Central Wood Stove for Very Small Living Room?

[milesmm27]

Hi all! New to the wood stove world, my wife and I are ready to move away from propane heat. Looking for some advice...

We have a small 800sf house with an open concept living room / kitchen and hallway to our two small bedrooms. After lots of consideration, we want to locate the wood stove centrally in the middle of the living room. Here's a quick and crappy photo to give you an idea

I'm having trouble figuring out what stove to get. Here's priorities in what we're looking for --

• Small footprint - taking up less space is more important for us than giving out more heat
• Beauty - Being in the middle of the room, would love for it to look nice from more than one angle, maybe even being able to view the flame from more than one angle as well. Also: My wife just let me know she prefers a "cute traditional look, not too modern if possible"
• Higher efficiency and lower emissions - better for our wood supply and the environment
• Log storage underneath - again, due to space constraints, I think this would be handy, not a dealbreak though
• Not crazy expensive - okay you're probably scoffing at me now, probably can't have all these, but still putting it out there!

Lastly, some design inspo photos I found from researching online to give you an idea of where my head's at.... (again open to anything and not bound to these looks / styles, especially because my wife doesn't want a too modern look)

What do y'all think?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Central in an area is great for heat distribution, and chimney placement, but can be in the way when moving around. I’d place something in the rough area you were thinking of putting the stove in and see if it’s too much in the way. Maybe a file cabinet… figure out if you’re going to bump into it now. Before it’s 500 degrees!

 

[EbS-P]

800 sq ft is small. Best I can come up with off the top of my head.

Morsø 6143 B with log storage

The Morsø wood burning stove 6143 B will tastefully decorate any room with its deeply elegant oval column functioning as a log storage.

morsoe.com

Think more like picture 3. 1,2 and 4, are not typical America stoves. I don’t think the center is the best place. You will have to live with a cold stove for more than 6 months a year.

 

[KDubU]

You’re just North of Napa and Petaluma correct? I know the cool most/fog can keep things cool but how “cold” do you get? Just thinking how many months you need to heat and if it makes sense to have the stove in the middle. Yes it’s a great location if you need to heat 24/7 for many months. If you’re heating only 3 months then perhaps not. With 800sq ft, no matter where it’s located, most stoves will be more than enough.

 

[begreen]

I would stick with a well-shielded, close-clearance stove. Something like the Jotul F35 or PE Alderlea T4 or T5. Make sure there are safe passage corridors for two people passing side by side alongside of the stove. Based on the picture, it doesn't look like there is room for this. Maybe consider putting it in a corner, like where the tall plant is instead.

 

[milesmm27]

I would stick with a well-shielded, close-clearance stove. Something like the Jotul F35 or PE Alderlea T4 or T5. Make sure there are safe passage corridors for two people passing side by side alongside of the stove. Based on the picture, it doesn't look like there is room for this. Maybe consider putting it in a corner, like where the tall plant is instead.

The corner with the tall plant is a lot of window, is that a problem? Leads to more heat loss? But again, with our small space maybe that's fine. We really like how our living room is set up (couch, bookshelf, turntable shelf with records), if we put it in a corner we probably have to lose our bookshelf from the space.

Everyone is making good points about it being inactive for half the year. It does get surprisingly cold in inland Mendocino county, we are out of the coastal zone which is a more protected weather-wise. For instance we did have to turn on our propane heat already for a few days this past week.

 

[begreen]

It's fine there as long as clearances are honored. I suggested that location based on what is shown. There may be other spots. It just doesn't look like there is adequate room in the location proposed. A stove shouldn't be placed in a prime traffic area unless there is a lot of room around it.

 

[Max W]

When it comes to having wood on hand along with the bits of bark, sawdust etc. that go with that you likely will be happier with your stove in that corner or another more out of the way location.

 

[EbS-P]

Really if your goal is to kick propane a heatpump makes lots of sense. You need space to store 2- 3 years of wood at a time. It’s lots of work and messy and a small stove has short burn time. If you like the flames I understand. Maybe a nice outside fireplace/pit. I get the aesthetic you are after, It’s jut really hard in small spaces. Wood heat isn’t free heat either it’s a lot of sweat equity or I’m guessing +$400 a cord. And some of the smaller stoves (think European) need wood smaller than 16” Your firewood dealer may charge extra for that special order.

 

[joop]

i have that size of a house,with dovre 400 on side of house still feels tight.if you can put it on the side somewhere do it