Need some help

[smokymtn]

First off thank you for having such a great site and willing folks to help one another.

After our arctic blast we had I want a would stove as back up heat and hopefully switch to primary after learning how to run it correctly. I have a cape cod style 1800 sq ft home with a unfinished basement. I have two locations that are large enough to safely install a freestanding wood stove. One is the dining room which is at this point we will call plan B.

The other is in the living room and where my concern starts. I have never burned wood before as a heat source inside. So I'm a little ignorant to how much heat to expect. My intentions are to eventually heat my entire second and third floor by wood stove, leaving the basement as is. With the stove located in the living room it takes away seating space and we would be seated relatively close to the stove. If I try to burn enough wood to heat the entire house, will I burn myself and guests out of the living room? At this point I have two stoves in mind and both are buck the 21 or 74. Each stove is capable of heating the sq ft. I think the 74 would heat the space easier with more of a idle and the 21 running at max. With either one close too seats can I stand the heat? Thank you in advance for your reply.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. With a highly convective stove you will not heat yourself out of the room unless the living room is closed off from the other rooms with narrow doorways. If the floorplan is open and the LR flows into other rooms via large openings then the heat will even out pretty nicely. For example, our stove, a PE Alderlea T6, has very close clearances and a heavy cast iron jacket which greatly softens the heat coming off the stove. We have an overstuffed chair only 3 ft away and it is never too hot to sit there. Soapstone stoves have the same effect but with larger clearances.

Tell us more about the house floor plan (open or closed), insulation, etc.

 

[smokymtn]

The living room is med in size 15x18 I think, could be a little larger. The seating arrangement with be hard because of the open plan. The opposite wall of where the stove would be going. On that side one corner of the room is the entrance slash upstairs. The other corner is a eight foot opening which is the dining room and close to same dimensions LR. If you picture the dining and living room making a L shape. The kitchen would be the inside corner of that L. With a entrance into the kitchen from either dining or living room. Beyond the dining room is a hallway leading to a half bath and MB. Past the dining room the heat has to start making some turns.

 

[begreen]

That is similar to our house. The Buck 74 is a much more radiant stove with large clearances. I don't think it's the right choice for this situation. Sounds like you would be fine with a convective stove in the 2-2.5 cu ft range like the Enviro Boston, Jotul F50, Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 (or Spectrum), Napoleon 1400, etc.. We have the larger Alderlea T6 in a mild climate somewhat like yours and are never driven out due to overheating. It is heating a 2000 sq ft house.

 

[smokymtn]

So regardless of size if I try staying with a plate steel wood stove I will get uncomfortable hot heat in the LR. Am I understanding you correctly?

 

[begreen]

All of the stove I mentioned are plate steel stoves. What softens the heat on them is that they have an outer sheetmetal or cast iron jacket.

 

[shoot-straight]

If you are worried about smoking yourself out, go with soapstone. They are low and slow (at least mine is). They produce a much softer heat.

 

[toddnic]

Smokymtn, welcome to the Forum! It sounds like my homes main living area is similar in shape to yours. How high are your ceilings? We have our Woodstock Progress Hybrid in between the dining room and the front entrance. That area of our house gets quite warm when were are burning the stove. Unless you have a high ceiling / vaulted ceiling in your living room, I would probably rethink locating it in that area. It might be warmer than you would like. You might want to do a test by borrowing a couple of the larger quartz heaters and run them side-by-side on high to see how the heat works around the room / house. You definitely want to try and get the stove as centrally located as possible for best heat distribution. Can you post a basic floor plan for us to see?

Also, I saw that you are in eastern Tennessee. I'm in the western mountains of North Carolina. Hope you faired well with the cold weather last week.