We have a closed in porch on our farm house and are considering adding a wood burning stove. There is currently only a gas stove and no conditioned air.

I know very little about wood burning stoves, so any info/advise that you guys can offer would be much appreciated!

Our current house came with a big iron plate stove inside in place of a fireplace, and it is great. You lose the visual of the flame unless you have one designed to burn open safely, but you get more radiant heat. Ours hot is through the big freeze power outage in relative comfort.

Wood stoves are much not efficient than open fireplace in terms of heat produced / word burned. I would recommend it, but make sure it's properly installed with a proper stove pipe. Enjoy.

We have one at a cabin we built in Burleson County and it works great - bought it off Craigslist from a guy in the Hill Country who was getting a bigger one. Here it is back in the corner of the cabin - it has a nice glass door.



Here's the outside plumbing.

Quote:

---

Wood stoves are much not efficient than open fireplace in terms of heat produced/ wood burned

---

This is very, very wrong. Sorry, obviously your post had a typo.
Most fireplaces are extremely inefficient... all the heat goes up the chimney.
Wood stoves produce 3-4X more heat than fireplaces & use less than 1/2 the wood.

Mythbusters did an episode where they showed that fireplaces actually make houses colder... don't remember all the details though.

Yep, i had one as the heat source in my house at A&M. Had o open th windows nore than once to cool the room back down after it got going good.

A steel or cast iron burner will radiate heat very well.

Mine was just a ittle Vogelzang brand, nothing special. But it worked.

It really depends on the fireplace. If you have a fireplace that pulls in outside combustion air, then it's a good thing. You're not sending conditioned air up the chimney.

For the standard fireplace that most of us have in Texas, it will be anywhere from -5 to +5% efficient. The big factor will be the wind direction and speed.

You have get some gas fireplaces that almost match the efficiencies of gas furnaces, but they are enclosed and draw outside air.

duffelpud said:

---

We have one at a cabin we built in Burleson County and it works great - bought it off Craigslist from a guy in the Hill Country who was getting a bigger one. Here it is back in the corner of the cabin - it has a nice glass door.



Here's the outside plumbing.

---

That looks great

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

Wood stoves are much not efficient than open fireplace in terms of heat produced/ wood burned

---

This is very, very wrong.
Most fireplaces are extremely inefficient... all the heat goes up the chimney.
Wood stoves produce 3-4X more heat than fireplaces & use less than 1/2 the wood.

Mythbusters did an episode where they showed that fireplaces actually make houses colder... don't remember all the details though.

---

I think it's a typo, I think he meant to say much *more* efficient

Quote:

---

I think it's a typo, I think he meant to say much *more* efficient

---

Yeah looking back at it you're right.

Traditional fireplaces are nice for ambience, but as stated, they aren't that great for heat unlesss you're right up on them. During the freeze and snow, we lost power for a week or more I believe. We have a vogelzang style wood burning stove in our master bedroom. I fed that thing three times a night and the wife and kids piled in the room. They were comfortable but I spent the night in my underwear on top of my sheets sweating. It kept the whole room at damn near 80 degrees and I had the fire choked down to a reasonable level. They work well. Lol.

I almost forgot. I built a Rumford fireplace for a guy (he requested the style, it was new to me) on his outside patio years ago.
Supposedly the most efficient style of fireplace there is. Very shallow depth & a taller firebox. The throat of the chimney was different as well.

Interesting

No question that wood stoves are much more efficient than fireplaces (I used a wood stove exclusively while living in a cabin for 4 years). However, I roll my eyes at the pronouncement that fireplaces will make your house colder. I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves? Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

Quote:

---

I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves?

---

They built a fire in the middle of the house. No fireplace, no chimney. The fire radiated heat in all directions and the whole place was full of smoke I'm sure. Wouldn't be able to get your CO with that kind of build these days.

Plus I'm pretty sure it was still cold AF in the house. They survived all those winters, but they sure weren't walking around in a wintertime 68 degree house in a tee shirt.

We have a high efficiency wood burning stove to supplement our Air to Water heat pump/radiant flooring. The heat pump loses efficiency in our colder months and I'm so glad I had the luck/foresight to purchase this large wood burning stove during our house construction. The air intake is from the outside and plumbed directly into the firebox so none of my "heated" house air is used to keep the firebox going. Another feature this has is a built in blower that pushes the hot air out of the firebox and circulates it so the heat isn't just focused around the fireplace itself. For wood stoves that aren't inset like mine you can get fans that sit on top of the unit and are magically powered by the heat to blow the hot air. Last feature mine has is once the the fireplace has warmed up I can engage the catalytic combustor to further increase efficiency.

This thing cooks! It took me a while to learn how to control the heat and work a fire so I didn't get it too hot and regret it the rest of the night as we sweat while sleeping. I love this thing during our winters and it puts out a great ambiance.

https://superiorfireplaces.us.com/products/wood-burning-fireplaces/wct6940/

Jabin said:

---

No question that wood stoves are much more efficient than fireplaces (I used a wood stove exclusively while living in a cabin for 4 years). However, I roll my eyes at the pronouncement that fireplaces will make your house colder. I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves? Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Because they draft air in, and it does make the areas away from the fireplaceolder.

Jabin said:

---

Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Id be willing to bet that 90+% of houses in TX with fireplaces don't get enough wood burned in them over a whole winter to get the surrounding masonry hot for one full day.

schmellba99 said:

---

Jabin said:

---

No question that wood stoves are much more efficient than fireplaces (I used a wood stove exclusively while living in a cabin for 4 years). However, I roll my eyes at the pronouncement that fireplaces will make your house colder. I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves? Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Because they draft air in, and it does make the areas away from the fireplaceolder.

---

Wouldn't that depend on the source of the air drafting in?

Again, wood-burning fireplaces were the sole source of heat for humans for the last umpteen millennia. Pioneers had no source of heat other than wood-burning fireplaces. I'm not arguing for their efficiency, only reacting skeptically to the argument that they actually make your house colder.

Quote:

---

Again, wood-burning fireplaces were the sole source of heat for humans for the last umpteen millennia.

---

Wood burning fires were the sole source of heat for humans for the last umpteen millennia.
FIREPLACES didn't really become common until much, much later. Despite having fireplaces, it was still so cold in the house people wore heavy clothes inside. To sleep they wore those long robes to be with the Charles Dickens cap to keep you warm.

Read the book "At Home" by Bill Bryson. He explains the history of every room of the house in hilarious fashion. Great read.

While I do appreciate the history of fire, I am curious if anyone has any recommendations of brands/styles.

The outdoor board is the best though. Now I've got to go find the At Home book!

96ags said:

---

While I do appreciate the history of fire, I am curious if anyone has any recommendations of brands/styles.

The outdoor board is the best though. Now I've got to go find the At Home book!

---

There are lots of good brands. You can't go wrong with Jotul.

We have a Lopi stove that came in our house. It's probably not the aesthetic I would have picked for my own taste, and whoever put it in really didn't pick the right stove for the space, but it heats up well once you know what you're doing.

Apache: Cool, had a buddy that got into studying fireplaces and he discovered the Rumford. Had his book on how to build them. Read the book (pamphlet) and you are correct sir. VERY detailed on angles and depth. Saw my buddies and you are also correct, VERY shallow with a VERY steep back wall. Much more shallow than anything you ever see in a modern home. Supposed to be much more efficient!

We have something very similar, and we included it in our living room when we were building.

Today's wood stove is incredibly efficient. We burn our 24/7 from October thru Late April (we live in Tennessee).

Ironically, we have a conventional fireplace in our Master and have only used it a couple of times over the past couple of years. They just aren't efficient, and in my opinion, a waste of wood.

TOM-M said:

---

Jabin said:

---

Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Id be willing to bet that 90+% of houses in TX with fireplaces don't get enough wood burned in them over a whole winter to get the surrounding masonry hot for one full day.

---

Growing up the only permanent heat in the house was a fireplace in the living/dining/kitchen (open) area. The couch was a good 15 feet from it. There were times the couch would get so hot you couldn't sit on it. So, yes a fireplace can put out quite a bit of heat if it is designed correctly and fed correctly.

We would burn fires for several days sometimes when we would get a strong front come through and linger. We burned about a cord and a half of wood in three days in 1985 when it snowed 13" and it stuck for three days. We would burn 15-20 cords of wood a year, so there were many times ours burned for more than a full day.

We did supplement heating with two kerosene heaters that would burn for about 4 hours on the lowest setting. We used them only if it was going to be below freezing for more than about four hours.

Located just west of Hondo.

Jabin said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

Jabin said:

---

No question that wood stoves are much more efficient than fireplaces (I used a wood stove exclusively while living in a cabin for 4 years). However, I roll my eyes at the pronouncement that fireplaces will make your house colder. I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves? Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Because they draft air in, and it does make the areas away from the fireplaceolder.

---

Wouldn't that depend on the source of the air drafting in?

Again, wood-burning fireplaces were the sole source of heat for humans for the last umpteen millennia. Pioneers had no source of heat other than wood-burning fireplaces. I'm not arguing for their efficiency, only reacting skeptically to the argument that they actually make your house colder.

---

You can argue it all you want, but the facts are that a traditional fireplace makes the extremities of the house colder because it drafts air in. You can't argue with physics.

As stated above, the fires used to heat back in the days long gone aren't the same as the fireplace in most houses that are designed pretty much only for aesthetics.

Fireplaces were significantly larger than what we have now - 6, 8, 10 feet wide across, much taller and designed for a much larger fire. They were also designed so that people would pull their chairs up to the edge of the hearth because that is where it was warm - get a few feet away and it wasn't all that warm anymore due to heat going up the chimney.

And a wood stove isn't the same as a fireplace - wood stoves are awesome at heating, fireplaces aren't unless they are specifically designed to radiate heat back.

Quote:

---

Growing up the only permanent heat in the house was a fireplace in the living/dining/kitchen (open) area.

---

None of these even? How far out in the country & how long ago was that?!

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

Growing up the only permanent heat in the house was a fireplace in the living/dining/kitchen (open) area.

---

None of these even? How far out in the country & how long ago was that?!

---

Oddly enough, that 2nd picture is the exact stove I'm looking to replace!

Anybody want to buy one? We removed it from the house at the ramchito. Still in great shape (needs some BBQ black paint Amdahl a little "Brasso".

Quote:

---

Oddly enough, that 2nd picture is the exact stove I'm looking to replace!

---

Those things were super common back in the day. We had one at the lease in Carrizo, we'd run it during the day with a can of water on top to help keep some humidity in the air

Apache said:

---

Quote:

---

Growing up the only permanent heat in the house was a fireplace in the living/dining/kitchen (open) area.

---

None of these even? How far out in the country & how long ago was that?!

---

My step dad was too cheap to pay for the gas and there were 5 kids on a ranch income - not much extra $ around - 400 acres of mesquite to burn.

96ags said:

---

We have a closed in porch on our farm house and are considering adding a wood burning stove. There is currently only a gas stove and no conditioned air.

I know very little about wood burning stoves, so any info/advise that you guys can offer would be much appreciated!

---

Check out Buck Stoves.

https://buckstove.com/model-81

I got a Buck 81 because my chimney sweep said a Buck 91 would burn me outta the room! I have it in my basement/cinema room. When it gets cold I fire it up and the heat rises and heats the main level too. If you load it up at night, it will burn all night. Reload in the morning.

It puts out a ton of heat. I have a heat pump so this helps out on bills. I need to cut some more wood though. You go through a lot.

nm

schmellba99 said:

---

Jabin said:

---

No question that wood stoves are much more efficient than fireplaces (I used a wood stove exclusively while living in a cabin for 4 years). However, I roll my eyes at the pronouncement that fireplaces will make your house colder. I wonder how Scandinavians survived during the winters for thousands of years with nothing but wood stoves? Also, in the houses I've been in with fireplaces, they also can drive you out of the room once they get the surrounding bricks hot.

---

Because they draft air in, and it does make the areas away from the fireplaceolder.

---

I was getting in on the argument, but then I stumbled on this site. Interesting debate.

https://www.woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html