Woodstove capacity question

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I e-mailed Lehman's awhile back about which woodstove to buy. I am building my own house, its 18x32 downstairs and 18x24 up with a gambrel roof (so the "walls" slope in upstairs).

I have 6" of insulation in the floors and 6" to 8" of insulation in the walls. 10" of insulation in the roof/ceiling area.

Both upstairs and downstairs are completely open, one big room, no walls. 576 sq feet down stairs, 432 sq feet up (counting the stair well). Stair well is 42" wide and about 14' long. I'm planning on cutting out an area to put a cold-air return vent but I haven't decided just where to locate it to maximize air circulation in relation to the stairwell, plus I haven't been able to find a source of where to buy one, they don't seem to make the things anymore. It's just a metal grate about 3' square, but haven't been able to find one.

Now that I have (after 3 years) finally managed to get a better-than-minimum-wage full-time "permanent" job, I have the money (or will have shortly) to add on an extension on the East end of the building to house the laundry/bathroom/mudroom, so there will be an additional 12x18 area on that end which will be mostly open to the rest of the house. I'll have a ventless propane heater in there to heat it up for baths, but other than that its ok if that section of the house is cooler than the rest, so I don't expect it to be toasty warm over there, just for the pipes not to freeze (am hoping to have a small basement area over there as well if I can afford to pay someone to do that). I am, btw, in South Central Missouri, which is solidly zone 6 most of the time (we rarely get a cold spell, had a two week cold snap 2 years ago and one that lasted about 3 weeks this past December, cold being temps below freezing during the day).

OK, that's the set up I described to Lehmans.

The answer I got back was "You can't heat a house with a woodstove. Buy a wood furnace and hook it up to the existing ductwork."

?????

New construction .... WHAT existing ductwork? And a wood furnace requires a blower to work, so that would mean no power, no heat.

Hrrrm hrrrrm hrrrrm. I did call and talk to the guy who sent the e-mail in person and after a lot of insisting did finally manage to get some of the information I was looking for (re the EFFECTIVE heat output of these stoves as opposed to what the manufacturer's tell you) but upon further thought I still have some questions. So I thought I'd ask y'all since there are a lot of people on here who heat with wood as opposed to some guy who wants me to buy a whole house forced air furnace.

And I'm not TOTALLY down on this guy, I know a lot of people call up and want to buy a pretty looking woodstove to heat their 3000 sq. foot yuppie crackerboxes that were built with no provisions made for airflow between up and downstairs and between a multitude of boxy little rooms, and that really DOESN'T work very well (at all, really). But that's not my situation. I just don't think he's flexible enough to help me out here. Anyway.

I have decided on a soapstone, non-catalytic stove. After talking to the guy at Lehmans it was the Hearthstone Phoenix I had decided on. But on thinking it over I'm wondering if I should go for the bigger stove, the Mansfield. On the one hand it almost seems silly to go for such a big stove for such a small house. On the other we do occassionally get some pretty cold weather up here that might overtax the smaller stove. I just don't know and I didn't get the impression that the guy at Lehman's was really equipped to help me evaluate this.

Here is the link to descriptions for the stoves:

Hearthstone Stoves

The Phoenix is supposed to EFFECTIVELY heat 900 to 1300 sq feet according to Lehman's (as opposed to the manufacturer's estimates). It pumps out 34,500 BTUs and operates at 72% efficiency.

The Mansfield pumps out 48,000 BTUs according to Lehmans estimates, I'm not sure what square footage that works out to. It costs about $300 more. It's only rated at 65% efficiency, which means it'll burn more wood than the Phoenix. That's a 40 percent increase in capacity, about 1250 to 1800 sq feet. Way over my floor space.

The Phoenix seems to be just what I need for my existing square footage, which is just about 1000 sq feet total up and down. Adding the 12x18 area adds about 200 sq feet, which is pushing right to the upper limit of the range for that stove. On the other hand I don't expect to keep the entire area toasty warm on that end, just not to freeze. And, I've got the propane heater over there for quick heat or emergency-don't-freeze-the-pipes heat.

So the question is (FINALLY) am I being too much of a worrywart, is the 34,500 BTU output sufficient in my situation? Or would it be short-sighted of me NOT to buy the higher capacity 48,000 BTU stove even though it SEEMS like overkill? I just want enough; I don't necessarily want to go overboard. What do y'all think?

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), June 30, 2001

Answers

Sojourner, I am going through termoil on buying a woodcook stove from Lehman's myself. They told me the Oval would heat 1800 square feet and the Sweetheart would heat 1500 feet. I wish I could see them (were adding on a keeping room), the price is scaring me. Well I do have a woodburner with an electric fan that no only heats the downstairs but heats the upstair too. It is great as long as you have electricty, which we lost for 13 days last Christmas (ice storm). I know a family in Northwest Ill, that heat only with wood with an outside woodburn and there house is always warm. They never leave the house because they are truly homesteaders. I wish someone would tell me which oven to buy and of course it be alot cheaper!!

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), June 30, 2001.

Hi,Sojourner. Seems to me the smaller one would work out ok for you. You live in an area of the country that isn't that cold, and your house sounds very nicely insulated. Why burn more wood with the larger stove if you don't need to?(consider work involved, air pollution you could avoid) Are you considering adding on more room at some point? Do you really feel the cold and hate it? Those might be reasons to go with the larger stove. But I think the great insulation job you have will do the trick with the smaller stove.

Jennifer L.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@imcnet.net), June 30, 2001.


I love my wood stove with its covered ash pan that needs emptying about every three days, glass front, top loader, and griddle. It heats about 2200 sq. ft. nicely by day and adequatly for 8 hours at night if we stoke it well. Better to oversize as max output also means max attention. Also depends on location of plumbing, bedrooms, etc... Its nice to get up to a warm stove and not have to re-light it every morning. Wishing you luck in your construction and warm winter mornings.

-- Lynn (lynnannmb@hotmail.com), June 30, 2001.

Why are you just looking for stoves through Lehman's? There's lots of companies. I don't have a wood stove now,but Vermont Castings makes them and they been around for years. We have a propane stove by them,that looks like a wood stove. We love ours. My brother has a Lopi and it's really nice. He has had his for a long time. When we lived in our old farm house we had a Blaze King, that really put out the heat. You can look on the web or call places that sell wood stoves. They have booklets. They should be having closeout sales now,or in Aug. or Sept. there will be Fall sales. Even though we live in a small town, I told the salesman what I could get for in the larger city,he said he couldn'g go that low. We went to talk to him and by time we got the pipe, hearth and stove he was really close to matching their price,it pays to speak up. I always went to the fairs and looked at wood stoves,they have good deals then. Theres lots of colors to choose from now. Happy hunting.

-- Joanne (travelerjo@hotmail.com), July 01, 2001.

Keep in mind when you are talking about square footage that you are heating cubic feet and I use to know a BTU ratio to Cu. ft. I think you could find it somewhere in wood heating books.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), July 01, 2001.


I do not know what stage of construction your in, would it be possible to build a fireplace? It has long been known that the stones hold heat better and longer than iron stoves on less fuel. I know that it takes extra effort and costs to build one, but also less effort, less wood, less hauling, less spliting, ect later.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), July 01, 2001.

Keep in mind the BTU and sqfoot coverages are often based on using the best woods. They may or may not be available so you need to adjust based on what wood you would be using.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), July 01, 2001.

Joanne, I don't want a catalytic stove. As far as I know all the Vermont Castings stoves are catalytic. Also Lehman's is cheaper than anything I have seen around here. Most of what is sold around here are those cheap sheet metal stoves with the blowers.

Also I know them at Lehman's. If I have a problem I know I can talk to someone about it. I'm not at all sure that would be the case with a "local" dealer (local being the better part of 2 hours away).

Hendo, yes, cubic footage. Downstairs has a little over 9' ceilings, but upstairs more than makes up for that being not quite 7' and the walls aren't straight, I figure it comes out in the wash to be about standard volume if both upstairs and down were standard ceiling height.

Mitch, a fireplace is a net loss for heating. A masonry stove on the other hand would have exactly the effect you are talking about. Mitch, the idea of thermal mass in the form of a masonry stove is a great idea, and it was part of my original building plans, but I just don't have the strength or intestinal fortitude or whatever it takes to implement that plan. I've been 2 years building and there is just no way I can face having a hole in the floor while I try to build a seven and a half ton masonry stove. I've reached the end of my rope and at this point all I want is to GET INTO MY HOUSE and out of this camper. I can't face building that thing by myself. It's been all I can do to get as far as I have with this project all on my own; it will take all I have left to manage to get it closed in before the weather turns again. I just don't have it in me to tackle yet another project that size all by myself. I've done all I can do. I'm tired. It's a burden I can't bear.

Gary, I have 26 acres, and only about 9 or so of it is in pasture. The rest is mixed hardwoods with some pine and cedar but mostly oak. There are no really good sized lumber trees, from what I can tell it looks to have been logged out 20 or 30 years ago, and about 8 acres of former hayfield has grown up to brushy woods in the last 18 years or so. Plenty to be thinned that will do fine for firewood. I don't think I'm going to be lacking for firewood, plus I'm planting black locust and hedgeapple in a nice easily accessible spot for future firewood. So I should be fine for good firewood. THIS year will probably not be so hot because everything will either be green or 3 years dried out and punky. But next will hopefully be better.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 01, 2001.


Sojourner; maybe this is just an oversite but I don't know anyone who has been invited to the "housewarming party" just yet!!

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), July 04, 2001.

I have a friend that has been heating a 2800 sq. ft. home for 18 yrs with a double barrel stove from a sotz kit (out of bus.) but there are others available. He removed a section of cold air return duct in his basement and relies on convection, also occasionally uses a small window fan when its extremely cold SW Pa. area. Also why not look for a used stove, I bought a real nice American Eagle stove to heat a hunting camp I own in northern Pa. 350.00. Camp is 24x32 one floor 2x4 stick frame on pilings (no basement) and with a small fire at 0 degrees we need the window near the stove cracked open. Good Luck

-- Chris Arington (cmair@access995.com), October 31, 2001.


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