Firebox Size

In simple physical terms: The amount of heat produced is equal to the BTUs contained in the wood times efficiency of the stove (how much heat goes in the house versus up the chimney). The more wood you burn the more heat you will get out. The more efficient your stove the more heat will be retained to actually heat your house. Thus, if you burn the same amount of wood in a medium size stove and a large stove you should pretty much get the same heat if efficiencies are the same. However, what people are mainly interested in is the heat output per hour meaning you divide above equation by burn time. If a larger stove has a longer burn time it actually may not produce that much more heat per hour than you would expect from the bigger load.

Ah Heck, make it easy, BIgger is Better!

brakatak said:

is the size of the firebox the biggest determination of the amount of space a stove can heat?
Would a fully loaded 2 cuft box heat as much space as a 1/2 loaded 3 cuft box?

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For the most part, yes, firebox size is the most important part for determining the heating capacity of a stove.

And really when you get down to it, you need to consider the "usable" firebox capacity of a stove in comparing one to another. Mfr published firebox sizes? not sure how some of those are arrived at, maybe with something almost fluid like sand or pellets poured in and filled up, how many gallons of that, then convert gals to cu ft.

Problem with that is you're not burning pellets. And if what you have is typical 16" splits, a 20 some inch wide but shallow firebox like some is not going to do you much good either, there will be a lot more wasted space than in a stove with a square box like a PE stove or Regency. Also need to consider the way it loads. If it's a front loading NS you'll get more in there than with a front loading EW config, where you can't load as full otherwise wood will fall against the glass/door especially if there aren't andirons.

brakatak said:

Makes total sense. Well put. Essentially it comes down to the amount of wood and quality of the wood being burned. Importance of firebox is it allows someone to burn more wood if they choose, therefore more heat, which the extra heat is capable of heating more space. Wonder how much of a factor other things like blowers, etc play in the ability to heat more area.

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Most definitely the quality of the wood has to enter the equation. The amount of moisture in the wood especially. Then we also have to consider that different types of wood give different amounts of heat. But that can be misleading. Some think the stove will burn hotter with oak than say, with soft maple. Nothing could be further from the truth. The difference in the two woods is not the amount of heat at the start of mid point of the burn but the reason oak is so much better is that it will burn for a lot longer time before the stove needs reloading. That is why we burn the softer woods, like soft maple, cherry, cottonwood, etc, mainly during the daytime hours for winter but they also are great for fall and spring burning when you don't want nor need a long burning fire.

As for blowers, they are a must on inserts but not for free standing stoves. But even on free standing stoves, on some home layouts a simple desktop fan can work wonders. However, rather than trying to blow that hot air into the cooler rooms, you reverse that and blow the cooler air into the warmer stove room. The heavier cool air will move out the lighter warm air and will amaze most folks in how well they can heat up the further rooms in just a short time with the little fan sitting on the floor and blowing at a low speed. Some will use a box fan but to me that is too drafty. Our little vornado fan with the tiny blades works wonders when it is needed. In addition, the smaller fans are quiet.

Backwoods Savage said:

However, rather than trying to blow that hot air into the cooler rooms, you reverse that and blow the cooler air into the warmer stove room. The heavier cool air will move out the lighter warm air and will amaze most folks in how well they can heat up the further rooms in just a short time with the little fan sitting on the floor and blowing at a low speed. Some will use a box fan but to me that is too drafty. Our little vornado fan with the tiny blades works wonders when it is needed. In addition, the smaller fans are quiet.

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nice suggestion .. will have to try a small fan on the floor blowing cold air in .. instead of fan up high blowing hot air out.

@ _CY_
Yep, do it.
It works.

brakatak said:

Wonder how much of a factor other things like blowers, etc play in the ability to heat more area.

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A blower trades some radiant heat for heating the air directly for convection. If your goal is to heat the air and distribute it with convective currents, then a blower on a stove will help do that. You just won't get as much of the radiant effect from it.