Two home heating questions: about oil furnace and wood stove?
I own a home that is heated with an oil furnace. We tend to keep the temperature down, as a $$ saving measure. As we age, my husband’s and my tolerance for the cold has gone down. If we turn the thermostat down at night, when we are bundled up under the covers and raise the temperature when we get up; are we saving money or spending it to rewarm the house? Question #2 is for those of you who supplement your heating with a wood stove. What kind of work is involved in the installation, if there has never been one in the house before? I am talking about a professional installation; because of the venting issues – we would never attempt to do something like this on our own. The job demands someone who knows what they are doing. I am thinking that this is one job where the installation might exceed the cost of the stove itself. Please feel free to jump in with information that you may have, even if you don’t know the answer to both questions.
Odd that you’ve asked this. My wife just found an old wood stove at a local thrift shop. $100 and I was thinking that I was styling! A trip to Home Depot, Menards, and Farm and Fleet sure did give us a wake up call! $385 later in single walled pipe, double walled pipe, adapters, Heat transfers, etc… made me wonder if this was a good choice. Home Depot sells an all-in-one kit with exception of the single and double walled pipes, but, we went with Menards because even with buying everything seperate it was a hand full of $’s cheaper. As for instalation I am doing it myself. The internet has all the codes and steps to do this properly. Plus I have all the necessary tools (a big plus) however, I don’t start instalation till tommorow morning. If you want a play by play on the problems we run into, just e-mail or IM me sometime tommorow. If I am in a good mood you’ll know it was a breeze. Any four letter words slip out, then it probably isn’t a good idea!
Scrappy52 said,
November 9, 2007 @ 8:02 am
The first, if you do not loose to much heat at night, it may save a little to reheat.
the second, It will be a big job to install a wood heater, and your insurance company will probably charge you more than it will save you. Some insurance cos will not even insure a house with wood burner heat, you should check that out first.
References :
Carl said,
November 9, 2007 @ 8:09 am
Any time you turn the temperature down on the furnace you will save money. The only time this may not be true is if you have a heat pump and the e-heat comes on.
Yes, the chimneys are expensive. You have to use a special pipe that has a pipe in a pipe to get through the wall. Also good pipes are stainless steel so they don't rust. I put a pipe in my chimney for a liner that was just galvanized steal and it lasted about two years. The heat of the smoke burns off the zinc and then it rusts fast. So when you buy a pipe look for something that will last. If you run the stove all the time you will get your money back. You will love to sit next to the stove too. Get a big metal bucket to keep your wood in to keep your house clean.
References :
delux_version said,
November 9, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
Odd that you've asked this. My wife just found an old wood stove at a local thrift shop. $100 and I was thinking that I was styling! A trip to Home Depot, Menards, and Farm and Fleet sure did give us a wake up call! $385 later in single walled pipe, double walled pipe, adapters, Heat transfers, etc… made me wonder if this was a good choice. Home Depot sells an all-in-one kit with exception of the single and double walled pipes, but, we went with Menards because even with buying everything seperate it was a hand full of $'s cheaper. As for instalation I am doing it myself. The internet has all the codes and steps to do this properly. Plus I have all the necessary tools (a big plus) however, I don't start instalation till tommorow morning. If you want a play by play on the problems we run into, just e-mail or IM me sometime tommorow. If I am in a good mood you'll know it was a breeze. Any four letter words slip out, then it probably isn't a good idea!
References :