Wood stove questions

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:#2 makes the stove the focal point of the room. And if it has a glass door, it will become that. A woodburning fire TV! You can't do a lot else on that wall, given the necessary clearances.

The argument for #3 is twofold:
- first, there is room for more people and furniture and they can all see the fire TV
- second, there is always some mess associated with a wood stove, along with an oversized protective pad underneath and in front; corralling that mess close to the door makes it easier to keep things semi-tidy.

Edit: I didn't notice the closet by #3. Access could be awkward when there's a hot stove nearby.

I was pretty focused on the points you made about spot 2 until last night when my wife and I were thinking about how spot 3 would save on a lot of mess being so close to the door. I dont think the closet would be hard to access either. Also, a neighbor has a doggy door style thing where he can load firewood into his wood box by the stove from outside without having to haul it through a door and across his living room. We could probably do the same thing with that closed. Put a wood box inside and a little firewood door leading to outside, if we ever wanted. Not sure if it would be worth the work though honestly.

Carla Burke wrote:If it were mine, I'd likely put it between  #1 & #2. That keeps it centrally located, warming thewhole house, like #2, but gives a bit more clearance to halfway traffic, and nothing in your closet smells intensely like smoke (or becomes a risk, if it falls out of the closet). I think #1 is going to be hard-pressed to get the heat down the hall.

The closet does have a sliding door so we could keep it closed to keep smoke out. Good point though. And I think you’re right about spot 1 being hard to move heat down the hall. Also the hallway traffic is worth considering like you said.

Brody Ekberg wrote:As for stove pipe, do I need to get above the peak of the house or just a certain distance above the roof surface?

Years ago we were planning an addition to our house with a fireplace.  The height of the stove pipe ended that dream...

Generally speaking, a chimney or other exhaust vent should be 3 feet above the roof, or 2 feet above any other part of the roof that sticks up within a 10-foot radius of the chimney.
Regulations for Stove Pipe Height Above a Roof

The goal of these regulations is to allow any sparks and intense heat exhaust to be vented far enough from the roofing material that there is no chance of combustion. By the time sparks have been ejected and drift the 3 feet to the nearby roofline or 2 feet across a greater horizontal distance, they will have extinguished themselves, cooling to the point that there is little to no risk of damaging or igniting the roofing material.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/far-above-roof-peak-stove-pipe-91244.html

Mike Haasl wrote:Those seem like good prices to me Brody!  I doubt the standing dead hardwood will be dry enough for this winter.  Standing dead in the arid parts of the country is great to burn but around here I think it's still too wet.

I like location 1, then 2.  I'd rather have a warm kitchen and living room and a cooler bedroom (number 1).  3 is too close to the closet and stoves take up a fair bit of room.  Where are the basement stairs?

I like the basement but I have a walkout so getting wood there is easy.

If the chimney is on the ridge it makes the roof penetration tricky.  Having it a foot away from the ridge is great.

In my experience, burning pine is fine as long as you clean out your chimney periodically and the pine is dry.  I think many pine problems are from people who let creosote build up in their chimney and then threw in a load of hot/fast burning pine and it ignited their creosote.

I suppose I’ll buy and cut a bit of standing dead wood soon and at least get it drying more and maybe be able to burn it by late winter and I’ll look for some seasoned wood to burn sooner. Im sure that will be more pricey though, unless I find someone to trade with.

I feel like our kitchen normally is a little warmer from the fridge throwing some heat, us cooking and us doing dishes. Spot 3 is close to a closet but I think my diagram is misleading. There’s probably 6’ of wall space between the the closet and hallway so I think the stove would fit fine. And the closet has a sliding door so we could help keep some smoke off our jackets.

Our basement is not a walk out and the stairs are near the door in the kitchen.

I think spot 2 would locate the stove pipe a foot or two from the ridge of the roof and spot 3 would put it more like 8’ away from the ridge. Do I need to have the top of the stove pipe above the ridge or just a certain distance above the roof surface?

Good to know about the pine. Maybe I’ll be able to burn a lot of these slabs. They’re stickered now but still have loose bark on them and are not covered. Probably decently dry though.

Anne Miller wrote:

Brody Ekberg wrote:As for stove pipe, do I need to get above the peak of the house or just a certain distance above the roof surface?

Years ago we were planning an addition to our house with a fireplace.  The height of the stove pipe ended that dream...

Generally speaking, a chimney or other exhaust vent should be 3 feet above the roof, or 2 feet above any other part of the roof that sticks up within a 10-foot radius of the chimney.
Regulations for Stove Pipe Height Above a Roof

The goal of these regulations is to allow any sparks and intense heat exhaust to be vented far enough from the roofing material that there is no chance of combustion. By the time sparks have been ejected and drift the 3 feet to the nearby roofline or 2 feet across a greater horizontal distance, they will have extinguished themselves, cooling to the point that there is little to no risk of damaging or igniting the roofing material.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/far-above-roof-peak-stove-pipe-91244.html

So, if the chimney was close to the peak it would need to be 3’ tall and if its farther from the peak it needs to end up being at least 2’ taller than the peak, if the peak is less than 10’ away?

Brody Ekberg wrote:As for stove pipe, do I need to get above the peak of the house or just a certain distance above the roof surface?

This link gives you info on the codes and proper installation for chimney placement:  chimney placement on roof

What are your opinions about this stove? The price is good and it seems to be a reputable brand. I talked to a guy who loves his (bigger older model) so much that he said he’d buy it again and convinced a friend and a neighbor to buy one as well. His had a damper but this one doesnt. Thats the only thing I’m a little skeptical about. But it’s supposed to heat up to 1,800 square feet and our house is only 1,200. What are your thoughts?

https://www.landmsupply.com/drolet-columbia-ii-wood-stove?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrbnB_aCO-gIVkxXUAR3h6w4jEAQYASABEgIEfvD_BwE

I think that would work but it might be a bit small.  I have a very similar looking stove (Pacific Energy Summit) and it can handle 18-20" logs in either direction.  If I load it up I can resurrect the coals in the morning.  Mine is in the basement though...

This one says a max 6 hour burn so I'm guessing you'd have to reload at 5 hours to avoid using another match.  Depending on your house insulation it might be fine to load it up at bedtime and then just restart it in the morning.

It looks like it has an inlet damper (knob just below the door on the right) which is all mine has.

Mike Haasl wrote:I think that would work but it might be a bit small.  I have a very similar looking stove (Pacific Energy Summit) and it can handle 18-20" logs in either direction.  If I load it up I can resurrect the coals in the morning.  Mine is in the basement though...

This one says a max 6 hour burn so I'm guessing you'd have to reload at 5 hours to avoid using another match.  Depending on your house insulation it might be fine to load it up at bedtime and then just restart it in the morning.

It looks like it has an inlet damper (knob just below the door on the right) which is all mine has.

We could step it up for a couple hundred more dollars. I guess I figured too big of a stove would roast us out, but I suppose we could just make smaller fires in it. This other one says it can heat up to 2,100 square feet and burn for 8 hours. Slightly bigger firebox as well.

https://www.landmsupply.com/drolet-escape-1800-wood-stove

I thought the knob was for accessing the ashes but maybe it is for air intake. Seems like the website doesn’t specify, at least not that I can tell. If it is a damper for air intake, should I make sure the stove pipe has a damper as well or would that be unnecessary?

Yeah, I'm guessing it's for the air intake and unless the manual says to put in a damper after the stove, I wouldn't.  You can always build a smaller fire, it's hard to build a bigger one :)   I really like being able to stack the wood endwise in my stove instead of sideways.  Then you can fill it up all the way and not worry about wood rolling into the glass and getting it dirty.

In a moist climate, standing dead wood is still going to be mostly too wet to burn now. Some tops might be good. If it is small diameter or split to around arm size, it may be possible to stockpile it in the heated room for a few weeks or more and get it dry enough... that can only be judged by trial, nobody from outside can give an exact answer on that. I stockpile a few weeks worth of wood next to my rocket mass heater (brick/cob bell, no barrel) and it gets nice and dry even if it started out damp. It may not be safe to store wood close enough to a wood stove to do that.

I wouldn't write off standing dead heading into autumn. I'm in a moist climate and anything that died the previous year, has not been in contact with the ground, and isn't insanely dense will be perfectly burnable. If it's rain wet, a couple of weeks in a shed with open sides will fix that, or try Glenn's suggestion of bringing it in and stacking it next to the stove.

If you're not sure, decent moisture meters are cheap these days.

Glenn Herbert wrote:In a moist climate, standing dead wood is still going to be mostly too wet to burn now. Some tops might be good. If it is small diameter or split to around arm size, it may be possible to stockpile it in the heated room for a few weeks or more and get it dry enough... that can only be judged by trial, nobody from outside can give an exact answer on that. I stockpile a few weeks worth of wood next to my rocket mass heater (brick/cob bell, no barrel) and it gets nice and dry even if it started out damp. It may not be safe to store wood close enough to a wood stove to do that.

Well I put up a face cord of standing dead maple and elm, and some maple and basswood that I cut last fall but didnt split until a few days ago. I stacked it on our blacktop driveway and within 2 days it was noticeably drier. I think I’m going to cut another dead elm or two and stack it in the driveway asap. Seems like it’s working great. Its got full sun, blacktop underneath and a lot of airflow. I think I’ll buy a face cord of seasoned wood too just to be sure we have burnable wood right away.

Mike Haasl wrote:Yeah, I'm guessing it's for the air intake and unless the manual says to put in a damper after the stove, I wouldn't.  You can always build a smaller fire, it's hard to build a bigger one :)   I really like being able to stack the wood endwise in my stove instead of sideways.  Then you can fill it up all the way and not worry about wood rolling into the glass and getting it dirty.

Looks like the Escape 1800 has a firebox that is 16 1/2” deep so I could load wood either way in it. Thats a bonus. I think we will go that route. Going to try to pull it off asap. These possible railroad strikes have me nervous so I think we ought to get what we need while it’s available. Then if it all goes to shit in a few weeks at least we can have heat this winter!

Brody Ekberg wrote:Well I put up a face cord of standing dead maple and elm, and some maple and basswood that I cut last fall but didnt split until a few days ago.

The place by me that takes huge rounds from tree companies to heat their shop only lists basswood as one they don't want.  I'm guessing it's very low BTU.  So don't go out of your way to collect a lot of that

Mike Haasl wrote:

Brody Ekberg wrote:Well I put up a face cord of standing dead maple and elm, and some maple and basswood that I cut last fall but didnt split until a few days ago.

The place by me that takes huge rounds from tree companies to heat their shop only lists basswood as one they don't want.  I'm guessing it's very low BTU.  So don't go out of your way to collect a lot of that

Ive heard its a bad firewood but wasnt sure why. It was a blowdown and I cut it up for campfires, but considering the new development I decided campfires are a low priority and I should burn it inside. But I’ll keep in mind that they arent good firewood. Too bad because we’ve got a bunch and they’re really massive trees. Maybe oyster mushrooms like them!

What about the hearth pad/stove board under the stove?

Is there a certain size it legally needs to be compared to the stove itself or basically whatever we want? The area is carpeted right now but we plan on cutting that out and installing fake wood flooring but don’t know how big of an area the hearth pad needs to take up.

I can't remember if that's dictated by the stove specs or the building code.  I think it's about 3' in front of the stove and a foot or so to either side.  I don't think fake wood flooring will meet muster.  Hot coals falling on it may still be a problem, certainly aesthetic, maybe due to flamability.  I'd get some ceramic tile from the Habitat Restore and slap it down there just to be safe.

Brody Ekberg wrote:What about the hearth pad/stove board under the stove?

Is there a certain size it legally needs to be compared to the stove itself or basically whatever we want? The area is carpeted right now but we plan on cutting that out and installing fake wood flooring but don’t know how big of an area the hearth pad needs to take up.

This is one of those things I think would be wisest to check your local laws for, simply because they can vary, though probably not by a lot, from one location to another. I think it would be better than missing a local code over a half inch difference, between locations, and possibly have to start over again, in the meanwhile, getting flagged as a possible infidel, lol.