Bigger is better right?

[Money pit]

I am a wood burning rookie and am struggling with what size insert to get for my 2400 sq. ft. cape. I have done quite a lot of research and am impressed with the Pacific Energy products. The room is 18X20 with large openings into other large areas of the house. If I go with the larger Summit insert, will I blow people out of the room it is in?

 

[milner351]

I'm a mechanical engineer and like to do things with a good deal of "safetly factor"
for this reason I purchased the summit insert for my home that's barely 2000 square feet - a typical 60's colonial 2 story.
I don't really believe the 3000 square foot claim of pacific energy - and I find it very difficult to believe this is any sort of good way to rate a stove.
there are SO many variables in home construction, chimney contruction, wood btu ratings, etc - it's nearly impossible to predict just how well a particular stove will heat a particular home.

I do agree with your bigger is better argument - it's easy to use smaller wood loads in a larger stove than it is to continually run a smaller stove at high burn rates - which require more frequent loading.

I have learned a great deal in my short time on this forum - the most important thing is that the installation is equally important in your satisfaction with a stove as the stove itself.

Turns out I have a great stove - in a horrible installation - I have a lot of rework to do to make th stove work better --- I had also not given enough thought to how much of a penalty an external chimney is from a heat loss perspective.

If you plan on installing yourself - get comfy here - read and read some more - and make sure you have the right tools and skills and materials to install your stove properly - also make sure you know the local code requirements so your installation will pass inspections.

If you have your stove installed - make sure the installer is familiar with such things as block off plates, in place insulated chimneys (using pour in vermiculite or perlite) etc etc.

The summit is frequently refered to here at a 'beast' -- I'm still trying to get mine to work right.

 

[SPED]

In a word..yes. I just made the same decision btwn a jotul oslo and firelight, went for the bigger one. I figure smaller loads are easy to do, but I don't ever want to have to upgrade stoves. I'm still a newbie on here, but from reading lots of other peoples threads, it seems like there are a few people out there who started too small and eventually upgraded, which can get pricey.

 

[kalevi]

I bought a PE Vista and am happy with it for heating my family room, kitchen, dining room evenings and weekends but in hindsight, the next larger model would have been much better. The smaller firebox requires fairly frequent loading (2.5 - 3 hours) and ash removal every couple of days. I can at best get a 6 hour burn (coals that will allow next split to light) if no ash and I really stuff it. Go with a larger one.

 

[Money pit]

Thank you all for the advice. This is one of those projects I want to do one time only. I am going to put a serious effort forth to heat with wood. There for I will be having a pro do the install. My goal is to cut my oil consumption by 50%; I feel compelled to buy as little oil as possible. It'll be fun!!

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a good combo, but why stop at 50%? If the house has good circulation and you have a good quality stash of dry wood, go for like 80 or 90%. The Summit is a good stove to attack the fuel bills with.

 

[Money pit]

That would be great. I am sick and tired of the cost of oil. I just got a load the other day and paid $3.41 per gallon. What a joke. Thank you for the new mark to shoot for. It'll be fun!!

 

[DriftWood]

I find it very difficult to believe this is any sort of good way to rate a stove.
there are SO many variables in home construction, chimney contruction, wood btu ratings, etc - it's nearly impossible to predict just how well a particular stove will heat a particular home.

I do agree with your bigger is better argument

I second that. One thing to check is the EPA tag Btu output it will be considerably lower than the manuals stated btu. If and a big “if “your home is very air tight and very well insulated the owners manual btu and Sq. foot rating may be achievable. If on the other hand you may need to up grade the insulating and tighten up the air leaks in your home and or replace things like windows and doors to get close to the “factory rating”.

 

[begreen]

Exactly right. The factory rating is how many btus the stove will put out. It has no connection with the amount of btus the house is losing. It's up to the homeowner to decide how leaky a sieve he's trying to keep full.

 

[PAJerry]

We heat our house, a 1350 sq. ft. cape cod, just fine with our little Vista, but there are a lot of variables that can make or break heating with a smaller stove. Our house is pretty well insulated, all the windows are triple-pane glass and the exterior is brick. A tight house is much easier to heat. The quality of your wood is a tremendous factor, especially in a small stove. We like to use slab wood - it is easier to pack in a good sized load and it burns hotter. It also dries much faster than cord wood, and we buy and stack everything for the next winter by the end of May. Paying attention to the quality of your firewood is something often overlooked, but is probably the most important factor in getting good heat from your stove. If we had to do it again, we might opt for the next size up, the Pacific insert, just for the fact that you might not need to reload as often, but heating with wood does require some commitment of time and energy to do it right so we just fit it in to our routine.

Based on all the stuff I've read, I'd recommend you get the Summit and go for cutting that oil bill down to nothing. It can be done.

 

[Ken45]

We like to use slab wood - it is easier to pack in a good sized load and it burns hotter

But doesn't that mean that the stove will burn the load more quickly and won't hold a fire overnight?

I tend to put in BIG splits at night or even 6 to 8" rounds. I figure smaller pieces will heat up and give up the gasses too fast, too early resulting in a less efficent fire. Am I doing it wrong?

Ken

 

[PAJerry]

Splits are better if you're going for long burn times - we use them for overnite burns when the weather is very cold. I don't think any small stove can go 'overnite'. At best you might get 4 hours with enough coals left to get a new burn going easily. Being a bit older, neither my wife or I sleep a full 8 hours anyway, so when you get up for other things, you just feed the stove too.

 

[jpl1nh]

Splits are better if you're going for long burn times - we use them for overnite burns when the weather is very cold. I don't think any small stove can go 'overnite'. At best you might get 4 hours with enough coals left to get a new burn going easily. Being a bit older, neither my wife or I sleep a full 8 hours anyway, so when you get up for other things, you just feed the stove too.

With a 1.5 cu ft firebox I would say the Woodstock Keystone is definately in the small stove catagory, but loaded tight with oak or black locust I can easily get an 8 hour burn with it and have stove top temps of 300 at the end of the period. It will keep about 1000 sq ft of my home 69 or above down to a windchill value of about 15, below that I will loose ground in that 8 hour period. Still that's about 85% of the nights over a 5 month+ season that 1 load does all we need in this small stove for a true overnight burn.

 

[Todd]

Bigger is better in my opinion for heating 2400 sq ft in a northern climate. You don't have to pack it full and run full boar when you don't need as much heat, but when you really need the BTU's you got em.

 

[Money pit]

As far as the wood is concerned, I am splitting now and hope to have it done by the end of March for next year. Most of what I have is oak and beech. The house is a cape built in the 50's. All windows, doors, siding and roof are new. {I have been busy, notice my forum name} It is well insulated as well. I do have some areas of concern that are relatively isolated from the stove. I am handy enough where I could install some fans or vents to resolve the issue. Our schedule lends itself to heating with wood because I get up for work early in the am and someone is home all day. Thank you all for the input and I look forward to buying very little oil next year. It'll be fun!!