I am beginning to research a pellet stove for purchase this summer. The room it would go in is approx 9ft X 15ft (square footage of the entire house is 1800 sq ft divided in two stories). Was considering buying a stove that could put out approx 40-60,000 BTU's hoping the heat would travel to the upstairs bedroom. Is this resonable, or should I look for a smaller stove specifically for the 9ft x 15ft room? Any suggestionswould be helpful, thanks.
considering a pellet stove...not sure what size?
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That's about the size of a bedroom. How is the access to this room? Meaning is there just one door in and out to allow air movement. Is this room the room that you will spend most of your time? I can only imagine you cooking in this room while trying to heat the house since 9x15 is a small portion of the 1800 home.
Like Highbeam said the ability to move heat from the 9x15 room is going to be the major factor. I would go 45k btu max in an 1800 sq. ft. home. the 60k will likely be more overkill than necessary. Depending on insulation factors etc. 30k btu is usually enough to heat between 1000-1500 sq. ft. (atleast in my neck of the woods). A little elaboration on your floor plan would enable us to give you a better suggestion.
This room is off of the kitchen and is used a small living area. The door from that room opens into a kitchen/dinning room that is about 25ft x 12ft. In that space there are two ceiling vents that lead to the bedrooms I would like heated. (These are not forced air vents, they are vents that simply allow the hot air into the upstairs. This is an old house that use to have a coal furnace).
From the sound of that setup you'll be warmer in the room that the stove is in than the rest. Especially if the door that leads to the kitchen is a standard door. For an example I have about 1200 sq. ft. I put teh stove in my basement and it stays around 80 to keep the two upper levels between 68-72. I can stand the heat in the basement as it's my office and I like it warm anyway. Might not work for all people though.
Everyone's situation is different, but maybe describing my situation will help. I have a Harman P68 (68,000 BTU's) in my 2300 SF Garrison Colonial in Southeastern Massachusetts. I have the stove in the living room which has an open doorway that leads to the foyer where the stairs are to the 3 bedrooms upstairs. Unlike you, I do not have floor vents.
When we're home, I set the stove to 75 degrees in Room Temp mode with the sensor on the floor behind the stove. In the evenings, we open the bedroom doors and have ceiling fans in each of the two bedrooms we use which I use on low in winter mode (circulating the air up). Even in recent cold nights where the temp got down to close to 10 degrees, the upstairs thermostat located in the hallway almost equidistant from all the bedrooms would still be close to 66 or above. The living room thermostat for our boiler usually is between 72 and 80 degrees.
Given the size of your house, you probably do not need 68,000 BTU's. Assuming you have adequate insulation (which you might not based on your posts), place the stove in a good location, and don't live in a location which has frigid temps, you should be able to heat your whole house with a stove with 60,000 BTU's or less.
Probably, the best advice I can give is decide on a stove manufacturer and dealerthat offers a range of stoves in the 40 - 60K BTU range, and have the installer come out and give you recommendations, answer any questions you might have, and give you an estimate on installation costs.
If you look at Harman stoves keep in mind that their square footage estimates are much more conservative than most. For example, Harman states the P68's heating capacity is 2200+ SF, while Quadrafire states the heating capacity of their 60,000 BTU Mt. Vernon is up to 3,800 SF.
When we're home, I set the stove to 75 degrees in Room Temp mode with the sensor on the floor behind the stove. In the evenings, we open the bedroom doors and have ceiling fans in each of the two bedrooms we use which I use on low in winter mode (circulating the air up). Even in recent cold nights where the temp got down to close to 10 degrees, the upstairs thermostat located in the hallway almost equidistant from all the bedrooms would still be close to 66 or above. The living room thermostat for our boiler usually is between 72 and 80 degrees.
Given the size of your house, you probably do not need 68,000 BTU's. Assuming you have adequate insulation (which you might not based on your posts), place the stove in a good location, and don't live in a location which has frigid temps, you should be able to heat your whole house with a stove with 60,000 BTU's or less.
Probably, the best advice I can give is decide on a stove manufacturer and dealerthat offers a range of stoves in the 40 - 60K BTU range, and have the installer come out and give you recommendations, answer any questions you might have, and give you an estimate on installation costs.
If you look at Harman stoves keep in mind that their square footage estimates are much more conservative than most. For example, Harman states the P68's heating capacity is 2200+ SF, while Quadrafire states the heating capacity of their 60,000 BTU Mt. Vernon is up to 3,800 SF.
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