The right size stove

[rijim]

I'm looking for opinions on selecting the correct size stove; I was all set to buy a JOTUL F3 CB when another dealer suggested that I go larger. After reading many comments here about burn times there may be some truth to that. My house is 1000 sqft the room where the stove will be is 250 sqft... Walls well insulated, new argon filled windows, cathedral ceiling in living room is poorly insulated (R6 at best), ceiling in rest of house is adequate. Will the F400 or one of the Pacific Energy medium sized stoves be too much and drive us out of the room? For the most part I am planning to burn nights and weekends; on the weekends it would be nice to get an all night burn.
What do you think?
Jim

 

[pen]

I also burn primarily nights and weekends. It is not that my stove isn't loaded in the morning, it just takes too long for one of us to get back to it.

I too have a small home and have a big sized stove inside of it. I like it Monday-Friday when I am warming the house up 60-64 degrees when I get home. Being big, it gets us up to 70-72 in no time flat.

However, for the weekend, or any day we are home when the temp is above 5 degrees, it is too much stove! I end up letting it go out during the day or else opening up windows.

I say it depends on how you are going to use it. Idling a stove all the time is not good for the chimney accumulation of creosote, but working a stove to max capacity will accumulate a deep bed of coals and will end up keeping you running.

This decision is really situational.

Good luck,

pen

 

[DBoon]

I have a 1250 square foot 1920's bungalow with insulation blown-in the walls, R-49 in the attic and R-19 in the floor. Windows are in good condition (not new, not argon filled, but good sealing and with storm windows). We live in a 7500-8000 degree day climate, which is much colder than Rhode Island.

In any case, we have a 1.6 cu ft stove, and it does a great job of heating the house. Even at -15 degrees last weekend, it was heating the room it was in to 68 degrees and the rest of the house to 66 degrees. Normal 10-20 degree days/nights it is easy to keep the house warm enough (70-72) for us without having the oil boiler on. Rooms farther away from the stove are cooler (60-65) but these are mostly bedrooms, and we like them cooler anyways.

I think it really comes down to 1) how often do you want to load the stove? If you are in search of the 8 or 10 hour burn with real heat, you'll need a bigger stove 2) Do you want to augment your conventional heating system or replace it 100%? That affects your choice too. 3) How hot do you want your house? If you want it in the high 70s or low 80s in the winter, regardless of outside temperatures, then bigger is probably better. 4) What kind of wood will you be burning? If softwoods, then you probably want the bigger stove to get the BTUs you'll need. If hardwoods, smaller stove will probably be ok.

I'm glad we got the size we did, even though we were worried it would be too small. I think it is just right.

 

[Martin Strand III]

My "Rules of Thumb" for sizing a stove has evolved over the years of owning several sizes and types. Here they are:

1. Put the stove in the room you want the heat most of the time.
2. Avoid putting the chimney being on an outside wall.
3. Don't pay too much attention to the space heat rating (Sq Ft heated) claimed by the Mfg.
4. Oversize the stove by 1/3 to 1/2 of what you think you'll need from 3. above
* oversize 1/2 to 3/4 if you have poor insulation, many windows, cathedral ceiling or live where you need to burn more than 3 months/year
* you can always burn small hot fires if you need less heat
* you'll have the extra punch for those very cold nights
5. Burn dry hardwood in a modern Phase II stove (avoid buying an old stove on the cheap)

Aye,
Marty

 

[begreen]

My house is 1000 sqft the room where the stove will be is 250 sqft... Will the F400 or one of the Pacific Energy medium sized stoves be too much and drive us out of the room? For the most part I am planning to burn nights and weekends; on the weekends it would be nice to get an all night burn.

If the floor plan is not open and there are lots of doors dividing the floor space, then your concern about getting too big is warranted, but I wouldn't think the F400 would be a problem. If the floorplan is open then I would get at least the F400 and maybe the F500 or a mid-sized PE stove for the longer burn times one gets with a 2 cu ft stove.

You don't have to burn a big fire all the time in these stoves. As long as you get the firebox up to a good temp for secondary combustion with a half load of wood it will work. If the house is warm at that point don't add any more wood and let the fire die out. When it's really cold, the stove will provide a welcome source of warmth.

 

[gibson]

I'm looking for opinions on selecting the correct size stove; I was all set to buy a JOTUL F3 CB when another dealer suggested that I go larger. After reading many comments here about burn times there may be some truth to that. My house is 1000 sqft the room where the stove will be is 250 sqft... Walls well insulated, new argon filled windows, cathedral ceiling in living room is poorly insulated (R6 at best), ceiling in rest of house is adequate. Will the F400 or one of the Pacific Energy medium sized stoves be too much and drive us out of the room? For the most part I am planning to burn nights and weekends; on the weekends it would be nice to get an all night burn.
What do you think?
Jim

I was concerned about getting too big of a stove. Do not worry about that, go with the bigger stove. I needed the increased output last week for sure. I think you are right on looking at PE and Jotul. There is a good PE dealer in Woonsocket and if you are going with Jotul, I would go to Preston Trading Post in CT.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I agree on the too big stove idea. Just because it has a 4 cu. in. firebox doesn't mean you have to fill it.

If it is the type of stove that won't work without filling the firebox, then I would totally forget that particular stove. The reason for that is that you need different levels of heat. Why on earth should you operate your stove full when the outdoor temperature is 30 degrees or more? You certainly don't want the same heat at 30-40 or even 50 that you do if the outdoor temperature is zero or thereabouts. Regulate the heat with the type and amount of wood you burn. As for me, I'd worry more about a stove being too small. Then you'd be in deep water for sure.

 

[rijim]

Thank you for your comments, I pulled the trigger today and bought the F400 from Preston Trading Post. The Jotul rep was there he recommended the larger stove also, the price difference was only $200.00; it would cost me a lot more to buy a second stove if I bought too small. Jotul is having a sale right now to move out their inventory so it worked out.


Thanks again,
Jim

 

[begreen]

That's a nice stove Jim, I think you made the right call. The F400 burns over a wide temperature range and is happy with a partial load of wood. During spring and fall burning just burn shorter fires and let the stove go out. During the heart of winter, load her up and let her burn hot.

Enjoy the new Jotul!

 

[rijim]

Got the new ss chimney in this past weekend; 9' of SuperPro + cathedral ceiling box the 6' of DSP to stove. First burn in fire started, it is not easy to keep temps at 200 deg for 1 hour but I almost done windows are open cause we don't need the heat; tomorrow it's 300 deg for 1 hour. I opened the door and got smoke backup, could this be due to 50 deg outside temps and low stove temp?

Jim

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah a 15' chimney and 50 degree weather with a small fire is hard to get a good draft going. It'll get better with hotter start-ups and colder weather.

 

[Dix]

Yep, Jim, this kinda weather will do that.

I learned that this fall, as I was "learning my stove 101" ;-) You need a "hot start" to get that draft going up the chimney.

As soon as the temps drop, you'll be fine. And all broken in ... pretty cool

 

[rijim]

Thanks, that's what I figured; just 2 more break in burns then I'm good to go.


Jim

 

[jadm]

Sounds like everything is going well for you. Congratulations.

Yep, weather conditions make a big difference. Our weather has been up and down and lots of wind so every day I never know what to expect when I build a fire. Some days it takes right off and behaves itself. Other days it is slow and has to be coaxed along. Some days I can get air shut all the way down. Other days I can only get it 1/2 the way down.

I am just beginning to get comfortable with letting the insert tell me what to do rather than me trying to force it do what I think it should do. ;-)

 

[rijim]

Well it's time to bring this thread to a close, the stove is all broken in and the first full burn is in progress. I've got a good secondary burn happening, air intake 1/4 open, the stove top is about 550 deg f. and we/re able to stay in the room. I put a fan about 15' from the stove blowing right at it and pulling air from the hallway rest of house is warm. This my first experience with EPA stove that secondary burn is something.
Thanks to all for the good advice it looks like you directed me to the right size stove.


Jim