Naive Nooby

[Backwoods Savage]

You have to read up on the new 'EPA' stoves. Newer stoves burn the wood more completely through 'secondary combustion' and there are two types - cat and non-cat. Each type has advocates, but I think from what I read here, that cat stoves are better for long, low burns. With a small home, you could put in a medium-sized cat stove and, I think, turn it down low for long burns that wouldn't roast you out of the house but would last a long time. A large firebox (the place where the wood goes) would be good for a home that is relying mostly on wood for heat. however, I would not build a home with wood heat only because I would want options, such as the option to sometimes leave the house in the winter and not have to worry about it freezing.

Wood Duck, perhaps you have misunderstood how a cat stove operates. You are correct with the long burns but mistaken on the low burns. For example, if we fill our firebox we will get a long burn and the temperature will easily go over 600 degrees on the stovetop and will stay there for quite some time. This is not a low burn.

Perhaps where the idea of a low burn comes from is that while we are getting this big amount of heat we do not have a roaring fire; the cat is working at burning off the smoke. Sometimes we have the "ghost flame," or the beautiful rolling flame at the top of the stove (off the wood) and at other times we will only have some red coals and still at other times not even a hint of a red coal. Yet, we get lots of heat.

 

[SolarAndWood]

My sister in law and her husband built a kiva in western Colorado. All that mass does a nice job of moderating the temperature swings. They only needed a small stove, a Jotul if I remember right, to keep the house comfortable.

 

[colebrookman]

I would rethink the whole wood stove idea. Orient the addition to true south, solar heating in floor and for hot water. Insulate to r50 or so, and install an efficient gas heater. Less hassle, less work and just enjoy your retirement. Be safe.
Ed

 

[Insanad]

Thanks for the advise Ed. I drew a plan and even a whole architectural model made up of our dream solar/green/view/art home and we got the bids back and it would have required us to continue working well into our 70s to pay for it, then the housing market went bust and so did my drafting business and so now we're down about half on what we anticipated retiring with, so we conceded to the idea of an addition to our old pioneer home. It's on the historical register so we can't do anything that would change the front view of the home which requires us to go straight out the back with an East West orientation. We can still manage to get lots of light and we're working on designing a solar water heating and radiant floor system.

My inspiration for using a wood stove as the primary heat source is my Moms wood stove. She bought a heavy cast iron Ben Franklin stove with a huge firebox about 30 yrs. ago and put it in the daylight basement of her 1260 sf home. She's at 6,800 ft. elevation and it's considerably colder where she is than where I am but even with the hassles of wood she's managed to keep her heating bills under $60.00 a month throughout her retirement years. She gets it delivered now and we go up and do the stacking and make sure her back porch is well stocked in the winter. I like the smell, the feel, and the economy of a wood stove. I figure if Mom can do it in her late 70s by herself I can do it with my husbands help and good planning in the infrastructure of it.

Considering the loss on our retirement it might be that we have to just live in the tiny pioneer cabin and eat potatos all winter out of the garden and poach the deer that eat my roses. By the way, I'm having a hard time finding a recipe for poached deer. Do you get the water boiling before you put the steaks in or after?

 

[firefighterjake]

. . . I like the smell, the feel, and the economy of a wood stove. . . .

This statement right here makes me think that a woodstove might be a good fit for you since burning wood is truly more of a way of life . . . those who stick with it truly love the smell of the smoke, the view of the roaring fire, the smell of fresh split wood, the feeling you get for a job well done after finishing stacking the wood for the coming winter . . . and the list goes on and on. . . .

 

[Insanad]

Our trees in the Southwest may not have many of the nuances that the folks in the upper jet stream are accustomed to but one of my favorite indicators of fall in addition to the smell of the apples and color of trees changing is the wood smoke that drifts out from the various homes scattered in the high deseret landscape.

After all that I've read I'm inclined to find the middle ground between perfect utility and ambiance since the situation doesn't call for the really high end stove and equipment investment that many in colder climates require. I'm resigning myself to making all sorts of concessions at this rate since the high end taste doesn't seem to fit the middle low end budget. Still, it ain't all bad. We are five miles from Zion Nat. Park, two hrs. from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and have the entire Southwest and all that BLM land as our back yard. If only we had more water..... oops, waxed into dream mode again.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure you live in a beautiful area. We have considered moving to Utah but so far Michigan wins.

 

[Insanad]

Such a conversation would spawn a whole new genre of threads about the challenges/perks of living in the west vs. the rest of the US. What if it broke out into an all out war of words over dry bake the hell out of your nostrils heat vs wet humid sticky sweaty sap your strength heat? Or the nuances of living in the Mormidor and being in their world, but not of their world?

My husband and I decided we're from Vermont, even though we've never lived there yet. We just visited in peak leaf changing season and only went to the most perfect pretty areas (ok, the whole state) and were seriously infected with Vermont-ese-ism.

The East has some very pretty foothills. I know some there consider them MOUNTAINS but that's like calling one of our major waterways out west a RIVER. Ok, I've drawn blood. I'd better stop.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Put an INTERIOR CHIMNEY in straight up through the roof, DO NOT build an outside masonry chimney.

Hook up the woodstove of your choice, do not spend too much, do not oversize as your winters are not terribly frigid.

Buy firewood split and sized for your new stove.

Buy a moisture meter so you can test your wood to ensure it is seasoned well enough to burn, you may have to buy wood and let it stacked outside for 6 months or a year before it is ready to burn.

Enjoy!

 

[Insanad]

Thanks ansehnlich 1, that's exactly how I'd designed the space for the stove and chimney anticipating siphoning off the heat from the chimney for the open loft area as well as a sort of vertical element to the room. It's cheaper than triple wall as well which I'll only need in the top core as it passes through the rafters.

From several that I've researched we could get by with a med. sized soapstone or cast iron model that can also serve as a dust collector in the 7 months of the year it won't be in use.