House hunting question

Looked at a house that is a serious contender (looks like the 22 acre OWB place might be out of reach) and wanted the collective input of FHC. This one is 8 acres.

Has oil setup but owner used to have an indoor wood boiler (related said it was homemade and he removed it to sell the house) but there is a handy door and cement slab right outside to make loading convent. He already has about 1/2 cord stacked on the slab. There are 2 pole barns on the property that would make good wood sheds as well. There is a fireplace on the main level.

If you were to add wood as a heat source would you
A) add a wood stove
B) add an indoor wood boiler to "team up" with the oil furnace
C) switch entirely to an indoor wood boiler
D) switch entirely to an outdoor wood boiler

And what are the ball park costs, pros and cons of your choice?

Thanks!

 

How big is the house? Where is the fireplace located in the floor plan? How many levels is the house? Does it have hvac ducts already or is it only set up for hot water radiators?

 

1500sq ft, single level with walkout basement.
House layout: left side: 2 kids bedrooms and bathrooms, center: family room with cathedral ceilings and fireplace against back wall, and kitchen. Right side: master bedroom and bath
Only setup for hot water radiators.

 

Personally I'd go with a catalytic free standing stove or an insert.

My house is 3 bedrooms 1 bath and almost exactly 1500 square feet. My Woodstock Ideal Steel heats the house just fine.

 

I agree with Babaganoosh, keep it simple with a freestanding stove that requires no electricity. Maybe an insert in the fireplace if it's in a good location, but that would need electricity. The only advantage I can see with something in the basement is that it cuts down on the mess in your living space. The walk in basement sounds great for wood heat no matter where you put your stove.
Good luck!

 

Agree with Bab and Jack. Freestanding or insert.
Keep it simple. No electric required for power outages.
Oils cheap for near future.Use it when you burn out on hauling wood in.
Save your nickels for an upgrade down the road.

 

I'd use the walkout basement to stage some wood. A nice 8 foot rack will keep a stove going for awhile.

 

I concur with the above suggestions on stoves. I would put a free stander in the basement and if you can or if it is insulated down there, if you get that basement warm it will heat that single story just fine. I have hot water natural gas radiant but I run a fireplace insert that is not centrally located but instead on one end of the walkout basement. I do have to run the NG boiler some when we get in the teens or below but I have 2 zones so only one zone has to run. Burn very little gas. Just a word of warning though, you have to be careful in the bitter cold if you are not circulating the water in the radiant. Here's a link to a problem solver for that, it circulates for a preset few minutes to keep from freeze up.
ThermGuard

 

I will disagree with the crowd. I would go with a wood fired boiler. You can tap the existing system for heat distribution. You can also heat your domestic hot water. Should you decide to pour concrete slab in one of your pole barns as a work shop you can run radiant heat from the house boiler.

As far as emergency power, a 1/25 HP circulating pump will run for ~80 hours off a pair of golf cart batteries through an inverter. A modest sized solar panel could maintain the charge. Boiler controls would be dependant on the exact model. A limited controls package with natural draft wouldn't draw much juice. Even with a wet fire box you'd still be more efficient than an outdoor boiler.

 

Those boilers eat a lot of wood. That's a drawback. Now you are talking solar panels and golf cart batteries to circulate pumps.

You can heat your whole house with a stove (zero electric needed) and run the boiler on very cold days to keep it from freezing. Plus you can always set the boiler to 60, let the stove go out and go on vacation or away for a few days. Down and out with the flu or something? Just use the boiler for a few days and let the stove go cold.

 

After growing up with an insert, and having a boiler that connects to my central air system now, I can't see myself every going back to an insert. I can start one fire in the morning and have it as hot and fast as I want and it stores enough energy to keep the entire house at a constant temperature the entire day. No hot spots, no cold spots, just even temperature throughout. And with a programmable thermostat I can conserve energy while I'm away at work or at night when we're sleeping.

I don't see a difference in usage either, my dad lives 12 miles away and heats about the same sized house as me with his cat insert and we both typically use the same amount of wood every winter. Except that their living room is always about 85 while their master bedroom and laundry room is only in the low 60's and often needs supplemented with space heaters when it gets in the teens outside.

The only drawback is a power outage. I haven't had to deal with that yet but I do have 3 kerosene heaters if needed. Eventually I'll set up an interlock switch to power the pump and fan with my generator.

 

I swear wood boilers used a lot of wood. Maybe they were used to heat a really big house?

 

Agree totally.. yes wood boilers are nice.. but most eat wood like crazy.. and are expensive to buy and install.. my real life experience.. I have Ideal Steel.. burned 4.5 cord this year split level house on 2nd floor .. granted it was warm.. buderus boiler oil hot water in basement... heat and hot water.. 4 bed 3 bath house.. many vaulted ceilings. heat (3 zones all set to 50 degrees) and hot water in gallon used 250 for 1 year.. average house temp living area 80.. bedrooms 70.. Yes my girls are spoiled... if I have to go away for few days house is fine.. less than 36 hours Woodstock just needs .

but what you haven't told us is your living situatition.. do you stay home a lot retired.. travel.. access to wood.. etc..

Good Woodstove 1 to 2k ... if it fits in your fireplace.. live for a few years if you want a boiler.. not hard to add

outside wood boiler installed 7k plus...

So I say you never really know a house til you live in it. . so I would do the add on its cheaper save the money live in the house and wait to see the priority. .

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice. I like the idea of heating with wood (primary or supplemental) and plain old enjoy running a saw and splitting.

I'm 29 and this will be my first house. Married and hope to start a family next year. I work full time and wood access would probably be limited to what I can find since this property is only 8 acres including swamp and I'm not interested in clear cutting it. That's a good point I hadn't thought too hard about- just how consistent would I be at gathering wood

Maybe I remain an FHC honary member and just have the occasional fireplace fire for ambience and live vicariously through you all haha

Link to the house in question 254 Turnpike Rd, Willington, CT

 

I bought my first house at 36. It's expensive here in central jersey! But as a young guy you want to save money so I found that you can save a lot by running a stove in the winter. My stove and saws will have paid for themselves in 2.5 years. After that I'm saving between 100 and 180 per month in the winter. I ran my stove from Oct to beginning of May (the cat stoves can run low and slow so evening and overnight fires only in Oct and late April).. I'm easily saving about 1000 a year on utility costs. That's with cheap natural gas. If you have propane or oil then you save even more. That's real money right there. Not to mention the house is nice and warm. 74 versus 70 with the furnace.

If you like running the saws and splitter then it might be for you. Maybe the wood lifestyle isn't for you? Yeah it's a bit of work but you can process wood whenever you feel like it. I hate the cold and I have the room for wood so I'm going to keep cutting, splitting, stacking, and feeding the stove. The money you save over the long haul is no joke. I hate paying the utility companies. It's a pet peeve of mine but man I hate them. So I like that I can get back at them a bit by burning wood.

 

no need to say no.. a EnglanDer NC 30.. can be had for under a grand how big is your hearth?

myself a great Woodstove Woodstock ideal steel.. heats me awesome for around 2K..

if you like running saw start building 3 year plan now.. then when you get there your wood is dry! get a Woodstove and when you loose power your wife will sing your praises!​

 

Yeah I was gonna suggest that. Pick up a nc30 to give wood burning a whirl and if you like it sell it and buy a better stove with longer burns. Blaze King or Woodstock just to name the bigger players in the catalytic game.

 

This is an outdoor boiler? First time I have ever heard of a boiler and a stove even coming close to the same wood usage. You must have a great boiler and a good insulation situation, and your dad just the opposite, crap stove and insulation.

Boy, if I had that house, I would either get an Englander NC30 to install somewhere to supplement the fossil fuel (those 30s can be bought for cheap money when there is a sale on...and right now there is a $300 federal tax credit on 'em too. Some have bought them for as low as $350 out of pocket, after sale and tax credit, and that is shipped to your door. Hard (very hard) to beat that deal on a quality USA stove!) It wouldn't be hard to pop a class A chimney in almost anywhere with that cathedral ceiling.
Or, since it seem you already have an available chimney to the basement, I would be real tempted to go ahead and install a wood (hot air) furnace in the basement. Look at a good secondary burn unit like a PSG Caddy or Drolet Tundra, no old school or farm store junk.
Assuming there is no central AC in the house, you could install AC, and then utilize the ducts for the furnace too. If no AC is wanted, you could do ducts just for the furnace. The way the house is set up, a main run to each of the 3 parts of the main floor would do the job. Not to hard to do if the basement is not finished...and not too expensive if you DIY...and it really isn't that difficult if you are handy at all...

 

Nice House.