Englander 30 Burning 24/7 - 1550sqft House - Will I Cook Myself Out???

[BurnIt13]

Well it looks like our stove purchase is going to have to wait a few months.....at least I have more time to think about more stoves. I'm on a budget and previously narrowed my search to 2.0+ cu. ft. stoves, mostly due to cost and size constraints. My goal was to be able to have enough coals left after 8-10 hours to start the next load. I intend to burn 24/7 and keep my existing heat (steam) as a backup. I had narrowed my selection to:

Lopi Republic 1750
Napoleon 1400
Pacific Energy Super 27

I have a 1550 square foot two story colonial. Its 110 years old with descent insulation. I say descent because 30 years ago it had insulation blown-in top to bottom. I assume some has settled in the walls, but am not sure. The attic has a mix of R19 and R38. It has new windows and doors as well. I live in central Massachusetts and although it's not the Yukon, it does get pretty nippy here. When we design our heating systems we aim for a -5 or 0 degree design temp.

That said....I came across an Englander 30 at Lowes today. Its a sharp stove! I went online and it will fit in the space I need it to. Overstock Stoves is even cheaper! With 3.5 cubic feet of firebox I will definetely be able to achieve long burn times... but will I cook myself out of the house? The first floor has a reletively open floor plan and I'll be using some fans to move air around. I've attached some floor plans if anyone cares to check them out.

Think the Englander 30 would be too big? Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Thanks for posting the great floorplan. I suspect it's going to be overkill except for the coldest months. The core of the house looks closer to 1200 sq ft. The den doesn't look like it's going to receive a lot of heat, though it could be assisted with the fan on the floor blowing cold towards the stove.

It sounds like you understand heating systems. Lok at the btus that the house has used in the past few seasons. Maybe take an average for November and January. That should show what the heating load will be like for the woodstove.

 

[blades]

Well your dining room is going to be hot and you are going to need fans to move heat around to the other rooms on the 1st floor. 2nd floor should be less of a problem as the heat is going to track up the stairs, might even get to warm up there with a 30nc.
I have a 30nc in a 2k ranch, 30nc in living room about center of house. living room dinette ( L shaped ) hits 80, kitchen and den about 75, bedrooms off a hall way at end of house around 70. I have the blower on the back of the 30 plus a fan on a counter about 3 ft away seems to work with my floor plan, so far. temps have only been down to the low 30's so far. In another month that will be a heat wave until March.

 

[astrodon]

Depends on how hot you like it

I have the big Englander in a the finished basement of my 2700 square foot walkout ranch. The main part of my lower level is wide open about 25 x 30 and the hot air travels right along the ceiling from the stove, which is opposite the stairs, to the stairwell and goes right on up unimpeded into our mud room where it tends to build up a little before going into the kitchen and on into the upstairs kitchen/dining/living area. When I look at your floor plan, the first thing I think is, no one is going to want to eat in the dining room until its time to reload the stove, if then. It will get hot in that room. Another thing in my home is that when the kitchen (upstairs from the stove) is in use and people are milling about or eating in our dining room, it will raise the temperature upstairs in that area by as much as 5 degrees. The kitchen appliances and dining activities seem to factor into my heating situation I tend to keep my basement between 68 and 80 degrees, with the majority of the time between 70 and 78, which we consider comfortable. The upstairs tends to stay pretty even keel at 68 to 70 unless we are cooking or have a lot of guests over. Maybe, I would consider putting the stove, regardless of size, in your living room so that more of the heat can get up the stairs?

Just some thoughts, every home and stove is different.

 

[BurnIt13]

All good points guys...thanks! I have natural gas and it looks like I used about 180 Therms last January. That equates to about 24k btu's per hour. Now my 20 year old steam system is probably about 75% efficient, so I actually produced an average of 18k btu's per hour of heat. But...this is keeping the house at a chilly 66 when we are home (9 hours a day) so the heating bill doesnt go through the roof. When we are away at work or sleeping the heat is essentially off.

I will also add that the heat loss calculation for my house is about 48k btu with a zero degree outside, 70 inside design temp.

So it looks like that on the coldest of times, I'd need a "more than 48k btu" stove. Probably around 60k btu because a space heater heats a home less efficiently than a hydronic system equally spread out into all rooms.

Hmmmmm. The Englander 40 puts out 75k of btu. As for my original choices:

Lopi Republic 1270 - 66k btu
Napoleon 1400 - 70k btu
Quadrafire 3100 - 55k btu
PE Super 27 - 72k btu

I take those manufacturers claims with a grain of salt and of course, I wouldn't want a stove running at full crank on a chilly night to keep the average temp at 70.....but it seems like my original choices should suffice. The only problem is going to be getting an overnight burn......

 

[begreen]

You will be fine choosing from this list of stoves. All will meet the heating needs of the house. If you get a freak storm at -15F, cycle the boiler a little for a day or two, together with the stove. For the 98% remaining day of winter, any of the selected stoves will do the job well. Overnight burns should not be an issue. For example, of the 60+ stoves that Tom tested, the mid-sized PE had the longest burn times. Folks here have also reported good burn times with the other 2 cu ft stoves listed.

 

[pen]

I heat a smaller space with the 30 and have no issues. By the looks of your layout I think you will do just fine.

In a worst case scenario, you could always crack a window a little.

pen

 

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Does the Englander have rear exhaust. We have a fireplace and want a hearth stove instead, no insert. In order for it to fit, we need rear exhaust. We got a quote on a Harmon Oakwood, but it's pretty steep. We live in GA and don't want to run our heat for the few months it's cold. Any suggestions?

 

[BurnIt13]

I'll probably wait until February/March when Home Depot and Lowes get rid of thier stove inventory. If they drop them by hundreds of dollars, which they've done in the past....I'll probably go with the Englander 30. Otherwise....PE Super 27. Thanks for your help guys!