Which wood heater ?

[RWDitto]

Need suggestions for the best wood heater to heat 1100 sf. house. Would like one with fan and front glass. There are so many on the market, but I would like a suggestion from someone who lives with one.

 

[Britesea]

I don't have one, but I do have a suggestion to help with the heat... those little fans that fit in a doorway are a great way to move air (cool or warm) around the house.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Need suggestions for the best wood heater to heat 1100 sf. house. Would like one with fan and front glass. There are so many on the market, but I would like a suggestion from someone who lives with one.

We have a Dutch West by Vermont Casting and it heats our 1560sq ft house really nice it's our main source of heat. and if needed you can cook on it. an in it of course. Has a fan and glass front too. We had a Fisher Grandpa before this one and it was a really good wood burner too but they don't have fans but you could still probably find used ones for sale even though they don't make them anymore, we just used a circulating fan behind it to move the heat.

 

[Amiga]

I have an Intrepid II, Vermont Casting (hi, ML!)

All that Miss Lydia said, above. The fan we use is powered by a thermocouple - the difference in temperature between the base and the top makes electricity (yes, really, you can look it up), and the fan turns once the stove top hits about 250˚F.

That said, I have discovered, through my Permaculture Design class, that there is a very old technology that I feel has been under-appreciated in the extreme in our cooler climate.

It goes by a number of names and there are some differences (some are less efficient).

Kachelofen, kang, pystyuuni or kaakeliuuni, masonry stove, masonry heater, ceramic stove, tile stove, steinofen, kakelugn, mass heater.

I just met a fellow - a stone mason - who built his own. Thirty years ago he built his own, it still runs fine. Uses a couple of armloads of firewood. A day. To heat his house. For 12 to 24 hours.

I want this!!

So we aim to visit his oven - I mean, him - and get the scoop. One of the first things he said was, "I can get you the plans, and you can hire someone to build it, but if the procedure is not followed to the letter each step of the way, it won't work."

I pass this sage advice along. They must be built properly. They will last for over a generation if done right. And if done right, no creosote. No charcoal. The fire chamber gets hot, hot hot. Then the heat flows through a chimney that goes back and forth and back and forth through the masonry, coming out when it is perhaps 100˚F. The heat is stored by the masonry, which is never too hot to touch.

His house is bigger than our 1100 sf, and his stove is about 2 ft wide, 5 ft long and I think 5 or 6 feet tall. Maybe just 4 feet tall.

 

[sumi]

That sounds great, Amiga. I'd love see pics and plans for something like this. The low fuel usage is VERY appealing! DH I spent an awful lot of time collecting, sawing and splitting wood for our wood burner in Ireland and it never got far with heating the house.

 

[Amiga]

I just found this from a web search - haven't even read the whole thing but I like the photo of the masonry heater.
http://www.shelterbuild.com/2010/03/intro-to-masonry-heaters.html

And this one is what I have in mind especially

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...wood-burning-kitchen-stove.aspx#axzz36c9l5hB0

 

[Denim Deb]

I like the looks of both of those, Amiga. I ever build my dream house, I think I'm going to see about adding this in.

 

[Britesea]

If you are a fan of Russian fairy tales you might be familiar with this concept as well. I remember being amazed at the stories that told of the lazy youngest son who spent all his time sleeping on top of the stove until I found out what kind of stove it was...

 

[Denim Deb]

Depending on how he slept, he could have been baking his buns.

 

[elwood]

I am looking at outdoor wood furnaces myself and there are some that are super efficient. http://www.centralboiler.com/home.html

they claim that you load them once a day.....