Building new full log home need advice on heating with wood.

[Seasoned Oak]

If you put the stove in the basement you can heat the floor above but will probably give up 50% of the heat produced to the basement. Unless its very well insulated including the floor. Yes you will need vents to deliver the warm air and vents to cycle the cool air back to the basement. I can heat a my 3 story 3000sf home from the basement but i have to move a lot of air.

 

[begreen]

Is there an insulating strip mortised into each log edge to stop air infiltration as the logs shrink? Or will this rely entirely on chinking to stop air leakage?

 

[iron]

for the convective loop: if you're starting from scratch, i wonder if there's a way to get the equivalent of a cold air return vent at the apex of your ceiling. i know everyone talks about fans to move air, and i'm sure they're fine, but i bet some ductwork up there could really do the trick and, if designed well, blend into the architecture with no visible interference.

i'm curious to hear people's thoughts on whether a system like that would work. i know we have heated our upstairs and then turned on the furnace (fans only, no heat) fora little bit and plenty of warm air is kicked down to the basement.

 

[TrishH]

Is there an insulating strip mortised into each log edge to stop air infiltration as the logs shrink? Or will this rely entirely on chinking to stop air leakage?

There is an insulation strip but there will not be any chinking each log is scribed then the groove is cut to fit the log beneath. In the picture of the BRWindow you can kind of see how the logs are fitted and also a bit of the pink insulation.

 

[TrishH]

If you put the stove in the basement you can heat the floor above but will probably give up 50% of the heat produced to the basement. Unless its very well insulated including the floor. Yes you will need vents to deliver the warm air and vents to cycle the cool air back to the basement. I can heat a my 3 story 3000sf home from the basement but i have to move a lot of air.

Do you have any advice on how to size and locate any air vents to help move the air?

 

[bag of hammers]

Another vote for a stove on the main floor, insteead of, or in addition to, the basement unit. For me, wood heat is a lifestyle, not just a utility. I want to sit near the hearth, watch the fire, stir up the coals, all the time that I'm indoors. That looks like a beautiful build, that style of log home has been a wish list item of mine for a lot of years. Hope its everything you've dreamed of. Jealous!

 

[bag of hammers]

I am not at home. Am in Hammond Louisiana driving the big truck.
I think that heater is a Vanguard. This is a great little heater. 20,000 BTU non vented. Has a thermostat but does not use electricity. What a great little heater.
The thing has got to produce CO. I have hung a very good CO detector above it, several times, and it never even registered a 1.
We have had the heater for 20 years and works flawlessly.

+1 on a simple ductless gas heater. We use a Rinnai direct vent, runs on LP. Not a log home, but well insulated. The model we have does require electricity (some models don't). But on the plus side, it keeps the place @ 55 - 60 deg when we're away without working too hard. Can throw 36k btu if I crank it (never do, that's what the wood stove is for . We've had @ 8 years of trouble free service so far. I leave 1 ceiling fan on low as well, moves the air nicely when the heater is running.

 

[begreen]

Rinnai makes good space heaters.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Do you have any advice on how to size and locate any air vents to help move the air?

You can move a lot of air thru small vent ,but if the power goes out you would wish for a larger one. If this is well thought our you can place the vents where you dont even see them. If you put the stove in the basement, that will be the warmest floor. But it may make it easier to load and clean. Figure each floor to be about 8-10 degrees cooler than the one below it,that been my experience.

 

[Stelcom66]

I've experienced a ranch home with a wood stove in the basement, it usually did quite well. The house has floor vents in each room. There's baseboard electric heat that is only used during extremely cold spells. Even if the power went out, which was a somewhat common occurrence in that area - there wasn't a concern about pipes freezing. I've considered a wood stove in my basement because of that. Access would be easy since I have a walkout basement, but I do enjoy having the stove in the living room. If I was building a new home, I'd go for one in the basement and another, maybe smaller one on the main floor.

Great pictures of the log construction, looks like what will become a very robust/strong house! I wonder what is used to insulate between logs?

 

[therdlesstravld]

I don't know if anyone asked but will your basement be finished living space? My house is a 2 story cape cod with a full basement. I have an Ashford 30 in the basement and the entire basement is finished. One area is a lounge type area with the hearth, couch, tv and bad and the other is a indoor play park for my kids.

I ask this because we spend alkt of time down there so we don't lose the ambiance of the stove by having it downstairs. The convenience of my bringing the wood through the house is also great. So parse it out really.

 

[Simonkenton]

Trish that is some beautiful log work.

 

[dznam]

kenny you read all kinds of reports on the r factor of log walls.
I have built 7 log houses, and have lived in log houses since 1988. Just completed a log addition onto my log house here in the NC mountains.
My logs, like yours, are 6 inches thick.
I have read that logs have an r factor of r 1.5 to the inch. Which would make our walls just r 9! The code here is r 19 on exterior walls.
Repeatedly over the past decade there have been reports that they are going to mandate minimum log wall thickness of 8 inches.

I don't buy it. My house is up on a mountaintop. Very heavily forested.
In the winter, when the leaves are gone, the wind will blow all night up here at 40 mph. Happens about twice a month. This, on an 8 degree night.
It is cold up here! This house takes a beating from the weather like no other house I have ever lived in.
Yet, it is the most snug and warm house I have ever lived in.

I don't know how they calculate r factor but if they think 6 inches of logs is r 9 they are wrong.
If the crack between the logs is well sealed and you have the good ceiling insulation, windows etc as you described, you will be very comfortable in that house.

Interesting read on the R-value of log homes here:

http://energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficiency-log-homes

 

[Midalake]

We own and built a 2400 sqft log home and could not be happier with heat choice. We have an in-floor heat [propane] boiler, which is located in the basement floor and 1st floor.and a Hearthstone Mansfield woodstove. We can entirely heat the house with the woodstove in all conditions in the UP winter even -25. Our heat only goes on when the fires dies out and when away. Our heat cost is about 500-700 a year in propane. Forgot our cubic volume but it is alot since we our all cathedral ceiling.

D