Wood Furnace Heating

[alanb]

I'm currently close to lock-up stage on a new house on a 20 acre bush block. Now it's time to consider, among other things, heating. The house is an unusual design, a shallow "U" shape built around an existing deck, living area and bedrooms at either end separated by a narrow area containing bathroom study & laundry. There is no 'centre' suitable as a heat source. I've heard of a wood fired furnace system that can distribute heat over a wide area, but my web browsing has only resulted in systems avilable in the US. Does anyone know of a local solution to this or even DIY?

[ozwinner]

What about a wood stove with a wet back, this way you can cook, get hot water and keep warm all for the price of a log or two.

Al

[Terry1]

I'm currently close to lock-up stage on a new house on a 20 acre bush block. Now it's time to consider, among other things, heating. The house is an unusual design, a shallow "U" shape built around an existing deck, living area and bedrooms at either end separated by a narrow area containing bathroom study & laundry. There is no 'centre' suitable as a heat source. I've heard of a wood fired furnace system that can distribute heat over a wide area, but my web browsing has only resulted in systems avilable in the US. Does anyone know of a local solution to this or even DIY?

G/day Alan,I remember about ten years ago a neighbour of mine got this big brick oven type thing made from some plans he got from Sweden or somewhere over that way.It wasn't all that attractive but seemed to work alright.I'm still in contact with him so I might ask him if he still has the plans for it.It was a big unit although he reckoned it didn't use all that much wood.Regards Terry

[elphingirl]

Hi Alan

We are heating our (just finished - no doors, no curtains) 180sqm house with a modest wood heater. Between the inbuilt fan, and a ceiling fan mounted above, the heat is distributed well beyond the heater itself.

Because the house is on three levels, with four steps between each level, the upper section is much much warmer than the lower section.

Without the ceiling fan, the distribution of heat is not nearly as good (all sits up in the apex of the cathedral ceiling) - so that's probably my recomendation. Get some air circ happening, and whatever your heat source it will be better distributed.
Cheers

[alanb]

G/day Alan,I remember about ten years ago a neighbour of mine got this big brick oven type thing made from some plans he got from Sweden or somewhere over that way.It wasn't all that attractive but seemed to work alright.I'm still in contact with him so I might ask him if he still has the plans for it.It was a big unit although he reckoned it didn't use all that much wood.Regards Terry

Hi Terry,
Thanks for the thought. This sounds like something I've heard of, but not been able to track down. I'd be extremely interested to hear of anything you can come up with, even the makers name would be a start. I'd be interested in your neighbour's thoughts on the system and how it has been over ten years.
Cheers,
Alan

[alanb]

Without the ceiling fan, the distribution of heat is not nearly as good (all sits up in the apex of the cathedral ceiling) - so that's probably my recomendation. Get some air circ happening, and whatever your heat source it will be better distributed.
Cheers[/QUOTE]
Hi Elphingirl,
Thanks for the suggestions. We will have a wood fire with fan and overhead fan at one end of our place, but as the place is "U" shaped (and the roof line is four skillion roofs in a zigzig shape), we feel that the ceiling fan will only be able to move the air around the first section, so we're considering other options to get heat to the other end (bedrooms) of the structure. We're also looking at ducting heat under the house, but so far that seems like a difficult option with limited potential.
Regards,
Alan

[alanb]

Hi Ozwinner,
Thanks for that, we've already got our conventional stove coming though. Good thought mind you.
Cheers,
Alan