I got a bit excited after I found this site and went ahead and ordered the 2-story universal cottage plans.  Although that was a bit impulsive, I think that I still made the right choice (for me).  I'm thinking of extending the length of the plan from 34' to 36' or even 40'.  I also plan to do a full, poured basement.  I grew up in the unfinished basement of our house, and although I wouldn't want to spend all of my time in one, I very much like basements for some odd reason!  (Maybe it was the sense of security when tornadoes were in the area, which happened every now and then.  This was western Kansas, after all!)  I think part of it is how nice and cool they are in the summers.

Redoverfarm - Thanks for the tip on boosting the height of a wood stove.  I just got the lastest issue of Fine Homebuilding, which has a very interesting article on low-cost radiant hydronic in-floor heating, using a hot-water heater instead of a boiler as the heat source.  I very much like that idea, too.  It makes sense as well, since, as the article points out, the water in a hydronic system does not need to be heated to the high temp a boiler provides, so a boiler really is overkill.

Back to the grind tomorrow.  Can't wait until I can exit the rat race!




glenn kangiser

You can't go wrong on the plans because they are open to be changed to exactly what you want and the are then your design.

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

JRR

Charcoals,
What month is that issue of "Fine Homebuilding"?  I have often thought a low-temp heating system using a regular electric hot water heater would work just fine ... but the "experts" have been very vocal against such heresy.

alcowboy

I seem to recall seeing, either on here or on another site, a newer type of adobe fire places which I loved. Right now my plans call for a right-return, two-sided wood stove/fireplace but I would rather have the adobe type fireplace in the corner. Does anyone know what I am rambling about here? If so, could you please direct me to where I can find it or possibly the poor man's way of building one that is safe. The probabilities given above about man's aging gave me an idea of putting in an adobe fireplace with enough height off the floor to accomodate a old fat man like me.

Charcoals

JRR,

The article on using a water heater as the heat source in a radiant hydronic system is in the March 2009 issue of Fine Homebuilding.  I just got it the other day in the mail.  (I subscribe, so maybe I got it a bit earlier than the newstands.  Not sure.)

Charcoals

glenn kangiser

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

rwanders

I've seen hot water heaters used to provide hot glycol/water to run through piping embedded in driveways and sidewalks here to keep snow and ice melted----works quite well and you don't need to set the temperature very high---only about 70 or 80 degrees as I remember.
Rwanders lived in Southcentral Alaska since 1967
Now lives in St Augustine, Florida


Windpower

I have a Vermont Castings wood stove at my old farm house in Wisconsin

not sure of the model but it is about 24 X 18 X 16 IRRC

I think this is the model

http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=313

it heats the 900 square foot, not too well insulated 80 year old farm house just fine in the middle of a Wisconsin winter -- I have been quite comfortable in subzero temps

I has seen moderate use for 8 years and is in fine condition

I like the 'flip up' top lid -- you can just open it and drop in another chunk of firewood 

highly recomended



It has a glass panel door in the front that is nice to look at too
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

MountainDon

Quote from: Windpower on February 03, 2009, 07:23:55 AM
I like the 'flip up' top lid -- you can just open it and drop in another chunk of firewood 

highly recomended

Sounds like the old Vigilant model we had. Loved the top opening.  :)
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Jens

Glenn, something tells me that isn't epa approved.  Do you have the proper clearances?  Is it airtight?  How wasteful and irresponsible of you. n*

Anybody know anything about waterford stoves?  I think I am going to buy one on craigslist, it is the 104 mark II I think.  $100.  Seems like a pretty good deal from what I've been reading on it.
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

glenn kangiser

I haven't burned the place down yet... ::)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Jens

course, almost the whole place is non-combustible material...I bet you've tried a time or two?
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!