WWYD - obtaining a wood stove

Wags · #1 12/07/10, 01:38 PM

The one thing that I really wish this house had is a wood stove so that we would have an alternate heat/cooking source if the power ever went out, or just to help cut the electric bill. (Need something to get water out of our deep well too.... but one thing at a time.)

How much trouble and expense is it to install a wood stove from scratch?

ronbre · #2 12/07/10, 02:28 PM

don't do what my hubby did, he thought he was getting a good deal on an outdoor wood furnace and come to find out the company had gone bankrupt and they are out of commission..so when we needed repairs they were not avail..even under warranty..buy from a company that is local and will be around for a while

Harry Chickpea · #3 12/07/10, 02:40 PM

Rule of thumb, a properly installed stove won't payback until about the fourth year. Chimney, if installed by a pro, figure $5 per inch. Stove, for a new good one, figure $1200+ . Yes, you certainly can save by doing it yourself, buying used, and so on. Just be SURE your insurance company knows and approves. The last thing you want is a fire and them saying "Nope, not covered. Wasn't an inspected professional installation and the stove isn't on the currently approved list."

Our Little Farm · #4 12/07/10, 02:45 PM

Is your chimney lined?

Common Tator · #5 12/07/10, 04:01 PM

This is the wood stove we bought last year. It heats the house up quickly, and we can cook on the top. I use an enameled dutch oven.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...4622_200394622

Pouncer · #6 12/07/10, 04:05 PM

Check your homeowner's insurance first. In some areas of the country they are not allowed.

That said, we did buy one, but hired a professional to do the install. It cost a wad, BUT, was done according to local code. If we had not, and had a fire, insurance would not have covered the loss!

How soon it will pay for itself, depends on what you are paying to heat your home now, and effective you are at moving that heat around-and thus, burning less of other fuels. For us, the wood stove paid for itself in two years, on heating oil we did not purchase. And that does include buying logs, chains, gas and mix and doing the cutting and splitting ourselves.

Diesel heating oil is well over $3 a gallon here, so even $250 a cord dry firewood is a saving $$ in my area.

Wags · #7 12/07/10, 04:52 PM

We don't have even a fireplace now - so it would have be something installed from scratch. And it would have to be to code for our insurance, so probably a professional install too.

rambler · #8 12/07/10, 08:00 PM

The stove can be cheap, compared to the chimney. Many people don't realize that, but the chimney is the complicated part, it has a lot to do.....

Depends on your house, where you want the stove, etc.

--->Paul

Sawmill Jim · #9 12/07/10, 08:41 PM

I used tipple wall pipe has the inside ss pipe . Rual King ,Lowes and a lot of places have it . Bought a house that had a big Kodiak brick lined stove it it took my forklift and sat it in down stairs . Got block wall behind it and cement under it . Total house ,land and stove i got it from $5,500

Pipe was some that was being tossed never used

I'm poor i do everything my self .

6e · #10 12/07/10, 08:52 PM

We installed ours ourself. Wasn't too difficult. Just follow the directions. The insulated chimney pipe is the most expensive. I would also say that we installed a heat reclaimer in the pipe above the stove and it really does a good job. I like it a lot.

StephanieH · #11 12/08/10, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6e

We installed ours ourself. Wasn't too difficult. Just follow the directions. The insulated chimney pipe is the most expensive. I would also say that we installed a heat reclaimer in the pipe above the stove and it really does a good job. I like it a lot.

We replaced our old stove got a new stove last year and had one of these put in. Our insurance agent (who is also our friend) said we had to remove it. So we did. He said they are a big fire hazzard.

We have a 1 story home and I tink we still paid over 600.00 for our pipe. That is the thing most people don't realize, it is expensive!

Common Tator · #12 12/08/10, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StephanieH

We replaced our old stove got a new stove last year and had one of these put in. Our insurance agent (who is also our friend) said we had to remove it. So we did. He said they are a big fire hazzard.

We have a 1 story home and I tink we still paid over 600.00 for our pipe. That is the thing most people don't realize, it is expensive!

We bought our pipe from Northline Express and didn't pay anywhere near $600.00 for it. We did the work ourselves. http://www.northlineexpress.com/cate...imney-pipe.asp

MichaelK! · #13 12/08/10, 11:52 AM

The cost of installation depends primarily on the type of design you use. I also bought my pipe from Northline, but I payed 850$ per chimney. Again, pay attention here, I paid 850$ for the chimney pipe put on top of my 100$ stove! My costs went up because I had the chimney passing through a second floor, so that necessitated using more triple wall pipe. You costs will be lower if you can locate the stove in a position where it won't be passing through anything besides the roof. Also, postioning it near the peak of the roof will also be cheaper because triple wall pipe is required OUTSIDE the roof

But, triple wall pipe is wonderful! I can lean against the pipe up on the second floor and it is room temperature! That REALLY gives me a sense of safety and helps me sleep at night.

The whole installation took a friend and I a single weekend. We cut the hole in the floor and roof for the chimney pipe on a Saturday, and finished connecting the internal stove pipe to the stove on Sunday. After letting all the caulking harden, it was ready for a fire on Monday.

Vickie44 · #14 12/08/10, 12:27 PM

In NY the triple wall pipe is $ 97.00 for a three foot section!

StephanieH · #15 12/08/10, 01:31 PM

Yes, it was the triple (or double, I am not sure) wall pipe that made our pipe cost so high. I wasn't the one who installed it, but I am thinking everything above my living room ceiling was triple walled...so through the attic...

Wags · #16 12/08/10, 02:23 PM

Got a quote from the local stove company - about $3500 with install. Not sure how we are going to squeeze that out of our budget, but I would feel so much better if we had one.

Pelenaka · #17 12/08/10, 08:50 PM

How much trouble and expense is it to install a wood stove from scratch?

Apprently in your valley $3500. Curious, how much of that is installation cost?

We were able to put in our wood stove for $1700 but I had been collecting items for over 9 years, bought on sale either retail or @ a flea markets, tag sales ect. We also were able to take advantage of the federal tax credit which unfortunetly expires this year.
To answer your question the worst part of our virgin installation was deciding on which stove. Like you I wanted to both heat & cook however the hearth footprint had to be very small due to placement in the room. Went with a thru the wall placement instead of thru the roof for two reasons; easier to do our own chimmney cleaning & used less pipe so cheaper. My brother charged me considerably less than what we had been quoted by area dealers.
We worked closely with our city's code dept.

My advice to you is to buy a few kersosene heaters for emergency back up now.
Then you can keep researching a.k.a. bargin shopping.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Beeman · #18 12/09/10, 05:10 PM

I don't know your skill level. I've installed 2 insulated chimneys and they are not that hard to do. The cheaper one, and it's just as good, is galvanized. One was in a cathedral ceiling and one was in a conventional ceiling boy through pitched roofs. One was shingle and the other is metal roof. Go to Lowes and price their chimney, it's stainless and real good stuff. You'll need a heart and wall protection. Many variables but we built ours with metal studs, cement board and then we rocked it. It's easier then you think, my wife did most of the rock work.

Vickie44 · #19 12/09/10, 06:02 PM

I agree with the kerosene heaters for now BUT keep persuing this. Start getting your wood while you look around. I am 53 yrs old and I am putting in a woodstove by myself. Got ALOT of help from here, laid a hearth, put up fireproof backer wall with airspace ( and mortared stone onto it so it looks nice) Now I am working on thru the wall piping and I hope to be burning by next week!If I can do it so can you
I got a floor model clearance stove at Lowes that I had seen for $ 999 for $315. I have been saving and buying pcs of pipe one at a time for a while.
Start planning and researching. It is a big project for me but I am enjoying it and learning alot

||Downhome|| · #20 12/09/10, 06:27 PM

I may be mistaken but dont you only need the double and triple wall in unconditioned spaces or where clearance are tight?

you can run single wall all the way to the collar if you have a 18" clearance from combustibles ,then you walled pipe through and to proper clearance height above the roof, think thats a minimum of 3'. really I don't think you want it to high as you will need to sweep it from time to time.

if you can do such a install it will drop the chimney price a good bit, the single wall will also give up some of the heat in the combustion gas.