Wood Stove vs. Wood Furnace

[gregfox]

A stoves advertised square footage is a near worthless figure. At least go see a stove specialist, I've regretted my big box stove ever since I bought it. Times were tough and it was all I could afford, 4 yrs later it's a rusty eyesore that I still use to heat with. The next will not come from a big box store.

 

[tramp bushler]

Modern boilers and furnaces are sometimes Very efficient. I've supplied the wood for several 3,000+ sq.ft.homes for the past few years and I am currently feeding one for a customer who is heating 4,600 sq.ft. Most are Central Boiler brand. They all have liquid systems of 1 type or other. It gets COLD here and they burn between 14 and 20 cord per winter. And burn from early September thru sometime in May. It gets 50 below and colder. I myself Hate air blowing around a house, but you already have the duct work and blower in. If the furnace blower can run without the oil furnace fireing up and it can draw air from where the wood stove is . A big wood stove would work for you. Our bedroom stays about 80° and my wife " who is from Barsto California stays happy. Bedroom at 60° I best have gone t bed wearing a helmet cause I gonna get wacked up side the head. One GREAT thing about wood heat. You don't have to be miserly with the heat. Just cut and haul more wood. Trees grow back!!

 

[2rod511]

Hope you like keeping your house around 57 to 60 degrees because you are never going to heat a 3000 sqft house with a home depot wood stove. If you did keep it warm somebody would need to be there to fill the tiny firebox every three to four hours. Tried to heat my one story 2000 sqft house with a wood insert and could get the back of the house about sixty degrees if you heated the front up to a sweltering 80 to 85. I bought a wood boiler and problem solved. It is impossible to keep your house a cozy 70 degrees all winter long and not burn a bunch of wood. My wood boiler needs to be loaded twice a day in cold weather. I read that in the brochure and thought that won't be bad. Then when it arrived I saw the firebox and needless to say it takes a big dent out of the woodpile every time I fill it. After heating with wood for five or six years now I realize why it costs so much to heat with oil, gas, or electricity. It just simply takes a tremendous amount of fuel or energy to heat a house.

 

[jaars]

Wood boiler all the way. If I kept my house 57/60 I wouldn't burn any wood. Can run 73 deg easy with boiler. 3000 sq ft 2 story/ forced air. Love it

 

[blades]

I use an Englander NC30 stove in a 2000ft ranch 60's era construction with some insulation updates, windows, attic most of the winter here it is all I need.sub zero evenings needs a little help to catch up. stove is centrally located in home ( somers heat or Timberidge are the names on it at Lowes or Home depot, may be a tad twisted on the timber part). I load in the morning get back about 10 hours later still in the mid 60's inside. works for me. Tried the cheap wood furnace ( hotblast $1100 USS) that didn't work out as it would only run about 4 hours of usable heat, additionally I could never trust its auto damper system. Its fine if you are there all day to baby it. Friend has a Daka which is similar it also has runaway on him a couple times.

 

[fields_mj]

I've got a 1960 Ranch, 1800 sq ft, with a full basement. I've currently got an add on furnace that was built in 1980, and it heats just fine. It has a 27" deep firebox, draft blower, brick lined, and a 10"x10" door. I cut my wood 23" long give or take an inch. That seems to be the sweat spot for my stove. I split it down to about 6"~8" so that it fits through the door easy enough. If it gets down below zero, with a full load of hard wood it will burn over 10 hrs and do just fine. If I had an entire winter of that weather, I would be using about 5 cords. This winter I've used almost 4 cords, and I've burned pretty much straight through since Thanksgiving. I started burning in early October of an evening this year, and was burning all day by mid November. I run the fan on my NG furnace all winter long, but set its thermostat at 69 degrees. The wood furnace keeps the house above 72 degrees. On warmer days, I cut my rounds in half (11"~12" long). This lets me burn when the weather gets up into the 40s, but it does require that I clean my chimney more often. I brush it out and empty it once a month whether I need to or not. Takes about 15 min, and most of that time is sucking the creosote out of the bottom with my shop vac.

All in all, I'm very happy with what I have. I will need to replace my furnace in the next few years, and when I do I'll probably go with a Yukon. If you already have a forced air furnace, and especially if it's in a location where the debris from firewood is not a consern, I can't imagine a reason NOT to go with an add on furnace. The ability to utilze the existing heat ducts and cold air returns is a HUGE deal in my book.

Either way, ditch the box store idea, and get some personal recomendations on good stove shops in your area. Right now you're stuck on the idea that you want to minimize your up front costs. What you're not understanding is that for ever $100 you save on the front end, you'll spend a extra $200 every year for as long as you're el-chepo box store solution lasts, and your big-box store solution will be doing good to last half as long as a good quality product that only costs %10%~20% more. This is one of those decisions where you need to be looking well past the end of your nose. Otherwise, you're going to run smack into a brick wall.

Just my 2 bits,
Mark

 

[sunfish]

A wood stove will heat your house just fine. If you get a 'Good' wood stove. It will also burn a lot less wood than a furnace.

Look at the top brand stoves, Jotul would be my choice, based on 30+ years of heating with wood stoves. Not Lowe's or Home depot. Cheap ass china made stoves are not worth the scrap price of the metal they are made of...

 

[Fyrebug]

Just to confirm what some of the folks have said here... A wood stove is a 'zone heater' that is, it has no means to transport heat from here to there. You have to look at your layout and determine placement where heat will radiate best. You may want to help it with judicious placement of fans. Also for that kind of square footage you'll probably need 2 stoves.

While I agree with the gentleman who pointed out Jotul makes good stoves you can also get some decent value from big box stores Drolet which we make for example or Englander.

As others pointed out a wood furnace might be your best bet. Check out this thread that I just started. http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/232092.htm

There is an excellent dealer of stoves and furnace in SW PA. I'll PM you the info if you intend on kicking some tires.

All the best!

 

[2rod511]

A wood stove will heat your house just fine. If you get a 'Good' wood stove. It will also burn a lot less wood than a furnace.

Look at the top brand stoves, Jotul would be my choice, based on 30+ years of heating with wood stoves. Not Lowe's or Home depot. Cheap ass china made stoves are not worth the scrap price of the metal they are made of...

A wood stove will heat the area directly around where it is located the remainder of the home will remain cold and that is a fact. A blower or a fan will not push warm air throughout a 3000 sqft house and I will guarantee you of that. I heated with a wood stove for many years and though it did not burn as much wood as my OWB it couldn't keep the house warm either. If you could set a heater of any kind in the middle of your house and circulate the heat throughout there would be no need for ductwork and forced air. A wood stove is the best heat when you are sitting right in front of it, but walk to the other side of the house and tell me how good it feels.

 

[Como]

Depends on the Building etc.

And how even you want the temperature.

I heat 1500 sq ft very comfortably with one stove, but it is tight and well insulated, certainly no passivhouse.

I also have a commercial building with 2 stoves and the stoves mitigate the amount of propane used.

We have hit -40F but usually get a lot of passive solar during the day. This winter has been relatively mild.

I could see a stove heating 3,000 sq ft IF designed to do that. Unlikely to be the case in this situation.

 

[sunfish]

A wood stove will heat the area directly around where it is located the remainder of the home will remain cold and that is a fact. A blower or a fan will not push warm air throughout a 3000 sqft house and I will guarantee you of that. I heated with a wood stove for many years and though it did not burn as much wood as my OWB it couldn't keep the house warm either. If you could set a heater of any kind in the middle of your house and circulate the heat throughout there would be no need for ductwork and forced air. A wood stove is the best heat when you are sitting right in front of it, but walk to the other side of the house and tell me how good it feels.

3000 sq ft is definitely pushing the limit of a single stove.

I personally would rather heat with a stove, so I would figure out a way.

 

[Tree Feller]

I was heating a 2400 sqft house with a single englander stove in the basement for four years. Ths stairs leading up was located right in front og the stove so alot of heat went upstairs. The problem was the stove was in one one of the house so the two bedromms above it was a constant 78 degrees, while the master bedroom and bath on the other end struggled to get to 65. i tried fans a blower on the stove and everything, could not get the air to move evenly. So i put in a OWB last month and i LOVE it. My air handler which was already installed moves the air and heats the house a even 76 degrees no problem. And no mess in the basement and I dont find my self burning anymore wood than i did with the stove! Personally I would go with a OWB. Good Luck!!!

 

[Ironworker]

A wood stove will heat the area directly around where it is located the remainder of the home will remain cold and that is a fact. A blower or a fan will not push warm air throughout a 3000 sqft house and I will guarantee you of that. I heated with a wood stove for many years and though it did not burn as much wood as my OWB it couldn't keep the house warm either. If you could set a heater of any kind in the middle of your house and circulate the heat throughout there would be no need for ductwork and forced air. A wood stove is the best heat when you are sitting right in front of it, but walk to the other side of the house and tell me how good it feels.

I heat my 3200 sq. ft. home with a Lopi Freedom insert with a fan and have no problem what so ever, for a matter of fact once it gets into the mid 30's I don't use the fan.

 

[2rod511]

I heat my 3200 sq. ft. home with a Lopi Freedom insert with a fan and have no problem what so ever, for a matter of fact once it gets into the mid 30's I don't use the fan.

I will take you at your word but I used to use a Craft Stove insert and could not successfully heat my 2000 sqft house. Hell I don't live in New York either I live in NC. An insert won't radiate heat like a free standing stove. There is a lot of heat that comes off the stove pipe too on a free standing stove. I guess it depends on what you consider heating your house. My grand father, father, myself, and many other relatives and friends have both burnt wood either in an insert or free standing stove all my life and none could heat there entire house. There is no way I would recommend anyone who wants to install a wood burning system to put in anything other than a OWB. Who wants to install stove pipe, carry wood and insects inside, clean a chimney or stove pipe, and listen to wife's constant biatching about smell and ashes and dust. Then on top of that it won't even heat your house.

 

[sunfish]

I will take you at your word but I used to use a Craft Stove insert and could not successfully heat my 2000 sqft house. Hell I don't live in New York either I live in NC. An insert won't radiate heat like a free standing stove. There is a lot of heat that comes off the stove pipe too on a free standing stove. I guess it depends on what you consider heating your house. My grand father, father, myself, and many other relatives and friends have both burnt wood either in an insert or free standing stove all my life and none could heat there entire house. There is no way I would recommend anyone who wants to install a wood burning system to put in anything other than a OWB. Who wants to install stove pipe, carry wood and insects inside, clean a chimney or stove pipe, and listen to wife's constant biatching about smell and ashes and dust. Then on top of that it won't even heat your house.

Myself, brother, sister, father, ants, uncles and friends have been heating with free standing wood stoves all our lives. Heats all the houses just fine. Works fine when the electric is down too.

It's cool that you prefer a OWB, but not everybody does. I wouldn't take one for free. :msp_smile:

 

[Chris-PA]

Myself, brother, sister, father, ants, uncles and friends have been heating with free standing wood stoves all our lives. Heats all the houses just fine. Works fine when the electric is down too.

It's cool that you prefer a OWB, but not everybody does. I wouldn't take one for free. :msp_smile:

Well said. We heat our house with free standing wood stoves (a large and a small). We disconnected the old oil fired system a couple of years ago, so we have no back up but some space heaters. We use the air handler from the old system to distribute the heat, but we don't have to really. The power goes out here often, and while we have a generator I like that my heat requires nothing but wood. I would never want the complexity of a OWB or a furnace. Passive radiant heat is the attraction for me.

 

[sunfish]

Well said. We heat our house with free standing wood stoves (a large and a small). We disconnected the old oil fired system a couple of years ago, so we have no back up but some space heaters. We use the air handler from the old system to distribute the heat, but we don't have to really. The power goes out here often, and while we have a generator I like that my heat requires nothing but wood. I would never want the complexity of a OWB or a furnace. Passive radiant heat is the attraction for me.

Right on bro! We much prefer radiant heat around here. Only fan used is a ceiling fan.
Works great!

 

[Encore]

I've done both the stove and the OWB. Currently all we use is the OWB.

I loved the stove. Loved having the fire going, the nice toasty living room and the fact like you guys said, it's quiet and simple.

What wasn't simple was running the fire during the milder times or when I wasn't home for long periods of time. My wife and I are very involved in athletics so we are gone sometimes all day - read 18hrs. So coming home late and having to start a fire just to get the house up to 60 degrees sucked.

My wife also has pretty significant asthma so the dry air was a problem as was the dust, but we managed.

The OWB alleviated all of that. We could program the thermostat to kick on 30min before we got home, house is warm, humid heat. No worry about the burn times since we can load about once every 24hrs to 36hrs. Mess is outside. However it is indeed a lot more complicated than a wood stove. To a certain extent I guess. But once you understand how it all works and how to maintain everything, it's actually been less of a hassle than my indoor stove is. I load it once at night and button it up until the next day. That's it. The wood is piled right next to it so it's not a big deal. The stove literally takes care of itself right now.

End of burning season we'll have some maintance stuff but nothing really time consuming.

The key is finding a setup that fits both your lifestyle and makes you happy. We all work way too hard to be unsatisfied with the final product that we use at the end of the day.

 

[2rod511]

I am not saying there is anything wrong with a wood stove but when me and my wife first bought our house (my grandfather's) and I fired up the insert I knew there had to be a better way. We just had our second child in October and there is no way I could of built the back bedroom into a nursery without the heat an OWB provides. How much experience do you guys have with an OWB have you ever felt the heat that it produces? It is about as complex as your cars radiator. Transfer heat from water to air. It feels like wood stove heat coming through your vents. I have lived in my home with both systems installed, and there is no way you could walk into my house and honestly say it was more comfortable before I installed the OWB. Do you guys cool your house with a window unit or a forced air AC system? Or do you just open the refrigerator door and let the cool air radiate throughout your house?

 

[tramp bushler]

I think they call that a refrigerator infraction . .