How many run 2 stoves to heat your house?

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Chuck the Canuck

Chuck the Canuck

Feeling the Heat
Oct 10, 2012
416
Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, Canada
Seems to me that I've been noticing that there's quite a few of ya'll mention running 2 stoves lately. I've been heating from the basement for this past 2 winters, but I'm slowly coming to the realization that it would be awful nice to have a little stove upstairs on the main floor of our 1000 sf (per floor) bungalow. I've been talking it over with the good lady of the house and she's cautiously agreeable (but a bit skeptical about it too).... I think it would be just the ticket to help keep the the main living area nice and toasty, and we wouldn't have to try pushing the Austral in the basement quite so hard..... Thoughts and/or opinions?
 
I am planning on putting another stove in but i have a big old two story Victorian. For 1000 sq ft i wouldn't think you would need 2 stoves at all just make sure the basement is insulated well and work on heat distribution
 
I run 2 stoves and I love it! 1 takes care of the load most of the time, but when it's in the teens they both run.
 
webby3650 said:
I run 2 stoves and I love it! 1 takes care of the load most of the time, but when it's in the teens they both run.
Click to expand...
Yeah that is my plan as well
 
I run 1 stove in my dining room that also heats the kitchen and living room.
Twelve steps down (split level colonial) in the family room there is a stove running that heats the office and family room.
 
I run two stoves, that way I can keep both stoves
running low so not to overheat the stove rooms, and
I can let the coals burn down without cooling down the house
as either stove is capable of heating the house on their own.
 
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I ran a two stove setup for about 15 years. One giant dutchwest in the basement and a small VC on the first floor. Unless basement is well insulated (mine is not) most of the heat goes right into the floor and walls. I switched this year to one medium sized stove on the first floor and I must say, it is much easier to only have to load and worry about one stove. I was heating nearly 3000' when I was heating the basement and am now around 2000' without heating it. When the kids will be in the basement, we turn on the furnace for 1/2 hr and it is heated enough...
 
Advantages for 2 woodstsoves:

MUCH more even heat distribution in the house
Massive BTU horse power for the 0 degree nights
I don't have to rush home to load a single underpowered stove

Disadvantages:

It's a pain to load 2 stoves on a workday.
Family expects a perfect 70 degree house at all times
 
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I have a Jotul F600 in the living room on the main level of the house that I run for most of my heating. Downstairs in our lower level there is a Woodstock Classic that I only run when I'm going to be down in my man cave for an extend period of time (think football season) or when we get a cold snap like the current one. The upper level of our home is around 1800 sq. ft. and the lower level is about 1100 sq. ft. When I fire up the Woodstock Classic during very cold weather it will raise the upstairs by about five degrees above what the Jotul is putting out on its own.
 
I ran both last night. PIA.
If I entered my old Franklin and the Ideal Steel in a hot dog eating contest I know which one would win.
 
That's where the old franklin belongs, outdoors cooking hotdogs.
 
begreen said:
That's where the old franklin belongs, outdoors cooking hotdogs.
Click to expand...

As soon as my Quadra-Fire gets moved in, the Franklin will have a first class seat in the scrap yard. I'm glad I can turn screws and take it out piece by piece when the time comes....
 
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I run a big stove downstairs and a small insert upstairs when the weather dips below zero. Love having the extra unit when I need it.
 
I run a jotul kennebunk insert as well as a englander pellet stove in a 1800+ square foot ranch - poorly insulted. With living rooms at oppisite ends it helps running both on cold days. The pellet is fill and forget, so on so so cold nights I may just burn pellets. Last night here in central mass it was -9 , wind chill about -30. I keep my oil fired boiler off. I find its a plus to have options
 
I run a PH on my main floor , and a xxv pellet stove in the finished basement. I do usr an astronomical amount of pellets. Pretty sure the walls arnt insulated well. Going to be one of my summer projects.
 
I have the Yukon furnace pictured in my avatar in the basement that does 90% of the heating here in the heart of the winter, but is doesn't idle down for warmer days in the spring and fall very well. I installed a lil Defender stove in the fireplace upstairs for those days, works out real well. Bonus is that on these super cold/windy days like we have had here lately I can fire 'em both up for a nice toasty house without having to push either one of them.
 
Wow! I guess I was correct about a fair number of folks running 2 stoves.... This old house of mine was first constructed as a roadside diner back in the 60's to feed the workers that were building the Mactaquac Dam (I'm just up the road a ways from the Dam. Anyway, it's gone through it fair share of re-imaginings before it finally settled on becoming a single dwelling home. When we bought it we had it raised so we could knock out the block wall foundation (which was starting to fail) and replace it with a 10' ICF foundation. So from that point of view, the basement is quite well insulated and cozy. There was a pre-existing concrete slab down there in the basement, but I highly doubt that it ever saw any insulation or whatnot underneath it. So that's all the good stuff, because there's still a 53 year old leaky old house sitting on top of that fine ICF foundation, and I guess my point is that it ain't holding the heat in well enough, especially when we're dealing with these -20 Celsius temps for weeks on end...... I'm think I'm going to get some estimates come early spring on having the siding peeled off of the house so that it can be properly wrapped and sealed with whatever it is they use, 2" blue styrofoam maybe? Then I can compare the cost of insulation vs. a new stove and chimney installation. If the old shell could hold the heat in a little better I'm sure I'd be fine with the basement stove and the heat pump. But as far as things stand right now it's a real challenge to keep the main upstairs floor warm enough......
 
You've got a little way to go, but by the time it gets to -40 degrees, does it really matter if it is Celsius or Fahrenheit?
 
I would check with your insurance, since you are in Canada. I replaced my old stove with a newer one and the insurance made sure my old stove was disconnected and unusable. There is some problem with running 2 stoves in Ont. for insurance. Just thought you should check on your situation before going further.

It also is mandatory for us that the wood stove was for auxiliary heat only. My agent made sure that I checked that box on the application forms. They are getting MUCH stickier these days with all of the stove fires.
 
My original goal was to heat the main level of the house with the PE (think long offset splanch) with wood, and run the oil burner for the lower level.
Oil went to $3 US a gallon, and I quickly decided that that was not a great idea, and the 13 was installed on the lower level.

Oil went to $4 a gallon, and I'm still smiling :)

Both stoves do a fine job in these brutal temps. Both stoves more than paid for them selves in their first year, a win / win for me.

It can be a chore to keep them going, like tonight (got home late, both stoves were out)but temps are coming up, and it'll be toasty in here shortly.
 
fire_man said:
Advantages for 2 woodstsoves:

MUCH more even heat distribution in the house
Massive BTU horse power for the 0 degree nights
I don't have to rush home to load a single underpowered stove

Disadvantages:

It's a pain to load 2 stoves on a workday.
Family expects a perfect 70 degree house at all times
Click to expand...

That pretty much nails it! Two stoves is worth the pain.

Two Australs would be overkill but hey overkill is good insurance.

Or airseal and add the insulation and you should get by just fine.
 
Chuck the Canuck said:
Seems to me that I've been noticing that there's quite a few of ya'll mention running 2 stoves lately. I've been heating from the basement for this past 2 winters, but I'm slowly coming to the realization that it would be awful nice to have a little stove upstairs on the main floor of our 1000 sf (per floor) bungalow. I've been talking it over with the good lady of the house and she's cautiously agreeable (but a bit skeptical about it too).... I think it would be just the ticket to help keep the the main living area nice and toasty, and we wouldn't have to try pushing the Austral in the basement quite so hard..... Thoughts and/or opinions?
Click to expand...

We rely 100% on wood heat since we refuse to use our back up, which is electric baseboard. We heat a 2300+ sq. ft. contemporary (somewhat like a split level, but not really) with an old stove in the basement and a new Lopi insert upstairs. I find the two stoves well worth a little extra effort because we use our lower level as much as our upper level, and without 2 stoves, we were forced to push the dragon hard downstairs to get decent heat to the bedrooms on the upper level -- 50 feet from the basement stove. If your basement is overheating and you're not getting the heat you need upstairs, then a second stove may be worth it. Last night, with outside temps of -15 and windchill at -40, the two stoves kept the house anywhere from 70-85 (depending on where the room is -- bedrooms stay cooler, stove rooms are toasty!). That might be overkill for your 1000 sq. ft.
 
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DougA said:
I would check with your insurance, since you are in Canada. I replaced my old stove with a newer one and the insurance made sure my old stove was disconnected and unusable. There is some problem with running 2 stoves in Ont. for insurance. Just thought you should check on your situation before going further.

It also is mandatory for us that the wood stove was for auxiliary heat only. My agent made sure that I checked that box on the application forms. They are getting MUCH stickier these days with all of the stove fires.
Click to expand...

Good point DougA! I did stipulate that I was only using the wood stove as ambience/back up heat and wouldn't be using any more than 2 cord per year...... Perhaps I can frame it so that the basement stove is for back up heat and the upstairs stove is for ambience........ Definitely have to look into it if I decide to go for a second stove though.
 
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