I had over 20K invested in a gasifiaction boiler, thermal storage and a building. Myself I'll take a wood stove any day. No pumps to go bad, or worrying if the generator will keep going when the power is out, plus now you paying for fuel to heat your house to run the generator. Wood stove is a lot more enjoyable to me. Seems that with the boilers and storage people were constantly fooling with them trying to get the most out of the wood. I'd rather open the door put some wood in and just enjoy the fire! Tinkering gets old! At times it would have been a better pay back just heating with oil with all the money tied up in some big systems, unless your 25 years old, maybe you'll see a pay back, if the boiler doesn't get a pin hole leak because the water PH was off, or the stove over heated because a high temp relay failed. A wood stove you can just walk away and leave it out with no worries of water corrosion, etc. I guess I can say I been there done that and went back to the simple life of a regular wood stove. Never looked back and wouldn't do it again.I couldn't agree more. I spent hours investigating the possibility of a wood gasification boiler. I think there are some great systems out there but the startup costs can be 2 to 4 times that of a high efficiency stove and/or ZC fireplace. I just couldn't get there.
Granted, there is the mess inside but I personally think that is over exaggerated. I have burning since I was kid. Never bothered me.
Oh by the way, I spoke to a local dealer and he was telling me about a wood gasification stove that is up and coming. Wonder what took so long? Exiting stuff.
Yup. I'm grateful for the simplicity of heating our house. If a friend house sits no worries, easy peasy heating is good.
I got the heat load calc from our builder and it is approx 50,000.
I am not sure how the calc was done. We do have a lot of prow glass and i am sure thats eating up some btusSomehow that heat load seems high for 2100 sq.ft., assuming very a efficient outer shell. I have to wonder if the calc was done using old rules of thumb vs a carefully done Manual J. Will the builder provide details of the calc for you to go over?
I wouldn't put too much stock in efficiency . . . not at those numbers. But this may just be me. For me reliability was key in making my final choice.
I know you're partial to Jotul right? So which would you choose from the above?
Also, I heard you can save some money on using a chimney sweeper to install the stove as opposed to going through the stove shop. Local shops around here are charging between $400-700 just for install. I can save a bunch on taxes by buying stove and pipe over in NH. The challenge is finding someone to install.
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.