Help me choose the right size new stove

Hey guys,

So, last week I started a topic about modifying your house to better facilitate heating with wood. Me and my wife have talked about it and I think we are going to try to do it.

We are going to remove one bedroom from the middle of the house and then divide up our other super large bedroom into two regular sized bedrooms. This will actually completely open up our whole house. We then plan to put a new woodstove in pretty much the center of the house.

I'm going to try to attach two images to this post. The first is the existing layout which has the stove all the way on one side of the house which keeps the other end of the house 15-20 degrees cooler than the stove end.

The second image is of the new proposed layout.

The interior square footage of our house is about 1200 sq. ft. The main living areas are about 1000 sq. ft. and the mudroom and laundry room add another 200 sq. ft.

OK, so now for the questions

I'm trying to figure which size class of stoves would be appropriate for this application. With the stove right in the middle of the house, I don't want to get cooked with too big of a stove. However, my wife likes it toasty, so I don't want something that isn't going to cut it. We are in the mountains in northwestern virginia, at about 1550' elevation, so we are cold for virginia. our house has great insulation in the attic - none under the house and some in the walls, its not a super tight new home, but its not an old drafty thing either. There is no upstairs or basement or anything, just one level, and my ceilings are maybe 8' at the most.

I really like the look and the idea of the Hearthstone soapstone wood stoves. I really like the looks of the Heritage, but I'm afraid it will be too big. I don't like the looks of the homestead. I do like the Tribute, but I'm afraid that one is too small.

Also I know that Jotuls are good stoves, and I think that the Castine (400) would be the appropriate size, correct??

Finally, I've heard that the Woodstock soapstone stoves are really good, but I'm a little hesitant about getting a catalytic stove, just in case I can't always have perfect wood. However, let me know which model woodstock would be most appropriate for my application.

So, I guess what I'm asking is, check out my proposed new home layout image and let me know which models of Hearthstone, Jotul, and Woodstock stoves would be most appropriate.

THANKS

oh ok, so the image on the left is my existing layout, the image on the right is my proposed modification

Thanks guys! Very helpful responses

I'm glad you said OSLO instead of the Castine, as I really would prefer to have the side door option.

So, Fireview, Oslo, and Heritage - sounds like I can't go to wrong. I like the sound of having some control over the heat output.

With my current old sheet metal stove, I have very little control, its either hot and fast, or I have to use the damper to get a long (4 hour max) creosote forming smolder burn.

yes, insulating the crawlspace is definitely a long term goal, but we have to first get our moisture issues under control or figure out which insulation types are most compatible to moisture, i.e. doesn't make it worse.

Ok,

sorry to bring this back up.

me and my wife just visited the local stove place. They carry Jotul and Hearthstone.

We both really liked the look on the Hearthstone Heritage, but neither much cared for the OSLO.

They are having a 10% sale right now that unfortunately ends on....TOMORROW!

There are only two other stoves that I'm considering right now.

One is the Woodstock Keystone (not the fireview because we really want a top flue exit and my wife hates the way it looks), and the PE Alderlea T5. However, I believe that both of those would require that I order them and have them shipped as I can't get them locally - although with woodstocks current sale, it wouldn't be any more total than the Heritage I think.

I think the big question right now is we are unsure if the keystone is big enough, even though I've had some people tell me that it would be - a 1.5 cu ft. woodbox seems pretty small. and my wife is petrified of being cold.

My favorite looking stove right now is the Heritage, although, it has to work good or its just a really expensive piece of furniture

I've spoken with Woodstock a couple times and those guys seem really awesome and helpful and nice to deal with and it sounds like their stoves are ultimate top quality.

anyways, thanks for any continued help deciding.

Thanks guys - although, I just got one nod for the Heritage, one for the Keystone, and one for the T5, hahaha. I'm actually not really sweating it, because I feel like we would be happy with any of these stoves.

BeGreen - thanks for the links - although ACME is the place we went today and looked at the Heritage. We looked at all their stoves and they definitely didn't have anything from Pacific Energy, nor did they have any posters or other information indicating that they were a dealer. hmmm, maybe they used to be?? Looks like they mostly have Jotul and Hearthstone and then a couple steel plate stoves, don't remember the brand, but they weren't PE.

Thanks!

Hiram Maxim said:

After all that I have read and has been said on these forums, I'm with Todd & Wendell on the Fireview. Even with the rear pipe attachment.....

Everyone seems to just love that model and have success with it.

Just my $.03 :cheese:

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Yes, I know. I think the Fireview would be perfect for our house. Except that my wife thinks its the ugliest stove of any that we are considering - she doesn't really appreciate the antique look at all. Also, as the back of the stove will be facing a high traffic area, we just hate to have that pipe sticking out the back just hanging out there. If we were just hiding the back of it against a hearth, it would be an easy solution.

The heritage with the pipe coming out the top has such a nice clean look and the back of it is just as good looking as any side really. the backs of some other stoves like the Jotuls look the the back side of an old TV set or something.

6 months of the year the stove will be basically furniture and we don't want an eye sore.

ok, well, we got 6" of snow today, and I called the stove place today to see if they could extend the 10% discount until monday as I couldn't make it in to town today. Nobody was at the store so they must not have come in.

well anyways, the pressure is off at least until monday.

I'm still waffling by the minute between the heritage and keystone.

one more question.

will the heritage put out heat if I run it low? seems like I read somewhere that soapstone wouldn't put out any heat unless it got above a certain temp or something. I just want to make sure that I don't have to run this thing hard constantly, as november and march are definitely mild, but still fire weather. I'm worried that the heritage is going to be a wood consuming beast to feed.

cozy_in_kiowa said:

Just curious, why did you rule out the Oslo?

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we looked at the oslo and my wife ruled it out because she said it was ugly, especially the back of it. looked like the back of a huge 1975 TV or something. This stove will be positioned so that the back of the stove will be facing a the path to the bathroom and a bedroom and would also be visible from the kitchen, so we want something with a nice looking back. The Heritage has a very clean flat back that would not be an eyesore.