# I love to burn wood but...



## RNLA (Oct 31, 2010)

So I'll say I love to burn wood but I was wondering if a gas fireplace would heat our 1200 sq.ft. home at a comparable temp of 70 - 75 degrees constant. There are things to consider such as cost overall, the work involved vs. the time saved for not splitting wood. So I'm hoping some experts will set me straight. Another thing to consider is I own my own tree service and I am well connected for firewood and logs by the truck load if I want them at market rate. I wonder if I would feel the same heat and have more time to work if I didn't cut and split 1-3 times per month all year around.... End result no mess, less work on wood, lots of cost to convert...


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## DAKSY (Oct 31, 2010)

Stay with the wood if you've got the source. If you switch to gas 
& think you're gonna be as warm with a gas stove as you are with a wood stove,
you're probably gonna freeze.
My $.02


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## RNLA (Oct 31, 2010)

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have seen some gas fire places that are pretty nice. I know they have blowers to circulate the heat too. I still want to hear about others who have switched and what they think... reviews, or thoughts...


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## iceman (Oct 31, 2010)

RNLA said:
			
		

> So I'll say I love to burn wood but I was wondering if a gas fireplace would heat our 1200 sq.ft. home at a comparable temp of 70 - 75 degrees constant. There are things to consider such as cost overall, the work involved vs. the time saved for not splitting wood. So I'm hoping some experts will set me straight. Another thing to consider is I own my own tree service and I am well connected for firewood and logs by the truck load if I want them at market rate. I wonder if I would feel the same heat and have more time to work if I didn't cut and split 1-3 times per month all year around.... End result no mess, less work on wood, lots of cost to convert...





Lol never thought I would.see a tree guy consider switching....
I have a gas insert and its nice, older but nice. It heats about 400sq ft for me and it does a good job.. its a small stove so I think you Prolly could heat 1200 sq ft.
Are you familiar with pellet stoves? I think the heat would be like that...  
Thing is you save a ton of money for sweat ... gas prices go up and down.. you have a great connection.....
Tough choice...


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## RNLA (Oct 31, 2010)

Pellet stoves would not be consideration, they are a sorry substitute for burning real wood. It did sound funny to me too, a tree guy, thinking of burning gas. The price is what I would be afraid of gas is always going up and down. The constant work of "doing wood" is what I thought would be nice to get away from. I work my but off cutting trees for my customers. The level of heat from wood fire is nice, especially in a EPA certified stove. I'm not ready to jump in whole hog but wonder if there are gas units that really throw the heat and look good doing it?


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## iceman (Oct 31, 2010)

RNLA said:
			
		

> Pellet stoves would not be consideration, they are a sorry substitute for burning real wood. It did sound funny to me too, a tree guy, thinking of burning gas. The price is what I would be afraid of gas is always going up and down. The constant work of "doing wood" is what I thought would be nice to get away from. I work my but off cutting trees for my customers. The level of heat from wood fire is nice, especially in a EPA certified stove. I'm not ready to jump in whole hog but wonder if there are gas units that really throw the heat and look good doing it?





Sorry I wasn't clear,  I was comparing the "feeling"  of heat from  a gas stove to a pellet stove...  I don't know if a gas stove that can give you that "whoA"  effect like a wood stove can when its hot....
I have all 3 and must say each has its own purpose, but I love my wood stove! However it is a whole lot more work       c/s/s  as you know ...lol but it makes me feel better ... when I am burning and when I see my  oil bill!


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## Fake coal burner (Nov 1, 2010)

Went from coal to wood to gas stove. Coal best heat wood to gas cant tell the difference. Less work. Clean!  :-S


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## RNLA (Nov 3, 2010)

Wow, That is amazing to go from coal to wood to gas. I did drop in on the hearth shop yesterday and was surprised at the heat output of the gas stuf they had. They also look cool. The shop owner started doing the business 25 years back and said that nothing beats wood heat. He has had just about all types and still goes back to wood...


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## Fake coal burner (Nov 4, 2010)

We live in smog country burn ban days can last 60 or more days. I didn"t like watching wood stove just sit there when its cold.  I really like my gas stove. If you have to buy wood it cost  me less to run gas stoves. If wood is free that is another story and you like the wood labor. They made a big improvements on the gas stoves flame, looks etc. I live in a house built in 1929 double brick single pane windows.  I am heating about 600 sq. feet with the doors closed about 1/2 the house size on low flame. I keep my room at 80 deg. F Cut my gas consummation about 1/3 of what it takes with the furnace of and on every 15 min. My stove is 22,500 input high low is 8.100l
BTU/h input. mostly runs on low or medium flame. Brick is a natural heat sink. I only use the furance for about 6 hours at night to keep the water pipes from freezing in un finished bastment. So I think you could heat 1200 sq. feet with fans. Average temps. high 32.+ lows 10F here.My stove is 1979 b vent no fan option Made my own fan set up. 
Have to have Natural gas heating appliances except cook stove pass EPA emission test when installed in Utah. (smog)


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## spirilis (Nov 4, 2010)

I have a question about gas stoves too now that you all mention it.  I understand gas fireplaces with sealed chambers and blowers (i.e. inserts) move heat mostly by convection but do gas stoves (e.g. a freestanding Jotul) mostly rely on convection too or do the outer castings of the stove get to the kind of 300, 400, 500F temps that a wood stove will see?

i.e. is it truly all convective heat or is there some radiant heat involved?

edit: Looks like at the very least Woodstock's soapstone gas stoves do, just not sure if they get as hot as their woodstoves do (those give off a gentler heat anyhow from what I hear...)


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## trafick (Nov 4, 2010)

Hello All,
About two years ago I put a Jotul Allagash gas stove in my wood burning fireplace. It doesn't put out the same heat as the fireplace. The gas stove heat is a low, constant type of heat whereas I could get the fireplace really hot but then it would cool down until you added more wood. For me, the convenience of the gas stove is great. Just turn it on and when you're done, turn it off. No kindling, no ashes, no stuffing the chimney after the fire went out (no damper). Also no smell of wood burning (I miss that) and no crackling (that too). All in all I'm happy with the stove but I miss the open fire sometimes.

As far as heating goes, I think it is a mix between radiant and convection. When we sit by it with the doors open you get great radiant heat. The cast iron gets too hot to the touch but not near as hot as a woodstove. And as we are sitting by it, the next room is getting warmer and warmer. Sometimes when I finished my coffee and am ready to shut the stove off I go in to the next room and look at the thermostat and the temperature has raised 4-6 degrees. I also like the fact that it is direct vented. The fireplace used to feel good until you went into adjoining rooms and they were cold. The fireplace was sucking all the warm room air for combustion and sending it up the flue.

It has heated the first floor of the house (about 900 sq/ft) during shoulder season but the problem is getting the heat around doors and walls. It was a great purchase for me but as they say, YMMV.


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## spirilis (Nov 4, 2010)

Ah k so it seems the gas stoves do make good space heaters but not the whole-house-warming effect most wood burners seem to shoot for.  When you view it with the doors open isn't that inefficient like a standard fireplace?


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## trafick (Nov 4, 2010)

spirilis,
Here's the part about the thing I can't figure out.  The doors are decorative only.  The burner is behind glass and is a sealed unit.  When I burn the stove with the doors closed, more heat comes out the top but when I open the doors, more heat comes out the front.  The doors have large holes in them so you wouldn't think it would make a difference but it does.


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## spirilis (Nov 4, 2010)

trafick said:
			
		

> spirilis,
> Here's the part about the thing I can't figure out.  The doors are decorative only.  The burner is behind glass and is a sealed unit.  When I burn the stove with the doors closed, more heat comes out the top but when I open the doors, more heat comes out the front.  The doors have large holes in them so you wouldn't think it would make a difference but it does.


Ah I see that's interesting.  Maybe most of the radiant heat comes through the part of the glass that the doors happen to cover up?  Good to know it's still sealed though, that's what I was curious about.
More as foreknowledge for any future houses I end up buying if they have NG service and no hearth products built in...


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## RNLA (Nov 6, 2010)

Hey there, I'm the original poster. I want to thak you people for the input on this subject. I would not have imagined myself asking the question between gas and wood. I have not changed yet and probably wont for a while. I see the clear advantages of the gas and think that after we get windows, insulation and a few other things to conserve heat we would most likely go to a gas insert. Our range, waterheater, and fireplace are in the center of our house. This would make installation really easy. Our utility has a 3 appliance requirement to hook up. So I'll watch this thread for more advice on what people like as far as brands and heat output ETC.


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