Hello –
This is my first post on this great site. My wife & I have decided to install a wood stove in our cottage in SW Michigan, and would be grateful for any advice to help select the proper size stove. For a manufacturer we're leaning toward Jotul for now. I'm wondering about this old question of what SIZE – should we buy a smaller stove with our space at the lower end of its rating or a larger stove that is rated to heat quite a bit more than our space? Details follow. The cottage is a total of 1200 sq ft in size. Built in 1935, it has two stories, with 600 sq ft on each floor. Pic is attached. Seven foot ceilings up and down, so not a lot of head space. It is cape-cod style, so the upstairs has 4-dormers and an A-frame style interior ceiling/roof upstairs. No basement, but there is a crawl-space. It is frame construction with wood siding. The cottage has been considerably remodeled and has good insulation, but the windows and doors are still a little drafty. There is a natural gas furnace here, too. So, this stove will supplement the furnace, and the stove will not normally be run all the time BUT we'd like for it to be able to be the primary heat source if needed during winter power outages or winter weekends, or just in case gas goes totally out of sight for price (likely soon). We like the Jotul’s and are considering the F 118 CB Black Bear (heats “up to 1,600 sq ft) , the F 400 Castine (heats “up to 1,600 sq ft”) and the F 500 Oslo (heats “up to 2,000 sq ft”). We wonder in particular if the Oslo would generate lots more heat than we need when operated properly. Certainly would consider other Jotuls or other makers.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
This is my first post on this great site. My wife & I have decided to install a wood stove in our cottage in SW Michigan, and would be grateful for any advice to help select the proper size stove. For a manufacturer we're leaning toward Jotul for now. I'm wondering about this old question of what SIZE – should we buy a smaller stove with our space at the lower end of its rating or a larger stove that is rated to heat quite a bit more than our space? Details follow. The cottage is a total of 1200 sq ft in size. Built in 1935, it has two stories, with 600 sq ft on each floor. Pic is attached. Seven foot ceilings up and down, so not a lot of head space. It is cape-cod style, so the upstairs has 4-dormers and an A-frame style interior ceiling/roof upstairs. No basement, but there is a crawl-space. It is frame construction with wood siding. The cottage has been considerably remodeled and has good insulation, but the windows and doors are still a little drafty. There is a natural gas furnace here, too. So, this stove will supplement the furnace, and the stove will not normally be run all the time BUT we'd like for it to be able to be the primary heat source if needed during winter power outages or winter weekends, or just in case gas goes totally out of sight for price (likely soon). We like the Jotul’s and are considering the F 118 CB Black Bear (heats “up to 1,600 sq ft) , the F 400 Castine (heats “up to 1,600 sq ft”) and the F 500 Oslo (heats “up to 2,000 sq ft”). We wonder in particular if the Oslo would generate lots more heat than we need when operated properly. Certainly would consider other Jotuls or other makers.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
