Hello all,
So, I have been reading on the forums about how big a stove you need for an overnight burn, and I've been thinking that I should reconsider my original pick of a Jotul F100 for the cabin because I will be stuck using the oil appliances (stove and furnace) for supplemental heat overnight, which I really don't want to do all of the time. I don't mind using the oil if necessary for the coldest nights of the year. Pics and floorplan follow the text.
Background - it's a 1950's 1 1/2 story cabin built on log skids (all above ground, no crawlspace, no basement). It's 30 feet long by 20 feet wide. I call it 900 sq feet because the attic has a very sloped ceiling. The walls have some insulation (Gyproc mineral wool - R-12 if we're lucky), the floor will soon have R-28 Roxul between the joists, and we're planning on putting rigid foam on the roof (probably to R-20, possibly with some more Roxul in the attic). I will be caulking and weatherstripping as much as possible, but the mice are still getting in somehow, so it's definitely not tight! We're on an island on the BC coast, so relatively mild winters, although colder than Seattle/Vancouver/Victoria. We have a working oil stove which cooks, heats the kitchen, and heats the hot water (sort of). See this thread for some pics: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/can-i-convert-this-oil-stove-into-an-efficient-wood-stove.94600/ There is also now a working oil floor furnace, but the pilot light alone burns through 5 gallons of oil per week. We have to pack the VERY EXPENSIVE (as I think Sue from Alaska put it) stove oil in by hand on the boat, but wood is free and DH and I like the exercise, so we want to avoid using the oil appliances if we can help it.
Cabin usage: Most weekends and holidays. Possibly during the week if I can sort out a job where I can work from home. Friends and relatives will use it sometimes when we're not there.
Air flow: Doesn't seem to be much between the kitchen and the living room based on the oil stove heat, even though there is no door (just an archway). I might try to cut a hole in the wall of the living room at the opposite end to the archway to get more heat circulation on the 1st floor if the woodstove and insulation can't do better. There is a hole cut in the floor with a duct and register between the 1st floor and the attic bedroom - this works well to get the heat upstairs.
Chimney: will be about 6' stovepipe (haven't decided on double wall or single wall), then another 8-10' class A through the attic and the roof - all straight up, no elbows. Because of the roof slope we'll have to brace it well.
Woodstove requirements: Easy to use for beginners (cats are out unfortunately), looks good, overnight burns without cooking us out of the place if possible? Cooktop would be nice.
I like the look of the Jotuls and the F100 is the right size for the room (it's the one in the floorplan). But the PE Alderlea series also looks good, they're made local to me, and I've seen lots of good comments on the forum about them, especially the T5. The cooktop feature is also a bonus. I'm just worried about them being too big for the small house. Is it really true that you can just build small fires in big stoves, or will that just lead to low-temp burning all of the time that gunks up my chimney and blackens the glass?
All comments welcome!
Living room is on the left in this photo.
Living room is furthest away in this photo.
So, I have been reading on the forums about how big a stove you need for an overnight burn, and I've been thinking that I should reconsider my original pick of a Jotul F100 for the cabin because I will be stuck using the oil appliances (stove and furnace) for supplemental heat overnight, which I really don't want to do all of the time. I don't mind using the oil if necessary for the coldest nights of the year. Pics and floorplan follow the text.
Background - it's a 1950's 1 1/2 story cabin built on log skids (all above ground, no crawlspace, no basement). It's 30 feet long by 20 feet wide. I call it 900 sq feet because the attic has a very sloped ceiling. The walls have some insulation (Gyproc mineral wool - R-12 if we're lucky), the floor will soon have R-28 Roxul between the joists, and we're planning on putting rigid foam on the roof (probably to R-20, possibly with some more Roxul in the attic). I will be caulking and weatherstripping as much as possible, but the mice are still getting in somehow, so it's definitely not tight! We're on an island on the BC coast, so relatively mild winters, although colder than Seattle/Vancouver/Victoria. We have a working oil stove which cooks, heats the kitchen, and heats the hot water (sort of). See this thread for some pics: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/can-i-convert-this-oil-stove-into-an-efficient-wood-stove.94600/ There is also now a working oil floor furnace, but the pilot light alone burns through 5 gallons of oil per week. We have to pack the VERY EXPENSIVE (as I think Sue from Alaska put it) stove oil in by hand on the boat, but wood is free and DH and I like the exercise, so we want to avoid using the oil appliances if we can help it.
Cabin usage: Most weekends and holidays. Possibly during the week if I can sort out a job where I can work from home. Friends and relatives will use it sometimes when we're not there.
Air flow: Doesn't seem to be much between the kitchen and the living room based on the oil stove heat, even though there is no door (just an archway). I might try to cut a hole in the wall of the living room at the opposite end to the archway to get more heat circulation on the 1st floor if the woodstove and insulation can't do better. There is a hole cut in the floor with a duct and register between the 1st floor and the attic bedroom - this works well to get the heat upstairs.
Chimney: will be about 6' stovepipe (haven't decided on double wall or single wall), then another 8-10' class A through the attic and the roof - all straight up, no elbows. Because of the roof slope we'll have to brace it well.
Woodstove requirements: Easy to use for beginners (cats are out unfortunately), looks good, overnight burns without cooking us out of the place if possible? Cooktop would be nice.
I like the look of the Jotuls and the F100 is the right size for the room (it's the one in the floorplan). But the PE Alderlea series also looks good, they're made local to me, and I've seen lots of good comments on the forum about them, especially the T5. The cooktop feature is also a bonus. I'm just worried about them being too big for the small house. Is it really true that you can just build small fires in big stoves, or will that just lead to low-temp burning all of the time that gunks up my chimney and blackens the glass?
All comments welcome!
Living room is on the left in this photo.Living room is furthest away in this photo.
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) . All jacked up, properly drained underneath, supported on concrete pads and level now! DH's dad measured the front skid to be 6" lower than the back skid prior to jacking 
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. Need to find a job that pays more
