New Stove Advice!

[Flush 5]

You guys are amazing, the information on this forum has taught me so much.

I’ve been running an old VC Intrepid for supplemental heat in the kitchen and first floor. The ~50 year old farmhouse has oil forced air on the first floor, though not in the kitchen and mudroom, and electric baseboards on the second floor. I use a small fan on the floor to help push cold air from the dining and living room into the kitchen which mainly helps buffer the oil thermostat, but as you can see from the floor plan, the stove and chimney placement is not conducive to heating much space beyond the kitchen.

The kitchen, dining and living room space = 650 sq ft. The whole first floor is about 1000, though we often close off the other rooms most of the time. The height of the pipe is about 18’ with 2 90° turns.

We want to reline the chimney (it needs insulation), and replace the intrepid because it doesn’t meet clearance requirements by a couple inches. I ran it well last season with very little creosote build up, but I plugged it up in a previous season (and posted here about it!).

I think I’d like to avoid a catalytic stove, though I’m open to that option. At least, I need to get one that will meet the biomass rebate and clearance standards. The only other thing that might matter is I’ve gotta fence it off from my toddler.

 

[begreen]

If this is the original Intrepid, it can be as close as 9" to the back wall with shielding. Looking at the plan, I would at least consider leaving the Intrepid there and adding a stove in the Living Room if possible.

 

[Flush 5]

If this is the original Intrepid, it can be as close as 9" to the back wall with shielding. Looking at the plan, I would at least consider leaving the Intrepid there and adding a stove in the Living Room if possible.

It’s only 4.5” from the wall shield unfortunately. I take your point though, hardly worth the investment in relining and getting a new stove for the bad heat distribution.

There is a fireplace in the living room, but it’s been sealed off with a chimney cap that only has an opening for the oil flue now.

If it were my house I’d be interested in opening up the wall between the kitchen and living room, at least halfway with a bar window.

When the stove really rips with a full load I can feel the heat upstairs for a short time. It does spread into the dining and living room and helps keep the oil burning to a minimum.

Perhaps I’d get lucky finding a worthwhile used/refurbished small stove.

 

[EbS-P]

What do you want. And what do you need?

Stove and chimneys need to meet code. Two 45 off the stove can get proper clearance for the stove. (Not an expensive modification). So the chimney is lined now with a SS liner now? If so How old is the liner? Can you just pull and wrap it and re install?

What is the inner dimensions of the current chimney? All this is separate from the want of a new stove.

 

[Flush 5]

What do you want. And what do you need?

Stove and chimneys need to meet code. Two 45 off the stove can get proper clearance for the stove. (Not an expensive modification). So the chimney is lined now with a SS liner now? If so How old is the liner? Can you just pull and wrap it and re install?

What is the inner dimensions of the current chimney? All this is separate from the want of a new stove.

seems like a good idea. I could actually rotate the 90° elbow so that I’d only need one 45°. I can’t remember if I need better horizontal clearance too, and possibly larger space of floor protection, but I think those also contributed to the inspectors suggestion to go for a new stove. It would save on wood of course, but I only used about 2 cord last season.

Yes, it’s a SS liner that’s at least 5 years old. There was a bad season with wet wood that caused a major creosote plug, and bubbles indicating potential fire. The worst build up was at the thimble and the roof line, so insulation could help. The chimney service who cleaned the plug recommended replacing the liner, but a more recent one said it was okay after inspection, presumably since it was cleaned and operated well last year.

The owner said installing the liner was difficult because the space in the chimney is tight. I’m not sure how tight exactly, though I think it has a clay tiled oval shape. We’d probably let the pros do it this time.

This corner of the kitchen is close to the mudroom door, so I would want to only move the stove out as little as necessary if going for the new angle. I wonder if there are odd angled pipes? Could be that I only need 60° or so for those few inches.

So one of the reasons for a new stove could be to go for a narrow N/S stove that improves accessibility.

 

[stoveliker]

Plugs at connections (thimble and roof) often indicate air leaks there.

 

[EbS-P]

So you want install a new stove in a house you don’t own? With a current install doesn’t meet code? In a chimney that may not fit an insulated liner.

What does the owner think of this? Will he be paying for it? Tax credit may not even apply.
You need several years to break even if you are spending your money.

 

[Flush 5]

Haha, no not my money thankfully. It’s a bit of an unusual situation here because I’m a manager on this farm where we live, and so I take a bit more active role in the house upkeep than a typical tenant/landlord relationship.

The landlord/farm owner wants to install solar panels and put a mini split upstairs, and the wood stove has always helped mitigate the oil a bit downstairs.
The decisions are all his of course, but we discuss the options openly and it’s helpful to him if I do a bit of this research to gauge what could be ideal for his asset, my family and our goals to reduce fossil fuels and maintain the house responsibly.

 

[EbS-P]

Haha, no not my money thankfully. It’s a bit of an unusual situation here because I’m a manager on this farm where we live, and so I take a bit more active role in the house upkeep than a typical tenant/landlord relationship.

The landlord/farm owner wants to install solar panels and put a mini split upstairs, and the wood stove has always helped mitigate the oil a bit downstairs.
The decisions are all his of course, but we discuss the options openly and it’s helpful to him if I do a bit of this research to gauge what could be ideal for his asset, my family and our goals to reduce fossil fuels and maintain the house responsibly.

That’s helpful information.
Decent no frills stove. I have the bigger 1800 as an insert.

High Efficiency Wood Stove | Escape 1500

The Escape 1500 is EPA certified at 1.26 g/h - 65,000 BTU/h to heat up to 1800 ft² - 6h max burn time -18" logs - Pedestal model - Made in Canada. Us.

www.drolet.ca

To insulate you may have to break out a tile liner (if it has one)

Heat pump will help upstairs.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

With those 90s you may want a slightly easier breathing stove although 18 feet is pretty darn good. Kuma has realy tight clearances, and are easy breathing. They are a hybrid but mine has been easy to learn.

 

[begreen]

If the fireplace has been sealed off it might be because it has an old unlined chimney. If it is structurally intact then dropping an insulated 6" liner connected to an insert may be a possibility. Eyes on site would be required to verify this.

 

[Flush 5]

With those 90s you may want a slightly easier breathing stove although 18 feet is pretty darn good. Kuma has realy tight clearances, and are easy breathing. They are a hybrid but mine has been easy to learn.

That’s helpful, I’m not positive about the height either. I figured it out when I swept at the end of the season, but it might be 16-18’. I just recently saw “easy breathing” stove mentioned around here, and figured that would be a good idea. The house is sited in a pretty open area, so sometimes it seems like windy weather can impact draft.

If the fireplace has been sealed off it might be because it has an old unlined chimney. If it is structurally intact then dropping an insulated 6" liner connected to an insert may be a possibility. Eyes on site would be required to verify this.

I appreciate this line of thinking and will bring it up with the owner. The chimney service recommended we replace the oil SS liner which runs up that chimney. So if it were feasible and we wanted to do that, we could drop 2 new liners. Obviously that would be the best option to significantly reduce oil heating.