Anyone have an OWB and a stove indoors?

[greengiant]

Just wondering if anyone with an OWB also has a secondary stove indoors for Spring/Fall when it cool enough for heat, but you don't want to fire up the OWB, or for aesthetics, or a secondary heat source if the power is out, (or other reasons)?

I've been heating with an insert now for 4 seasons and we're in the process of looking for a new house in the country with some land. So, I'm trying to plan ahead on what I will want to heat with when we get to that point. So far all the info I've gotten from this site on heating with an OWB makes me think that will be the way to go for the next house. (I just compare reading about loading OWB's 2x/day to loading my insert about 7-9x/day when really cold, plus the extra splitting to fit it in my stove, etc.)

 

[November Wolf]

I have both a OWB and a High Effiecient fireplace insert. I have not used my fireplace in years because I don't like the smoke indoors and I did not like bringing wood in. I like my OWB. I load it once a day and forget about it. ( Well not forget about it, It is still new so I look at it often).

 

[trialanderror]

35+ years of heating with indoor woodstoves/furnaces. 8000 to 10000 sq ft area.

both houses have a cookstove in the kitchen, and a furnce in the garage.
and the one shop has a stove.

been maintaining 5 stoves every season. i'm sick of it now.

now i'm building myself a boiler. 500 gallon system, 3 zones, and even if i need to fire it hard, no way i'll go through nearly as much wood as i have been.... i easily go through 75 pickup truck loads of wood every year right now....loading up to 8-10 times a day X 5......

 

[ckr74]

Sounds like a full time job. Mercy!

 

[November Wolf]

I forgot to add there is no splitting wood and the humidity in my house is alot better because I am not burning anything inside. Also the chance of Carbon Monoxide poisoning is eliminated completly.

 

[blakey]

The cost of a chimney is a factor to be considered. If you have a good one already then your startup costs are minimized for indoor burning but if you don't you might as well put that money towards the owb and forget about the indoor setup. That was an important factor in my decision.

 

[chugbug]

I think one of the main reasons for the owb is so all the mess , hauling wood inside and fire risk are gone , I love the owb OUTSIDE !!! Springtime and fall are good times to burn junk stuff like cardboard and pallets , when its not very cold they seem to use very little fuel, just puffing away not using much fuel and heating shop and house !!

 

[jgoodhart]

I have a pellet stove inside the house in a family room and I use it for looks :greenchainsaw: and when it's really cold outside to assist the OWB. I cut wood for my parents to heat with and myself and I figure it's easier then being a slave to the boiler. I use pellets like other use propane.

 

[rx7145]

I have a insert as well as a OWB and have never used the insert after I got my OWB. Don't need it.

 

[Blazin]

I have a soapstone earthstove in the corner that my wife turned into a plant stand back in '04 when the OWB first got lit. It's all ready to go, just no need for it since big brother got plunked down outside.

 

[fourapples]

The only time you may wish you had an indoor stove is when the power goes out. I had an indoor stove for 25 years and made my decision to abandon it and the chimney when we re-roofed our house including decking. That is when we decided to get an OWB. Now would I have switched to the OWB if I was not in this situation, probably not. It is a good investment however. Firing the OWB in the spring and fall uses less wood so the argument of using the inside stove for early and late season burning may not justify the inside unit. We enjoy the hot water that you generally cannot get from the inside stove. A back up generator for power loss would be a better investment.

 

[weimedog]

I've installed a "Thermo-Control" wood buring stove with stainless steel "coils" to heat water. I supplement both the "oil fired" base board heating system and the hot water heater for bath/drinking water system

I have it plumbed (done by another board member for that matter) where the return water from the base board system runs thru the "Thermo-Control" wood fired stove before going into the oil fired boiler.

Basically I can just run oil..or wood using the same thermostats and circulators.

So far its proven capable of completely roasting our house even with the temps in the single digits.

It uses twice as much wood as my old wood stove did..but its firebox is also twice as big. I used to get thru a winter with five face cords...now I have to plan on a full 10 face cords of wood. MORE reason to excercise my CAD habit up on our farm! The radiant heat alone can heat the bottom 1/2 of the house. We use fire size to get things in the ball park.(Usually only about 1/3 full as anything more than 2/3's full of wood creats way too much heat for this 2400' square foot two story farm house..even with its lack of insulation in some of the walls! It does have new windows and insulation in the attic)

In addition to simplistic "fire size" method as a means of control heat output, this particular stove installation has a control system where there is an "auqastat" on the exit water pipe to the oil fired boiler. This "aquastat" is effectively a reostat controled by the water temperature. When the water temps approach 175-180, the "auqastat" adds resistance to the electic feed (from a 24 volt tranformer) to a little motor that opens and closes an air duct supplying the stove with air. When its closed, the fire dies rapidly. Also have a "saftey" device on the flue pipe to where the power is cut to the air supply motor if temps get too high in the flue...

Any way the ONLY problem we have has NOTHING to do with the stove. We have an old chimney which need to be replaced....I lined it with a stainless steel flue pipe/liner. Its safe. BUT the chimney is about 4 feet too short and when the wind comes out of the south/west, the turbulance at the top of our house and chimney restricts the flow. Conversely when the wind comes out of the north or east, it sucks the air thru the stove at a furious rate...makes for one hot fire! The theromometer on top of the stove aproaches 475 degrees with north winds, 325 with south/western winds of 35plus mph. Was a problem with our wood stove...worse now with this monster we have installed as I don't have an effective way to shut off the flue...yet. either way the house stays warm with no oil assistance. Just a little smokier when adding wood to the fire when the wind is coming from the wrong direction for that old..to be REPLACED chimney.

We budgeted a chimney for next year.....

All in all its proving to be money well spent. About $3000 for the stove and another $1000 for bits and pieces to install. Most installations should happen for under $5000 is my guess. Our installation was more complex than most....and they sell stoves for hot air and actual boilers to add onto base board heating systems as well. Definitely worth a look if you want an indoor option vs. an external wood fired boiler.

As I mentioned before, I plan to replace our chimney..but I may also add a 30-50 gallon tank to stack the heated hot water from the stove and have the return from the house go to this tank first..actually how Thermo-Control suggests for an installation such as mine where the wood stove is a distance from the boiler. The reason I didn't in the first instance was my current system has a 30 gallon storage capacity in that old boiler I have...another story.

Ultimately we planned to turn the "thermo-Control" stove into a backup for an OWB but time and dollars made that impossible for this year, and with oil being over $5 a gallon when we started this...added a panic to the time frame! AND when we sell out and move south..which we will over time, I can take this Thermo-Control unit with me. I really like it. If the chimney next year is a success..maybe I won't even bother with a OWB. Time will tell.

ALSO this little Central New York company provided excellent advise and technical assistance to our unconventional installation....I really appreciate their help.

The company has a website:

http://www.thermocontrolheating.com/

Their location is:Thermo-Control Heating Systems, LTD
PO Box 640
Cobleskill, NY; 12043

And they ARE in Cobleskill as I picked up my stove from their fabrication facility.

 

[LTREES]

I just got my OWB in Nov. but I still use a wood stove in the family room. You cant burn it hard, just enough to to bring the temp up @ 4 deg. I let it go out and light it in the evening when we are home. I have a 10 year old that loves to light matches, so he is my fire starter. I also have an insert that has not been used, not even during Christmas. This CB is the macaroni, I think I'll put baseboard in the family room this summer.

LT...

 

[Blazin]

I just got my OWB in Nov. but I still use a wood stove in the family room. You cant burn it hard, just enough to to bring the temp up @ 4 deg. I let it go out and light it in the evening when we are home. I have a 10 year old that loves to light matches, so he is my fire starter. I also have an insert that has not been used, not even during Christmas. This CB is the macaroni, I think I'll put baseboard in the family room this summer.

LT...

Oh yeah! Get the best out of it if your gonna feed it, a little more hookin up, but waaaay worth it!

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I have a small woodstove in the house, heated with it last winter before I got the CB hooked up...use it on the really cold days just to make the LR a little warmer.

 

[kalib stock]

I have a Taylor T-500CB its going on it's seventh year! This is their 37th year making the stoves. No problems with it. Its has more than paid for itself, as far as the the care of it goes you drain the water jacket ounce a year and put two Quarts of chemical and a Anode rod in it and you're set! I've seen a LOT of them that are from 15 to 30 years old that still work great! God luck with your purchase! Kalib

Just wondering if anyone with an OWB also has a secondary stove indoors for Spring/Fall when it cool enough for heat, but you don't want to fire up the OWB, or for aesthetics, or a secondary heat source if the power is out, (or other reasons)?

I've been heating with an insert now for 4 seasons and we're in the process of looking for a new house in the country with some land. So, I'm trying to plan ahead on what I will want to heat with when we get to that point. So far all the info I've gotten from this site on heating with an OWB makes me think that will be the way to go for the next house. (I just compare reading about loading OWB's 2x/day to loading my insert about 7-9x/day when really cold, plus the extra splitting to fit it in my stove, etc.)

 

[sstan]

I have had a Clayton factory fireplace for 15 years and just put in the OWB this year. Still running the fireplace .. it is no much more efficiant then the OWB! but you have the wood mess inside and the hazard .. but nothing like watching that fire in the fireplace

 

[zeliespecwriter]

OWB and indoor stove

We put a Country stove insert in during our remodeling of our 150 year old farm house back in 1999. Lined the old chminey and everything. Used it every winter until this winter. Put in the OWB and never used the insert again until Christmas when we wanted the atmosphere of a fire burning. Its good to know we have it as a back up if the power goes out but would rather have a generator (next on the list to get).