Big house: one stove or multiple stoves? and various other questions

Right now we have one medium sized insert in our 2500 sq ft bungalow. We've already started some construction and are putting a second stove in this summer.

I think it really depends on house layout/size to determine if a large single stove or multiple would work best. Also, available space obviously.

It depends on the openness of your layout. 2000sqft is not very big if its all open plan but if its all little rooms its a tough one. As you can see by my sig i have a cookstove also. Seeing as we are off grid it makes sense but I would recommend it to anyone who has the room. It just gives you more options. I mean you can get that big stove for really cold knowing you have the cookstove for those really warm days. Also you haven't eaten good food until you've eaten off a wood cookstove.

the different houses i have been in and lived in throughout my life have varied in size from single floors to double stories with full basements. there has never been more than one wood stove in any of them. i have seen places with more than one stove and can only wonder about all the set-up and hauling of wood from and to different areas where the stoves are.

we have 2. our place is a maze and this is the only way we can heat the whole place. i keep a nice tall wood rack on the main floor that will feed the soapstone stove for a few days and the basement has a large copper tub that holds a couple days worth of wood. just outside the basement is a walk out where i keep about 1 cord of the dry stuff for both stoves. just outside the front door on the side of the house i keep the large splits for extreme cold nights , about 100 or so pieces in the large range does us just fine. so basicaly its not far from wood to stove . our soapstone is the workhorse 24/7 rock and our basement stove is for quick warm ups and for when we want to be on the lower level, which this winter has been all the time. cant beat a warm basement. some houses have a nice lay out and make installing a couple stoves easy. the name of the game is to move wood as little as possible and keep it fun to do and not turn it into a job. different stoves heat differently, and some places heat easier than others. best wishes for choosing stoves, so many great ones out its hard to go wrong. pete

I have struggled with this question: one massive stove or two smaller ones. I am going with one massive one.

Reason: The cost to line the second flue, aggravation dragging wood into a second room with the increased mess, more ash/dust in the other end of the house, second stove to tend, - hey, why am I burning at all??? Just kidding - it all beats seeing that oil delivery truck any day!

1320 3 floors. the basement is about 500 and is 1/2 finished. cold slab on half in laundry, carpet on the other side.

We went the one big stove in the middle of the living space route. It works well with the open floor plan. We burn 24/7/210. We have a lower level walkout that when finished will probably require a second stove unless I can find a way around it.

We have had one medium size (actually the smallest of the bucks of that era) heating our 1500 sq ft home for almost 30 years. It has always done a good job until it gets real cold and then the end of the house with the kitchen and den get cold compared to the rest of the house (not really cold, 67 or so, but cold when you are used to the warmth of wood heat. My wife and I have both gotten more cold blooded as we have gotten older and like it a lot warmer in the house than we used to. So early this winter she proclaimed she wanted a small wood stove in her kitchen :kiss: So as you can see in my signature, we are about to have 2 stoves. I will let you know how taking care of 2 stoves goes. It has never been work for me....I enjoy it to much, so I am thinking it will just be double the pleasure for me. ;-P

I have 2000 sq ft total including basement and use to think big as possible for the basement and let the heat find it's way upstairs but after installing a second stove upstairs I found it better to have two smaller stoves one on each level if you want nice even heat throughout.

i have yet to see a house built to be heated by wood yet. My house is 3000sq/ft split level i have a myriad of fans and doors open to make it work. I now have 2 big stoves, someday i might build a single level with a basement and with cold air returns and hot air supplies so that 1 stove will do it all. If life was easy what would they call it?

Our house is designed with lots of small rooms and masonry chimneys at both ends. Its only 2000sqft which isn't large by modern standards, but when the weather turns cold either the heated end gets too hot or the unheated end gets too cold. Alternately reloading the stove on the west end and the insert on the east end keeps the whole house comfortable.

With a more open floor plan and a center chimney heating the volume with one stove would be no problem. Since I already had a 6" thimble in the living room wall and a large masonry fireplace in the family room, a medium sized wood stove and large insert were the best solution for me.

As for carrying wood ... I have space for 3/4 of a cord by the back door near the insert. I have a small rack that holds a 24 hour supply by the stove. Filling the stove and rack is three large armfulls I have to carry through the house.

snowleopard said:

I thought that gas stoves were okay in bedrooms.

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Its the other way around. Gas heaters that get their combustion air from outside or wood stoves are okay in bedrooms. Gas stoves are not okay in bedrooms.

303.3 Prohibited locations. Fuel-fired appliances shall not be located in, or obtain combustion air from, any of the following rooms or spaces:

1. Sleeping rooms
2. Bathrooms.
3. Toilet rooms.
4. Storage closets.
5. Surgical rooms.

Exception: This section shall not apply to the following appliances:

1. Direct-vent appliances that obtain all combustion air directly from the outdoors.

2. Solid fuel-fired appliances, provided that the room is not a confined space and the building is not of unusually tight construction.

3. Appliances installed in a dedicated enclosure in which all combustion air is taken directly from the outdoors, in accordance with Section 703. Access to such enclosure shall be through a solid door, weather-stripped in accordance with the exterior door air leakage requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code and equipped with an approved self-closing device.

snowleopard - 22 February 2011 06:22 PM
I thought that gas stoves were okay in bedrooms.

Its the other way around. Gas heaters that get their combustion air from outside or wood stoves are okay in bedrooms. Gas stoves are not okay in bedrooms.

303.3 Prohibited locations. Fuel-fired appliances shall not be located in, or obtain combustion air from, any of the following rooms or spaces:

1. Sleeping rooms
2. Bathrooms.
3. Toilet rooms.
4. Storage closets.
5. Surgical rooms.

Exception: This section shall not apply to the following appliances:

1. Direct-vent appliances that obtain all combustion air directly from the outdoors.

2. Solid fuel-fired appliances, provided that the room is not a confined space and the building is not of unusually tight construction.

3. Appliances installed in a dedicated enclosure in which all combustion air is taken directly from the outdoors, in accordance with Section 703. Access to such enclosure shall be through a solid door, weather-stripped in accordance with the exterior door air leakage requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code and equipped with an approved self-closing device.

Click to expand...

KarlP, You are obviously quoting the International Fuel Gas Code, but the exceptions aren't exactly as I found them. What year code are you using? Just curious.

tfdchief said:

KarlP, You are obviously quoting the International Fuel Gas Code, but the exceptions aren't exactly as I found them. What year code are you using? Just curious.

Click to expand...

No. I'm quoting the 2006 International Mechanical Code. I do not believe it changed in the 2009 revision, but I don't have a copy.

The IFGC doesn't provide any exception for solid fuel appliances because a solid isn't a gas. The IMC is what applies to solid and liquid fuel heaters.

KarlP said:

tfdchief said:

KarlP, You are obviously quoting the International Fuel Gas Code, but the exceptions aren't exactly as I found them. What year code are you using? Just curious.

Click to expand...

No. I'm quoting the 2006 International Mechanical Code. I do not believe it changed in the 2009 revision, but I don't have a copy.

The IFGC doesn't provide any exception for solid fuel appliances because a solid isn't a gas. The IMC is what applies to solid and liquid fuel heaters.

Click to expand...

Sorry, you are right, I deal with to many codes and sometimes forget which one I am in. :grrr: