Wood Burning Stove - is it worth having

[twinjayhawks]

TwinJayHAwks,
the stove you are looking at is a pellet stove. Not a stove to burn logs. I think pellet stoves are the only wood stoves that can vent without a chimney, They use a fan forced draft.
Everyone in this thread is talking about regular wood stoves.

No, it is not a pellet stove. I made sure that it would burn wood. I don't mind the pellet but I want to take advantage of all of our free wood.

The Lopi has an option of venting straight up or out the back. They said the optimal installation is straight up but it will work fine out the back also.

 

[Machold]

I am surprised to see no mention of, Pacific Energy, one of the best (if not the best) wood stoves for efficiency (the secondary burn actually burns the smoke). Wood is not cheap, however, and somewhat labour intensive; if your fuel supply cost is economical, that compensates for the labour part. If you are venting out the back, see if you can do so on a 45 degree angle, more efficient than 90.

Wood Pellets are costly and you literally burn them by the ton; the motor is noisy, AND when the power goes out, you can't use the stove.

 

[oldboyscout]

Which one have you decided on? The pellet version showed up first in my search so I'm not sure when you say vent what you're concerned about. Any stove should be able to run pipe through the roof OR out through the wall.
My stove goes out the wall and I have no problem with it. Could have gone straight up but I didn't want to take up the inside space OR penetrate the roof. There are plenty of sources that advise against, but it should be fine if you have a good draft (tall enough chimney and high enough above your peak) .

 

[twinjayhawks]

Which one have you decided on?

I am going to go with the Lopi stove for sure. I was just looking for advice with venting it out the back wall and price. The salesperson can talk about whatever they want... I needed some advice from people who actually did it and use it.

I know venting out the roof is the best but I just don't want to penetrate the metal and deal with future leaks.

 

[Milo]

If there is a hot air heating system one can always keep the circulating fans on when the wood stove is being used.

Lots of good advice on this thread. I have my Jotul Castine stove's triple wall Duravent chiminey going almost straight up through the second story, attic, and through the metal roof. Once the main area is up to temp I flip the thermostat to "fan on" and leave it there. The variable speed blower motor runs very slow (almost inaudible) but evens out the temp in the whole house. There is a return vent in the wall above the stove.

 

[wsurfer49]

Try hearth.com, they have a number of different blogs and you can get tons of info on many different aspects of wood burning.

 

[EddieWalker]

I am going to go with the Lopi stove for sure. I was just looking for advice with venting it out the back wall and price. The salesperson can talk about whatever they want... I needed some advice from people who actually did it and use it.

I know venting out the roof is the best but I just don't want to penetrate the metal and deal with future leaks.

How are your vents run? going through a metal roof and sealing it is a lot easier then going through a shingle roof, and a thousand times easier then an OLD shingle roof!!!!!

As a contractor, handy man, remodeler, I've had to deal with quite a few leaks from what people run through their walls. Depending on what your walls are like, I would really question if it's easier to go through the side and then go up, or just go strait up. In my case, after reading up on it, straight up was the much better and easier way to go.

Eddie

 

[Sutol]

I am going to go with the Lopi stove for sure. I was just looking for advice with venting it out the back wall and price. The salesperson can talk about whatever they want... I needed some advice from people who actually did it and use it.

I know venting out the roof is the best but I just don't want to penetrate the metal and deal with future leaks.

Pipe is best kept inside as far as posible so as it doesn't cool. If it exits the wall and runs up the side of the building then it will not draw properly as the pipe will cool.
You will need a lagged pipe and these are expensive.

I have a brick chimney so no problems there.

 

[txdon]

There is a return vent in the wall above the stove.

That is a very good idea! Why didn't I think of that?

 

[DAY]

Properly installed, a chimney through a metal roof will NOT leak. Plus, you don't have to worry about flammable sheathing and asphalt shingles.
As most others here say, keep the heat inside the house for as long as possible.
-Creosote ain't no friend of mine!