Looking to add wood stove to our farmhouse.. your advice please

[jotul8e2]

FWIW the screen option for a fireplace style fire is rarely used by most folks. We had one, used it twice and then it gathered dust.

The only use I have found is a narrow one: I am using the stove to keep the house warm and have all the family over. The large number of (literally) warm bodies makes the house too warm. I open the stove door, put in the screen, and the heat output of the stove drops immediately and dramatically. Once they leave I can load up the stove and shut the door again, returning to normal operation.

 

[Sawmonkey]

We have a 1900s, actually I think it's more like a 1890s story and a half farm house, about 1600-1700 sq ft

The main floor is layed out with a large kitchen then walks into the dining room and off that the living room in the shape of pretty much a L. We have a napoleon 1900 stove in the dining room looking towards the kitchen and the living room, the stairs to the three bedrooms are in the dining room.

We live in mn so similar climate as you. The stove heats our whole house and stays around 70 degrees. Underneath the dining room and kitchen is uninsulated somewhat crawl space. First winter in the house and have had the stove in for about month

 

[branchburner]

I live in a mid 1700s stone shepherd's cottage (it's the cottage that's stone, not the 1700s shepherd!).

I was a stoned shepherd for a while, back in the 1980s. Great way of living, but tough way of making one.

 

[FionaD]

Ahh...We probably met... I was a stoned musician around then...

 

[firefighterjake]

As a newbie, I'm really not qualified to speak, but I will say... I was like you in that I really liked playing with the fire in the old fireplaces, feeding them, watching them, listening to them. It was like TV for me, mesmerizing. I liked the heat, it seemed like a good hobby. Loved just sitting in front of the fire. I thought I would miss the crackle if we went to stoves, but we made the leap to stoves for all the good reasons that people list here.

With the 2 wood stoves we got, I'm finding that I am still enjoying the view of the flames (getting big windows on the stoves was top of our list), I can hear the crackle a little, but mostly, I am enjoying the fires even more because of the far higher heat output, with less wood. And the stoves are now getting crowded at the hearth, the kids naturally are hanging out in front of them, and even asking for the fires to be lit, when they never did before.

Like others have said, the dealer said we could get a screen to make it a fireplace again, if we wanted to, but he discouraged us from getting it, saying you'll basically never use it. (Have to respect him, he dissuaded us from some other options, and he was right about them all.) Wouldn't consider it at all now.

A few thoughts . . .

First . . . doesn't matter if you're brand spanking new to the site or have been here since it was started . . . everyone's input (or most folk's input) here is valued . . . you will not see a whole lot of folks who poo-poo the newbies . . . since we all were new here at some point . . . and we're all still learning.

Second . . . gotta love a dealer like your dealer. My own dealer nixed the idea of getting a blower for my stove. Told me it was an added expense that I might not need . . . said I could get one down the road if I felt as if I needed it. I love folks like this that give up the quick and easy money in an effort to be honest and treat their customer right.

 

[Laurent Cyr]

Hey! Welcome to the forum!

Three years ago, I went and bought the F600. You can see a picture of it in my profile. I have a 3200 sq foot bungalow, and the stove is in the basement. I use it to heat the whole house during our cold Canadian winters, which last close to 6 months of the year. The stove was expensive, but then all wood stoves are expensive here. It is a solidly built stove, and I have no issues with it. I do have an exterior metal chimney, and it works well for me. No issues with creosote, and I have a god draft. And if ever you would be worried with the exterior chimney, you could always box it in and insulate it.

Just make sure your wood is dry, and you`ll love the heat and experience with your new stove.

 

[Matt in ND]

I did some looking, and it turns out that in the spot above where we want to put the stove, there is a very large closet. So, we think it may be possible to do an interior flue after all, because I don't think we'll miss the edge of the closet. Whether we end up doing the inside or outside flue, we have placed an order for a QF Isle Royale from our local dealer. A consulting visit will be happening soon so that they can verify that they can do an install in our house.

We spent some time in front of a Jotul F50 that they had burning and it was wonderful. The heat was wonderful, and very intense with the door open. The flames were beautiful with the door both opened and closed. We're very excited. We don't have an install date yet, but we expect it will be in mid January - a terrible time of year to be installing a wood stove, but a wonderful time of year to have one. Thanks for your helpful suggestions and feedback.

Now that I think of it, I have another question.

We called the store's QF tech support contact to ask about installation dimensions. In the installation drawing, dimension "A" is from the back of the stove to the rear wall, which is specified as combustible. A question I had was what the rear clearance needed to be if I built a non-combustible hearth. They told me that to get a shorter distance, the stud wall needed to be rebuilt with steel studs, durarock, and sheet metal. They also told me that building a non-combustible hearth infront of the rear wall wouldn't change the setback requirements any.

I find this surprising and confusing. Are the people who have stone or tile hearths going up their walls behind their stoves doing that solely for aesthetic reasons? I would expect you could build a façade over an existing wall that let you install according to the non-combustible rules (which, btw, I don't see anywhere in the Isle Royale install literature)

For that matter, another question I have is about dimension "D", the side clearance between the side wall of the stove and the nearest combustible surface. They spec two difference distances based on if you are using single wall or double walled venting. How could this possibly affect the minimum distances to the side of the stove?

For now, I think I am planning on buying a pre-made heath pad to lay over our carpeted floor. However, I want to do more research. I'd like to really understand if there are functional reasons for a rear hearth wall...

Thanks,
Matt

 

[begreen]

Yes, many of the hearths you see with stone, tile or brick veneer are for aesthetics only. The only way to gain clearance is to have a totally non-combustible wall as suggested by the dealer or install a ventilated, NFPA 211 wall shield. This can be covered with brick, stone or tile veneer or it could just be sheet metal as long as it is on 1" spacers and open top and bottom at least one inch for ventilation behind it.

The Quad IR is an excellent stove, but it is highly radiant as opposed to the Jotul F50 which is more convective due to it's cast iron jacket. Radiant stoves have higher clearances by nature of their design.

 

[Huntindog1]

Welcome!!

Since you live in an almost arctic climate.

I dont burn the Progress Hybrid one of the newer designed stoves. But many who burn it report some serious heat output.

The Wood Stock Stove Company is A1 super from the reports on all the wood stove boards including this board.

Here is a pic of one for your wife.

What ever stove you get these new EPA stoves wont burn on nothing but season dry wood 20% Moisture or less.

(broken image removed)

 

[Ash]

Matt, congrats on the purchase of your Isle Royale. We've had ours for 3 years and love it. We live in MN and got ours from Mikes Heating in Mahnomen. It's a beast that puts out some serious heat and the build quality is top notch. I think you'll love it in our cold winters. Just for example, I loaded it up at 7:30 last night and when I woke up today it was minus -17f and the stove was still putting out heat. Again, congrats on the purchase and if you live close by MN and want to see one in action let me know.

 

[becasunshine]

Welcome!!

Since you live in an almost arctic climate.

I dont burn the Progress Hybrid one of the newer designed stoves. But many who burn it report some serious heat output.

The Wood Stock Stove Company is A1 super from the reports on all the wood stove boards including this board.

Here is a pic of one for your wife.

What ever stove you get these new EPA stoves wont burn on nothing but season dry wood 20% Moisture or less.

That is quite a gorgeous stove and hearth! <:3~

 

[Huntindog1]

Matt Congrats on the new stove. Post some pics when you get it installed. Those are nice stoves.
3.0 cu ft stove is a good size for your 1900 square foot house.
Make sure you have good season wood 20% or less as this time of year its hard to find.
Buy you a moisture meter at a lowes or online before you go buy wood as alot of sellers claim their wood is seasoned.

 

[Blackjack Dan]

Yes, many of the hearths you see with stone, tile or brick veneer are for aesthetics only. The only way to gain clearance is to have a totally non-combustible wall as suggested by the dealer or install a ventilated, NFPA 211 wall shield. This can be covered with brick, stone or tile veneer or it could just be sheet metal as long as it is on 1" spacers and open top and bottom at least one inch for ventilation behind it.

The Quad IR is an excellent stove, but it is highly radiant as opposed to the Jotul F50 which is more convective due to it's cast iron jacket. Radiant stoves have higher clearances by nature of their design.

Okay help, I've been following this thread the Quad IR is cast-iron, it does have firebricks but why is it more radiant than the cast-iron Jotul F50?

 

[Jags]

Okay help, I've been following this thread the Quad IR is cast-iron, it does have firebricks but why is it more radiant than the cast-iron Jotul F50?

The F50 is a cast iron clad "steel" stove. An envelope over the steel box, if you will.

 

[Huntindog1]

I you want a view Osburn makes some good stoves and has this one:

(broken image removed)