Wood Burning Stove - is it worth having

[jdtractor]

Hi I have had 2 wood stoves in my home in the last 30 some yrs . The first i took out , the wife said it took up to much room etc .... the second just installed 1 yr ago is ok. I remember why I also took the first one out , they are alot of work!!!!!!!! dont let anybody tell you different, you need lots of wood , a truck or something to get it to your home, a chainsaw (good one ) gas ,oil, etc etc etc and last but definetly not without a STONG BACK. wood stoves are nice if you like them , they make steady heat, but like any heat YOU HAVE TO FEED IT. no matter what you have. We installed ours for back up mainly and on realy cold days & nites. Our power goes off or out sometimes during the winter etc .we are all electric other wise , I still like the idea of setting the thermostat etc....... but the wood is nice sometimes. It makes lots of heat and lots of dust etc....lots of work. I wouldnt say yes and i wont say no about a stove just no that there will be alot of work involved in useing it. ( p.s. i own a farm and have lots of wood to cut ) Im self employed and i do have the time etc.......... BUT ITS STILL LOTS OF WOERK!!

 

[hazmat]

First let me recommend that you vent it out the roof, not the back.

I vent mine out the back due to interferences on the 2nd floor & attic. If the chimney is cold, I have to preheat with a wad of newspaper to get it to draw. the outdoor flue condenses more creosote & I need to clean it 3X per year burning 2 cords. the double lined pipe & install cost me more than the stove.

As to the economics, the answer is, it depends...

Keep in mind that wood stoves are space heaters, depending on the location & architecture of your house, they may not heat "the whole house".

I have a small stove that will only take up to 16" logs, it will only run about 6 hours max on a full load of wood, so we only run it evenings & into the night, no one is home during the week to tend to the fire. It heats the family room & kitchen, but not much else, since it is in the corner of the house, not in the middle. We have a colonial with relatively closed staircases, so the upper floors don't benefit much from the heat.

I have relatively efficient natural gas furnace. A cord of wood costs $300+ in my neck of the woods. I cut my own, but then factor in the cost of the chainsaws ($350 for the small MS270, $1,000 for the MS441CQ) plus chains, bars & maintence. Splitter was north of $3K for the timberwolf PTO model (a $250 homebuilt and $1,000 MTD from home depot both quit on me) Chipper/Shredder for the brush was north of $4K Bearcat.

Ignoring all the equipment, what is your time worth? I spent 2.5 days cutting up two trees including chipping the brush & splitting the rounds from the halloween storm, netted about 1.5 cords of wood (one was an apple, lots of small limbs).

i continue to spend money and time on the firewood (beginning to plan a proper wood shed vs. the pile & tarp) because we enjoy the fire. Certainly not saving me any money. 1 Day of overtime would probably pay what I save in heating bills.

It is nice to have backup heat, but a small generator will run the heating system (unless electric heat in which case you need a large generator).

An open cabin, with ready access to good wood (8-12" diameter that you run once thru a four way wedge) and some time to kill, makes sense

 

[twinjayhawks]

How does one COUNT 200,000 trees?:laughing:

Exactly... I have no idea how many trees I have, the point is a lot and they are free. Free I guess if you don't count the time to cut and prepare the wood which I consider "Good Family Time".

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Exactly... I have no idea how many trees I have, the point is a lot and they are free. Free I guess if you don't count the time to cut and prepare the wood which I consider "Good Family Time".

You certainly have the wood and if the time to cut, split and stack it isn't an issue, a stick burner is the way to go. Have an uncle in your neck of the woods, Moore Ok. and in his 80's. Has 70A of woods and he is still putting in the work to heat with wood.

I didn't have the wood supply for my stick burner so I changed over to pellets and have had no regrets.

Think you would enjoy the warmth a wood stove offers. Today, even with the Heat Pump, we still like the pellet stove better but fuel cost is much higher than what it costs to run the HP.

In response to someone else's comment, before we moved last yr, we had no problems keeping the house warm with our pellet stove when temps got down to 30 or below. But everyones situation is different.

 

[EddieWalker]

Here is the link to the thread I started and what I learned along the way to putting in my wood stove.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/related-topics/184260-fireplace-advice-part-2-a.html

Like you, I wanted to go out the wall and not through my metal roof. After learning how much better it is to have the pipe go straight up, I re thought my reasoning for not going through the roof and after a little bit, realized it wasn't going to be that big of a deal. I had a mental block against going that rought, but with help and knowledge gained by the thread I started, I changed my mind.

From what I learned, there are three levels of stoves. VERY good, Good and crap. Lopi is VERY good. I went with Napolean, which is a GOOD stove, but not in the same league or price of what you are looking at. Once I found the stove I wanted, I started looking for them used on Craigslist. I got lucky and found the exact model that I wanted just half an hour away for half of what it sells for brand new.

I'm going into my second winter with mine, and all I can say is that I LOVE IT!!!! Being a single guy, it's also proven to be very good for date nights.

I heat with it every night and have to be careful on how much wood I put into it. Once I get it started, just one peice of split wood goes into it at a time, and I wait till that is just about down to coals before adding another. Otherwise, I will have to open a door to cool down. Unlike a fireplace, it puts out a massive amount of heat and too much can be really uncomfortable.

I carry in one load of wood per night, and rarely burn all of it. I bought a canvase tote that is designed for firewood from Ace Hardware. It's the perfect amount for me and what I need.

Eddie

 

[clemsonfor]

Building on what Eddie said i have a Catalyst model. There are 2 types of efficient modern EPA rated stoves, non-cat and cat. WIth the cat stoves you cant really do what eddie is describing and have the stove operate as intended. I can run it that way its just really not taking advantage of its technology and it turns into the same thing as a 30 yr old stove.

The catalyst stoves are designed to not be opened much at all and to be loaded full or at least half full. They burn best packed totally full and little air space between the wood. You need to get the top of the stove where the cats are to 500F before you can close the bypass and they engage/or light off. They turn cherry red and get north of 1500F. Once there lit you can damp the stove way down and you basically will burn the smoke, sometimes never even seeing a flame in the box untill you get a secondary burn started ( a phenomenon seen in the new EPA stoves where you have a flame on the ceiling of the stove burning gasses). So i say all that to say this, if i put one piece of wood in, unless its a big honking 8" diameter piece it may not get hot enought to get the cats to light off. This is the case in my stove which is big it has a 3.5cuft fire box. a stove half this size may be capable of what eddie is talking about, i just dont think i could do it.

 

[blueriver]

Yes its worth it and the heat is a warmer heat. I have a Fisher with a Magic Heat blower that has a thermostat ... simply do not use the furnace.

The picture is not of mine ... its one thats one ebay for $875

 

[EE_Bota]

A buddy and I were discussing it last night.

We both bought one through Craig's list last year, and each paid $800 bucks. His is a Vermont Castings, and mine is a Hearthstone Phoenix. What was brought out last night is that watching the fire through the glass is half of its value. Caveman TV is something imprinted on some people's brain, and my buddy and I got a double dose.

I had an insert previously which came with the house. I could not see the fire, and it was not that efficient either. And it dumped directly into the chimney, which is not good.

So...$800 for the stove, ~$550 for the stainless liner and insulation system for the liner...and doing all the labor myself...and I get Caveman TV anytime I care to strike a match.

Is is worth it cost wise at a straight business proposition? I'm a hard case, since my power bill was only $125 including the water heater and the heat pump. Still...it will pay back cash wise someday.

But life is kind of short, and having a fire to watch does enhance my home life. And what other people call work, I very often call exercise. The only difference between work and exercise is whether you don't get enough, or get way too much.

 

[ultrarunner]

Your fortunate to even have the option...

We have wood burning police that roam the streets looking for smoke...

I think the fine is substantial... starts at $400

http://sparetheair.org/

 

[hodge]

Your fortunate to even have the option...

We have wood burning police that roam the streets looking for smoke...

I think the fine is substantial... starts at $400

Spare the Air

I am glad I don't live in CA.