Hi, We are considering buying an outdoor wood stove, like a Taylor. Can you all list the pros and cons of heating our home this way? thanks Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), January 18, 2001

Answers

Mary,

I am NOT an encyclopedia of knowledge here, but I'll tell you about the two outdoor wood stoves that I have known.

The first one was at Penial Bible Church where I went to church as a kid. It was a large wood stove purchased used from a university, and moved. The church built a brick house for it, and had a wrapped heat vent that went from the stove building (10 foot from the church) into the church. It ate a LOT of wood, but the church wan't real little. I know it could accept much bigger logs than a house stove, which meant less work, and less filling. If filled totally, it would burn for only 15 hours, which didn't seem like alot consdering the size of the moster. So I guess the up side is less filling with logs needing less work.

The down side I know came from the stove that my folks replaced the one that used to be in the house with. It was also an older stove, bought used. It could accept logs up to 4 ft long, so the extra chopping and splitting were not needed. The down side was that the stove needed a fan to force the air into the house. This stove was NOT in it's own building, and was in a corner by the porch of the house, about 4 feet away. The blower stopped one night and mom's house burned down. (The heat build up in the vent is actually what caused the fire, not the stove itself)

I'd say if you can get an outdoor stove, go for it. Put it in it's own building, if you can. And for safety sake, buy an ALARM FOR THE BLOWER FAN, should it stop.

-- Marty Puckett (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 18, 2001.

Don't forget to check out Hoot's web site. Does anybody have a note of the URL? Not something I thought I'd need to remember from here.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), January 18, 2001.

I assume Mary you'll be looking at the hot water type rather than the hot air. If so, we've got a "Johnson energy converter" so called because they're built on the principal of a downdraft gasifier. Theoretically, as a result of burning the gas made from the wood its supposed to use less fuel. To that I say, maybe, maybe not.

We heat a total of about 2300sq ft, including a portion of the basement with in-floor hydronic heat. If I'm not heating the basement when the weather is in the single digits and good, dry hardwood to burn I load the stove twice a day. It takes 26" wood and when I load a two wheel dolly full it will fill the stove. If I heat the basement three loads per day.

In general I like it. Thermostatically controlled heat. No fire or mess in the house. And mechanically its been real good. Downside--- initial cost and to me it seems like it uses alot of wood. Would I do it again? Hmmm? Considering the current cost of Natural gas(Not an option where I live) or propane and fuel oil, I guess so but I wouldn't be thrilled about it.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 18, 2001.

Mary, Hoots addy- www.countryboyenterprises.com I have been looking alot lately. Very costly initial investment. I've looked into 3 different brands all are about 5 grand for a system and installation. I'm holding off as I really don't think I'm going to be here long. Sharon White had an addy for a home built kit. I will look for it. John

-- John in S. IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), January 18, 2001.

I'm not sure about water or hot air. I really don't know the pros and cons of each, but it seems to me from what I've read that the water stove may be a lot of trouble. Is this true? We need to heat 2700 sq feet of house. We don't know much about these stoves, but have seen many of them in our area. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), January 19, 2001.

Mary: To me it seems the water is less trouble because its easier to move the heat around (with relatively small hi-temp plastic pipes and circulating pumps) rather than longish runs of insulated heat duct. To retrofit a water system to an existing forced air system its necessary to install a heat exchanger(radiator kinda thing) into the esisting furnace plenum.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 19, 2001.

Mary, if you are planning on staying in your present home, then the water stoves would pay off better in the long run. You can have all the hot water you want if you hook into the water heater. That there would save a bundle, not to mention the heat for the house.

We got a used forced air wood stove and set it outside, I just love it. But we want to buy 20 acres of woods and start over, so this place is for sale. But if I had the money, and I knew I was staying, I'd go for the good water ones. Our elect. bill is about 50.00 a month year round, and that is mainly the water heater and well pump. We don't use anything else.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 19, 2001.

4 winters ago we purchesed a Lil House outdoor wood furnace . It has been Great . Our home is a bit bigger than the recomended sq. ft . by the makers . ie 2400sq.ft. our home is 2800sq.ft. it is a forced air type . We also have propane back up heat . but in 4 winters we have burned less than $500 in propane . The cost of the furnace at the time was $900 and I now see they are $1100 but from what I have seen with propane prices this winter alone it would have paid for its self . It will take a 30'' stick of wood that is 8'' in diameter . I only have to load it 2x per day .

-- Lee (sgrmtn@moaccess.com), January 20, 2001.

Hey Lee, do they have a web site? I havn't heard of those. Those are about 1/2 the cost of the cheapest I've found.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 20, 2001.

O.K. now I have a question, don't all these outside ones need electricity to run them, or am I just not understanding them. How much electricity?? Are you all using generators for the needed electric when your power goes out?

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 20, 2001.

Hubby is sitting right here and I asked him the pros and cons of our outside wood stove. W've had ours(Central Boiler)for quite a few years. He said that one of the cons is that unless you install a thermostat in the house, you have to go outside to see the temperature of the water. I can see, with ours, when the furnace is starting to drop in temperature. A pro is that wood is cheap. Ours is the hot water type and we have cheap hot water to use. For me, being handicapped, it is difficult for me to get to in the Winter. When husband isn't home and the furnace drops down, I switch to oil and put on an extra sweater!

-- Ardie from WI (A6203@hotmail.com), January 20, 2001.

Diane: Yeah, you do need electricity to operate them. Mine has an induced draft combustion blower which is aquastatically controlled to keep the water temp at 180 degrees F. Plus there is a minimum of one circulating pump which is a very small, fractional horsepower motor. Not all boilers have a combustion blower as far as I know but they all have at least one circulation pump. We had just moved into our new place, Jan of 99 and got the boiler operational Dec. 99. In anticipation of Y2k and eventually an alternative energy set=up we bit the bullet and put in the infrastructure for a 45oo watt, 48 volt system with a trace inverter and battery backup. If the power goes out there's enuf juice in the battery to operate the house for about 12 hrs. Then we have to charge the battery with a back=up generator- about 4 hrs for a full charge. Otherwise if there is a short power failure the system will automatically recharge the battery when the grid comes back up.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 21, 2001.

Mary, we have a Taylor water stove and very satisfied with it. cost just at $5,000 installed, about 2,600 if you install yourself. heats all the hot water we need (4- kids) and keeps the house warm. got a lot of free wood only spent $60.00 on wood so far this year.

-- Bruce Burdge (comfreybruce@richmond.com), January 22, 2001.

Cindy , Sorry it took so long to get back to you . I do not think they have a website but will this eve. after work find the info and post it for you .

-- Lee (sgrmtn@moaccess.com), January 25, 2001.

We have heated with wood for 25 years, graduating from an airtight in the living room, to a good wood furnace in the basement, to a Hardy outdoor furnace. The airtight used less wood, but the heat was uneven, being HOT in the living and COLD in the perimeter rooms. The basement furnace was even heat throughout the house, thermostatic control, but it was still dirty, still brought in bugs, and lots of labor getting the wood in the basement window. It was showing signs of wear when we put in the Hardy. The Hardy is 40 feet from the house, stainless steel, has an ash removal door (which I recommend) and requires attention no more than twice a day in miserable weather. It seems to burn the same amount of wood that the old basement furnace used, but the hot domestic water is an added benefit. The company recommends not putting it inside a building, since the stainless steel weathers well. The electrical requirements are a drawback in a power outage, but the low amperage draw is easily handled with a minimal generator. The complete system cost us $4200 in 1998. My greatest thrill with this furnace always comes when I back a bulging trailer load of firewood up to it, unhook from the tractor, and walk in the house! You don't even unload the wood from the trailer!! Imagine how much labor is saved by taking the wood straight from the trailer into the furnace! We don't even cover the trailer - just thump the wood on the ground to dislodge the snow and pitch it in the furnace! As you can see, I'm enthused with this thing. Sorry for the long post.

-- Paul Hoyt (hoyt@egyptian.net), March 24, 2001.

I am building a new house. It is approx. 5200 sq. ft. finished. I purchased a Woodmaster outdoor wood furnance. This is a water type. I put the plastic piping in my basement floor and I also installed a 140,000 BTU heat exchanger in my ductwork for the upstairs. I also have the hot water being heated. I am very happy with this set up. It stays around 75-80 degrees in the basement on the coldest days. The upstairs stays at whatever I set the thermostat to. I am so happy with this investment that I decided to become a dealer in their product. I only fill the stove once a day. Woodmaster has about four different sizes and many extras to suit what you need. If you need anymore information about water type wood stoves, just email me and I can help.

-- Jeff Wallendorff (jwallend@coin.org), April 16, 2001.