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Adding wood furnace to old house (1850s)

soakitinCYder

soakitinCYder

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2014
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I have a question. We recently moved to Michigan and our home is large (3600sqft) with old steam boilers. Our windows are all old single panes and fairly leaky (I have tried to seal as best at possible). The natural gas boiler system is from the 1960s and works ok. But with a 3 year old and a new born. I can't keep the temp inside up without costing an arm n leg. We have 3 fireplaces but keeping them going is a chore (I mainly keep 1 in my office going). In the basement I have access to a flue opening that was used for a trash incinerator (now plugged)... I'd like to add a wood furnace to the basement (into the empty hole) but we have no ducting. This home doesn't have central HVAC.... My question is should I add ducting (fairly easy for the first floor via basement)... Will the heat get to the second floor where the bedrooms are? Should i just add mini splits to supplement my boiler and allow AC in the summers? Thanks.



I can add photos if need be. I'm very handy and would enjoy this project. I also enjoy burning wood and have lots available to me in Michigan for a good price.
 
My friend heats his house mostly by wood stove in his basement.

1. You are going to need to check with your insurance provider. State Farm was the only company that would insure the property.

2. He lives in a 2 story farm house and he still has to use propane to heat the 2nd story.

I was there the other day, basement was 90 degrees and main floor was around 74. Not sure what the 2nd floor temp was.
 
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I'll apologize up front that I can't help on the wood furnace question. But I do own a home built in 1899 in Iowa!

Someone added central heat/HVAC to this house at some point. Probably in the 80s or 90s. The furnace is in the basement and we have two floors above that. The main floor is fine in the summer and winter. We keep it at 74 in the summer and 66 in the winter. We wear sweats and slippers and stay plenty comfortable.

The second floor is another issue. Three of the bedrooms do pretty well with heat. The fourth bedroom (my office) struggles with heat. There is a floor vent, but the furnace doesn't seem able to push heat up to this room as much. Plus it's on the north side of the house. I do have a space heater that I use when it gets really cold. It's probably 60 degrees in here when I start my day at 8 and gets to about 65 by days end.

I'll just add a few notes for your house, in general: Please keep the original windows if you have them and can. You'll have lots of people tell you to "replace those old windows." Yes, they can be drafty as they age. But a little maintenance goes a long way. There are even studies out there that show old windows are just as energy efficient as new windows and ESPECIALLY when you consider the environmental impacts of new windows every 15 years.

I haven't had a chance to do the maintenance work on my office windows yet. This year I put plastic over the windows and it has made a huge difference. I have barely used my space heater this year; even for the really cold days. Cutting down those air leaks will go a long way in keeping the heat in the house.

Also look for air gaps on the ceilings like light fixture penetrations. A little weather stripping or caulk can really make a big difference on draftiness.
 
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throwittoblythe said:
I'll apologize up front that I can't help on the wood furnace question. But I do own a home built in 1899 in Iowa!

Someone added central heat/HVAC to this house at some point. Probably in the 80s or 90s. The furnace is in the basement and we have two floors above that. The main floor is fine in the summer and winter. We keep it at 74 in the summer and 66 in the winter. We wear sweats and slippers and stay plenty comfortable.

The second floor is another issue. Three of the bedrooms do pretty well with heat. The fourth bedroom (my office) struggles with heat. There is a floor vent, but the furnace doesn't seem able to push heat up to this room as much. Plus it's on the north side of the house. I do have a space heater that I use when it gets really cold. It's probably 60 degrees in here when I start my day at 8 and gets to about 65 by days end.

I'll just add a few notes for your house, in general: Please keep the original windows if you have them and can. You'll have lots of people tell you to "replace those old windows." Yes, they can be drafty as they age. But a little maintenance goes a long way. There are even studies out there that show old windows are just as energy efficient as new windows and ESPECIALLY when you consider the environmental impacts of new windows every 15 years.

I haven't had a chance to do the maintenance work on my office windows yet. This year I put plastic over the windows and it has made a huge difference. I have barely used my space heater this year; even for the really cold days. Cutting down those air leaks will go a long way in keeping the heat in the house.

Also look for air gaps on the ceilings like light fixture penetrations. A little weather stripping or caulk can really make a big difference on draftiness.
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replacing 36 windows just isn't anywhere near my budget right now. HA. thats why i'm sealing and hoping to add so much heat inside that it doesn't matter as much. Thanks for your reply
 
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Typically a wood burner had a brick chimney through the center of the house and the heat just dissipated through that. Not sure how you would use vents to heat off a wood burner though? They make electric wall units that heat and cool and do a great job pretty efficiently.
 
CycloneDaddy said:
My friend heats his house mostly by wood stove in his basement.

1. You are going to need to check with your insurance provider. State Farm was the only company that would insure the property.

2. He lives in a 2 story farm house and he still has to use propane to heat the 2nd story.

I was there the other day, basement was 90 degrees and main floor was around 74. Not sure what the 2nd floor temp was.
Click to expand...
#1 will probably dictate minisplits. We moved into a house a few years ago that had a wood burning stove and my insurance company didn't think twice about making us take it out. But, if you do get by that, it had a ~18" hole in the ceiling of the basement that went directly to the main floor. Had a cool old wrought iron register on it and a fan in the basement. Kept the main floor pretty warm. This is a ranch house so can't say if it would have heated a second floor.
 
BWRhasnoAC said:
Typically a wood burner had a brick chimney through the center of the house and the heat just dissipated through that. Not sure how you would use vents to heat off a wood burner though? They make electric wall units that head and cool and do a great job.
Click to expand...

brick chimney on the northside that ties into a chimney that also services a fireplace.

I'd have to cut some vents into the floors and duct into the first floor. the second floor would be very much a challenge
 
soakitinCYder said:
brick chimney on the northside that ties into a chimney that also services a fireplace.

I'd have to cut some vents into the floors and duct into the first floor. the second floor would be very much a challenge
Click to expand...
Just use a space heater up stairs. Or a mini split unit.
 
My brother put in an outdoor boiler similar to this one 12 years ago. He loves it and no mess in the basement.

Central Boiler Products | Central Boiler

Central Boiler products provide heating efficiency, cutting-edge technology and energy and cost savings.
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And to add, he plumbed it right into the conventional boiler in the basement which rarely runs unless he goes away for a trip.
 
RedDog said:
My brother put in an outdoor boiler similar to this one 12 years ago. He loves it and no mess in the basement.

Central Boiler Products | Central Boiler

Central Boiler products provide heating efficiency, cutting-edge technology and energy and cost savings.
centralboiler.com centralboiler.com
Click to expand...

would love an outdoor boiler but my city doesn't allow (ya i know im in town)... even the new EPA certified "clean air" outdoor units are not allowed
 
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soakitinCYder said:
replacing 36 windows just isn't anywhere near my budget right now. HA. thats why i'm sealing and hoping to add so much heat inside that it doesn't matter as much. Thanks for your reply
Click to expand...
Same here!

Old house fun: Our dog got worked up last week and shattered the glass in the lower sash of our front room window. It's a 44" x 48" single pane that is original to the house. Cost me $175 to replace the glass. I bet it would've easily been $3,000+ to get a new window for that opening. Oh and the upper sash is stained glass; thank God that didn't break.

We love our old house, but you gotta be ok to roll with the punches like this stuff!
 
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1100011CS said:
We moved into a house a few years ago that had a wood burning stove and my insurance company didn't think twice about making us take it out.
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I would not have thought twice about finding a new insurance company. I have to pay a little extra (like $60 a year) because of my wood stove, but I love it. Basically free heat.
 
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