MaintenanceMan
Minister of Fire
IMHO I would definitely consider a cat stove for your situation. Especially if your going to keep the stove on the first floor.
Really need some input and help here sizing/stove considerations
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I am going to be calling Woodstock this morning and going over some extra questions I have.....The one thing I cannot ask them but can ask you is they have a sale going now but I imagine it will only get better as the heating season winds down. I won't be needing the stove for this heating season and am wondering when they typically have their biggest sales. Crystal ball question I know but maybe someone might know their pattern.
I agree that downstairs makes the most sense for heat distribution but we enjoyed our stove on the main level in our last house so much, between the ambiance, deep down to the bone warming after a long cold day outside, etc.. that we simply cannot see having it downstairs. Furthermore I don't want to be hauling wood downstairs as there is a stair well and not walk out access. Worst case scenario I will put two individual wall panel heaters in the kids rooms to take the edge off. The rest I could care less about as it will be food storage for canned goods and such and will benefit from the colder periods. My little viking boys run around in their underwear all winter even with our temporary living being at 50-55 degrees....It makes everyone giggle. Does not seem to matter whether we are watching a movie or they are doing homework their clothes are the first thing to come off when they get home. We even warn family and friends about it when they have sleepovers, lol. I don't know how they do it and I am sure it will change as they get older but the heating bill benefits from them.
For a few design notes considerations on our house design since we have gotten many friendly things to consider with comments here. There will be a total of two bathrooms in the house but unfortunately they will both be on the main level as my leach field elevations will not permit a downstairs restroom and under no circumstance will I consider a sewage pump or the sorts. The big thing we have going for us in our "tiny" home is I already have a 2000 square foot shop built with a reloading/craft room multiple refrigerators and freezers rodent proof house storage etc. It is built better then most homes and is insulated quite well with over head radiant heat so I can instantly feel warm in my work areas without too much unnecessary heating. I know it is not super convenient to keep some of out house goods and such out here but it is far cheaper square footage then a house and it holds our extra stuff and is what has allowed us to get the square footage of the house down quite a bit. It is all part of the master plan to have no mortgage soon and less cost and time with taxes, insurance, maintenance, cleaning etc. Most of our time is spent out doing things outside whether with the animals, shooting, hunting etc.
I agree that downstairs makes the most sense for heat distribution but we enjoyed our stove on the main level in our last house so much, between the ambiance, deep down to the bone warming after a long cold day outside, etc.. that we simply cannot see having it downstairs. Furthermore I don't want to be hauling wood downstairs as there is a stair well and not walk out access. Worst case scenario I will put two individual wall panel heaters in the kids rooms to take the edge off. The rest I could care less about as it will be food storage for canned goods and such and will benefit from the colder periods. My little viking boys run around in their underwear all winter even with our temporary living being at 50-55 degrees....It makes everyone giggle. Does not seem to matter whether we are watching a movie or they are doing homework their clothes are the first thing to come off when they get home. We even warn family and friends about it when they have sleepovers, lol. I don't know how they do it and I am sure it will change as they get older but the heating bill benefits from them.
For a few design notes considerations on our house design since we have gotten many friendly things to consider with comments here. There will be a total of two bathrooms in the house but unfortunately they will both be on the main level as my leach field elevations will not permit a downstairs restroom and under no circumstance will I consider a sewage pump or the sorts. The big thing we have going for us in our "tiny" home is I already have a 2000 square foot shop built with a reloading/craft room multiple refrigerators and freezers rodent proof house storage etc. It is built better then most homes and is insulated quite well with over head radiant heat so I can instantly feel warm in my work areas without too much unnecessary heating. I know it is not super convenient to keep some of out house goods and such out here but it is far cheaper square footage then a house and it holds our extra stuff and is what has allowed us to get the square footage of the house down quite a bit. It is all part of the master plan to have no mortgage soon and less cost and time with taxes, insurance, maintenance, cleaning etc. Most of our time is spent out doing things outside whether with the animals, shooting, hunting etc.
I am using the Morso 1410 or the "Squirrel" to specifically heat 3 rooms covering about 700 sq feet. The stove is in the middle room. That room is currently at 73 degrees and the largest room next to it is at 72 degrees. The kitchen, with a crawl space under it is currently at 68 degrees but I was just letting the dogs in and out so that is probable a bit low. The outside temp is 28 degrees and my basement is not insulated yet. The trick to this is the fact that the stove is cast iron. It radiates. I would stay away from the steel stoves for small spaces. I can leave it loaded and cruising at about 600 degrees when I go to bed around 11 pm and get up about 6 in the morning and the stove will still be at 200 degrees or maybe 150 degrees with the room around 62 ish sometimes at 64. I don't mind that because the stove is still hot enough to get it going with ease. I don't need the rooms hot all night just not cold when we get up.
The wood size is 12 inches but I cut to about 10. It is a non issue. Your wood will season much faster in 10 inch lengths then 16 or 20 inches. That matters to me because I have limited storage space. I did specific calculations based on recent burning during a very cold week, down in the single digits every night, and I am estimating that 1 cord of hardwood will get me thru 62 days assuming the burn rate of the boss and child being home all day. They like it over 70. I measured the wood use for each day by using 2 specific size boxes and then calculating their volume against the volume of a cord of wood. The 1410 is also very attractive, furry woodland creatures on the side are too cool. Big glass area and the stove takes up very little space in the room- that does matter in a small space.
Hope this helps. For the record I am a newer burner but I do know what the stove has been doing for us.
The wood size is 12 inches but I cut to about 10. It is a non issue. Your wood will season much faster in 10 inch lengths then 16 or 20 inches. That matters to me because I have limited storage space. I did specific calculations based on recent burning during a very cold week, down in the single digits every night, and I am estimating that 1 cord of hardwood will get me thru 62 days assuming the burn rate of the boss and child being home all day. They like it over 70. I measured the wood use for each day by using 2 specific size boxes and then calculating their volume against the volume of a cord of wood. The 1410 is also very attractive, furry woodland creatures on the side are too cool. Big glass area and the stove takes up very little space in the room- that does matter in a small space.
Hope this helps. For the record I am a newer burner but I do know what the stove has been doing for us.
I am impressed you are getting that long of a hold over on coals and being able to have enough to get it going again come morning. It would take a bit of getting used to for me to cut 10 inch splits as my eye and saw are really trained on 16 but I agree they would season faster for sure. When you are running full tilt how close are you able to stand near it and remain comfortable or at least keep your clothes on
+1 on the squirrel !! It's been about -20C/ 0F or less here for about 48hrs and my 750 sq ft is at 20C/68F. This stove has a very small footprint, tiny clearances and gives a nice even heat. I can stand 2ft away at the sides and about 3ft in front, usually with clothes on.
10"X3" hard maple splits season in one good summer. What I'm burning now was a neighbours (Canuck spelling) tree in March.
10"X3" hard maple splits season in one good summer. What I'm burning now was a neighbours (Canuck spelling) tree in March.
I am impressed you are getting that long of a hold over on coals and being able to have enough to get it going again come morning. It would take a bit of getting used to for me to cut 10 inch splits as my eye and saw are really trained on 16 but I agree they would season faster for sure. When you are running full tilt how close are you able to stand near it and remain comfortable or at least keep your clothes on
Like I said still warm in the morning but not hot. Some mornings I can get it going on its own, some mornings I add some paper and kindling, and there are some mornings that it is still warm but I have to start from scratch. Depends on how late we were up. Not trying to over sell it. We are very comfortable in the room when we are running around 550 to 650. My wife is sitting in there now reading a book. She loves the stove and is happy to load it and help care for it. That has become the reading room with the nice chairs in it. Very comfortable in the room. If you get warm you can let it cruise around 450 instead of 550. Regular door opening to the kitchen, twice that size opening to the living room so the heat is not trapped in the "stove room" as we call it. Not currently using any fans. The salesman in the store said they tend to suggest bigger stoves because many people want a fire but they don't want to really run their stove. He was reluctant at first to sell me the 1410 because he said people will complain the stove is not hot enough because they are not really burning it at its capacity. So with a bigger stove it can run at half capacity and the person is happy with the warmth and not worried about the stove getting too hot or whatever fear/concern they have about really running their stove. I did more of my research on European web sites and found the 1410 is one of the most popular models sold in Great Britain. Remember they have more reasonable size homes there so who better to ask about heating 600 to 1500 square foot spaces? We heat half the house now with the stove and the bedrooms with hydronic baseboards. No oil, no furnace, and no knuckleheads to service anything. The first few weeks are a real learning experience and I still have a lot to learn.
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