Thinking of putting in a wood stove.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Just got a bad feeling about energy prices going forward. Also got a feeling that there won't be any wood stove stuff to buy come Autumn. I'll need about 25' of double insulated 6" stainless pipe, at tee and a wall fitting along with the stove and some plain black pipe for inside and other things. Probably concentrate on getting the wall outlet and support installed first. Probably will ***** my homeowner's insurance. If you have a propane tank or heating oil tank I would top them off now if you have the money.

[Thumbcocker]

It won't spoil and it doesn't eat anything.

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[Alasgun]

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I did that back at y2k, the last time the world was gonna end! Cept; i built my own. Over the years i’ve made several of them and this one’s the nicest. As a Machinist it’s easy work, IF YOU HAVE THE TOOL’s!
We changed insurance companies once and the lady came to do a walk thru and fixated on the stove. Told me they couldn’t sell me insurance because there was no name plate on the stove. Said they needed the name of the manufacturer; so they’d have someone to sue if my house burned down!! After i showed her the thinest steel on the stove is the top and it’s 3/8 thick, and showed her the brick lining and showed her the fully machined door and draft dampers; capable of SHUTTING OFF THE FIRE due to being completely air tight then i gave her a piece of my mind and escorted her to the door.!

Completely flat top which is ground and polished and is a wonderful surface for cooking pancakes. 14 gallon stainless water tank on the back side; keeps heat away from the wall etc. door latch with rotating tumblers like a safe etc.
All the shiny stuff is some flavor of exotic stainless retrieved from large oil field pump components and machined into the vayious pieces you see, cept for the Moose which were plasma cut out of stainless sheet.
I’ve only burned it a handful of times since then but im ready and able when “God forbid” thing’s get so bad i need it as a primary source.

Sorry for the sideways pictures. Why they are one turn off is beyond me. Many work fine and a lot are like this even with the phone in the same orientation!

[dverna]

CC

About 2/3 of my heat comes from an insert. It has saved me quite a bit of money and I expect the return will be even greater in the future.

I believe you are wise for thinking ahead.

[rbuck351]

I have two. A heating stove in the basement and a cook stove in the kitchen. There is no doubt that electricity will be getting more expensive especially when he commies in power shut down all other means of power and there isn't enough power to run the country.

[alfadan]

The hardest part for me was cutting a big honking hole in my roof; a bit disconcerting. What is the outlet for? If for the fan that comes on new ones, mine is so noisy its practically unusable. My insurance is AmFam and they had no problem with my woodstove as long as I supplied pictures proving it wasn't a barrel stove or homemade.

[Battis]

I've been heating with wood since 1984. Last year there were three months in which I did not use the stove at all. I spoke with my "wood guy" the other day and he has to go up in price due to gas costs, which is fine with me. Two years ago oil was cheaper than wood but not now. Great source of heat, dependable, doesn't need electricity. Lots of work which equals free exercise.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I can get wood for "free" if that is what you call cutting and splitting your own. We used to sell red elm fire wood delivered and stacked for $200 a full cord. Red elm seasons on the stump after it dies. Big 3 foot diameter trees just waiting to be turned into firewood. Harvested it on farmland too steep to till. There are blow downs and tangles a plenty in these parts, oak and maple with some aspen and birch. I have access to enough deadfall for next winter but i won't go after it until it freezes good and kills the deer ticks. I just plan to supplement my natural gas boiler with wood heat to keep costs down and also have an emergency source of heat for power outage.

[.429&H110]

I remember back when the price of fuel oil surpassed a dollar. A dollar a gallon, outrageous! We have a woodlot, a wood furnace, my dad burned wood at his house, and the neighbors would pay $100 a cord (split and stacked) so for my summer vacations I was a logger, cutting my big beech trees. My cost of a stick of beech 24"x10" was 10 cents, I never did make a dollar an hour. Chainsaw, splitter, small tractor, pickup truck and trailer, everything burned gasoline every day. I recommend a stainless liner for anybody's chimney, easily replaced, thin stainless warms up faster to make a draft sooner and helps contain the chimney fire.

Right now oil is still cheap.
When there isn't any more oil, or electricity, you're gonna need wood.
Everything has a price, and even with "free trees" wood heat is surprisingly expensive.

My uncle predicted I would get killed felling those beech.
He was almost proved correct, hollow beech is dangerous.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Well we do have a chimney but the boiler and hot water heater use it now. Could replace the boiler ( ours is over 30 yrs. old) and run a passive water heater off a new direct vent boiler to free the chimeny up.

[Outer Rondacker]

My entire life I have heated with wood. Five years ago I built this new house. I had planned on wood heat but I got such a killer deal due to a new friend I went with propane. I burn 400-500 gallons a year for heating cooking and hot water. I told the wife this years project was to get a wood stove installed in the house. She didnt like the fact of going back to wood as I have to do all the work. I told her we will die up here in the mountains if we ever had to go a prolonged period without power. She has come around and agrees. She still wishes we could afford to let someone else do the work. We cannot.

If you were looking for support in your new adventure then I say DO IT. Even if there is no fuel to run chainsaws or gas you can always find small stuff to burn. One winter before the wife I was laid up after some operations. Things were not good. No money no eletric so on. I was young and could still walk and had one working arm. I spent my days in the woods with a kids sled gathering small wood in buckets. Kept me warm all winter. Well there is a bit to much info as the grandkids would tell me.

[jgstrug]

I live in a climate that allows us to get lazy and just let the propane heat the house. We have a nice old school Frontier wood stove and it is great for cold spells and power outages. I guess I burn it more than that,every evening for 90 days. Some of my friends switched over to pellets and I told them that I thought that was a bad idea. I was right,too much dependence on other things like power,pellet price,quality,delivery,weight.

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[Idaho45guy]

I grew up in a house heated primarily with wood. As the oldest child, it was my job to make sure the wood box was filled. I had to go outside to the wood pile and split wood and then carry it into the house.

We would go through about 5 cords a winter, but that is pine, which burns a bit hotter and faster. Today, that is about $1000 worth of wood if you had it delivered. We never did.

My dad liked to joke that wood heat warms you twice; once when you split and stack it, and then when you burn it.

[Thumbcocker]

My Dad put in a propane furnace the winter after I moved out.

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[unclemikeinct]

Up here in N.E. the best guy to know is the tree cutters & their boss. Free wood chips when you need them. Plus short loads of logs they don't want to haul to the [pay for dumping lot] Fees. The Only real way to save money using wood for heat. the Closer to "Free" the better. uncle mike

[Cosmic_Charlie]

My Dad put in a propane furnace the winter after I moved out.

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That there is funny! I went ahead and orded the stove from Menards, they have that 11% off everything deal going. Got a heating guy coming on Thursday to give me a bid on a direct vent boiler and passive water heater. Was running electric heat in the basement bedroom and bathroom but will switch to zoned hot water heat. Have to get wifey on board though. We did need a new boiler and h2o heater anyway. That way we can line the chimney which is a neat way to do the flu.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Up here in N.E. the best guy to know is the tree cutters & their boss. Free wood chips when you need them. Plus short loads of logs they don't want to haul to the [pay for dumping lot] Fees. The Only real way to save money using wood for heat. the Closer to "Free" the better. uncle mike

I know some logers who would sell me 8' cords on their wood yards. Could make it into firewood out there in the boonies.These sanctions they put on Russia will hurt us more than them.

[bdicki]

Watch for carpenter ants, I heated with nothing but wood for 20 years at my house in New England, they were a constant problem.

[Markopolo]

I run 2 wood stoves in my home, and a 3rd in my shop… lot of work for 20 plus cords a year, but being in a rainforest, you gotta do it… about now, I am pretty glad we do… we loose power many times every year for extended periods…. But between battery banks, generator and wood stoves, it’s no big deal…

[Scorpion8]

Check your local air quality issues too. Woodstoves here get burn curtailments due to high particulate emissions and air quality concerns during weather inversions, but modern pellet stoves do not. Our air state agency tracks folks with wood stoves in the non-attainment zones and you can get fined for burning during a curtailment episode. Also, what's your wood "source" going to be? Dry, aged wood gives out less particulates than wet, un-seasoned wood.

[farmbif]

don't make the mistake I did. went with recommendations found on a couple of the top sites for firewood heating and such and got the latest greatest efficient englander rated for 2500 sq ft house. well when it gets real cold its definitely not big enough. can't put enough wood in it to last all night no matter what even using the best white oak or shaggy bark hickory. and if wood is not completely, I mean completely dry got to leave the door cracked open in order for wood to burn.

get a stove rated for at least 2x the sq footage of your house if it goes below 20F where you're at. that's my advice and wood is the only heat i have except for a couple little space heaters that dont do diddly squat once it gets below freezing.

if your going to heat with wood, now is the time to fill the wood shed so you have dry seasoned wood for next winter.

[FISH4BUGS]

Our 1600 sf house is heated solely with wood. We have propane fired forced hot water for backup but it hasn't been on since we put in the stove.
Professionally done, and it is a 75,000 BTU stove.
We burn 6-7 cords per year at $275 per cord (last year's price - this year it will be more expensive I'm sure) and we run 24x7 from about mid-October to about May 1, and off and on as needed before and after..
This year we burned all ash, for the ash borers have totally destroyed the ash trees here in NH. Lots of ash available. It burns hot but faster than oak or maple. Quite happy with it, however.
Just a humidifier, a floor fan and two corner box fans circulate the air out of the stove/living room, and keeps the house warm enough all winter. I'm not sure I would like to walk around in my underwear upstairs, but put on your pajamas and a long sleeve undershirt and you are fine.
I can't imagine being without it.
Neither can Girlie Cat. :)
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[Randy Bohannon]

My house is only about 1400 sq. ft. When I bought it , it had a giant 80K BTU dual fuel ( coal/wood) Comforter wood stove. That thing would blow you out before it got a good fire going and I was opening windows when it was below zero outside.
During remodel I relocated the stove to a more central location, same thing just to much stove for the space.
Some research and looking around I found a Jotul 602B , best wood stove I’ve ever had,it takes about an hour to make the house 80 degrees everywhere on the coldest days easy to run and efficient.
My neighbor owns a saw mill,his grandkids cut and bundle 16” stove wood all summer . A pallet of 18 bundles for $50.00 I buy three a year and have leftover.
I just couldn’t be without a wood stove. Hound doggie likes it too.

[ascast]

insurance may not get too ridiculas, just do all the stuff they ask- even if it's stupid. I had to extend my legs 4 inches, after I put in a stone floor (their request). You may find used stuuf on the facebook marketplace I have got a few smoking deals there. You will want to add in a combustion air feed directly to or very near your air intakes. It will draw combustion air from someplace else NOT every crack in the house. Much more comfortable.

[Outer Rondacker]

Oh my gosh. I just looked at the price of triple wall six inch. Im going to go broke. I need about 28-32 foot of it. Well good news I have some time to shop.

[rancher1913]

go with 8 inch pipe instead of 6 inch, better draft and does not close with creosote as quick. the less bends the better, a straight shot up is easiest for cleaning, mine takes about 5 minutes to fully clean with brush because there are no bends to trap creosote, it falls right back into the stove.

[farmbif]

just how much does the good double walled stainless 6 inch pipe go for these days. ive got a stack of it, enough for a two story house, that I'm thinking of selling.

[Outer Rondacker]

Six inch by thirty-six is about 225.00. I need to shop around.

Rancher, I was planning on putting the stove in the basement. I have a walkout door and I was going to core drill a hole in the concrete then cut a hole in the deck and run the pipe up the side of the house. Boxing it in and putting stone on the outside. I was going to leave the pipe exposed under the deck with the T as a cleanout. Most stoves call for a six inch and in the past I have had a six to eight and got loads of build up in the eight inch part. I was looking into the old add on units so I could tap into the forced hot air above the location.

[MarkP]

There is a 26% tax credit for installing new woodstoves that have a HHV eff of 75% or higher. This includes the stove cost, supply costs, and installation labor. Trump signed it in late 2020


https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits/biomass_stoves


This is the stove I installed

https://www.woodstove.com/the-progress-hybrid-wood-stove

No visible smoke coming out of the chimney once it is up temp and Catalyst bypass is closed.


My Jan gas usage was 30 Therms this year compared to 160 last yr. My home has a Nat Gas furnace and Hot water heater.

The primary reason I installed my stove was to motivate me to exercise by cutting and splitting wood to heat my home.


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[jim 44-40]

I have been looking at wood pellet stoves,we have a pellet making plant not far from us.Thinking of stopping and asking how much a couple of tons would cost.Also have a wood burning stove in basement with one piece stainless steel liner in chimney.Had to get pictures for insurance company to show that it was installed right for coverage.

[Battis]

I had a Vermont Castings stove with a catalytic converter back in the early 90s. Great stove but the problem was I had an outside, high brick chimney. The temp on the stove would be around 800 degrees, and the pipe going up the chimney would be around 200 degrees, which is what the stove was meant to do. But, that low exhaust temp didn't warm the outside chimney enough, and creosote built up quickly, even though it was burning clean. Bottom line - I had a chimney fire a week after having it professionally cleaned, and the chimney was destroyed. I went back and forth with the store that sold me the stove, my mason got involved, the state got involved, and eventually it was determined that catalytic converters and outside high chimneys don't mix. DUH. I had to take the store to small claims court, but before the hearing they gave in and gave me a new stove without a catalytic converter. And it's been clear burning ever since. My stove has a secondary air system that works like a catalytic converter but not AS good.
Catalytic converters break down and become less efficient over time, and they are expensive to replace.

[Jeff Michel]

Always heated with wood/coal. If you stay with it you won't have any problem cutting and splitting a cord in a long day. It doesn't take very many days to lay in a years supply of wood. Buy you a ton of coal in the fall for the real cold months and your set for the year. After the first heating season, you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[45DUDE]

Watch for carpenter ants, I heated with nothing but wood for 20 years at my house in New England, they were a constant problem.
I have black carpenter ants but all I see them on is dead wood. I think I will look into a pellet stove. I know people that have them and give good reports and I have plenty of oak trees to trim.

[Battis]

Carpenter ants, termites, mice - keep the wood as far away from the house as you can. The termites are usually under the bark of green wood, but not in the wood.

[Idaho45guy]

I have black carpenter ants but all I see them on is dead wood. I think I will look into a pellet stove. I know people that have them and give good reports and I have plenty of oak trees to trim.

Don't pellet stoves require electricity to run?

[Battis]

Every year at this time I check out pellet stoves but I always stay with the wood burner. A pellet stove needs electricity to run the auger. If the power goes out, the auger stops and the house fills up with smoke. That's where the backup battery kicks in (if you have one). It can run the auger for 4 hours, enough to clear the smoke. Most people I know that have a pellet stove have a backup generator. There was a pellet quality problem ten or so years ago but it looks like that's been fixed. Places like Walmart were selling low quality pellets. Also, ten or so years ago, firewood costs were crazy high, so many people switched to pellets (in my area). Demand for firewood dropped and lots of wood sellers were stuck with their supplies, which made the cost of the firewood drop. It hasn't risen much since then, though the cost of pellet stoves has gone way up.
If I was starting out and had to pick wood or pellets, I'd go with pellets, unless I had a good supply of "free wood," but I'd definitely have a generator. Harmon stoves are popular, though pricey.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Its been touched on, but be sure to build yourself a nice woodshed and season your wood until bone dry, might take 2+ years depending on the species. Dry wood produces a LOT more heat and a lot less creosote.

[Outer Rondacker]

Last year I cut and split around 7 cords. I am clearing land so I needed to do something with it. Sold it to the tree cutter for 1200 bucks. Spent 1200 bucks on 550 gallons of propane. You cannot give away firewood in my area. Trust me I have tried while clearing my land. Its not about the money savings for me more about the ability to stay warm if SHTF and grid is down. Or I cannot afford the grid period. I do not like to depend on anyone but me.

As for tax credits well I build this entire house our of pocket and they didnt give me one penny back or off. If I would of paid a company to build it than I could of. Since I did it myself well you know.

I was looking more into one of these stoves. https://www.menards.com/main/heating-cooling/fireplaces-stoves/wood-furnaces/shelter-wood-burning-add-on-furnace-up-to-2-000-sq-ft/sf1000e/p-1559025091751.htm

Not this one for sure but something like this I can pipe into my duct work.

[Battis]

Nice stove. How well will it run without electricity? (Pre-wired, front-mounted draft inducer).

[sparky45]

Wouldn't a Solar Panel handle the electrical need if the grid went down?

[Outer Rondacker]

Well honestly I was thinking this was more liike the old one I have in my camp. Works off s spring for the dampener and one pipe goes out the house the other hooks into the forced hot air duct. If no fan that is fine as heat goes up. I need to put more energy into shopping for a stove that should work. Kinda was an example of what I was thinking.

Yes a small solar setup might solve all the power issues. Not shore on that yet. This is another area I need to put some time into learning about.

[45DUDE]

Don't pellet stoves require electricity to run? I haven't checked on how they work but can look at one.
I have a good fire place for 40'' wood <I use 18"-20''>and duct vented into each room. I hate it. You bring in fire ants and have to load twice a day and clean it out ever week. After I twisted my back three times bringing in wood I replaced it with a propane fire log insert. The last time about eight years ago I bought a I.R. heater and blocked the fireplace and really like it. Every thing was going ok until the propane increase. Before Brandon took over it was $185 per gallon pre buy. I am on the edge with rising costs and the savings are going faster than expected. I realize I'm not the only one but I am too old to put wood in the fire place anymore.

[dverna]

Solar does not help unless you have a bank of batteries to power the auger at night. If I was on natural gas, I would not bother with wood heat unless the cost of NG went nuts.

But I am on propane, and it is expensive. A few years ago, propane went to $4/gal. This year I pre-paid in August at $1.59 and today it is $2.80. That is a 75% increase in 7 months. I will be topping off my tanks next week as the pre-buy price is only good to the end of March.

Even purchasing logs, I save quite a bit by heating with wood. I paid $1900 for 32 cords of logs and that will yield about 27 cords of firewood. The amount of propane I need to equal the heating BTU's of 27 cords of wood is 4100 gal (factoring in efficiency of 65% for wood and 98% for propane). At todays price of $2.80/gal, that would cost over $11,000. My point is even buying wood can make sense depending on the local cost of other energy sources. BTW, the $1900 of wood I bought will last 5-6 years based on 65% of our heat from wood.

A few other hints. Look for logging operations near you if you live in an area that has logging activity. I was able to get a great deal on maple logs for $600 for 12 logger cords delivered from a company doing selective cutting not far from me. I try to have 2-3 years of wood on site. That allows me to find deals instead of having to buy whatever cord logs are available. My insert takes longer pieces wood, so I cut logs to 20" instead of 16" to reduce processing time, chain wear, fuel/oil, splitting time and stacking time. That increases productivity by 17%.

Oak needs two years to season so plan accordingly. If you store wood off the ground, even stuff like birch can be good after 3-4 years of storage. The one caveat with wood is to keep at least one full year of processed firewood ahead in case you get hurt.

Just FYI, here is the cost of energy in my area. This is per 100,000 BTU's
"Free" wood you pick up.......................................$0.25 using 65% efficiency insert
Buying wood at $195/cord....................................$1.36 using 65% efficiency insert
Buying logs and processing with a wood processor...$0.89 using 65% efficiency insert
Pellets at $220/ton..............................................$ 1.66 using 83% efficiency stove
Propane at $2.80/gal...........................................$3.1 3 using a 98% eff furnace
Electric heat at $.11/kw.......................................$3.29
Note "Free" wood is not free. I factored in cost to find it, transport it, cost of saw chains, fuel, oil.

[zymguy]

I have a kuuma , its a furnace plumed right into my heating ducts . I can fill it every 12 hrs on seasoned birch. My house is reasonably insulated but it is cold here. It meets the EPA regulations . It is not cheap .