Woodstove Advice Needed

[Sahamamama]

We are looking into getting a woodstove for our small home. Do you own and use a woodstove and/or alternate source of heat? What type of stove do you have, and what do you like/dislike about it? Do you use it exclusively, or only as a supplement/alternative? Do you bake/cook with it? Do you have any links to great "woodstove" sites (that teach about choosing/using/installing woodstoves)? TIA.

[Shasta Mom]

We're on our third LOPI. Third in that we've moved twice and have installed three of them. Our newest is about 7 years old and at the time I think it was the most efficient of the stoves. We got the insert model since we had a fireplace. I think the free standing put off even more heat. We really like it. Some of the really pretty free standings may not be quite as efficient, but I haven't looked at the info for several years. Ours is supplemental heat, in a very cold house in the mountains of northern CA with no insulation. If we had insulation, we would use a lot less wood. It's not designed for cooking........

[Jen500]

We've had a Buckstove with an automatic blower. It was great in the winter for heating the main living area. I can't compare with anything else, because it came with the house.:)

[Anita in NC]

We have a wood stove down in the basement which is the only source of heat down there and it works great. Keeps the entire 600 sq ft room toasty hot.

 

Right now we need to fix the blower but it is years old and just needs a little maintenance.

[Laura Corin]

We use it as a supplement for our sitting room. We don't cook on it. I really like it.

 

Laura

[KathyBC]

We have a woodstove, not a cookstove. Our only initial concerns were satisfying our house insurance providers and not losing any energy savings to increased insurance - which we were able to do.

 

My two, relatively minor complaints now are about the pre-existing placement of the chimney and thus the stove: it would be more efficient at heating the house if it was in the centre, rather than the corner, of the house (duh). Also, if we had a basement for the stove to be in, the main floor would be toasty and the upstairs bedrooms would be cool. As we have no basement, the main floor is comfortable but the floor itself can be quite cool, and the upstairs bedrooms can get too toasty. Basement placement would also contain dust and smoke from our main living area, though that's not a huge issue.

 

On the plus side - winter power outages are not as big a cause for concern. Drying kids snow gear and laundry on the indoor clothesline is easy. Heating our home is relatively inexpensive. It is very cozy.

[Reya]

We are looking into getting a woodstove for our small home. Do you own and use a woodstove and/or alternate source of heat? What type of stove do you have, and what do you like/dislike about it? Do you use it exclusively, or only as a supplement/alternative? Do you bake/cook with it? Do you have any links to great "woodstove" sites (that teach about choosing/using/installing woodstoves)? TIA.

 

 

1 handed here...

 

woodheat.org

 

Wood is a lot cheap than pellets & doesn't req elec to run but messier

blower can be loud

stove more efficient that insert

catylizing mor eff than not

fuel source makes a big difference (moisture or not)

 

have had wood & pellet, stove & insert

 

cast iron better that steel

[Garga]

Have a stove insert in the fireplace. Not designed for cooking. Heats most of the house, but not the addition that is around a corner and not the upstairs at all. We use it to supplement.

 

I love it, but it is a lot of WORK.

 

It can be hard to get a fire started. We have to have a supply of paper, cardboard, kindling (little pieces of wood, like sticks gathered from the yard) in addition to the regular logs of wood. It takes work to gather the sticks from the yard. It's work to get the logs from the wood pile and stack them up in the house to use in the fire. (I have to use workgloves, a little red wagon, and safety googles--it's windy and splinters blow on my face when I'm getting the wood from the woodpile.) You have to have somewhere in the yard to have a woodpile, and somewhere inside the house to have piles of wood to add to the fire all day long. If you leave the wood outside, it can get damp too quicky and won't burn.

 

It takes me about 10 minutes or so to ball up the paper and put the cardboard and kindling and logs in the fireplace. I have to open a door in the house when I light the paper, or it'll smoke like crazy in the house and not up the chimney and the smoke alarms will go off. Then, I have to keep a close eye on the fire for the first 1/2 hour to be sure it's really started. It'll fool me. I'll think it's going, and 10 minutes later, it'll sputter out.

 

Then for the entire day, I set a timer and check the fire every 30 - 60 minutes to add logs to it, or it'll go out. Also, if the wood I add isn't completely dried out, the fire will go out. A common refrain in my house is, "It's WOOD. It should BURN. WHY did my fire go out!?!?!"

 

A tip: to dry out the logs, I put a few on the inside of the stove away from the burning logs. The extra logs sit in there and get nicely dried out and will actually burn when added to the fire. DON'T put wood on top of the stove. It'll dry out and catch fire. (Ask me how I know...)

[Liz CA]

We have a wood stove down in the basement which is the only source of heat down there and it works great. Keeps the entire 600 sq ft room toasty hot.

 

Right now we need to fix the blower but it is years old and just needs a little maintenance.

 

Yes, our Jotul works great. I am sitting here sweating, ahem...perspiring while it's supposed to snow tonight.

Just make sure you get a size that will heat as many square feet as you need.

We rarely use the furnace.

[HRAAB]

We have a Coalbrookdale in our living room and use it primarily for heat with the gas being the supplement. We also have a Sweetheart cooking range (looks just like an old fashioned cookstove). I haven't used it in years, but in the past when we were using it for heat, most of our meals were cooked on it. As it is now, I always keep my tea kettle on the woodstove in the living room and sometimes re-heat soup and such on it. See no need in using the electricity when there's a fire.

 

Janet

[Peri]

We are looking into getting a woodstove for our small home. Do you own and use a woodstove and/or alternate source of heat? What type of stove do you have, and what do you like/dislike about it? Do you use it exclusively, or only as a supplement/alternative? Do you bake/cook with it? Do you have any links to great "woodstove" sites (that teach about choosing/using/installing woodstoves)? TIA.

 

Our home has a wood stove in the family room and I love it. We have lots of trees around the house so we just gather up some wood and small branches and start a fire in the stove. When it reaches a certain temperature the fan will turn on and distribute heat through out the room and it heats it up pretty nicely. Our family room is a nice large size too but it can still get it nice and toasty. It feels so good on those cold days plus I just love the sight, smel, and sound of the fire. The only down side is that it can be a little messy with the ashes and wood chips. I would highly recomend laying brick around the bottom and on the walls a good two feet from the stove. But other than that I would not give up my stove for nothing.

 

I don't use it for baking cause I don't know how but I'm sure you could. he only thing I do is when i make a pot of tea or coffee, I will put the pot on top of the stove to keep in in reach and hot. I only do this when we have company.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have a beautiful wood cook-stove. it is a Kangaroo cooker , it is combination wood/electric. it has 2 ovens, one on either side of the fire box. it is the best stove to cook on. it beets gas and electric hands down. I have only had it installed for one year. it will heat hot water as soon as that bit is connected. the firewood stove does heat the house up . In summer I only light the wood stove once a week, and do all the bread backing cake/ cookies etc on one day. In winter it is going all the time.

[Brenda in FL]

We've had a Buckstove with an automatic blower. It was great in the winter for heating the main living area. I can't compare with anything else, because it came with the house.:)

 

This is what we have as well - love it and really puts out alot of heat. our upstairs thermostat will reach to 70 when its been on. It's on the lowest level of our split level house.

 

We use the gas heat at bedtime and first thing in the morning - but during the daytime - the stove is sufficient and everyone gathers in that room.

 

It's an insert as well. And not used for cooking (I suppose you could manage some sort of dutch oven or foil packs once the fire burned down to hot coals).

Edited March 22, 2009 by Brenda in FL

[newbie]

Do lots of research, when I was planning a new home and looking for woodstoves, there were lots of cons. So we were going to get a tulikivi, which is soapstone. Safe and efficient. I think site is tulikivi.com.

[Jean in Wisc]

I love my Vermont Castings, but the company has been sold a couple of times, and our dealer has dropped their product due to poor customer service :(.

 

I've written info about over firing and a few things this winter because I got so many hits about my posts on those topics.

 

They are here:

 

http://shadesofwhite.typepad.com/shades_of_white/2008/01/stoking-the-woo.html

 

http://shadesofwhite.typepad.com/shades_of_white/2008/12/overfiring-the-wood-stove.html

 

I run the stove 24/7 during the winter. The only time the furnace clicks in is when the house cools down in the early morning or when it is windy and well below zero (f).

 

I would not buy a stove that did not have an easy way to remove the ashes.

 

I like the steel top that allows me to cook--although it transfers heat so slowly that I prefer to bring my pot of soup to a boil prior to moving to the wood stove. It is not very efficient, but I'd use it if an ice storm gave me no option, though!

 

I have a grate that fits into the front of the stove so that I can use it as a fireplace if I want to (not as efficient, but a lot of ambiance). I like that the stove pipe has no bends in it--SO MUCH EASIER to clean. Covering the pipe in summer is a good idea or you might have baby bats taking up residence...but DON'T forget to remove the cover before starting up the stove in the fall!

 

The catalytic converter is expensive and requires time (needs replacing/cleaning), and if it is not required in your area, you might want to opt out for it, depending upon how close your neighbors are and how much smoke you want to deal with. I do like how it puts less into the air around my home.

 

I like having two thermometers--one on the stove pipe and one on the top of the stove. I use them ALL THE TIME to tell where my safety zones are.

 

Try to keep the stove near a door if you have that option, and the wood box, too--stoves are very messy and dirty. I clean my stove room more than the bathrooms!

 

We put in a tile floor rather than a pad--this way we did not have to give up space to the pad. I'd suggest you get the extra protective shields on the back and bottom if they are available. You can snug the stove up closer to the walls this way and still be safe--less room, again, given up to the stove. Make sure the stove pipe that goes through the roof is double sided. Don't give up ANYTHING to safety. You'll sleep better at night.

 

What else do you need to know?

 

Stoking a stove is an art not a science. I have a "relationship" with my stove, and I can tell when the gaskets are starting to go or other problems are cropping up simply because we work together all day and all winter long. Read and follow the owner's manual. Don't stack wood too close to the hot stove. If you have a good stove dealer in your area, let him come in and make suggestions--when ours did this, he moved the location, suggested a difference size, told us code for height of stove pipe above the roof and clearance around the stove...and he gave us so much info. It was worth EVERY PENNY to have him come and make suggestions. Find someone who knows what he is doing and pay him to do his job.

 

....Um.....Yeah.

 

Enjoy your new baby :)

 

HTH,

Jean

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

Here is the stove we have:

 

http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/wood-stoves/stove-details?product_id=3

 

 

Soapstone retains heat well for a long burn. On mornings after we have burned wood overnight, we often only have to bank the coals and throw on another log. The soapstone does scratch easily, but it heats the entire downstairs and most of upstairs nicely. One caveat is that because the woodstove is in our kitchen, it can get pretty hot in there while I am baking. I agree with another poster, burning wood is messy and takes time. This does make for good kid chores, however!

 

We consider this stove to be one of our best investments~ especially after this winter's ice storms and power outages. :001_smile:

[Sahamamama]

Yes, our Jotul works great. I am sitting here sweating, ahem...perspiring while it's supposed to snow tonight.

Just make sure you get a size that will heat as many square feet as you need.

We rarely use the furnace.

 

My dad and mom have a Jotul -- the same one for the past 20 years! He does buy new plates, but they really need to replace their woodstove.

We'd like to get one here, too. I like wood heat in the winter (NJ), and I know how to manage the woodstove, since I grew up with one.

 

As far as our space goes, we're in a one-level, two-bedroom, less than 800 square foot house -- so, not much space to heat. I'm thinking that a very small stove would certainly be enough, maybe even too much (as in, where to put it so the girls wouldn't bump into it?). Probably it'd go in the basement, as there just isn't any room up in our living area. Thanks for the advice, everyone! :bigear:

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

If you have a good stove dealer in your area, let him come in and make suggestions--when ours did this, he moved the location, suggested a difference size, told us code for height of stove pipe above the roof and clearance around the stove...and he gave us so much info. It was worth EVERY PENNY to have him come and make suggestions. Find someone who knows what he is doing and pay him to do his job.

 

 

 

Yes, yes, yes! :iagree:

[KathyBC]

If you have a good stove dealer in your area, let him come in and make suggestions--when ours did this, he moved the location, suggested a difference size, told us code for height of stove pipe above the roof and clearance around the stove...and he gave us so much info. It was worth EVERY PENNY to have him come and make suggestions. Find someone who knows what he is doing and pay him to do his job.

 

 

 

:iagree:

We had to do this, too, to satisfy our insurance provider, though if it was pre-existing I don't think we would have had to; but he gave us all the specifics for clearance from the back wall, requirement for stovepipe, etc. and it was certainly worth it for the peace of mind. Every summer, we check out the stovepipes and gaskets and see what needs replacing.

 

Other tips that others have given that I will second:

- The less elbows in your stovepipe the better; better draft, less smoke

- The wood you cut should be DRY, preferably seasoned from the year previous, and stored in a shed or overhang to keep rain and snow off, if possible. Some species are better than others.

- When it's not burning as long, or is having difficulty, it's likely time to clean the chimney.

[Wildiris]

For all you wood stove users tired of starting fires by newspaper and matches use a Mapp Gas torch. Starts a fire every time.

[Mama Anna]

I grew up with a woodstove as the primary source of heat in the house. I have no idea if there's a correlation, but my mom's doctor blamed her emphysema on the smoke. Of course, he told me I had chronic bronchitis (with the same probable cause) at age 17 and his diagnosis hasn't really held water since then, but . . .

 

Note: No one in the house smoked cigarettes, etc.

 

Personally, I love the smell of woodsmoke. And the stove gloves are good for so many other uses, too - feral cats can't bite you through them, deranged parrots can't bite you through them . . . just tons of good stuff! :001_smile:

 

Mama Anna

[Mekanamom]

We are looking into getting a woodstove for our small home. Do you own and use a woodstove and/or alternate source of heat? What type of stove do you have, and what do you like/dislike about it? Do you use it exclusively, or only as a supplement/alternative? Do you bake/cook with it? Do you have any links to great "woodstove" sites (that teach about choosing/using/installing woodstoves)? TIA.

 

I grew up in a ~1600 sf house heated exclusively with one woodstove. It did an adequate job heating the house. My bedroom was at the end of the hall almost furthest from the stove. It was a bit chilly at times in my room, but nothing a hot water bottle couldn't take care of.

 

My parents loved the lack of heating bills. One drawback was having to be home to light the fire... not like a thermostat that can keep the house at a pre-set temperature. I do remember it heating up the house pretty quickly, though. We just sat by the stove until it had a chance to heat up the house.

 

My mother occasionally cooked soup on it, but mostly just put a kettle of water on top to help with the humidity. We didn't do any other cooking on it.

 

I don't remember what model it is (My parents still use it; it must be over 30 years old now!)... I'm sure the newer stoves would be more efficient anyway. Definitely agree with consulting with a wood stove dealer!

[momzilla333]

Our wood stove has saved us thousands of dollars in heating bills. Our backup furnace almost never ever runs. (And you can make smores inside ;^)

But please make sure that things are installed properly. The chimney must be cleaned regularly. Ours is set up so we can take out an elbow inside and clean the chimney really well from inside the house and we have a set of brushes so we can do it ourselves about once a month. We tape a plastic bag to the chimney with the brush handle running through the bag and it catches almost every bit of the mess. Chimney's clean and put back together in fifteen or twenty minutes and almost zero cleanup. It has a blower and catalytic converter that's easy to fire up and adjust.

Also please make sure you have smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector too. It's cheap insurance.

Yes, there's extra mess and work, but it's well worth it. It keeps us warm and cozy, we cook on it too and it saves us a heap of money.

I wouldn't trade it for anything and I'd hate to move to a house without one!

Edited March 22, 2009 by skai
forgot something

[Sahamamama]

Wow, thanks so much for all this great advice. Yes, if we do decide to put in a woodstove, we will definitely consult with an experienced woodstove dealer/installer. My dad would be able to teach us how to maintain/clean it, and I know how to use a woodstove (at least my parents' old Jotul). Now, trying to get hubby to find and haul and cut and split and stack and bring in the wood.... that's another matter! :D