Newbie wants to cut off Propane Company

[Gregdrose]

HI,

For background please see my previous post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/69200/

I have decided to get a wood stove or a pellet stove for my second floor now and then get a pellet furnace over the summer. I have a perfect spot in the hall on the second floor close to our bedroom, the chimney will go straight up and through the roof. I have been reading this website and learning alot but I need advice, what I would like from either stove is this:

Heat the second floor (between 800-1000 square feet).
Get the the sound and look of our fireplace.
Automatic operation or once a day operation.
Price is very important.
I do like the look of a stove with legs, it seems more traditional.

I am little nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home, if it burnt over night would it still give off heat throughout the day?
Will my bedroom be 90 degrees because the stove will be right outside the area where we sleep?
I would like to do the install myself, I am an electrician and built my own home.

Please give me some direction and suggestions what to buy.

Thanks for your help.

 

[savageactor7]

...do like the look of a stove with legs

Me too. It's nice to put a few stove tools under there. If you have any wood burning friends or neighbors it's a good idea to solicit their opinions about your plans.

If it were me I go one step at a time...just say'en.

 

[pen]

by your post, I think you'd be happiest w/ a pellet stove. Especially if the second story is literally the 2nd story above ground for this house.

If you chose a wood stove, you'd need a small one for this sized space and it would need too be loaded often when in constant operation and would be completely out if not loaded overnight or during the work day.

pen

 

[shawneyboy]

HI,

For background please see my previous post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/69200/

I have decided to get a wood stove or a pellet stove for my second floor now and then get a pellet furnace over the summer. I have a perfect spot in the hall on the second floor close to our bedroom, the chimney will go straight up and through the roof. I have been reading this website and learning alot but I need advice, what I would like from either stove is this:

Heat the second floor (between 800-1000 square feet).
Get the the sound and look of our fireplace.
Automatic operation or once a day operation.
Price is very important.
I do like the look of a stove with legs, it seems more traditional.

I am little nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home, I would be more nervous burning while I was asleep. I/we burn 24/7 when home, when away, when asleep, when awake. If you use a stove PROPERLY it is IMHO more safe than other heating appliances (see natural gas or propane) if it burnt over night would it still give off heat throughout the day? This depends on many things but again, if done properly you can easily and safely burn while at work.Will my bedroom be 90 degrees because the stove will be right outside the area where we sleep? You can control temps with a good stove, will it be warm? Yep will it be hot? Not neccesarily, by altering load amount and air intake, you can burn it like it is shoulder season and get it warm without cooking yourself out of the room. It is important to get the correct sized stove, then IMHO go up one size, you can alter how much wood you put in to lower the temps.I would like to do the install myself, I am an electrician and built my own home. Self install is very possible, but, depending on insurance, local codes, etc. you may want to consider a professional install. All my insurance company wanted was that it be installed by a professional.
Please give me some direction and suggestions what to buy.

Thanks for your help.

If you want the look and feel of a traditional fireplace,then scratch the pellet stove off the list IMHO. I would go with a nice looking (have wifey decide) stove. Be sure that area you want to install will give you the clearances that you need, and that you will have a long enough flue for the stove you want.

I am sure others will chime in here but that at least should help get you started.

Shawn

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I am little nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home, if it burnt over night would it still give off heat throughout the day?

Will my bedroom be 90 degrees because the stove will be right outside the area where we sleep?
I would like to do the install myself, I am an electrician and built my own home.

Please give me some direction and suggestions what to buy.

Thanks for your help.

Why would you be nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home? And it does sound as if you plan on running the stove while sleeping. Not too much difference there except that you are close when sleeping.

As for leaving the stove unattended, this has been done for hundreds of years by thousands. In our own case, the wood heat is our only source of heat so we do not have the option of letting the stove go out and turning up the thermostat. We don't give it a second thought!

In fact, I go into the hospital tomorrow so the wife will be home alone and will have to take over 100% of the stove duties. I am not concerned. After all, many years ago I laid in the hospital around 2 months during the winter months and she got along just fine except I thought she spent too much time at the hospital. But we had no frozen pipes and she said it was cool a few times but certainly not cold. Now she has the Fireview so this stove will serve here even better than the old one did.

When one starts burning wood it is understandable why it cause a bit of concern but to think about not letting it burn while away is too much concern. You buy a wood stove not for the stove and not for the type, but you buy the stove because you want to stay warm and also would like to save a few dollars. That can be done only by letting the stove do what it does best; burn wood.

 

[szmaine]

I am little nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home, if it burnt over night would it still give off heat throughout the day?

Will my bedroom be 90 degrees because the stove will be right outside the area where we sleep?
I would like to do the install myself, I am an electrician and built my own home.

Please give me some direction and suggestions what to buy.

Thanks for your help.

Why would you be nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home? And it does sound as if you plan on running the stove while sleeping. Not too much difference there except that you are close when sleeping.

As for leaving the stove unattended, this has been done for hundreds of years by thousands. In our own case, the wood heat is our only source of heat so we do not have the option of letting the stove go out and turning up the thermostat. We don't give it a second thought!

I was nervous in the beginning too - it does take a little leap of faith. You will get over this very quickly.

 

[begreen]

I'll play devil's advocate here. This sounds pretty unrealistic to me. Carrying wood upstairs, day in, day out, is going to get old. No small stove is going to get away with a once or twice a day feeding, especially a cheap one. The best compromise for this area sounds like a Woodstock Keystone or Palladian for around $2400 delivered. But I would think hard about this option.

My strong preference would be to install a proper stove on the 1st floor in a good location. You stand a 100% better chance of long term success and satisfaction. If sized correctly, it might also eliminate the cost need for the pellet furnace.

PS: Before going the route of a pellet furnace, I'd examine the cost of fuels closely. Remember, pellet fuel needs to be trucked. If diesel continues to rise in price, so will your fuel cost. If you have natural gas consider a modern, multi-stage unit. Or perhaps consider a high efficiency heat pump? If wood is a cheap and readily available commodity, then consider an add-on or dual-fuel furnace.

 

[firefighterjake]

HI,

For background please see my previous post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/69200/

I have decided to get a wood stove or a pellet stove for my second floor now and then get a pellet furnace over the summer. I have a perfect spot in the hall on the second floor close to our bedroom, the chimney will go straight up and through the roof. I have been reading this website and learning alot but I need advice, what I would like from either stove is this:

First thought . . . I would consider putting the stove in the area you spend most of your time -- namely the living room or family room or what have you . . . most folks tend to want the bedrooms a bit cooler and truth be told you really want the stove to be where you will get the most benefit from its heat -- whether pellet or wood -- and that means not necessarily placing it in the most convenient installation location . . . not to mention that hauling bags of pellets or firewood up stairs could be a pain.

Heat the second floor (between 800-1000 square feet). I suspect that depending on the first floor placement and layout of your house that you will get some heat rising to the second floor . . . I know my second floor is quite comfortable and just relies on the natural rise of heat from the woodstove on the first floor.

Get the the sound and look of our fireplace. Well for the sound and look of a fireplace you'll either want an insert to go into the fireplace or a free-standing stove . . . while pelletstoves can heat a home the fire is most definitely nothing like the fire you would see or hear in a fireplace.

Automatic operation or once a day operation. Automatic operation . . . once a day . . . well here you would be looking at a pelletstove. You can get some long burn times from woodstoves, but if you're looking for a "set it and forget it" sort of alternative heat with wood products you'll most likely looking at a pelletstove . . . the alternative would be a cat stove like the Woodstock or Blaze King where you could load it up and get a long, low burn . . . but even then it's not fully automatic . . . you do have to spend some time adjusting the air, engaging the cat, etc. . . . it shouldn't be hard . . . but it will take a bit of time and will not be as fully automatic as say a pelletstove.

Price is very important. You'll pay about the same for either a pelletstove or woodstove . . . a lot depends on how fancy you want your stove.

I do like the look of a stove with legs, it seems more traditional.

I am little nervous leaving a wood burning stove operating when no one is home, if it burnt over night would it still give off heat throughout the day? Everyone is nervous the first time they leave their woodstove (or pelletstove) burning when they leave the home or when they go to sleep. People who are not nervous about this the first few times make me nervous . . . to me it means they are either very cavalier about alternative heating or don't have a clue about the possible danger. That said, if you take the time to install the stove correctly, maintain it and take precautions you can burn wood or pellets very safely. As for your question . . . there will be some residual heat left over from an overnight fire . . . but in reality you need to build another fire to maximize the heat . . . not too many stoves can keep radiating the heat from a single overnight fire all day long (except perhaps a masonry heater -- and you're talking lots of money for this.)

Will my bedroom be 90 degrees because the stove will be right outside the area where we sleep? Possibly . . . another reason why you want the stove downstairs in the family area . . . most folks like bedrooms to be a bit cooler . . . and when you're tucked under blankets you'll already be quite warm . . . on the other hand when you're just sitting there watching TV or reading it's nice to have the room toasty warm.

I would like to do the install myself, I am an electrician and built my own home. This can be done . . . I should mention however that my insurance company did not raise the premium, but did require a professional chimney sweep to sign off on the install.


Please give me some direction and suggestions what to buy.

Thanks for your help.

 

[eujamfh]

OK - I read your original post which adds a lot to the equation. Even though you don't have the ideal location, you may want to consider modifying something on the first floor to create a spot for a stove.

I have to agree with BeGreen - first floor option, with a stove that may eliminate the need for the furnace. We have two stoves and though a bit south of you in Northern Virginia, I comfortably heat 4500 sq ft (colonial home) with 12 and 10 foot ceilings respective on the 1st and 2nd floor. Home is pretty tight, but not perfect as I would like if I have built it.

Anyways, depending on of how large your first floor is, I would go with a stove that is larger than the area on the first floor. I would prefer wood vice pellet for the reasons others stated above. If you get a big, cat stove, you could load it three times a day (morning, dinner and before bed) which will cover 24/7 burns. I would look to put a ceiling fan in the room where the stove is to help circulate the air. Also keeps you cooler if the room is hot. Since you are handy, you could always figure out a means to get air from the first floor upstairs (lots of posts on that around here). A little while before you go to bed, you can burn a little hotter, to raise the room temp on the first floor. Before bed, load it and choke it down for an overnight burn.

We have a fireplace in our bedroom, and I have thought about a pellet stove up there, but found that with the stoves on the first floor, running the temps in the mid 70s gives me at least 70 in the bedrooms. If it is really cool outside, maybe 67 upstairs at bed, 64 waking up. We have electric mattress warmers on the beds, which means we can sleep at whatever temp we like.

Rambling a bit, but even if it was cooler than we liked upstairs (like it was when the kids were little and they would throw off their blankets) we got a small electric heater for that room with a thermostat. For the cost of a pellet stove install, we could run a space heater for years. As stated, it is fine now since the girls are older, and we find we do not need to augment the nature heat that rises from the first floor.

As for leaving a stove...like noted above, everyone frets a bit, but it is perfectly safe once you learn the stove and how to control it.

As for the basement, I too looked at electric baseboard. We just had new heat pumps installed, and the fans run on low continuously. It is only "cold" about two months out of the year. We are similarly tapped into the first floor ducts for the basement heat...so with our stoves running, the heater never kicks on thud the cold basement for a few months. I never installed baseboard heat, and instead we get buy with an electric space heater. If I know we are going to be in the basement in those cold months, I simply turn it on that morning or the evening before. Again, the thought is for the dozen times over the winter I run a heater for 10-20 hours, we can use electric for many years before we equal the cost of baseboard heaters (which I figured would run $1000 for all the heaters and wire).

If you do go with one main floor stove, down the road you may thin about a propane stove heater in the basement. They too are not cheap, but would limit the use of the whole house furnace running all the time.

So after all this mixed advice and rambling, I recommend putting a stove (choose your fuel) on the first floor. Then, after a year, see if you really need one upstairs or down. You may be pleasantly surprised. You could also then put more money into a "good" stove in the first floor, and have another year to save in the even you opt for the second.

Of course, if you are sold on the fact pellets will be cheaper with a furnace....then just install one of them to cover the whole house. Either way for me, a stove on the second floor would be one of the last choices I made.

Hope this helps,
Matt

 

[wkpoor]

I could give you a luandry list of problems with trying to heat a house with pellets. But I won't, I'll just say that I know of at least 5 people near me that tried the pellet thing and gave up. Most after the first season and sold them. One has a pellet furnance. Oh, and worried about a wood stove....hehehehe. If you only knew how often those little pellets don't get fed down the little tube juuuust right and foul up the works. And then there is the eletronics thing.....ah we won't go there either.