Wood burning stoves,need advise

[DGFoster]

I am concidering a wood burning stove to help heat the house in the winter,I like the furnace addon type but also think a free standing unit would also help,my house has no chiminy anymore,water heater is piped out the side of the house,If not an addon then how could I vent it to the outside on a free standing unit. I have an inclosed porch and was thinking of putting it out there and I could pipe it right out through the roof?

Can that be done?



Thanks

 

[**ICEMAN**]

check this system out. heat your house,garage,water,pool,hot tub etc and the neighbors house.

i have one and it is worth every cent i paid for it

gotta have a source of free wood to see a savings on your utility bills and justify the cost of this setup.

no need to worry about piping a chimney through the roof either.

http://www.centralboiler.com/home.html

 

[Batman]

I agree with Iceman.



I've been considering one of these for my house. My only problem is location. I can get as much free wood as I want, but where to store it is the issue.



If you have the room, I would highly suggest this also.

HTH

George

 

[TPCDrafting]

The outdoor setups are the way to go if you have the space and don't care to have a flame to see inside.



We put in a Blaze King - Princess model about 4 years ago.

It is a catalist style, very well built and heats the whole house by itself even in the coldest weather. With the catalyst and the ability to shut it down to a smolder, we add wood to it twice a day and it never goes out. We shut it down once every three weeks or so to empty the ashes.



You can get more info. here inculding manuals.



We had a gas fireplace where it sits now. I tore it out, widened the area as much as possible to meet the new clearance requirements and tiled it. The boiler room sits directly behind it. The boiler, water heater and old gas fireplace shared the same flue, so I just cut a new hole for them and re-ran the piping. I then widened the old hole through the ceiling and the roof for the new wood stove flue. I did that in one afternoon as I had to shut down the heat, re-run the flues and get it going again quickly as it was early March when I did it. Take lots of time ahead to figure out where your holes will be cut and that your not going to hit any trusses/rafters/power lines etc.



Before the stove, we were paying as high as $200 a month for LPG keeping the house at a modest 62 deg. Now I have the tank filled once a year for around $130. The stove paid for itself in about 2 1/2 winters. That's with free wood and counting my fuel to go get it.

 

[Doc Tinker]

I had a Vermont Castings Defiant wood stove that heated my house for several years, when my furnace went bad. I quit using it when I added on upstairs and no longer had a good place for the chimney.



We are currently adding on a family room and tomorrow one of these is going to be installed. This setup requires a chase (boxed in area) either inside the house or attached to the outside.



No wood burning unit can be vented out the side of the house because codes require that the vent exit be two feet above the the high point within 10 feet of the chimey.



Doc

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

We have an old Blaze King in Bozeman that still sevicable. Here at Moran I have a Pacific Energy (www.pacificenergy.com) which does a better job than the old Blaze King. Of course, this means doing firewood for two homes (pssst, one of the reasons for the 3500 )



Both have metalbestos 8" double walled pipe up through the roof. Hint, cut some holes. In BZ we have Propane and electric baseboard in Moran for when we go somewhere. Gotta love that wood heat



Mind giving a ball park figure for those outdoor furnaces? Didn't see any prices on their site.

 

[WDaniels]

I have a Vermont Castings stove and it will heat the house to 90 degrees inside even when its -40 and -50 outside. If I had to do it all over again I would get a stove that I have in my garage. It's a TOYO stove. (there is another stove named Monitor) Uses #1 fuel oil and is extremely efficient. It has used only 350 gallons in 3 years and my garage isn't that air tight. I keep my garage at 60 degrees during the winter. It draws outside air in and exhausts outside. Very easy installation and it comes in 3 sizes.

WD

 

[DGFoster]

Thanks guys for the good info,I live in the city so I have to check codes to see what I am allowed to have,I have a new furnace and AC,but I have a good source for wood and would love to save some money.

 

[daveshoe]

If you want to vent out the side of your house, a corn stove will do it. Corn is not as cheap a fuel as it was last year, but it is very easy to load and empty the ashes. i am kind of holding out for a corn boiler as I have hot water heat.