new woodstove ordered

[Hank Chinaski]

part 1,348 of why my son is the smartest kid in the world:

I'm doing sheetrock removal for a fireplace, using a utility knife, hammer, crowbar etc.

5 y/o son Alex: You could do that MUCH faster with your chainsaw.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

so, I found something nearing the suckage level of sheetrock: inner pipes that aren't connected to the outter pipes while 30' long.

so, when you combine them into the same project, it reaches true PITA levels.

here's the hole wider to un-nail the fireplace:

here's the hole at pretty close the final size (84"x54"), still got a few 2x's to re arrange, and after we wrastled with that friggin pipe.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

an update and some more pics...

Didn't get enough pics of the "inbetween" steps, but you can kinda figure it out.

Working w/fake rocks and mortar sucks almost as bad as sheetrock work... almost.


Insulated, then cement board, then aluminum mesh:

Starting of tile floor laid directly on cement slab:

Tile done, scratch coat cement done:

here's where I was too busy living the suck to take pics and now your left with an "almost done" pic
of the first burn in fire:

^ someone's happy to have a fire goin'

Initially V E R Y happy with the output/efficiency vs the crappy open fire place that it replaced.

Plan to put up a walnut stained 1x8 frame around the opening in the wall for now, and finish the transition strips between the tile/flooring and call it done for now. I'll try to get some larger scale ( backed up ) pics for ya'll.
Plans in Spring include massive mantle/book case/wood storage/window seating built in assembly for that wall. It's a huge wall that needs something big on it and I think I've got it figured out, but it's going to wait till Springtime.

 

[Toxic2]

Looks good man..Very nice job on the culture stone and a good job tooling joints from what i see..Do you find it warms the stone up much? I have a brick chimney running through the middle of my house and it starts to radiate a small amount of heat after a few days of straight burning with the basement stove..

I would have cut a smaller chunk off of each tile on the side and left the middle full but i am a setter by trade so that stuff just pops out at me..LOL

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Looks good man..Very nice job on the culture stone and a good job tooling joints from what i see..Do you find it warms the stone up much? I have a brick chimney running through the middle of my house and it starts to radiate a small amount of heat after a few days of straight burning with the basement stove..

I would have cut a smaller chunk off of each tile on the side and left the middle full but i am a setter by trade so that stuff just pops out at me..LOL

Thanks! I'm a lazy ass by trade, so cutting the middle tile once was much better to me than cutting twice as many outside tiles lol

I worked from the rear to the front, and the center front tile was the worst one of the entire friggin bunch, not to mention I was tired/sore/aching and gimpy.

It's only the second tile job I've done, and the other was kitchen counter tops that I had to cut every singe friggin tile (at least I had a wetsaw).

The rock on the sides hasn't gotten warm enough that I can't hold my hand comfortably for any amount of time... on most of it I'd est 90* or so, warm, not hot, but maybe 20* or so hotter in a 6" ban the level of the fan that blows the air across the top of the stove

 

[howard270]

Sure looks good. Was wondering how the project was coming yesterday. Now I know. Congrats on the wood heat you got going. I really like my Osburn 2400 insert, but it hasn't been cold enough here to really test it out yet. It is 34 degrees outside now and I have 2 windows and a door open to cool it down just so I can keep a fire going tonight. And I do not run my blower, just radiant heat.

Thanks for the pics and update!

 

[atvguns]

Awesome job looks great

 

[Hank Chinaski]

First impression, first fire:

Think I'm going to love it. I'll wait till it cools down and kiss it before hand... :msp_w00t:

Still have to experiment with settings on the fan/stove/ceiling fans etc to get "the best" heat circulation etc, but I'm in an all elec house with a massive airspace front room (vaulted ceilings) and the house is approx 1800 sq ft.

Temps yesterday were low/mid 50's during the day, 38*f at night.

Averg night would be: Elec thermostat set at 72*, would kick on heat unit on/off cycling approx ever 45min/hour and run for 20-30 min.

Last night at 9:30, I had a good bed of coals, and tossed on a couple medium sized oak logs to make a "medium" sized fire. I had the damper set to medium on the stove, and one of two ceiling fans on low, second one off.
My master bathroom is usually the warmest room in the house due to shortest run to heat/air unit trunk line, and where I keep our indoor/outdoor thermometer. The bathroom is also the farthest from the woodstove. The thermostat for the heat/air is in the hall, approx 35 feet from the wood stove.
@ 9:30, temp outside 39*
temp in bathroom 67*
temp in hall at thermostat 78* (excellent)
thermostat set at 72*, and didn't come on until around 3:30-4am as best I could tell.
left the fan on the woodstove set to low all night and one ceiling fan on low all night.

Osburn 2400 had a decent bed of coals left this morning and the top was still plenty hot.

I anticipate this is going to save us a lot of money and pay for itself in a few short years (plus save my back from using less wood).
I'll report back on $ energy savings off the elec. bill after we get a couple months use out of it and have the settings better.

 

[Fyrebug]

Congrats! it looks great.

 

[MN Ripper]

Turned out great-thanks for following up! Its an investment I'm sure you'll be happy with for years to come.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

prob last couple pics for awhile.

The surround/frame:

To show a little bit of scale to the wall:

I didn't leave enough room for the tile/woodfloor transitions, so I'm going to have to go in and trim out the floor, which is a pita and will prob wait for a while.

Thanks for all the compliments and for those following my install...

 

[mitch95100]

Heat! Now what's the hose for?? :msp_confused:

Celebrating out of a keg?

 

[Old Feller]

Thanks for posting looks great!

 

[Misfit138]

Great job.
Just beautiful.

 

[sunfish]

Lookin good man!!!

 

[Locust Cutter]

prob last couple pics for awhile.

The surround/frame:

To show a little bit of scale to the wall:

I didn't leave enough room for the tile/woodfloor transitions, so I'm going to have to go in and trim out the floor, which is a pita and will prob wait for a while.

Thanks for all the compliments and for those following my install...

Awesome job Man! Looks wonderful. If i had the room, I'd love to do something like that, but my ceilings are too' low to make it worth while. I would like to do an insulated 45 degree alcove/stove install in my dining rm. the my old farm house (well half of it anyway) was built in 188 and is insulated about the same. It's also a bout 2700sqft, so heating is a PITA. My P.E. T6 is awesome, but I will be putting in a 2nd stove and am debating between a 2400 and a V.C. Defiant,... We'll see what the the $$$ situation is, as I need a trailer and a S.S.-HD first.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

I know it's not scientific testing, but wanted to pass on my first month's findings so far.

In November 2010 electric cycle showed 2449Kwh's, and 2011 showed 1389Kwh's.

SO, without conducting an actual weather comparison, and assuming relatively similar family electric usages, initially it looks like we've saved close to 31% off our electric bill (should be 44%, but accounts for 3!!!! price increases in the last year). The bill for 2011 also includes running the woodstove blower and two ceiling fans that weren't used much at all in 2010.

gut feeling is it's about right as our electric heat isn't usually kicking on until very early morning (around 3-5 a.m.). I'm still playing with all the variables trying to get the most efficiency out of it, so I expect it to get a little better.

Overall, I'm VERY happy to have switched from our open fireplace to our woodstove. It was worth all the $ and effort and I'd highly recommend it.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Nice install and very good to hear it's saving you money. The recessed surround looks very nice.

Since I installed my wood furnace this fall, I haven't used any electric heat. The breakers are shut off to all of them in case the wife gets lazy and doesn't want to add wood to the fire. :msp_tongue:

Gotta love burning wood.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

got this reply on another site, Fyrebug (and others) is there any validity to the issues listed here:

I'm guessing you alredy checked with the manuf. on this. I am pretty sure your Heatilator SL series pipe is not approved to hook to a woodstove and pretty sure Osburn says their stove should be hooked to a 6" Class A 2100 deg pipe not an aircooled 1700 deg pipe that is really only approved to attach to the starting collar on a Heatilator brand fireplace. Not trying to piss in your wheaties, as it appears you did a good job on the rest, just dont want to see you get screwed if you were to have a problem down the road, both Heatilator and Osburn would throw you under the bus to your insurance company for a non approved install. If you already checked with the 2 manuf. and they said it was OK I would make sure you had it in writing. If it doesnt matter to you forget what I said, I also am not saying it wont "work" just giving you an idea of what will likely happen if you have a problem, I've seen it before.Just my .02.

 

[Fyrebug]

got this reply on another site, Fyrebug (and others) is there any validity to the issues listed here:

I'm guessing you alredy checked with the manuf. on this. I am pretty sure your Heatilator SL series pipe is not approved to hook to a woodstove and pretty sure Osburn says their stove should be hooked to a 6" Class A 2100 deg pipe not an aircooled 1700 deg pipe that is really only approved to attach to the starting collar on a Heatilator brand fireplace. Not trying to piss in your wheaties, as it appears you did a good job on the rest, just dont want to see you get screwed if you were to have a problem down the road, both Heatilator and Osburn would throw you under the bus to your insurance company for a non approved install. If you already checked with the 2 manuf. and they said it was OK I would make sure you had it in writing. If it doesnt matter to you forget what I said, I also am not saying it wont "work" just giving you an idea of what will likely happen if you have a problem, I've seen it before.Just my .02.

Air cooled chimney's are not approved in Canada. But they are in the USA. For wood stoves the only requirements is the chimney be 2,100F certified, UL certified and tested, Local, regional, state code is approved and you're good to go.

The brand and model makes a difference for Zero-clearance fireplaces. Then you need to ensure your chimney has been tested and approved for that particular appliance.