wood furnace for a new house

[muddstopper]

My wife and I have been planning on a new house for several years now. As things always go, a few things have not been finalized yet when it comes to plans. One thing I want is a wood stove in the living room. Not settled on any particular model, but the stove would be mainly for looks, but has to certainly be functional. Hauling wood inside makes a mess. I plan to heat the house with a wood furnace of some sort that will be located in the garage. This way I can haul wood in the garage and keep the mess out of the house. Furnace has to be able to heat water. I wont consider a outdoor burner, dont like em, wont fool with them, your not going to change my mind, so I dont need a discussion of how much everybody else likes theirs. I would like to hear about wood furnaces from owners. I will be heating about 1100 sqft total living space, with a pretty open floor plan, 2bed, 2bath, so It wont take a very big furnace.

My current setup is a old smoke dragon located in my basement. I built a copper heat exchanger and mounted on the side of the stove to heat my hotwater. It works very well to keep the house warm as well as my water hot. I only get hot water in the winter, but it save me about $50 month in electricity when the stove is burning. There are no blowers of any type on my stove, but I do have a floor vent that lets hot air up into the house. Like others, I have a few rooms that dont get as warm as others. My new House wont have a basement, but it will have a crawl space. Forced air thru regular ducting from a wood furnace should keep all the rooms heated evenly. I will also have a electric heat pump for those days when its just to warm to keep a fire, but to cold not to have a little heat. Main use of heat pump will be for the AC, not the heat. I also have plans for alternative heating and cooling using solar and geothermal, but those will be installed later on after the house is built. I still have a lot of planning to do to mate everything together, so nothing is set in stone yet.

 

[old CB]

A friend of mine solved the problem of the mess caused by carrying firewood inside. (He's an engineer, so always solving problems.) In several homes he's built, he builds a woodbox into the wall next to the stove. The woodbox has a door to the outside, so he never carries wood through the house, just loads wood into the woodbox from outside. Can't remember, but I think he has inside and outside doors so that he's not introducing cold air to the living area when he's loading the box from outdoors.

CB

 

[dancan]

Ask NSmaple what he's running , I know it's modern , indoors and lotsa water storage .

 

[svk]

My BIL has a wood fireplace in his living room that can be fed from outside on his patio or inside the living room. He also has a heat exchanger in the fireplace that is looped into his hot water system.

 

[NSMaple1]

I have a boiler. Not sure if you want to consider that over a furnace, they are different animals. And 2 - 330 gallon LP tanks for storage. All in my basement with the winters wood. Halfway thru winter 5 with it, no issues & it kicks butt. Won't go further unless asked.

Another comment - I wouldn't short change myself on the space heating side, just to get DHW heating ability. I have an 80 gallon ordinary electric water heater, that I can also heat with wood. I could go a week between burns if I wanted to heat DHW all summer, but I usually don't bother. Not really worth it. Heating it electrically only costs us about $20-25/mo, with $0.18/kwh electricity, so there's not a big cost savings compared to the cost of decent wood plus the bit of extra heat that gets in your house when it's already hot out. $50/mo seems pretty high. Step up to a heat pump water heater, and you would be heating your DHW for $10-20/mo and also providing some dehumidification & nominal a/c at the same time.

If I was building new, I would build something very efficient that didn't take much to heat in the first place, and likely use mini-splits. Plus a wood stove for supplementing. I also considered geothermal but it has huge up front costs that didn't work for me. I have an aversion to duct work - just don't like the stuff. If I wasn't doing a basement, I don't think I would bother with a crawl space either - would just build on a (well insulated underneath) slab.

 

[muddstopper]

A friend of mine solved the problem of the mess caused by carrying firewood inside. (He's an engineer, so always solving problems.) In several homes he's built, he builds a woodbox into the wall next to the stove. The woodbox has a door to the outside, so he never carries wood through the house, just loads wood into the woodbox from outside. Can't remember, but I think he has inside and outside doors so that he's not introducing cold air to the living area when he's loading the box from outdoors.

CB

I have seen several similar setups. My concern is still storeing wood on my deck. I'll look up the house plan and post a link. http://www.homeplans.com/house-plans/hp/homepw26937.html?from=search We plan a few modification to the plan, adding a garage for one, but everything else is pretty close as is. We will be removing the huge fireplace but will be installing a free standing stove in its place. Where the utility room is, is where we will be adding the garage. The laundry room will be moved out to the garage. Wood furnace would be placed in the garage, somewhere.

NS Maple, I am interested in the boiler. I have zero experience around one so anything you can tell me about one would be useful.

I have plans for a very energy efficient house. I plan to use hydro for most of my electrical needs. I will be hooked to the grid, but since they wont buy my power, I dont plan on feeding them any to sell to others. I will also have a solar water heater for summer time hot water and I think I have figured out how to use the creek water for air conditioning. Most of the alternative power and heat sources will be add on's once I have moved into the house, but provisions will be in place for when I have time to do them. I wont be starting construction of the new house until I sell my current home. Needing a place to live will kind of take precedent of getting all the alternative addons in place. I'll be living out of a camper until the house is built. Wifey wont allow for any side projects I am certain.

 

[GM_Grimmy]

NS Maple, I am interested in the boiler. I have zero experience around one so anything you can tell me about one would be useful.

Same as an outdoor one, but smaller and less insulation. If I was building new, I'd go this route. Very expensive to add to an existing house, unless it was already heated by hot water.

 

[muddstopper]

Same as an outdoor one, but smaller and less insulation. If I was building new, I'd go this route. Very expensive to add to an existing house, unless it was already heated by hot water.

sort of what I figured, but wasnt sure. I know a few folks that went to OWB's, they all like them the first year or two and now complain about them. Mostly because of the upfront cost, which around here is $10grand or better. My BIL bought a blazeKing and installed in his basement which he really likes. He built a heat exchanger similar to what I built for my smoke dragon, which my sister braggs on. I have a 40gal hotwater heater I use for storage. The hot water circultes thru the heat exchanger by natural convection. Its plumbed so that the stored hot water goes straight to the electric heater. That way I dont ahve to fool with any valves when I go from having a fire to not having a fire. without a fire, the electric water heater just takes over heating my water. For the new house, I plan a similar system, except I will be adding a solar water heater in the system. I'll have to bury a much larger storage tank to hold the hot water so I will have more preheated water to feed my electric water heater, especially in the summer time when I dont have a fire. I'll have electric heated water if I need it, but I am hoping the electric heater never kicks on.

 

[olyman]

I have seen several similar setups. My concern is still storeing wood on my deck. I'll look up the house plan and post a link. http://www.homeplans.com/house-plans/hp/homepw26937.html?from=search We plan a few modification to the plan, adding a garage for one, but everything else is pretty close as is. We will be removing the huge fireplace but will be installing a free standing stove in its place. Where the utility room is, is where we will be adding the garage. The laundry room will be moved out to the garage. Wood furnace would be placed in the garage, somewhere.

NS Maple, I am interested in the boiler. I have zero experience around one so anything you can tell me about one would be useful.

I have plans for a very energy efficient house. I plan to use hydro for most of my electrical needs. I will be hooked to the grid, but since they wont buy my power, I dont plan on feeding them any to sell to others. I will also have a solar water heater for summer time hot water and I think I have figured out how to use the creek water for air conditioning. Most of the alternative power and heat sources will be add on's once I have moved into the house, but provisions will be in place for when I have time to do them. I wont be starting construction of the new house until I sell my current home. Needing a place to live will kind of take precedent of getting all the alternative addons in place. I'll be living out of a camper until the house is built. Wifey wont allow for any side projects I am certain.

there is a fed law,,thats says they have to buy your excess current,,at their current deferred cost...............now THAT, is a bone of contention...they buy your excess for 4 cents,,and resale it for 15 cents!!!!!! also. please tell me,,why a crawl space, over a full basement???

 

[muddstopper]

Go ahead and check out the fed law that says they have to buy your power. I got a whole file of paper about how that works. First off, before they will even let you hook your system up to their grid, they have to design and approve your system. Price of system just went way up. I understand why they want it done a certain way so I dont really have big problem with it, except for the added cost it incurs. Second, they will buy the power I produce, but they wont pay me for it. They bank it, in other words, if I need my excess power at some point, they will sell it back to me at a reduced rate, but if I produce more than I use, and dont ever use the grid power, they get to keep the excess. Its mine, I can use it if I stop producing or dont produce enough to meet my needs, but I will never get a check from the power company. Some places are different I know, but I have to deal with the TVA and thats how they operate.

The part about no basement. I have owned, built several houses with basements. They make very good junk collection stations. My last house before my current one, I did finish the basement. I had 3658sqft, 5bedrooms, 3 full baths of heated space. My son and his wife, with new baby, lived in the basement for a time. Grandbabies are grown with kids of their own. I dont need the extra room and I dont need the extra storage. I'll have my shop for tinkering, but age is catching up fast, I cant hardy climb the stairs to feed the stove in the basement now, I much prefer to not have any more stairs to climb than I have to have.

 

[olyman]

Go ahead and check out the fed law that says they have to buy your power. I got a whole file of paper about how that works. First off, before they will even let you hook your system up to their grid, they have to design and approve your system. Price of system just went way up. I understand why they want it done a certain way so I dont really have big problem with it, except for the added cost it incurs. Second, they will buy the power I produce, but they wont pay me for it. They bank it, in other words, if I need my excess power at some point, they will sell it back to me at a reduced rate, but if I produce more than I use, and dont ever use the grid power, they get to keep the excess. Its mine, I can use it if I stop producing or dont produce enough to meet my needs, but I will never get a check from the power company. Some places are different I know, but I have to deal with the TVA and thats how they operate.

The part about no basement. I have owned, built several houses with basements. They make very good junk collection stations. My last house before my current one, I did finish the basement. I had 3658sqft, 5bedrooms, 3 full baths of heated space. My son and his wife, with new baby, lived in the basement for a time. Grandbabies are grown with kids of their own. I dont need the extra room and I dont need the extra storage. I'll have my shop for tinkering, but age is catching up fast, I cant hardy climb the stairs to feed the stove in the basement now, I much prefer to not have any more stairs to climb than I have to have.

yah,,ive read about the tva..really nice turds.............................now I understand the no basement.........

 

[muddstopper]

Before my knee replacement, we where considering a small two story house, one bedroom down stairs and one up. After the surgery, one starts rethinking anything that has to do with stairs. I almost fell yesterday going down the steps to the basement. I have been going up and down at least a dozen times a day, but that one twinge when you least expect it and I was almost on my head/azz/both. Its been 7 months since the surgery, and it gets better everyday, but it does make you stop and think.

 

[timbrjackrussel]

Before my knee replacement, we where considering a small two story house, one bedroom down stairs and one up. After the surgery, one starts rethinking anything that has to do with stairs. I almost fell yesterday going down the steps to the basement. I have been going up and down at least a dozen times a day, but that one twinge when you least expect it and I was almost on my head/azz/both. Its been 7 months since the surgery, and it gets better everyday, but it does make you stop and think.

I have installed a couple of these just so the homeowner could get to the basement to put wood in the furnace!
http://www.bruno.com/store/stairlifts-made-in-usa/

 

[muddstopper]

I have installed a couple of these just so the homeowner could get to the basement to put wood in the furnace!
http://www.bruno.com/store/stairlifts-made-in-usa/

Ha! same thing my son suggested yesterday when he seen me about fall.

 

[Mustang71]

I have a wood furnace it heats the house evenly and works for me. I wouldn't put a hot water loop in it though because when it's around 30 degrees or higher I only burn wood 2 mayb 3 times a day at most. The house stays warm. My house is 1700 sqft raised ranch built in the 70s. Now knowing hvac and the new national building code that took effect October 3rd I'm not sure what that does for a new build with a wood burning furnace but every new house is basically an energy star house. You probably won't burn enough wood to heat hot water in a new house with a wood furnace unless you like it really warm in the house.

 

[muddstopper]

I have a wood furnace it heats the house evenly and works for me. I wouldn't put a hot water loop in it though because when it's around 30 degrees or higher I only burn wood 2 mayb 3 times a day at most. The house stays warm. My house is 1700 sqft raised ranch built in the 70s. Now knowing hvac and the new national building code that took effect October 3rd I'm not sure what that does for a new build with a wood burning furnace but every new house is basically an energy star house. You probably won't burn enough wood to heat hot water in a new house with a wood furnace unless you like it really warm in the house.

My current setup only heats water when I have a fire. The way it is plumbed is the wood heated water is stored in a separate water heater and flows from the storage to my electric water heater. Water coming from my well goes thru the storage tank before going to the electric water heater. I dont understand the why to your suggestion to not hook a wood furnace in a similar loop. The way it is now, if I have a fire, I preheat the water going to my water heater, if I dont have a fire, the electric heater heats the water. No valves to open or close to swap between wood heated and electric heated. With 80gal of total hot water storage, I dont have to have a continuous fire to have hot water and one fire will more than heat the 40gal of water in the storage tank.

You very well may be right about how much heat or how many fires I might need a day to heat my new home. I plan on 6in walls and almost 30r value of insulation in the walls. Once the house gets warm or cool, it should stay that way. It will also have a lot of south facing windows and doors for that solar heat in the winter. Of course there are still a few details about the build that havnt been decided yet. The wood furnace might not even be installed as the house is being built, but the one inside the house will be installed. It could be that after the first winter, I find I dont even need a furnace. I just need to come up with a plan and cover all my options.

 

[Mustang71]

I was just saying it's not like a wood stove where you load it all day to heat the house and could keep a water coil ready to heat all day. When it's warmer above 30 I load the furnace and it brings the house up about 5 degrees then with my 2x4 walls and 6 inches of insulation in my attic it doesn't drop those 5 degrees for several hours.

 

[NSMaple1]

NS Maple, I am interested in the boiler. I have zero experience around one so anything you can tell me about one would be useful.

I won't go into too much detail, but I have a few pics from when I was installing (poor cell phone quality).

Here's the boiler:




Here's the tanks before the boiler was set in place:



With a quick temporary insulating job:



These setups are good for basements - heat rises so can make use of natural convection for things like a power outage situation. If I didn't have a basement & still wanted a boiler, I would put it all in an outbuilding along with my entire winters wood. (Also makes for a cozy shop or man cave if built big enough). That would eliminate dealing with steps/stairways. (I have a walk out to get the wood in). With a house the size of what you're planning, you could likely burn every couple of days & keep warm. Gasifiers + storage are batch burning setups, meaning you start a fire when storage is depleted, and stop burning when it is charged - so you need to make a new fire every day (or every second day maybe in your case). But I only have a fire actually burning about 6 hours a day in the middle of winter. Also, mine is natural draft - it's the only natural draft gasifier I have seen so far. There are no draft controls at all on it - it simply burns until it runs out of fuel. Fits right in with my KISS hankerings. Not exactly cheap - I did it all myself, except for wiring in the backup electric boiler & new water heater, and think I am in the $15k CAN range. That's all in & covers wood boiler, electric boiler, water heater, tanks & welding on them & insulating them, all pumps & piping & fittings (that stuff adds up), DHW exchangers, taxes, and customs/freight/$ exchange due to living on the wrong side of a border.

 

[cedarhollow]

Anyone heard of or use home built rocket stove heat sink design

 

[Toy4xchris]

not sure how well it worked but one of the houses we looked at before buying our current one had a wood/solar set up winter they burned wood and summer the solar took over it was a furnace and water heater.