Ideal Steel for 2600ish sq ft.?

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Sconnie Burner

Sconnie Burner

Feeling the Heat
Aug 23, 2014
488
Western Wi
Going to be building a house with about 1400 finished up stairs. Open kitchen and dinning w/ vaulted ceilings. 3 bedrooms on one end. And 1200 downstairs when fully finished. (Basement will slowly get finished as $ allows)
Basement:
Screenshot_20160407-193819.png
Stove will be placed in basement opposite the stairs. Where the W.I. closet it is. The plan is being changed and the bedroom/bath area will be moved over to the left and take the place of the "storage". With out a blower am I going to get decent heat to the stairway? I do plan on pointing a floor fan at the stove.
Here is the upstairs:
Screenshot_20160407-194321.png
Plan on putting a floor fan by the bedroom doors as well to help with a convection loop there as well. Will have a ceiling fan in LR in the vaulted ceiling too.

Does the stove stay 500-600 for a decent amount of the burn time. I do like the idea of 10-12 hours of "usable" heat many have mentioned.
 
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I'm not sure how long you are going to get 5-600 degrees out of any stove.

The advantage of the Ideal steel is it stays hot for a long time. It does crank out some serious btus when you need it and will heat that house very well. Assuming you will be insulating it well.

This morning at 6 am I tossed a single layer of smaller/ medium splits on the coals. It probably wasn't even 1/4 full. The picture below shows what was left 17 hours later. The house stayed warm and there were plenty of coals left to reload on with this mild day. I still can't put my hand on the stove top.
 

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JA600L said:
I'm not sure how long you are going to get 5-600 degrees out of any stove.

The advantage of the Ideal steel is it stays hot for a long time. It does crank out some serious btus when you need it and will heat that house very well. Assuming you will be insulating it well.

This morning at 6 am I tossed a single layer of smaller/ medium splits on the coals. It probably wasn't even 1/4 full. The picture below shows what was left 17 hours later. The house stayed warm and there were plenty of coals left to reload on with this mild day. I still can't put my hand on the stove top.
Click to expand...

damn. wish i had a cat stove!
 
Do you burn hardwoods? What kind of temps and duration of those temps are you seeing during a mid-winter burn? Currently using a quad 3100 with blower in a 2004 built, about 1900 sq ft split entry home, heating from the basement. It will run 600-650 for about 3 hrs before dropping slowly. It does a great job but definitely needs the blower to move the heat to the stairs from where the stove is located and to prevent an overfire with the tall stack.
 
Sconnie Burner said:
Going to be building a house with about 1400 finished up stairs. Open kitchen and dinning w/ vaulted ceilings. 3 bedrooms on one end. And 1200 downstairs when fully finished. (Basement will slowly get finished as $ allows)
View attachment 177775


Stove will be placed in basement opposite the stairs. Where the W.I. closet it is. The plan is being changed and the bedroom/bath area will be moved over to the left and take the place of the "storage". With out a blower am I going to get decent heat to the stairway? I do plan on pointing a floor fan at the stove.
Here is the upstairs:
View attachment 177776
Plan on putting a floor fan by the bedroom doors as well to help with a convection loop there as well. Will have a ceiling fan in LR in the vaulted ceiling too.

Does the stove stay 500-600 for a decent amount of the burn time. I do like the idea of 10-12 hours of "usable" heat many have mentioned.
Click to expand...

Well seasoned wood is the key to successful heating no matter the stove. Do you have a plan in place for your wood ?

bob
 
English BoB said:
Well seasoned wood is the key to successful heating no matter the stove. Do you have a plan in place for your wood ?

bob
Click to expand...
Currently at 13 cords split, stacked, and drying. Half that is over 2 years stacked! All of it is stacked at my parent's except the half or so cord I have left. My first year of burning was all dead standing barkless elm, so went fairly well. This last winter was a mix of more elm and red oak that wasn't stacked in the best place for drying as I habe limited space being in town. It was at 22-24%, so not horrible but could tell the difference compared to the elm! Haven't checked the oak for this coming winter but it will have 3 summers stacked by the time I get to it.
 
First off, I am a fellow Quadra-Fire owner. I have a 4300 ACT that was replaced by the Ideal Steel and then moved to the upstairs as a spare. The 4300 is a very capable stove but I was not getting long enough burns out of it. I work 10+ hour days and I used to come home to the heat pump running and barely any coals left in the stove.

At this point I did a lot of air sealing, insulating, put new windows in, and ordered the Ideal Steel.

The attic, basement, and garage ceiling/ bedroom floors had the insulation updated.

The Ideal Steel made an instant impression. It is a big stove compared to the Quad. It burns wood at a much lower rate and spreads the heat out much longer and more evenly. Anytime I ran the Quad I would run with the air all but closed and it would almost overfire and chew through wood very quickly. The Ideal Steel does not behave like that unless you want it to.

Now I don't even think about what the stove is doing when I'm at work. The house is warm when I get home and the stove is full of coals with plenty of temperature. I wake up warm. The stove pumps heat like nothing else when you need it to. Stove top temperature doesn't really mean anything to me. What matters to me is less heat is going up the chimney. It just works. I do use mostly hardwoods, but softwoods burn just as well with this stove.

The Ideal Steel is a major upgrade from the 4300. I'm sure if your going from a 3100 it will make a huge difference in performance and burn time.
 
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@JA600L
Thanks for the info. The current house I'm in heats quite well with the quad, never cooler than 68-69 in the morning or when returning from work. Mid-winter I loaded it full at 6:15 am before leaving for work at 7:15, small load at 5:15 pm when getting home from work, and full again around 9:30 pm before bed. Always had decent coals for a relight. Even now when I get home I cover the coals in ash and they will relight wood before bed! I did have to mod the primary air and secondary air inlets with magnets to slow the vacuum down though!

Sounds like the IS will fit the bill from what you are saying. I completely agree a longer lower, steady heat will be better than a half day "burst" of heat. I didn't mind the NG kicking on once in a while but now I like the challenge of keeping it from running!:)
 
The Progress Hybrid is another great option for a large area like that.
 
If you are building new, seal it very well and insulate to the hilt. Then the need for large volumes of heat over a long period of time become much less an issue. The payback will be 24/7/365 for heating and air conditioning. That said, a basement is a better location for a furnace than a woodstove if the goal is whole house heating.

PS: Is the first floor the basement? If not, what is the total sq ftg including the basement?
 
begreen said:
PS: Is the first floor the basement? If not, what is the total sq ftg including the basement?
Click to expand...
Yes, the first pic is the basement layout when I finish it except the bathroom/bedroom block will be slid left to the wall instead of the storage area. Im going to put the bath/living room wall up right away and put a door across the hallway to block off that end so the heat travels upstairs better until I completly finish the basement. All finished I should be around 2600-2700 sq ft.
 
The WI closet is in the bedroom in the drawing. Will this be changed to an open area that includes the family room? If yes, that should heat the area more evenly.

Insulate well, preferably under the floor slab and around the exterior of the foundation.
 
begreen said:
The WI closet is in the bedroom in the drawing. Will this be changed to an open area that includes the family room? If yes, that should heat the area more evenly.

Insulate well, preferably under the floor slab and around the exterior of the foundation.
Click to expand...
Yes that area will become part of the family room and that whole chunk of bed/bath/WIC will be moved to the left to the end of the house.

Just kind of wondering how well a stovestove without a blower will work in a basement install situation for heating the whole house. I'm sure floor fan placement will help.
 
Basement family room will be warm and toasty but it may take bringing it up to 80F to have 72F upstairs.
 
It would work better if you don't finish the ceiling in the basement. Mine is exposed and it heats the floor above nicely.
 
Sconnie Burner said:
Yes that area will become part of the family room and that whole chunk of bed/bath/WIC will be moved to the left to the end of the house.

Just kind of wondering how well a stovestove without a blower will work in a basement install situation for heating the whole house. I'm sure floor fan placement will help.
Click to expand...
My freestander heats just as well, actually better than the insert did with a blower. If you need to move air you can use fans, I use two ceiling get fans and heat about the same sf as you will have.
 
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JA600L said:
It would work better if you don't finish the ceiling in the basement. Mine is exposed and it heats the floor above nicely.
Click to expand...
It won't be finished right away so that may help offset the bare cement floor? I do plan on temporarily sectioning off the unused portion of the basement buy building the bathroom wall and running it all the way across with just a door in the future hallway. We will use the family room area unfinished for the first year probably, just throw down a carpet remnant. I probably won't get the full effect of the stove but it will still help keep the furnace from running a ton!
 
begreen said:
Basement family room will be warm and toasty but it may take bringing it up to 80F to have 72F upstairs.
Click to expand...
I'm used to that where I currently am renting. My buddy left his stove in for me to use. It is anywhere from 80-85 to keep the upstairs at 72-74 in the coldest wheather. I actually like it warmer now that I'm used to the warmth from a woodstove!! Or should I say spoiled by it!!
 
weatherguy said:
My freestander heats just as well, actually better than the insert did with a blower. If you need to move air you can use fans, I use two ceiling get fans and heat about the same sf as you will have.
Click to expand...
Good to hear! We will definitely put ceiling fans in and also a fan or two to get the heat up the stairs.
 
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