Does a wood burning stove lower the cost of the normal heating gas bill and will it heat an etire house?

Answer 1

A key factor is the question of where the air comes from for the combustion of the wood. Does the stove have a separate outside supply or does the air come from the room in which the stove is located.

With a separate outside air supply, your heating bill can be smaller. If the air comes from inside the house then you are adding to you heating bill unless you turn off your other heat source.

If the combustion air comes from the house, then more air must come in through any openings in the house no matter how small. This air then will be heated up by your furnace or other heat source and you end up burning more fuel than you would if you left the stove off.

Will the stove heat the whole house? That depends on the size of the stove, the size of the house and the configuration of the house relative to the stove. At best the heat will be uneven with some areas too hot and some too cool.

I too grew up in a house with only a fireplace and a cast iron kitchen stove for heat. The kitchen was really warm and parts of the living room were comfortable but the rest of the house was chilly.

Answer 2

It sure will and yes it can. We heat our whole two story house with a Valiant by Vermont Castings. the only time the heat comes on from the furnace is if we are away and the logs have burned out. We fill it up at night before we go to bed - in the morning and when we go to bed. Whether you can heat the whole house depends on the stove and the layout of the house. It has to be installed properly and safely. The chimney has to be cleaned routinely etc. and you have to know what you are doing. Many, many house fires are caused each year from wood burning stoves that are not installed safely, dirty chimneys, burning the wrong kind of wood, etc, etc. There is also the initial cost of the unit and the installation and becomes real costly if you don't already have a chimney that can be used. It's also a lot of work and depending where you live the cost of the wood may be high. You should definately check out your local area for the going price for a cord of wood before making your decision and where you will store the wood. For us who love our woodstoves, it is a great cozy heat and saves us lots of money, but it's sure not as easy as flipping a switch.

Answer 3

It definitely can, if it's the right size stove and it can be placed in the right place. I know a guy whose living room by itself is at least 1300 sf and he heats with wood alone all winter unless we get a serious cold snap. Naturally, whatever room the stove is in will probably be the warmest, but the heat will travel. It travels best if you have relatively open spaces, not a bunch of little rooms, and it travels up most easily. You can assist it with fans. A ceiling fan in a stairwell can do a lot to move heat upstairs and in any room it will even out the heat you have. Wood stoves don't normally have any ducting. Wood furnaces do. They both need a chimney and it must be in good shape. Wood heat is radiant heat. It heats objects, not the air, but as the objects get warm they radiate heat too. Many woodstoves will burn for 4 to 8 hours when fully loaded and stay somewhat warm for a while after the fire has finished. There are several things to consider. The cost of buying and installing the stove can be considerable. If you can manage it for less than $2000, I think you're doing well. In many places, you need a certified installer to do the work or at least inspect your work. A woodstove in a house the US and some parts of Canada must be an EPA approved model and you probably won't find a used one for free. Your house insurance will probably go up, and it's not smart to fail to inform your insurer that you now have a wood stove. They can take up a fair bit of room, not because of the stove itself but because of the clearances required to combustible surfaces. You'll need a place to store some wood inside the house unless you want to be running outside in the cold to get more every day. There's mess from having that wood in the house. You'll also need to store wood outdoors somewhere and if you're in a cold climate that can take a fair amount of space and ideally that space is dry all year. You will spend time getting your wood into storage, and maybe splitting it. There's a saying: he who heats with wood is warm twice. That's because of the work you do handling the wood. The chimney will need cleaning at least once a year. You can do it yourself if you don't mind being on the roof, or you hire a chimney sweep. If you can get wood mostly for the time you spend getting it, you can save money on heating after the initial investment is recouped, but if you have to buy wood all the time, it might not be cheaper than what you have now. There are pellet stoves too, which have some advantages. Best thing to do is go to a local wood stove dealer and start checking out what they have, see what's best for your situation.

Answer 4

Yes to both your questions. However there are some considerations.
1. Do you have to buy the wood or can you go and cut it yourself? If you have to buy it, it may not save any money.
2. How large is your house and where will the stove be located?
3.How cold does it get where you live.
4. Are there any local by-laws concerning wood burning stoves that you need to be aware of.

I grew up in the country and my folks not only heated the house with a wood burner but also did all the cooking and baking with a wood burning kitchen range.

Answer 5

It will definitely lower the cost of high heating bills, we heated our house in Indiana with a Fisher Papa Bear wood burner for over 25 years, only had to replace the fire brick once. Our house was 1865sq ft. You will have more dust and stuff from the wood ashes, but the cost savings and security of having heat if the power goes out is worth it, plus you can also cook on them as well......once in awhile you can find used Fisher Stoves on e Bay.
They are no longer manufactured but are very efficient stoves.

Answer 6

You will have to look at the complete picture before deciding what to do with wood heat.
Do you have Flu for the stove? If not this could cost u up to $1000.00 or more for a lined brick flu. Or maybe $300.00 for the metal type double insulated flu.
If you live in a wooded area and want to cut the wood for yourself you will have to have a chainsaw $300.00 for a fairly good one.
A pickup truck to haul the wood $1000.00 to $40,000.00.
Oil and Gas for the saw, An area to store the wood, normally out of the elements as will rot quick.
Expect to paint rooms and ceilings at least 3 times as often in the house due to smoke and dust created by the fire.
The Heat from a stand alone stove will run you out of the room where it is located to get back rooms to 70 degrees. You can compensate for this by adding fan to stove that will somewhat circulate the heat.
You will have to monitor the flu at least monthly for creosote buildup, this is caused by non burned gases that collect on wall of flu and will completely block the flow of smoke from flu and sometimes create a fire from the flu which sounds like a freight train coming down the flu (I have experience with that as had it to happen 3 times to me).
I enjoyed having the warmth of wood heat for many years and believe it to be probably the most rewarding and warm heat there is. The reward coming from having to get out on many fall days to gather the wood and then in the cold of winter sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor. Also the cost of heating my home on the electric bill was almost zero. But there are many drawbacks as you can see above...

Answer 7

Yes, but it depends on the stove, the size of the house, and availability of wood. Where I live, it's not exactly legal to go get your own wood because all the open woodland is bought up, so firewood is sold at a price that would be slightly prohibitive.

Answer 8

Yup It does heat the house and it does lower your gas bill.

Answer 9

yes, and it depends on the house layout and the size and locations of the stove..

Answer 10

Except your house smells of fire and soon all your clothes smell like fire.