Looking for advice...

Hello everyone, new member, first post. Looked for, but did not see, an introduction section, so I apologize if this is in the wrong place.

We purchased a farm and renovated an old house (1948) which had(has) a wood stove. Cannot find a name on it, but most certainly a smoke dragon. When we had the inspection done, the guy found that the liner was cracked, so we had it relined w stainless by a chimney sweep. I want to smoke test the stove with a smoke bomb, just haven't had the time yet. We really do not want to get smoke in the house, as the $ we spent painting etc, do not want to soot things up. I know at some time some smoke will be inevitable, but really want to do the best i can to keep that from happening/minimize.

So I have already been looking, searching and reading about replacing the stove with what should definitely be a more efficient model. It is obvious from reading this forum and a few others, that there are many good stoves out there, and definitely fans of certains makes/models (as with all things in life).

My house is basically a ranch style, paper says around 1800 sq ft, insulation in attic, not sure about walls (probably no insulation at this time). Issue is the stove is on one end of the house, in a step-down room, which was at one time a porch or carport that they closed in. So one doorway (probably 32 inch wide) and one window leading into the rest of the house. Naturally, the bedrooms are on the far other end. South central Va, wood is not an issue, except for maybe the really dry wood the first season or so that's needed for these new stoves...

I am interested to hear opinions on what people think would be a sufficient stove for my setup. Would like to be able to get heat through the house, but feel like that will be an issue. And we use the room with the stove as our main/tv room, so don't want to be run out of there. I don't know if I should pick a smaller than 1800 sq ft rated stove since I may have "heat movement issues", so that we can enjoy the room it's in...or pick a stove that's at least rated for my square footage anyway since I know I will have those heat movement issues...?

So I apologize for my first post being so long and rambling. I've been meaning to post and ask for days, but have been too busy reading the threads on here, and trying to wrap my head around our layout and needs. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, and let me know what other information is needed as i know I left stuff out (out of forgetfulness and trying to not write a whole novel in first post).

 

Welcome to the forum.

Your house sound like ours - ~1800sqft ranch. Step down I to living room, where the stove is. Bedrooms at opposite end of house. Open layout.

We prefer the bedroom to be on the cool side. Our Vermont castings dutchwest small stove works for us.

When 30 outside, I can easily maintain love 70's in the living room, mid-60's or lower in bedrooms.

 

I'll echo this, and everything else that was said.
#1, go get some firewood, we'll wait.
Unless it's dry, you'll likely have a devil of a time getting it to burn this year. As Dennis mentioned, there are methods to somewhat alleviate that the first year, but, go get some fire wood while you're thinking about that point. Oh, then, go get some more firewood.
With dry wood, and a good stove and flue setup, smoke into the house shouldn't be an issue.
We're in a a smaller (1250 sq ft) ranch and the stove is on one end in an ell, while our bedroom is about 50-ish' away at the other end. Good thing we like it cool while sleeping.
The fan thing just works.
Wait, you're in Virginia, so dry wood might be less of an issue for you.

 

I've got some wood in the shed where we bought, oak, should be quite dry (dont have a moisture meter yet). Just a little rain blowing in the shed on it...its at least 4 yrs old. And i used to cut and sell wood, so ive got some in the shed at my old house. If i were to burn that this year, real dry for next would be the issue, unless i rig a drying tack with old glass doors and plexi (which I've been meaning to)

 

After writing the above, I got to wondering...can wood be too dry? If it is super dry, could you "cut it" with wood that has a tad more moisture? (Not green or wet, just slightly over the 20% number I keep seeing)

While I research a possible replacement, I'm going to try to check out this old stove. Instead of getting this thread off course, I will start a new one over in the non-epa stove section, for any of you who might want to check it out and offer insight.

 

Hi Eckie. Welcome! Wood can not be too dry. The Norwegian Wood Institute has done studies which are highlighted in the book "Norwegian Wood" by Lars Mytling. The results indicate wood aged well over 30 years, and kept covered is appropriate and good for heating.

I remember people saying "over dry" wood burns too quickly for overnight fires. I don't think that is true for hardwood, but others here know more than me. I also remember some of those people saying that they mix in greener wood for overnight fires. Personally I don't like burning any amount of green wood due to dangers of creosote. The sound of sizzling wood in the firebox is not a good thing.

 

Welcome Eckie.
If your going to try the smoke bomb thing; make sure the chimney is hot first or else you will probably get smoke in the house. Maybe try burning some paper in there instead.

From my experience 1150 sq, tiny stove, I wish I had a bigger stove with longer burn times.

Something in the medium range as not to cook us out.

 

First off, welcome to FHC!

Ok, yes, you can mix mid 20% MC wood with very dry wood and it will burn great, even in an EPA stove.

There's a lot of stoves out there. I heat my house mostly with wood, with a quadrafire 4100 insert. When it gets in the single digits, the furnace will kick on from time to time, but I'd say my wood stove does well over 90% of the heating in the house. Natural gas is a bills for us are super low, and with the water heater and the cook stove and range being gas as well, it's hard to determine exact heat chats as to what the furnace uses. Out bills for NG are never over $30.
Ours is an open concept right around 1800 sqft ranch with tall ceilings in the living room. The ceiling fans do help distribute the heat from the family room where the stove is. We do also turn on the HVAC blower on the furnace to redistribute heat to the basement and other parts of the house if the stove room gets too warm. Our BR's are on the far end of the house from the stove room.

 

First try a little 8" desk fan at the top of the stairs going into the stove room, pointing down the stairs, on low. You don't want to stir up the air in the stove room, you want to let the hot air rise to the ceiling. Then the fan will move cool air in the bottom of the doorway, displacing warm air out the top of the doorway and keeping you comfortable when sitting in the stove room. If warm air wants to stall before getting back to the bedrooms, add a second fan as Backwoods mentioned, on the floor in the hallway back there, again on low speed.

Big difference in output between the two stoves mentioned. In VA, depending where you are, you might not need a lot of heat most of the time. Especially when you improve the air-sealing and insulation.
Another thing to consider is whether you want a cat stove, or a non-cat. Either will work well in your layout.
As for next year's wood, get a bunch of soft Maple (Red or Silver) or even Pine or Tulip Poplar stacked ASAP, and it should be fairly dry by fall, especially if not split real big. OTOH, non-cat stoves are more controllable with big splits, especially if you are burning lighter woods like those I mentioned.

 

South central Va. We can get quite cold, but usually not that bad compared to what a lot of folks on here deal with...its all relative and about perspective i guess. I have some poplar and maple laying down now that can be prepped for next year, good idea. There's more oak laying around than i could ever cut.

As for cat vs non cat...I'm not sure. I was figuring non cat, but have read some really good reviews on here about the WS Absolute steel and a few others. For some reason i still feel like non cat. Efficient is good, but i dont know that i need super long burn times (20-30 hrs). I'm thinking i will mainly burn when I'm home anyway, till i get real comfortable with the stove and process, call me silly.

The guys over on non epa stove section are telling me i have clearance issues with the existing stove, so not sure I'll be trying it unless i figure something out.

The pipe coming out of thenold stove is 8 inches, necks down to 6 where it goes into the wall. Any major issues with this, and does it change the scenario much in terms of a new stove?

 

Eckie,
I ordered an Absolute steel pre-production when building our 1550 sq. ft. ranch home 4 years ago, I couldn't be happier with it. It is capable of more output than I need (see well insulated in central Missouri). It is very easy to adjust the output and keep the central living area around 75 and bedrooms at 66 -70. (we do adjust our bdrm door to keep it from being to warm for sleeping.
I have a high efficiency Propane furnace that is used during shoulder season, (gas water heater and cookstove). I buy 300 gallons of propane per year and burn 2 cords in stove per winter. Electric averages $68/month for the year. I think that is very acceptable.
I have no problem now getting the stove loaded up and to cat temps then dampening it down to lowest setting and driving away. when i get home 10 -15 hours later it is time to open it up, for 30 minutes, reload, dampen down till 30 minutes before bedtime, I then load it 3/4 for the bedtime burn on lowest setting with cat engaged. wake up and do it again, I will always have a cat stove. (probably an Woodstock absolute steel or the bigger Ideal steel if move to larger less insulated home)

As too heat movement, it is what it is in any house, get a good stove and you'll figure out what works for the way you live.
the vent on the Absolute is 6" you'll surely want to get a double wall 6 inch to the flue.
Best Regards,
Travis

 

Thanks for the response Tavery. We are total electric heatpump right now, so I AM NOT looking forward to the coming bill. Need to reinstall one of those blue flame wall heaters that was in the house for at least supplement and backup.

With the absolute steel...sounds like you can use it and watch the fire...not just turn it to cat where it goes dark ? Some of videos i have watched blows my mind that the stove can be heating, and it looks (at least on the vid) black as night inside. Thats also one reason i would like to replace the old stove (even it everything else with it was fine)..to be able to see what's going on inside and enjoy the show. I know the cat makes thenmost of the stove efficiency wise. But do you have to use it...does it harm the stove if you run it a lot non-cat?

 

the stove offers any and all of what you suggest, if I am running while in the house it is easy to go have throttle on half load to allow for a fire show WITH CAT ENGAGED.
Like this morning in this picture I just took
you can see the damper handle in back left... that is half throttle with 3 splits put in 2 hours prvious

 

If that's hard (Sugar) Maple, it will need two years. It sounds like you have a wood lot you can work. If so, look for small, dead trees <8" with the bark falling off. It's a bit slower going than working up big trunks, but that small stuff will be pretty dry. But get that Oak too, once you have yourself set for next winter. Keep stacking until you are three years ahead.

There's something to be said for keeping it simple with a non-cat. That's why I got one for my SIL..maintenance will be pretty simple for me with no cat or bypass gasket, and a removable baffle for chimney cleaning. That T5 is a sweet rig.
You can run some flame in the box with any straight cat, like mine, or hybrid like the AS. The AS could heat you out if you run secondary flame in it, but you can run it low in cat-only mode. Wall insulation will decrease your heat needs, so size the stove with respect to where you will be after you weatherize the house to the level you want it.
Does the chimney exit through the wall, then go up? I would assume that if the pipe reduces to 6", the chimney or liner will be 6" as well. That's good because over 90% of stoves have 6" flue exits, and you want to match flue size to chimney size.

 

It's red maple, so i know not the greatest heat output, but will dry quicker, and burn quick too. There's always some wood to cut around here, but storm Michael the other year really threw it down. There's well over 20 loads (short bed dodge) of oak down on the place we bought, at least that much on the fil's farm and rented farms. Then i work on a military base, and can cut all i want for $20 a year. So wood in general is not an issue, just the drying in time.

Yes, the pipe goes in wal and up chimney, 6 inch ss. Hopefully i have enough height for draft no matter which stove i pick... We have talked about the wall insullation, but dont know when we'll get to it...may find out more about that when the wife gets the power bill haha.