woodburner question

[bluesky]

Our house is heated with fuel oil, which was $2.96 a gallon last year and is already $4.57 a gallon this year, with a minimum purchase of 125 gallons. We made the 125 gallons we got last all winter but we were cold, even using supplemental electric oil radiators and keeping the thermostat set on 50ish.

We were given a woodburning stove this spring and would love to use it in the house but we're concerned about our low ceilings. The main room of the house used to be a cabin. I'm only 5'4" and I can touch the ceiling in the living room. We're worried that it will be too much heat building up as it rises and maybe cause a fire.

Does anybody have any advise or experience to share?

[cfabe]

There is no concern with low ceilings and wood stoves. There are things you do need to be worried about to have a safe installation, mainly keeping the proper clearances from combustables, putting the stove on a fire-proof pad, and hooking it up to a proper masonry or factory built metal chimney to the proper codes for your area. I have never seen anything about required ceiling heights, etc. If anything a low ceiling will make the room more comfortable by keeping the heat down where you're at instead up at 8' or more.

[bluesky]

Thanks! If we decide to use the stove, my husband has said we'll have the chimney professionally installed.

We have 40 acres of woods across the road that belongs to our only neighbor. She's more than willing to let us gather wood there for free. She had it logged about a year ago and there's a lot of good wood left in piles that just needs to be cut to size.

If we don't use the stove in the house, we may have it installed in the garage/workshop. Again, thanks for the information.