# Wood Stove Options?



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

We've been looking at wood heating options and up to this point I've been insistent that we choose an outdoor model. I only know of one family that heats with indoor wood stoves and their home and clothes smell of wood smoke 90% of the year. The smell of wood smoke is one of those things for me that I just cannot stand. However, I just realized that in a SHTF situation (one of any significant proportion, anyway) an outdoor stove would still leave us without heat as we wouldn't have electricity to bring the heat into the house. 

With that in mind, I'm trying to open up a bit more to indoor options. Though I have to admit I'm not all too excited about it. Does anyone here have a model that does NOT make their home smell of smoke all the time? 

My husband keeps assuring me it's because the people we know use the old style stoves and their set-up is prone to down drafting and that we CAN heat with an indoor wood stove without the smell. I'm just not so sure. 

My other question is rather than a wood stove, how viable would a traditional fireplace be? If I have to have something in my home I suppose the fireplace would at least add a little visual appeal. 

Our home is a pretty open floor plan. One story. Not huge. 

:help:


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Good questions. I am interested in the answers too.


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

My guess is that you'll be able to stand wood smoke smell in the house a lot easier in a poo in oscillator situation... as such, my advice is get used to the smell of woodsmoke.

Your husband is correct to some extent, but even the best ventilated stove will give you some smell of woodsmoke. The same way cooking bacon makes your house smell like bacon, even if you have the exhaust fan on.

If it's a social thing (you're worried about other people smelling it, etc) don't get a wood stove. If it's just your nose... your nose will adjust.

I personally love the smell of woodsmoke, it's the smell of money, warmth and safety.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Your DH is right. A modern wood stove properly operated shouldn't make your house smell of wood smoke any more than an oil furnace makes the house smell of burning oil.

But Bob is right. You will smell wood smoke outside and it will sometimes come in the door with you. But I see it as wonderful. The smell of wood smoke in a blizzard gives you a comfort you will never know otherwise.


You could always go with Coal. That's what we did. Even cheap heat. If you want to know more check out my post here.
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=321813

And yes you can get coal where you live.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

I'm sure in a SHTF situation there will be many things I deal with very well. In the meantime, while I have the "luxury" I'd still like to avoid at least some of them. 

The "family we know" happen to be related, right next door and directly to the west of my driveway so... the outdoor smell isn't really an issue since it's already present. Though in the dead of winter when I get out of my car and get blasted with a cloud of it and it burns my nose I have been known to utter a few choice words. 

Funny thing is, wood smoke in the summer (like from camp fires) doesn't bother me in the least. We have a fire pit right outside the back door and use it regularly in the summer and sometimes the smoke blows in the windows and while I can smell it I don't dislike it. Is it possible there is something they're burning, or the way it's burning that makes it so strong in scent. It literally burns my nose. ???

Stan thanks for the link to the coal information, I'll talk to the DH about it and see what he thinks.


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## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

Your husband is right, plain and simple. 

A fireplace will just suck heat OUT of your house.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Be sure to have an air intake near the new stove so it pulls outside air in for combustion. Otherwise it will tend to suck air from every opening in the house, creating drafts.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

wyld thang said:


> Your husband is right, plain and simple.


Shhh! Don't say that too loud. He'll hear. 

Thanks!  




Cyngbaeld said:


> Be sure to have an air intake near the new stove so it pulls outside air in for combustion. Otherwise it will tend to suck air from every opening in the house, creating drafts.


Will do.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

We've heated with wood for 30 yrs now and I'd love to get rid of the stove, BUT in all honesty, we can't do that. We've been going through a house remodel and did consider removing the stove. We have a very old Warm Morning stove and I don't think they're even manufactured now. We had to get a new grate made for it at the local machine shop. 

I don't care who it is heating with wood,, there's going to eventually be issues with the smell. An open wood fire smells different from an enclosed wood fire due to the available oxygen levels that feed the fire. Smoke from an enclosed fire is more concentrated and is more likely to offend the nose, which is why you need a good damper on the stove pipes to allow the smoke to go up the chimney instead of out into your house when you open the stove to feed it wood. 

Every year I celebrate the closing down of the wood stove for the summer. I also cry when I have to hire in cleaning people to help me clean this house. The entire house has to be washed down. Some years the ceiling has been repainted. This is a small house with a huge wood stove. We sit in a valley and have always had issues of smoke coming back on us. We catch every downdraft wind there is. We have the tallest chimney, a chimney liner, a chimney cap, a chimney cleaning grate, clean pipes and damper system, annual stove maintenance, exhaust fan, picky about the type of wood we burn and how we build a fire, everything we can think of has been used to reduce the smoke coming back on us, but in the end, it does and we have to live with it or do without cheap secure heat. We also use our windows and doors to ventilate but have to be careful and not catch the downdraft winds bringing in the chimney smoke with it. 

I'd say the most important decision about burning wood is making certain you live in a location that allows for the smoke to be carried up and away from your house. It doesn't matter how well insulated and tight your house is. If there's wood smoke outside, it will find a way inside. 

When the electric goes out, we have warm heat and a place to cook. This stove has saved our butt more than once over the years. I'd love to kick it out of my life, but I can't.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Not a "stove" as such, but a full unit...masonry heater. it's like a whole stove/radiator living inside a big brick or concrete chimney (the thermal mass). Load it up, fire it hot, and it gives off heat for the next 8 to 12 hours. Once the thing is fired over a day, the heat evens out and there are no hot spots. Best used in open floor plans, but will heat an entire house. Of course, you can direct heat by using fans.

http://www.mha-net.org/ is the main source for info; http://www.mha-net.org/html/media.htm is a page of links to articles with the science behind the heater. (it's used extensively in europe now. generally smaller ones to heat ROOMS instead of a whole house tho.)

One of the only heating sources NOT regulated for output because there isn't any. The air circulates around the firebox, thru internal flues, and then up and out the chimney. The fire is HOT so it burns almost completely. There's even very little "ash" and no creosote in the chimney. 

Another idea would be either a pellet stove or a corn stove. Good friends of our had a dome home they heated solely with a corn burning stove placed in the center ofthe house. Since it was butted right up against the massive chimney, they had a thermal mass to store the heat.


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

A new, EPA-certified stove or insert that drafts properly and is properly vented burning dry wood will not produce a consistent smoke smell inside the house. You might smell a little bit when you open the door, but that's the extent of it. Once you get such a stove/insert operating at temperature you will not smell smoke in the house or outside for that matter. We heat our home using an insert on one level of the home as well as a free-standing stove on another and the house needs neither a big cleaning at the end of the season nor does it reek of wood smoke. Both are newer, plate steel, EPA-certified models that utilize secondary combustion to keep the burn efficiency high (this is why you don't smell/see smoke even outside once the stove is up to temperature). The instances I know of where you do get a lot of smoke smell inside can be traced to either an old stove, a stove that is not propertly vented, a stove that is not getting combustion air properly, a stove burning green wood, or a combination of these factors. 

Other things to consider - the outdoor furnaces in general use a lot more wood than a stove in the home. A masonry stove like Wisconsin Ann mentioned would be great, but they are hard to retrofit into an existing home - the thermal mass required can weigh on the order of 5,000 to 10,000 pounds - floor must be reinforced - they are also quite costly. That said, they are awesome from what I've read and use very little wood relative to the amount of heat they put out. 

For a plethera of information I'd suggest you look at www.hearth.com and go to the forums. You can post specific questions and get great answers. The guys on that forum coached me through the complete installation of my second stove - I built the hearth and surround, put the stove in place, and installed the chimney pipe myself - couldn't have done it without the excellent input I got on that site. 

One final comment - safety must be paramount - don't skimp on materials and make sure the installation meets NFPA code.


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 26, 2008)

I agree with timfrommohio.

I have used a relatively new stove, ventilated it correctly , use seasoned wood and have never had an issue with smoke smell. Well, not exactly. when the flue/chimney needed cleaning it did back up some smoke, but once cleaned it worked great.

I live in coal country hear and a lot of people use it. It can leave an odor and has other issues. It does burn hotter and longer though. Bottom line; Get a new(est) stove you can. Make sure your draft is at the correct height, use an outdoor source for internal combustion (mines a hole under the stove) and it should work fine.

SC


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