So you now have a new woood or pellet stove?

  • Thread starter Thread starter elkimmeg
  • Start date Start date
  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

elkimmeg

Guest
How many want to use their new stove so that the forced hot water furnace never cycles /turns on?
 
If my heat pump comes on I am running outside and looking to the East. It broke in 1998.
 
it's a trap :) elk wants to know if you got it installed correctly ;)

just installed a new burnham MPO & indirect hot water tank and it doesn't come too often, unlike the old one BUT the insert will be running nights & weekends when it gets cold so hopefully i wont hear the new boiler except when it's heating the hot water
 
Luckily for me, I don't have to worry about the forced hot water cycling on because I don't have any. My goal is to keep my electric meter spinning more slowly.
 
I like my wood insert to work hard enough so my natural gas Jotul doesn't have to jump to life. One day I think I'll figure out how much ng it costs to run the Jotul for an hour. But if I did that I might end up turning the pilot light off so my wife isn't tempted!
 
I know web it seems clean efficient heat evenly distributed and zoned is a lost art. Everbody has to have poorly designed HVAC system, But this is not the thread purpose
I want thinking caps on there are still some of us that wanted the cleanest most efficient healthiest possible central heat.. even though I don't use it all that often.
 
elkimmeg said:
It's not a trap but hopefully a fruitful discussion

just bust'n buddy :)
 
Most everyone here in Mass has oil heat, some have gas. I have these invisible electric panels in my ceilings. Some upstairs bedrooms will click on at night in the dead of winter, but as long as I keep one or 2 stoves up and running the rest of the house stays real comfy. I think my central chimney really holds the heat well from the stove that is stuffed into the fireplace. The one in the mancave sends a lot of heat up the stairs to the first floor tooo hot sometimes but I like it.
 
Actually - kind of got me thinking about what I suaually do during the winter and whether it makes sense or not. My house is set up to heat with oil, and the hot water is cooked in a storage tank heated by the boiler, so the boiler does run every day for hot water.

During the cold months - I'll usually crank up the t-stat on all of the zones and make the boiler and pump do some work, just to give them a bit of exercize - I just figure standing water in all of those pipes can't be good for any long term.

Not sure if that was off topic.

EDIT - usually try to do that 1 or 2 times per month, and that way - I can give the stove a good cleaning as well.
 
We run a gas Weil-Mclain direct vent boiler with an Amtrol indirect hot water tank. I let the boiler heat up the house every morning at 5am because I'm always afraid of the pipes running through our unheated garage. When the boiler reaches temp, I go load up the stove with the leftover coals from the night before

Had the boiler checked out by the gas company last week and all the safeties are in working order and the motor's oiled up and ready. It's going on 18 years, so when it goes I would like to get a condensing boiler with indirect hot water. There's one Munchkin boiler I like and it's a space saver hangs on the wall. Ooh more room to hand laundry yeah!

Hey, are any of you guys living near North Adams, Mass? That's where my pop was born, I'm curious what kind of place it is, would like to visit there one of these days.
 
I think Harley lives up that way - beautiful country......within sight of the tallest Mt. in the state - Mt. Greylock.

It's a great ride in leaf season (soon) - or summer.....out rt 2 from 91, and you can visit Shelburne Falls, etc. - Of course, from your direction you would probably come up the NY Thruway and over Rt2, etc.

Also a good winter pass-through if you ski or snowshoe.
 
Ok a stove changes the dynamics of heating a home. We all want relief and not here our furnace fire But when its really cold its music to my ears It means the system has not frozen up..

Before one experiences freezing up of pipes tine to start thinking about it. Naturally new owners will not be aware of the situation till a frozen pipe episode happens
 
Well our house has NG HVAC, no hydronics, but we do try to keep it off as much as we can. Seems like we do pretty good on most of the house except for the offices / bathroom on the main floor, which get a bit chilly at times. But the GF now says our winter gas bills are about the same as the summer ones (gas HW and cooking) so we must be doing fairly well on keeping the furnace off.

Gooserider
 
Well, there's one advantage to forced hot air.
 
Webmaster said:
Ha, you can tell where Elk lives. The rest of the country doesn't even hardly know about "forced hot water".....

we here in Ohio call forced hot water "a boiler with radiators".....LOL........
 
The only thing I want to hear from my furnace is the blower. It will cycle on @ -30C or colder for 10 min every hour to circulate that ambient air in the far corner rooms to help keep the extreem chill off. If we are gone for two days it will cycle enoufe to keep the varnish of of the oil nozzel & pump.
AND BB YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!! :coolgrin: LOL
 
north of 60 said:
AND BB YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!! :coolgrin: LOL

But... But...

Why would you need for it to run if you're only going to be gone a few days? The BK ought to handle the job for a week or so. If you pack it with twigs or dry leaves. :coolsmirk:
 
tutu_sue said:
Hey, are any of you guys living near North Adams, Mass? That's where my pop was born, I'm curious what kind of place it is, would like to visit there one of these days.

Fairly close - about 1/2 drive or less. Like Craig said - a beautiful drive, especially in the fall, and really fun on a bike. The leaves are starting to turn pretty well in the area... a few more weeks and it should be about peak (and lots of traffic with leaf-peeping tours).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Adams,_Massachusetts
 
Point for considerations cycle /moving water prevents freezing Many boiler joints are dry while the boiler runs but contract and begin leaking if the boiler cools down too long

Like any motor a certain amount of running/ firing helps it opperate efficiently. Idle motor usually end up with expensive repairs.. What I saying there is a balancing act here as much as you new stove has a learning curb so does the usage of your existing heating system you have to learn that balancing act. Which also could be a hard lesson if you freeze pipes

The point of the post is to get you to think further h that just that wood stove. Possibly pipe insulation is now more of an issue. And not just the forced hot water pipes but your normal domestic water.. I have had years of experience and run my stove so efficient ,I have had 4 major freeze ups here since I built this home Joy to be is hearing water cyccle threw my hot water pipes late at night and realy cold outside Being awaken by violent banging pipes is the first sign freezing is occuring.
 
elkimmeg said:
Point for considerations cycle /moving water prevents freezing Many boiler joints are dry while the boiler runs but contract and begin leaking if the boiler cools down too long

Like any motor a certain amount of running/ firing helps it opperate efficiently. Idle motor usually end up with expensive repairs.. What I saying there is a balancing act here as much as you new stove has a learning curb so does the usage of your existing heating system you have to learn that balancing act. Which also could be a hard lesson if you freeze pipes

The point of the post is to get you to think further h that just that wood stove. Possibly pipe insulation is now more of an issue. And not just the forced hot water pipes but your normal domestic water.. I have had years of experience and run my stove so efficient ,I have had 4 major freeze ups here since I built this home Joy to be is hearing water cyccle threw my hot water pipes late at night and realy cold outside Being awaken by violent banging pipes is the first sign freezing is occuring.
Elk, you do have a great point. I appreciate your perspective and it does make me think that maybe its a good idea that my wife turns the furnace on occasionally. Didn't know you would be helping with relationship counciling too did you? :coolcheese:
 
Frozen pipes, good point. Iv'e heard a few horror stories but I don't have to worry about frozen pipes since my stove is installed in my finished walkout basement. :-)
 
To further this discussion, I want one to think. I have lived here long enough to know what every normal sound is and to distinguish what is not normal

Here are some suggestions all kitchens sinks located on outside walls very cold nights it is a good idea to open the cabinet doors to allow heat in there.

I will also open the furthest faucet and let it trickle /drip just to allow movement of water All the wood stove heat looses its appeal with a frozen broken pipe. Creating a major disaster mess

I would insulate every pipe I can get at in the cellar. Insulation will hold in heat longer, Plus save heat loss in transmission

Finally if you burner ever experienced wild banging or prior frozen pipes then the only sure way to prevent re ocurances is to charge that system with antifreeze. Not auto antifreeze but RV type anti freeze.

Another thing I do is set the thermostat at a realistic setting say 62 degrees, at that point ,it is up to me and the stove to see, that it does not turn on all that often

I will discuss the pros and cons of setback thermometers later

Again this is a post to get you thinking before making a call to serve pro
 
Status
Not open for further replies.