question re heating with wood

[uarelovedbygod]

I am converting over to electric heat from propane (getting geothermal). I previously had a propane space heater that vents out the back, through the back wall of our house. I want to replace it with a wood burning heater/stove to use in case of emergency/power outage. I am looking for one that vents out the back, and the bottom of the vent pipe cannot be more than 19 inches from the floor. It does not have to be big, efficient or pretty, as it would just be used for emergencies. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

--Chris

[jwulf]

Are you planning on having a stack outside? A wood stove is probably not going to burn (i.e. draw) very well without an efficient chimmney to get the flow going...

-jwulf

[uncle Will in In.]

Is there a chimney going up outside the wall? If your gas heater only vented through the wall, and not into a chimney, a wood stove can't be vented there. It would be hard to find a wood stove with a smoke pipe that low anyway. If there is a flue outside the wall, it might be possible to put a new hole through the wall higher up.

[mysticokra]

Originally Posted by uarelovedbygod

I am converting over to electric heat from propane (getting geothermal). I previously had a propane space heater that vents out the back, through the back wall of our house. I want to replace it with a wood burning heater/stove to use in case of emergency/power outage. I am looking for one that vents out the back, and the bottom of the vent pipe cannot be more than 19 inches from the floor. It does not have to be big, efficient or pretty, as it would just be used for emergencies. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

--Chris

Since you only want it for emergencies, why not get a ventless propane unit.
They put out a lot more heat than a wood stove and you won't have to deal with the chimney issues, storing wood, etc.

[uarelovedbygod]

Originally Posted by mysticokra

Since you only want it for emergencies, why not get a ventless propane unit.
They put out a lot more heat than a wood stove and you won't have to deal with the chimney issues, storing wood, etc.

The vent system I have is a 6 inch double layered galvanized pipe that extends out the back of the propane heater, out the back wall, then along the back wall up to a height about the same as the peak of the roof. I realize that a good deal of heat would be conserved if more of that pipe were inside the house, but that is the way it was installed.

(but I like the idea of the ventless propane heater--much simpler to operate in the long run than chopping wood!! I was considering the wood heat because I already have the hole in the wall of the house!!)

[Cabin Fever]

1. Never vent a wood-burning appliance through galvanized pipe.

2. Always vent a wood-burning applicance through a wall, floor or roof using triple-wall pipe or insulated "Metalbestos" type pipe.

3. The end of the outside chimney pipe has to be two feet higher than anything within 10 feet.

[DrippingSprings]

Go to Lowes website and take a look at the wood heater there. It is small and made of cast iron. I have one and it costs me about 150 dollars and will heat 1000 sq ft if you are insulated well. Here is a link showing the one I bought

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...0-33485-ST-100

[OD]

A pellet heater might be something that you could use the existing vent pipe with. We don't have one, but a friend does, & the vent pipe is a lot like the vent pipe for our water heater.
His is very clean & it is self-feeding. It gives off a surprising amount of heat.

[Ross]

OD might have a good idea, except I'd get a corn stove or corn/pellet type as corn seems to be prepetually cheap. You can't use any propane venting for a wood stove that burn logs, it will not contain the heat and will likely start a fire in your wall.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by uarelovedbygod

.....I want to replace it with a wood burning heater/stove to use in case of emergency/power outage.....

Regarding the pellet or corn stove idea:

Both wood pellet and corn stoves require the use of electricity, consequently they won't function during power outages.

[comfortablynumb]

well putting in a tripple wall pipe setup is pricy unless you can find someone selling a used setup. In my one house I put in a pipe setup thru the wall and 20 feet up, the setup new would have been near 1000 bucks, but i found someone converting back to gas and had the wall kit and 25 feet of pipe for 250 bucks... the deal of the year!

I have seen this setup that works OK...
a large coal/wood stove in the basement and intake fans patched into the ducting system. they heated the basement up and at the same time used the intake fans to suck all that hot air upstairs.

obviously if you have a musty basement... this is going to be smelly... at least untill the basement bakes out bone dry.

whatever you do the PIPE is of extreme importance for safety, do not skimp on the pipe. Stoves are cheap, I have a big hitzer coal wood stove on my porch I cant use, its to big..... I could be sweet talked out of it for the right price or trade.

are you planning on a long term emergency or short term?
short term, you could invest in a few kerosene heaters and a 500 gal tank of fuel... but kero goes funny after a while and the heaters stink thereafter.

if you are handy with brickwork why not build an outdoor furnace or an ajacent block room to put a big coal furnace in? then you can build the stack out of brick, which would be a bit cheaper.

plus you could use a much larger stove and produce tons of heat safely to pipe into the house.

if you alreadt have a chimney, or an old one blocked up, you could restore it for cheap, reline it with single wall pipe and you are in business.

about a year ago i passed up a massive coal furnace with an air jacket to plug into exsisting duct work, it was so big the box would take 40 inch cordwood.

the guy begged me to remove it from his basement for only 400 bucks. I really should have taken it, I bet that was worth a bundle.

woodstoves a great idea, never ending free fuel, but dont be cheap with the pipe... you will die.