Need some sizing advice

[phoenixheater]

Hi everyone,

New poster here. My husband are getting ready to put a freestanding woodstove into the house we just moved into. I've been reading through the forum and soaking up lots of advice and info, but I still have one big question mark I'd love your input on: I'm having trouble figuring out what size stove we need. I'm leaning towards a 2.4 cu ft range, but my husband is eyeing the 3+ cu ft ones, figuring bigger is always better.

I've seen a lot of good thinking on sizing for various situations here, so I wanted to ask your thoughts.

We have a 2400 sq ft house here in Maryland, where it doesn't get all that cold. It's a remodeled 1880s farmhouse. My guess is that the insulation is moderate. The windows are new and such.

My woodstove experience is at my folks' house, which is in the Adirondack foothills. They heat the whole 2000+ sq ft house with a mid-sized Lopi steel stove, but the house was designed around it -- open floor plan, super insulated, south facing windows, whole house fan to recirculate the heat, etc.

Our house is cut up into rooms, like your average house, and the stove would be in the corner of the first floor. So I'm having trouble projecting how much of the house we can expect to get the heat into, and thus how many sq ft we're actually heating.

We are thinking of closing off the rest of the first floor and directing the heat up to the bedrooms on the second floor and the office in the third floor attic. (Maybe using the central heat/air fan system on the 2nd-3rd floor to circulate the heat up there -- I've seen mixed reviews on this forum about doing so. I think the ducts in the attic are pretty well insulated, and the return is right at the top of the stairs, so it seems like it might work.)

So, I'd appreciate any sizing insight you all might have. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Greetings. This is the same dilemma we faced. A 2.5 cu ft stove will heat the house fine, so will a 3 cu ft stove. If you get a soapstone stove or one with a lot of mass like the Pacific Energy Alderlea series, you'll be ok with a larger stove. They gradually convect heat instead of radiating strongly.

We have an Alderlea T6 in a mild climate in a 2000 sq ft farmhouse and it is not too big. Granted I don't light it up when it's above 50 outside, but that's because we have a heat pump carrying the heating load and I'm lazy. The point is that you don't need to burn big fires everyday in a big stove. You can burn half-loads and let the fire go out if the temps are mild outside. With 2400 sq ft, when it gets freezing or below, you'll be happy to have a good sized stove. The stove won't get a lot hotter unless you give it more fuel and air. But it will need refilling less often and that's a nice feature.

 

[phoenixheater]

Hi BeGreen,

Thanks for the advice. I haven't looked at the Pacifics, since we don't have a dealer nearby. How would the Alderlea compare to the Quad Isle Royale, which we looked at yesterday?

One of my concerns with the larger stoves is that they're, well, larger. We have a moderately sized living room, and I'm concerned about how much space we'll lose. (Otherwise I'd agree with hubby that bigger is better.)

I've been trying to pin down a larger firebox that gets more of its size through the width, rather than the depth, but it seems the shallower ones need to be further from the back wall, for reasons I don't understand. Anyone have thoughts on a larger firebox that won't eat so much room depth?

thx.

 

[fossil]

I'd say don't get wrapped around 6 tenths of a cubic foot. Get a medium-large stove that suits your needs and that you really like the looks of. I tend toward the "larger is better" thinking, because I think it allows more flexibility. A 3 cubic foot firebox doesn't always need to be crammed full of fuel to make the stove work for you...but you'll never cram 3 cubic feet of fuel into a 2.4 cubic foot firebox. Rick

EDIT: Oh yeah...your biggest challenge is going to be circulating that heat to remote parts of the house.

 

[begreen]

I like the Isle Royale, it's a serious heater. However, another thing to look at are the stove's clearances, especially if you are concerned about how much space it will take up. The PE Alderleas can be put much closer to the wall than some stoves. This effectively neutralizes the depth issue. FWIW, I have the large T6 on the same hearth that I had the Jotul Castine on and it still exceeds minimum clearances. Also, a soapstone stove or the Alderlea puts out a softer heat that is more comfortable in a smaller room.

What was the 2.4cu ft stove you are looking at? The Cumberland Gap? That's also a fine stove and would probably work out well. With its castiron outer jacket, it's more similar to the Alderlea in design than the Isle Royale, though it doesn't match the Alderleas for close clearances.

 

[phoenixheater]

What was the 2.4cu ft stove you are looking at? The Cumberland Gap? That's also a fine stove and would probably work out well. With its castiron outer jacket, it's more similar to the Alderlea in design than the Isle Royale, though it doesn't match the Alderleas for close clearances.

We looked at the Cumberland Gap and also the Harmon Oakwood. I was looking seriously at the Woodstock Fireview based on the many glowing reviews here, and I think soapstone would be good for our situation, but my husband thinks the cats are asking for trouble with additional technology. Also considered the midsize Hearthstones -- the Mansfield just seems too huge, plus it's more than we'd like to spend.

We were also looking at some of the steel stoves, like the Quad 4300, but then my husband started preferring the cast iron for its looks and the cooking possibilities. (I have to laugh when I read some of the posts, because the things "wife" says in many of them are things my husband brings up!)

But I'm curious about what you said: is the Cumberland Gap really different in design from the Isle Royale other than in its size?