Home heating suggestions...

[Viper21]

Wow... a ton of information here, although a challenge to find a situation identical to mine. Thought a thread asking might get some with much more knowledge than myself to chime in.

For starters Im in the thinking about it stage. I know I want to upgrade/do something different yet, don't really have a clue what the "right" way to go is for my situation.

For starters, my situation: My home is roughly 1800sq ft. 1 level. 1200 ft of that, is over a crawl space, 600 ft is slab on grade. It is probably the last house I will ever live in. So, Im looking for a permanent fix, 20-30yrs.

when built (20yrs ago), the only heat in the home was electric base boards. Yuck. Very unfriendly to the wallet. I live in the Mountains of Virginia. It definitely gets cold in the winter, but not Canadian cold, or Rocky Mountains cold. Typical winter has a few single digit days, & plenty of days below freezing. When I bought the house 10yrs ago, I didn't really worry about the heat situation as I didn't live here full time. Was strictly a vacation home. Well.... 3 yrs ago, we moved permanent. I immediately put a wood stove in. A jotul. It is centrally located in the main part of the house. It does alright. It only struggles when it's bitter cold outside but overall, have been happy with the purchase. Now.....

The negative to the wood stove is, it doesn't get some of the far reaching rooms in the house. ie: my bedroom is on the other side of the house, in the 600sq ft area with no crawl space. I have to have a space heater going in this room at night. In addition, on of the bedrooms in the other corner of the house is pretty cold too.

Did I mention that I have no duct work in my house currently. Let alone a furnace, or heat pump/ac. Im thinking I want an outdoor wood burner. Handling, & or supplying wood is zero problem. Although, admittedly I am intrigued by the wood furnace. I just don't know what would work best, long term, for my situation.

I've even thought about, putting duct work in my crawl space to get the 1200 sq ft portion of the home, & can even get the slab portion on one side as it is below floor height of the main house. I've had recommendations to simply put in a heat pump, & keep my wood stove as is & between the two should find that balance of heating the whole house yet, keeping operating costs down. Admittedly, that doesn't sound bad but, I've thought that the wood burner outside would achieve that, & some other benefits like, hot water, even heat, etc.

To bite the bullet & spend 10k would be tough. I'd probably have to do it the American way, & finance it. At this point, Im just looking for ideas, suggestions, or opinions, on what would be practical, yet most comfortable in the long run. Im a pretty handy guy (roofing contractor) but, would probably hire out the installation of any system, as I have zero experience with any of this stuff.

Wood burner, wood furnace, heat pump, what do you think..?

Thanks.

 

[stihly dan]

From the sounds of it a multi head low temp ductless split would be perfect for you. They also have a hot water tank to make free hot water in the summer. Then you have ac and added heat if you need it. plus heat for if you go away in the winter.

 

[Viper21]

From the sounds of it a multi head low temp ductless split would be perfect for you. They also have a hot water tank to make free hot water in the summer. Then you have ac and added heat if you need it. plus heat for if you go away in the winter.

I have no idea what you just said. a multi head low temp ductless split...... I don't speak that language. Could you dumb it down for me please.... Thanks

 

[Ironworker]

How much wood are you burning in your stove, what I mean is, are you putting a lot of wood in the stove for a long hot fire and how hot are you getting the stove.

 

[Cheesecutter]

If you have to retrofit the whole house, ductwork will be expensive. I would do radiant if you choose an OWB. In floor where you have crawl space and radiator style in the room with the slab. That said, I don't think think $10k will be enough especially if you hire out the install.

 

[Viper21]

How much wood are you burning in your stove, what I mean is, are you putting a lot of wood in the stove for a long hot fire and how hot are you getting the stove.

Yeah I am. I usually keep the stove going continuous. As I type this, it's probably been two months since it's been out. If it's real cold, I will pump the wood in it. I burn mostly red oak, & white oak. At night, I will cram as much as I can in there. As long as it's good seasoned wood, I'll have a bed of coals left in the morning. Simply throw a couple logs in, & she's back in business.

 

[Viper21]

If you have to retrofit the whole house, ductwork will be expensive. I would do radiant if you choose an OWB. In floor where you have crawl space and radiator style in the room with the slab. That said, I don't think think $10k will be enough especially if you hire out the install.

Hmmmmm...... hadn't thought of radiant.

 

[stihly dan]

They are heat pumps that don't need ductwork. Small cassette that mounts on the wall. You can have many cassettes to 1 outside unit. They modulate so they are very efficient.

 

[greenskeeper]

Is the house all on one level? I had a similar issue with my 1st house. It was a raise rancher and the woodstove wouldn't heat the bedrooms (3) in the house. What I ended up doing was running insulated duct in the attic from above the woodstove in the living room to a distribution box and then to each bedroom. I moved the air with those "booster fans" that are installed in-line with the duct and run off of 110v. I put one above the stove "supply" vent and the other 3 in-line to each bedroom. I even put the fans on a timer switch for overnight hours so that when the stove died down I wasn't pushing unheated air.

Total cost was under $300 and was a significant improvement to getting heat to the bedrooms.

The fans were similar to this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Suncourt-Inductor-6-in-In-Line-Duct-Fan-DB206/100067594#specifications

 

[Viper21]

Is the house all on one level? I had a similar issue with my 1st house. It was a raise rancher and the woodstove wouldn't heat the bedrooms (3) in the house. What I ended up doing was running insulated duct in the attic from above the woodstove in the living room to a distribution box and then to each bedroom. I moved the air with those "booster fans" that are installed in-line with the duct and run off of 110v. I put one above the stove "supply" vent and the other 3 in-line to each bedroom. I even put the fans on a timer switch for overnight hours so that when the stove died down I wasn't pushing unheated air.

Total cost was under $300 and was a significant improvement to getting heat to the bedrooms.

The fans were similar to this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Suncourt-Inductor-6-in-In-Line-Duct-Fan-DB206/100067594#specifications

That's a brilliant low cost solution. How many fans did you put inline..? One for each bedroom ?

Not the permanent solution Im wanting but, certainly sounds like something I could do NOW, & bridge the gap to the permanent system.

 

[greenskeeper]

That's a brilliant low cost solution. How many fans did you put inline..? One for each bedroom ?

Not the permanent solution Im wanting but, certainly sounds like something I could do NOW, & bridge the gap to the permanent system.

I put one fan between the "intake" above the stove and the distribution box in the attic, and then one fan between the box and each bedroom (total of 4)

 

[Viper21]

I put one fan between the "intake" above the stove and the distribution box in the attic, and then one fan between the box and each bedroom (total of 4)

Cool man. I might try that. Im still thinking about a outdoor burner but, this might be able to help my immediate need. Thanks for the tip.

 

[BeatCJ]

Is the house all on one level? I had a similar issue with my 1st house. It was a raise rancher and the woodstove wouldn't heat the bedrooms (3) in the house. What I ended up doing was running insulated duct in the attic from above the woodstove in the living room to a distribution box and then to each bedroom. I moved the air with those "booster fans" that are installed in-line with the duct and run off of 110v. I put one above the stove "supply" vent and the other 3 in-line to each bedroom. I even put the fans on a timer switch for overnight hours so that when the stove died down I wasn't pushing unheated air.

Total cost was under $300 and was a significant improvement to getting heat to the bedrooms.

I guess I don't see why that wouldn't be a permanent solution? My contractor installed heat pump is ducted in the attic space. Poorly (cheaply done by a builder's sub) done install, I need booster fans in that. My air movement is piss poor, even when cooling with my central system air handler. I think done right, something like this would deal with the same issue for me, 1600 sf on my upper floor. My biggest problem is my 3 bedrooms are off an L shaped hall. For temporary, a fan moving cool air out of each bedroom makes a significant improvement.

 

[Redhorse]

If you have to retrofit the whole house, ductwork will be expensive. I would do radiant if you choose an OWB. In floor where you have crawl space and radiator style in the room with the slab. That said, I don't think think $10k will be enough especially if you hire out the install.

With this type system you could do the install yourself, especially being a contractor. It would just be the opposite side of the house. This wouldn't have a back up or be a solution for a/c.
For my permanent house I am thinks big of doing radiant heat in crawl space.


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[Viper21]

With this type system you could do the install yourself, especially being a contractor. It would just be the opposite side of the house. This wouldn't have a back up or be a solution for a/c.
For my permanent house I am thinks big of doing radiant heat in crawl space.

I hear ya. Not a bad idea. When I think about radiant.... I think I could/would probably tackle the install myself. It can't be any harder than the water lines, & other plumbing I've done on my house.

As far as a backup.... well, the wood stove in my living room would be great for that...lol. A/C... not a concern. The way my house is layed out, it stays pretty cool in the summer. I have a window unit I put on one side, & cools the house really well. In fact, if you are on top of the windows, ie: opening at night, closing in the morning, the house stays pretty comfortable. Really only run the a/c a couple weeks out of the summer, when at it's hottest.

 

[Redhorse]

Wood is my only heat source also. Radiantec has supply's and baffles to put pipe between floor joists


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[VW Splitter]

I have a system simular to Greenskeeper's system. Duct work in the attic. Intake right above the woodstove, where the house is the hottest. Mine has a inline booster fan in the large duct before it splits off to the 2 back bed rooms. One switch to turn it on. Blows a gental warm air breeze as long as switch is on. Our master bed room is 1 wall away from the den where the wood stove is. I have a thru the wall fan, up high, near the ceiling, in that wall that will blow the warm air into the master bed room. We only use the fans if it gets really cold, (down in the teens).We like it cooler in the bed rooms. 67 degrees is the perfect sleeping temp. Den & kitchen average around 75 degrees. Cheep to install, cheep to operate. Thats me, cheep. Water is hooked up to the wood stove also, for some cheep hot water.

 

[Viper21]

Got some inline fans, duct, etc today. Hope to have it installed tomorrow. I'm curious to see how it works in these back bedrooms.

 

[BeatCJ]

Me too, keep us posted. A line voltage thermostat would work well to shut off the fan, so you don't create drafts. Set it to cool, and about 72°.

 

[Viper21]

Got it installed today. Put an intake in the ceiling above my stove, ran flex duct to two bedrooms that were really cold. Had it fired up for about an hour now. So far the temp in the coldest bedroom has come up 13 degrees.

The thermostat isn't a bad idea. I actually put my fans (3 total) on a switch in the hallway going into the two historically cold bedrooms. One of the switches in the hallway was going to a wall light fixture that is non-existent now, so I repurposed the switch to turn the fans on/off. Worked out pretty slick. I'm curious to see how well it works.