Hearthstone Mansfield too big for a small home?

[cclundy]

Hello, I'm new to this forum although it feels like I've spent many waking hours on it lately. Thanks for all the great posts!

We just broke ground on a new house in Idaho. The climate here is cold, cold in the winter. We often have the coldest temps in the country on any given day, it's commonly below zero and often -20. We have a TON of beetle kill lodgepole pine, and although it isn't the best firewood it would be a sin not to burn it in a stove before it burns in the forest. It's dry as a bone the moment you cut it. The house we're building is 700 sf ft each in the basement and on the main floor. The floor plan is open with an 11' vaulted ceiling on the main floor. Wood heat will be our primary heat source. We'll have 2x6 walls and decent insulation and good windows and doors. The stove will be on the main floor, and we'll likely install propane backup heaters in a few key locations in the the house.

Obviously for a well insulated house of this size, we don't need a huge stove. We also don't like our inside temps over 70, we're cold blooded. Our search for a stove has been fairly humorous. We started out looking at very small models. We really like the Hearthstone stoves, but can't really afford one. We saw a new Tribute (1.2 cu ft firebox) on sale locally for $1000 and tried to convince ourselves it would be enough. Looked at other small stoves before deciding we wanted something with at least a 2 cu ft capacity. Started to decide on a Napoleon 1400 until lo and behold a used Hearthstone Mansfield (3.2 cu ft) showed up on Craigslist for $1500.

So we went from looking at too small to potentially too big. Most regular posters here subscribe to the bigger is better philosophy, but is there a limit? Would this be exceeding it? Would this stove operate efficiently if we're constantly running it half capacity or less?

The stove is a long drive from here and I'm doing the best I can to ascertain it's in good shape, so far so good. Supposed to get more pics tonight, but no cracks in the stones and nothing in the firebox appears cracked. Unsure of age but guessing 5 years or more. Any suggestions for things to look at on the stove?

On another note, I'm thinking of installing an air duct that blows air from the vaulted ceiling peak down into the basement. Are these worth it? Any design thoughts - keeping in mind I need to keep it cheap and simple? Also worried about fan noise, but wouldn't be a huge issue if the blower were in the basement.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Todd]

If the Mansfield was going in the basement I'd say ok but I think it will be too much for 700 sq ft. The Heritage or Pheonix would be better or better yet would be a Woodstock cat stove that would have longer burns with that pine and could be turned down to a lower BTU output when you don't need the heat.

 

[begreen]

It would be good to get a heating system design specced out for the house. Will the bank require this? If yes, you would have some sizing guidelines based on the heat loss calculations. I suspect a small stove is going to suffice. Problem with that is most need frequent refills. In this light, a Woodstock Keystone or Palladian seems like where I would start.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

mansfield seems like overkill, a heritage would be better

check used stoves for baffle, air tube damage

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What size is the propane backup going to be? I found I needed twice the btu to heat the family cabin when the wind comes up than a house in a more sheltered area in the same general area.

Matt

 

[yanksforever]

We heat a 2300 sq. ft. two story house very nicely with the Mansfield. So yes...700 sq. ft. would definitely be over kill.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

In NY, where you are...

Not so far North, in Warren County, the front room in my family cabin requires 30,000 btu/hr in order to HOLD a temp in 10 degrees with a strong wind. The room is only 16 feet wide and 20 feet long. Almost 100 btu/sq ft. About double what the average uninsulated house requires.

Counting the BTUs needed to heat that room opened up my eyes that ice fishing trip.

If it was -20 out with wind, would the stove be oversized? Hard to say. I hope I never find out since I only have about 40K btu available.

Matt

 

[Fsappo]

Mansfield would be too large. Go for something 2.0-2.5 cubic foot firebox to heat your area on a low air setting that will give you an overnight burn. A 2.5 cubic foot firebox may still be a little large but you can just crack a window.

Skip the Tribute.

You can PM me about pricing on some overstocked Hearthstone stoves if you would like.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've always been a proponent of larger stoves . . . as I have written in other posts . . . if it gets wicked cold outside you can build a bigger fire in a large stove, but it's a lot harder to build a bigger fire in a small stove when you're already at capacity.

That said . . . yes . . . there is most definitely a point where you have too large of a stove . . . as going with too large of a stove will either result in you having an excessive amount of heat (uncomfortable for you and you'll be opening and shutting windows to try to regulate the heat . . . which also means you're wasting fuel to heat the outside) or you'll be burning inefficiently.

You have some things in your favor . . . 2 x 6 walls, well insulated, smaller home . . . but you also appear to have some wicked cold weather and vaulted ceilings . . . if you don't already have a ceiling fan you may want one to move the heated air that will accumulate towards the ceiling back down towards the living space. If I were you I would look at stoves that are rated for 1,000-1,500 square feet in size . . . about one size up from your 700 square feet heating needs.

Now about the basement . . . is the basement just a place to store things or is it part of the main living in the home. What I mean to say is that my crawl space (cinder block foundation walls with footings below the frost line, dirt floor) is not heated . . . but since it's below the frost line it stays warm enough in the winter (perhaps partly due to the domestic hot water lines running in this section . . . or simply from the heat radiating down through the floor) to keep thing from freezing . . . in fact it's quite comfortable down there in the winter. Now, if I were actually using this space for living (say as a spare bedroom, den, etc.) I might want things a bit warmer . . . but normally it's warm enough to keep things from freezing up. I will confess however that when we have 2-3 days of sub zero temps I will fire up the oil boiler once or twice a day to move some heated water through the pipes to keep things moving and warm it up a bit . . . probably over kill on my part . . . but I would rather spend a bit of change on oil than to risk having frozen or broken pipes.

 

[Rich L]

Will your basement be unheated if you put a stove on the first floor ?If so what about your water pipes in the basement ?If your able to put the mansfield in the basement you'd be heating 1400 sq'.The mansfield would then work well if the heat rises to the first floor.Remember those of us who have responded so far don't experience the kind of temps that you get.I would go large if I were dealing with constant below zero temps. even in a small home.If the stove is producing too much heat build smaller fires.

 

[begreen]

As much as I don't like basement installations, I have to say I was wondering the same thing. If down there and nothing but the rats are going to see it, then maybe a basic steel stove would suffice?