1700 SQft home in pacific northwest, is a BKK too much?

[westcoastlarry]

I have an 1950s home with a freshly renovated upstairs (2x4 construction R14 in the walls and R.....30? in the ceiling) the basement is fairly drafty and needs to be redone and reinsulated. Probably R12 in the basement. Upstairs is 864 SQft and the same with the basement.

Our climate is fairly warm, we were able to heat our house two winters ago with our Pacific Energy Vista with subpar wood but it was a royal pain to constantly relight the stove in the morning and reload it every 2 or 3 hours during the day.

I have the opportunity to buy a BKK from a friend who is moving for a VERY reasonable price. But I am concerned its too much stove for my house. We have a lot of shoulder season, with little in the way of bone chilling cold. Will I be able to throttle the BKK down low enough to keep my house at 19c to 21c? I realize I can open a window but I hate to waste wood like that.

I fully realize I will need to upgrade to an 8 inch chimney. I would still save money versus buying a new Chinook or Princess

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Greetings. It should do ok if the floor plan is open. Otherwise, depending on where the stove is located in the house, how large the stove room is and how open the floorplan is to the stove room the results will vary. Subpar wood is going to complicate things no matter what modern stove is used.

 

[westcoastlarry]

Thanks Begreen,

The stove is located in the basement at the bottom of a stairwell that leads to the center of the top floor. The top floor is open floorplan. The stove room is approximately 300 SQft. The other half of the basement is an inlaw suite, so no real direct air transfer to there unless we keep the door open.

 

[westcoastlarry]

I'm just leary of being roasted alive anytime I fire it up. BKK advertises a 40 hour burntime at 15k BTU per hour but this is only second year in this house and we don't have a firm handle on the heating requirements

 

[begreen]

Not an ideal setup, but you probably know that. Was the Vista in the same location? My guess it that the stove will do the job but it will probably get warm in the stove room, perhaps 10-20 degrees warmer than upstairs. Which should stay in the comfortable range of 70-75F.

 

[westcoastlarry]

Begreen the Vista was in the same room yup.

What would be the most ideal setup?

 

[Highbeam]

That 40 hours at 15k btu is from a full load of wood. You can certainly partially load it if you only want 20 hours of 15k btu.

Based on square footage and build quality, the king is not too much. Your hurdle is heating from a basement and barriers between heated spaces which will be a challenge regardless of stove.

we were able to heat our house two winters ago with our Pacific Energy Vista with subpar wood but it was a royal pain to constantly relight the stove in the morning and reload it every 2 or 3 hours during the day.

If the PE could do it, the BK will do it better with regards to fussing with the stove.

 

[westcoastlarry]

Perfect! This is good news.

It was always hotter downstairs when heating with the Vista, but we don't have the option of putting it upstairs and would like to heat the basement suite as well. Hopefully our tenant likes it hot! =D

 

[begreen]

If they don't they can close the door.