DIY Installation of Our Indoor Wood Burning Stove

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After a few years of spending over $3,000 per year on propane to heat our home, we decided that it was time for a change. Anyone who has sat in front of wood heat before understands the depth of warmth it provides that’s just impossible to get from propane or electric heat. It warms you right to the bones! But warmth and cozy, fire-lit evenings aside, the savings aspect doing a DIY install for our indoor wood burning stove is not easy to ignore. We went from paying over $3,000 per year for propane to less than $800 this last year (which almost exclusively went to our propane appliances rather than furnace heat) with our wood-burning stove.

We want to share with you the entire process of how we got a great deal on our own stove, refurbished it, and installed the stove, floor tile, and wall shielding in our living room. Even besides the monetary savings, the encompassing warmth, t-shirts and bare feet in the winter, and camaraderie of family wood stacking have made having wood burning stove SO worth the work!

Another benefit of heating with wood is that it’s a major step toward greater self-sufficiency. If the power is out, you can still stay cozy warm and have heat for cooking if needed, too.

DISCLAIMER: Although we’re going to walk you through the process that we used to install our own wood stove, it’s imperative that you do your own research and always consult the manufacturer’s installation instructions or defer to the National Fire Protection Association when installing your stove. Also, be mindful of national and local ordinances and regulations.

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Types of Wood-Burning Stoves

We choose a traditional, freestanding Osburn wood-burning stove for our home. We choose this because traditional stoves are able to heat large areas, are less dangerous than many homemade stove options, and will last for many years to come.

When we were looking around at options, we found that there are lots of great deals for stoves on Facebook Marketplace, so with a little refurbishing, we ended up with a practically like-new stove that heats out home super efficiently. The stove itself (worth $2400 brand new) cost $450, although the other materials we needed to renovate the space added up to more than that (more on that later). Still, the whole project just about paid for itself in the first year with the amount of money we saved on propane.

If you’re considering refurbishing a stove, there are lots more out there from homeowners who are looking to get rid of these heavy, cast iron pieces of equipment. Keep reading and we’ll walk you through how we did it.

However, if you’re looking to actually build your own stove, there are quite a few different ideas for DIY stove-building options out there, too. A homemade wood stove can be made fairly inexpensively in many cases, and there are a number of ideas out there for outdoor wood stoves, and a few indoor options, too. Some of these are also portable.

DIY wood stove project options

Here are some of the top DIY wood stove projects to choose from:

Rocket stove. Made for outdoor use, a rocket stove is a great option for portable cooking, whether you’re camping, hunting, or just enjoying the backyard. They burn hot and fast, and can be made with some simple parts you might have lying around, such as a cooking pot, some scrap metal, an oil can, and some basic tools. These stoves don’t require much effort but can be a handy little tool to have for cooking or for a bit of heat.
Barrel stove. The benefits of a barrel wood stove are that they’re inexpensive to make and are very light. Made out of an old oil drum and some hardware, this would make a great DIY project, especially if you want something transportable. Unfortunately, the sheet metal that makes up this regular barrel doesn’t hold heat super well, so a barrel stove generally isn’t a good wood burner option for heating a home.
Rocket mass heater. Rocket mass heaters are a step above a rocket stove and burn super efficiently. They’re made with an insulated fire box that heats up hotter than a traditional wood stove, and also have a thermal mass that extracts the heat and slowly releases it over time. While they produce more heat and less smoke, the downside of rocket mass heaters are that they are generally not portable and can be much more complicated than other DIY wood stove options.
Propane tank stove. If you can find an old propane tank, you can make a propane tank stove with some hinges, latches, steel pipe, a welder, and a few other tools. With this small wood stove option, it’s VERY important to make sure that every drop of propane is removed from every component of the tank.
Mini wood stove. Just looking to cook outside? A mini wood stove can be a great alternative to a campfire, because you can use it over and over! There are plenty of fun and easy mini wood project ideas that you can make out of cheap, simple materials, stick a frying pan on top, and make some dinner!

Why we chose a traditional wood burning stove

Homemade stoves have their place, especially if you want something transportable or just for cooking outside. However, if you’re looking to heat a whole home, a traditional wood burning stove is probably the way to go. Unlike most handmade options, our freestanding stove:

Provides consistent heat
Warms every corner of our 2000-square-foot manufactured house
Will last for decades to come
Increases the value of the home
Virtually eliminated the use of our central propane furnace (nearly all of our propane usage goes only to our stove, dryer, and hot water heater now)
Keeps us warm and provides some light even in power outages
Was fairly inexpensive (approximately 1/5 of the cost of the same model purchased new)

(And these are just a few of the many benefits of having a wood burning stove!)

So, there are a number of options when it comes to making your own stove. However, if you want something that will become a permanent piece of your home and provide your family with consistent heat year after year, we found that a traditional woodburning stove is the way to go. And with a little online searching, and elbow grease (and maybe a little patience, too), you can install one in your home for a couple thousand dollars or less and have heat for decades to come.

How to DIY Your Indoor Wood Burning Stove Install

1. Choose the right location

One of the first things you’ll need to do is to assess your home space and floor layout to choose the best location for your stove. If your goal is to heat your entire home (or as much of it as possible), you’ll want to choose a central location so that the heat can disperse as equally as possible. An open, lower-level room that allows heat to easily travel to other rooms is best. In addition, placing it against an interior wall will help more of the heat to stay inside rather than to escape outdoors. If it’s possible, a wood stove is the perfect addition to a living space where you spend a lot of time.

We chose to place our stove in the living room, which opens to the rest of our house. We’ve been amazed at how well the heat distributes to the bedrooms and other areas of the home. We had this existing sheet-metal fireplace in the room. Although it was pretty, it didn’t produce hardly any heat, so we chose to demo that fireplace and use that spot for our wood stove.

However, you don’t have to choose a spot that had a previous heating element (in fact, there may be less demo and other work involved if you don’t – it just depends on your space).

Once you have a general spot in mind for your stove, you should consider in advance where the chimney pipe is going to exit. This will determine exactly where your stove sits. If you’re running the chimney through the outside wall, you don’t want it to run into a stud. And if it will be going through the ceiling, you don’t want to have to jog around a ceiling joist.

2. Choosing and finding a wood-burning stove

The next step is to start the search for your wood stove! Make sure to take into account the size of your space before choosing a stove. Don’t just go with the biggest option possible in hopes of creating a cozy space. Wood stoves produce a lot of heat (around 1000 degrees Fahrenheit), and the high temperatures can cause a small room to overheat to an uncomfortable level quickly. In addition, making smaller fires in hopes of decreasing the heat level can cause more creosote build up. Alternatively, don’t short yourself by buying the smallest or cheapest option available. The perfect stove for you will be able to handle a full load of wood and stay at a decent temperature.

As a guide, a small stove can heat around 500 square feet, with larger areas needing larger options. Check out this handy calculator as a guide to finding the right size wood stove for your space.

Tips for searching for your wood-burning stove

We recommend starting your search on Facebook Marketplace. Depending on your area, you can find lots of options for stoves, although you might have to wait a little while and keep your eye open for the right one. Check out our tips for finding great deals on Marketplace and how to avoid scams.

Here are a few things to look for as your search for your own wood stove:

A newer stove with efficient combustion technology. Finding a used stove with a secondary burn chamber (aka secondary combustion) or that uses catalytic combustion is usually worth the initial cost upfront. The engineering and technology used in wood stoves these days has made wood stoves so much more efficient – more BTUs with less fuel, less smoke and particulate matter, and longer burn times. These are all very important factors when considering the cost (or savings) of buying a wood stove you plan to keep you warm in the winter.
A bigger fire box if you’e heating a larger space. As a guide, a firebox between 1.5-2 cubic feet will generally heat a 1500 square foot space efficiently.
A built-in blower. The blower is what helps push the hot air over the surface of the stove and distribute that warm air through your home. If you can’t find a stove with a built-in blower, you can many times purchase one separately. Alternatively, there are small “heat powered” fans that sit on top of the stove to help circulate the warm air into the living space – but these aren’t nearly as efficient.
A way to attach fresh air intake. Remember, fire needs three things: heat, fuel, and oxygen! A fresh air intake is important because this allows the stove to pull cold air from outside directly to the firebox for combustion. If you don’t have a fresh air intake, the stove will burn off the precious warm air from inside your home and actually pull cold outside air in through every crack, window, and exterior door in your home, creating cold drafts and obviously loss of heat inside. (Most manufactured/mobile homes require a fresh air intake for a wood burning stove to be installed)

Finding the right stove and chimney pipe

If your stove doesn’t come with stove pipe, you will need to buy some separately. We bought ours at Tractor Supply.

Double wall stove pipe can shrink your clearences to combustibles (drywall, wood studs, etc), which is helpful for many homeowners. On the other hand, the benefit of single wall is that you’ll retain more heat inside your living space. The most important thing is to consult the installation requirements for the particular model stove that you’ve acquired – if that information isn’t available, consult NFPA 211 (National Fire Protection Association), or any ordinances in your township or municipality.

Make sure you get the same brand and diameter of chimney pipe and stove pipe, as different brands aren’t usually compatible. This part isn’t something to cheap out. We would not recommend trying to save money on used stove pipe and waiting until ‘later’ to try to figure out how to make it fit. In most cases, it won’t work. Save yourself a bunch of frustration by consulting the manufacturer and buying the right chimney pipe, stove pipe, and through-the-roof kit right away.

Acquiring and installing the correct chimney pipe is another important step to having a safe and efficient wood stove. Most manufacturers suggest class A stainless chimney pipe for a freestanding stove. Your chimney stack should have sufficient height to ensure proper draft – consult the installation requirements for your particular model stove.

3. Refurbish your stove

The next step is to refurbish your stove (if needed).

Here’s how our stove looked before we refurbished it:

And here’s after! With a little love, our used stove now looks brand new!

Here’s step-by-step instructions for how we did it:

1. Break down

Take apart the different exterior components of the stove (glass, door, side baffles, handle, ash tray, etc).

2. Sand

Using a wire brush, wire wheel, and orbital sander or angle grinder, remove any surface rust or other imperfections in the finish.

3. Use high-heat paint to re-paint it

After sanding, clean the surface, and coat the stove with a new finish. We used this high-temp paint and were amazed at how much better it made our stove look. (Keep in mind that the paint will off-gas for awhile as the stove heats up so open up some windows, especially the first time it gets used.)

4. Prepare for placement

Again, it’s incredibly important to consult with the manufacturer’s specifications as you prepare your stove for placement. You’ll need to know what the clearance to combustibles are for the floor as well as to the wall and ceiling. If you can’t find the manufacturer’s specs, refer to NFPA. At this point, as mentioned earlier, determine exactly where your stove will sit and where the stove pipe/chimney pipe will exit.

It may even be a good idea to create a cardboard cutout or masking tape template of the total footprint of the stove to move around on the floor and get a better idea of it’s final location.

5. Install the necessary protections

Next, it’s time to install the essential non-combustible wall and floor coverings. If you’re not going to be installing a permanent surface such as tile on your floor or wall, make sure to purchase a sturdy hearth pad for protection.

Wall coverings can be sheet steel, thin brick, ceramic tile, or stone ledger panels, to name a few.

For the wall protection, we chose mosaic sheet thin brick which cut like butter with an angle grinder and was quick to install.

For the floor protection, we used the same large format ceramic tile that we installed previously in our kitchen and dining room.

When adding a wall protection, you can cut your clearance to combustibles (the wall), in many cases, by up to 66% using a heat shield. We achieved this by spacing out our thin brick wall covering 1” from the wall, 1” off of the floor, and 3” from the ceiling using non-combustible spacers. There are a couple of different ways to do this, but we simply used the Durock cement board – cut into 1.5” strips and double stacked them on the studs to create our 1” gap before applying the rest of the full cement board sheets that our thin brick was applied to.

I’ve heard of others using stacked nuts/washers or buying ceramic spacers to space the heat shield off of the wall. We simply used what we already had on hand and it worked well for us!

Here’s the finished wall with the Durock cement board, ready for the brick.

Please refer to the manufacturer’s specifications for what clearances are required and by how much your clearances to combustibles can be shrunk by utilizing a heat shield; otherwise refer to NFPA.

6. Install the stove

Before bringing the stove in, now would be a good time to double check your placement; and if necessary route your fresh air intake to where it needs to be.

Once your area is all prepared, it’s finally time to install the stove! These pieces of cast iron are HEAVY (300-800 pounds depending on the type of stove) and awkward, so it’s a good idea to gather a few friends if at all possible! It took four guys to “safely” get our wood stove into the living room (we dodged a couple of injuries by just a hair!). One tip for carrying the stove is to affix landscape timbers or 4x4s to the stove (we used C-clamps to secure them to the flat top) and use both ends as carrying poles (Ark of the Covenant style).

At this point, you’ll also need to run the chimney through the roof and install the stove pipe. Here’s a helpful video to walk you through that portion of the process. You’ll need to make sure that your chimney pipe ends 2′ above any point of the roof within a 10′ radius of the chimney pipe.

How Much Does It Cost to Install a Wood Burning Stove?

The total cost of our wood stove project, including the stove, refurbishing, tile, wall brick, stove pipe, and other various materials from the hardware store came to right around $2000.

The project itself took around 2 weeks to complete – including demo of our previous fireplace, installing the new chimney, tile, wall brick, and the stove install itself. It felt like a long time in the process, but it ended up being a great project that will save us thousands of dollars per year in propane for many years to come.

This project paid off in about 2 years.

You Can Install a Wood-Burning Stove In Your Home!

If you’re like us and you’re looking to use wood as a main source of heat, but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a new stove and installation, DIYing the process is an excellent way to save so much money. Modern wood stoves are an amazing heat source that adds value to your family in so many ways – it saves money, makes you less reliant on others, and provides incredible, concentrated heat. The best part for our family is the family camaraderie it provides as we cut, stack, and load wood together, and of course, enjoying lots of cozy evenings playing, talking, and reading by the fire.

Once again, please remember that it’s vital to consult the manufacturer’s installation instructions or defer to the National Fire Protection Association when installing a wood stove, in addition to checking on national and local ordinances and regulations. We are not experts – we are simply sharing our experience and how we followed these guidelines and regulations to install our specific Osburn stove in our home.