Install wood stove?? Yay or Nay?

[big brown horse]

Funny you should mention how dirty wood stoves can be...

Last night I forgot to shut the doors on mine and I came home this afternoon (after a good wind storm) to find the floor full of soot.

I try never to do that except in the summer after it has been cleaned out then I open the door to create a thermal updraft pulling all the hot air out of the room, but don't leave it open all day because it will ultimately pull in hot air from outside.

Hey, that is a great tip!!

Yeah, I usually close the doors for the night, last night was a forgetful mistake.

 

[dacjohns]

For all intents and purposes fossil fuels are a non renewable resource and extracting them causes great damage to the earth.

 

[xpc]

For all intents and purposes fossil fuels are a non renewable resource and extracting them causes great damage to the earth.

Yes sir I agree that certain ways of harvesting our necessities are worse then others but also keep in mind that humans are also a product of the earth and what we do should be considered part of the natural environment. Just as worms or sharks know nothing about the impact it has on the world neither do humans, apart from a few limited skewed studies which seemingly always make the accuser a multimillionaire while I have to live in a cave so they can heat their mansion with 100 dollar bills. Note: just because we think we are smart doesn't ... there is a lot going on that we have no clue about.

This is not a political or religious rant but more so an objective point of view whereas subjectivity is akin to modern day ultra-liberal political correctness and will rue the day. Our existence on earth be it evolutionary or by divine intervention will work out one way or another, it might not be what we want but it will. A volcano or earthquake can easily do more damage in mere minutes compared to what humans can do in a century but the earth by and large always prevails.

Not an excuse to run amok and do wanton damage for the sheer sake of it but more so as a gauge of what real little impact we have on this earth - greed and fear feeds a fire that will destroy the human race, not coal or oil.

This is my opinion and is just as worthless as any famous actor or singer who made their million$ by naivety or gore-cion (coercion). To prove my sincerity here is a song I totally agree with.

http://placetocrash.com/xpc/files/music/done_deal.mp3

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Our house used to be heated using propane and a central heater, but that propane tank would be about $900 to fill up. So we switched to using our stand alone woodburn stove. Fill it to the brim with logs, get it going well, and then closing and latching the door only allowing a minimal amount of air in and it will heat all night with enough red hot pieces to get it going again in the morning. Stick a $20 box fan pointed at it, and the entire house stays warm and toasty and I believe we have a good 1200 sq ft or more.

Growing up, my parents had a stand alone that had a built in fan. It was amazing how much heat it would give off. With the fan on, the wood burn stove made it literally unbearable to be in the same room with it. So most of the time, we left the force air fan off and simply used a box fan and the ceiling fan.

When my husband and I ever build our house, my husband and I would both want a gas fireplace. His grandparents have one and it's just so conveniant, a fireplace with a thermostat. I'm sure we could fit in a woodburn stove somewhere in the house, I love the antique look many of them have. They look great and work well, just love them.

 

[FarmerChick]

yea XPC---a coal stove must be purchased for coal. I think now they have wood and coal stoves for combined use. If I bought a wood stove, I would get one rated for coal use also.


I have a propane fireplace and like Wolf-Kim said, it has a theromstat built in which shuts off the flame when it hits 72. I do like that feature of controlling the heat.

I have been run out of a room with a wood stove...hahaha...that heat can get sweltering..lol




We have coal trains going on the tracks all the time here. WOW--they are long and packed with coal. And they run constantly. Every time I get stuck at one at the crossing, watch all that coal go by, I think of PA and our stove..HA HA

 

[xpc]

I love a wood burning fireplace. I feel guilty using one though. Here in Colorado we have a lot of days in the winter when they are prohibited. They do have a rather high carbon footprint. Just in case you are not aware, don't burn the rot resistant treated wood.

Yes sir and to the rest of you that means pressure treated yellow lumber, gray green with time.

 

[xpc]

I have been run out of a room with a wood stove...hahaha...that heat can get sweltering..lol

We have coal trains going on the tracks all the time here. WOW--they are long and packed with coal. And they run constantly. Every time I get stuck at one at the crossing, watch all that coal go by, I think of PA and our stove..HA HA

Having your windows open in January while you prance around in your shorty shorts might just be a sight to see, are the neighbors giving you free wood by chance? What does Freud say about that coal train?

 

[FarmerChick]

LOL-LOL

and I don't have a clue about what Freud might say...HA HAHA

I know it is a LONG wait for that train to go by and if I see that train before I get to that crossing---I go the other way!

 

[Farmfresh]

We have the perfect overheated control in our house.

We have a 1 1/2 story bungalow with the stairs going up located in our dining room and concealed with a door. If the main house ever gets too hot we simply open that door for a while and allow extra heat upstairs since hot air rises!

Right now since the only thing upstairs is my sewing room we usually keep that door shut when it is really cold outside. When the girls were still at home we would simply open the door in the afternoon and their bedroom (while not toasty) would be quite comfortable by bedtime.

This also works with out house in the summer. We have a opening roof window upstairs in the bedroom. With that open a couple of box fans in the gable end windows and the stair door open, the whole house is easily cooled off by simply opening a few windows on the main floor.

It really pays to live in a house built BEFORE air conditioning! They are designed for good air flow. Since my house is a Craftsman style it was also built to take advantage of the sun in winter and has large overhanging rafters to shade windows in summer. During that time period in building people seemed to be especially in touch with nature and natural cycles. Fresh air and sunshine were biggies.

I just wish I could pick this old house up and move it onto about 20 acres in the country!

 

[xpc]

You got everything right, I think Nifty posted a thread about whole house fans a while back and they are truly amazing even if using simple window fans instead. Like you said the old craftsman knew what they were doing and is also why most older homes have double hung windows - you open the top of one and the lower of another and you have natural air conditioning.