considering a small woodstove, looking for advice

[tedzap]

Hello,

I am considering putting a woodstove in the new space I am finishing out above my garage. The space will be used daily as my office, and I also am installing a pool table and home theater. It is stick framed with R13 in the floor and walls, and R38 in the ceiling. The windows and doors are gas filled low-e items, so it is well insulated and tight. The dimensions are 24x32, with 9' ceilings. It will really be one large room, with only a few knee walls breaking up the space.

I have unlimited free wood, but have concerns that a woodstove will "run me out" in this small space.

How well can the output be regulated? I suppose this is my wishlist, in terms of importance:

1. maintain comfortable temperature in the room without constant effort
2. attractive, as it will be very conspicuous in the main room
3. long burn time
4. full size wood



It seems my goals are easier to accomplish when dealing with a bigger space. can anyone recommend a small unit that fits my needs?

Thanks in advance,
-Ted

 

[BrotherBart]

Small stoves like the Jotul F100 or the F3CB are ideal for what you are talking about. How do I know? Well, for three years I heated my basement office with first one and then the other. Long burn times are out the window with an office stove. Get one big enough for burns over two or three hours and you waste money on the stove and just get darn hot in the office. Unless you plan of POing the wife a lot and having to sleep in the office. You just get up out of the chair every couple of hours and put a piece of wood or two into the stove. You are going to be looking at it anyway. I guarantee you. Any thinking you need to do or talking on the phone seems to pull your eyes right to the fire. Full size wood? Firewood dealers are more than used to supplying 16" firewood which is perfect for these two stoves. If you cut your own, full size is whatever you want it to be. For generations 16" splits have been referred to as "stove wood length". As to looks, they are as nice looking a wood stove as there is on the market.

Now about that pool table. Don't do that. I was in a house one time that had previously had one in an office over the garage. Ever seen a floor with an eight foot long three inch deep sag in the middle of it? They had to tear the garage down and build a new one.

 

[tedzap]

Thanks for the reply, I will look at those stoves. Your comments about "long burn time" are appreciated as well. I understand your comments about an "upstairs pool table" but I specifically had the structure designed with this in mind.

 

[wendell]

Since ti sounds like you are going to be doing you own cutting and splitting, you can cut the wood whatever length you want so in addition to the great advice BB has given, I would look at any of the European stoves as their specialty is small, room sized stoves. So depending on what your tastes are, in addition to the Jotuls, I would look at Morso, Scan and RAIS.

 

[BrotherBart]

Also plan to "aim" the front of the stove at your desk. The radiant heat through the glass is priceless first thing of a cold morning while you are waiting for the stove and the office to come up to temperature.

 

[Highbeam]

Some of those tiny stoves, like the little morso and jotuls, use very small wood which just happens to be half the size of regular 18" splits. So a guy could use his big wood cut in half as needed with a chop saw. I can't imagine burning cords and cords this way so the extra effort will be minimal.

 

[Wet1]

It's a sad day when I completely agree with Pook:

Go with a cat stove... long burn times and they have the potential to turn them way down. I'd look at the Woodstock Fireview and the Blaze King Princess.

 

[BrotherBart]

Some of those tiny stoves, like the little morso and jotuls, use very small wood which just happens to be half the size of regular 18" splits. So a guy could use his big wood cut in half as needed with a chop saw. I can't imagine burning cords and cords this way so the extra effort will be minimal.

The smallest Jotul, the F100, takes 16" splits just fine. So does the F3, the next larger one. I cut everything to 16" for use in the two Jotuls and the 30-NC.

 

[BrotherBart]

It's a sad day when I completely agree with Pook:

Go with a cat stove... long burn times and they have the potential to turn them way down. I'd look at the Woodstock Fireview and the Blaze King Princess.

Sure thing. A Blaze King 90,000 BTU cat stove to heat a one room office. :lol:

 

[Wet1]

BB,

I take it you've never used a BK (cat) stove? He'd have no problem at all turning down a BK Princess low enough to heat a 768 sq room with 9' ceilings... it's not like we're talking about a 10'x12' study or something. In fact, with thermostatic control and the long burn times, I think it would be a great fit.

(broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/Brochures-En/WoodProductPDF/Princess.pdf)

 

[BrotherBart]

BB,

I take it you've never used a BK (cat) stove? He'd have no problem at all turning down a BK Princess low enough to heat a 768 sq room with 9' ceilings... it's not like we're talking about a 10'x12' study or something. In fact, with the long burn times, I think it would be a great fit.

I hear ya my friend. But I don't care how low you can "turn it down" that Princess is not only heating but cost overkill for 768 sq. ft. Going with a stove you have to run all the time at its minimum is no more advisable than going with one you have to run flat out 24 hours a day. Much less dropping upwards of three grand for it when there are dozens of better sized stoves for the job at $900-$1,500.

 

[fossil]

I heat a workshop smaller than that with an inexpensive steel plate, EPA-approved non-cat stove, which will take 17" splits loaded E-W, and it does not "drive me out of the shop". (I also find it attractive, but that's about as subjective an assessment as can be made of anything). It does its job and does it quite well, especially in combination with a centered ceiling fan running on medium speed updraft. You really can control how much heat a woodstove puts out, it ain't gonna pump out its max capacity all the time unless that's what you want it to do. Rick

 

[Wet1]

BB,
My new BKK parlor only cost me about $2000 delivered and a Princess can obviously be had for significantly less. I guess I'd rather have the extra capacity to heat the room quickly when the demand called for it, not have to worry about the coldest days/nights, plus get 20 hour burn times (rather than 4 hour burns), and not have to fuss with the air control all the time. All while using less wood. So yeah, I don't think spending $1600 or so on the BK is a bad move. Plus you get back another $500 or so for the tax credit, which brings the cost down closer towards a grand.

BTW, nobody ever said you had to have a fire burning 24/7. Nothing wrong with throwing in a couple splits and just letting them burn down.

 

[BrotherBart]

We makes our suggestions, based on our experiences, and the man makes his decisions. :cheese:

(But I wonder where those under $2,000 numbers were a couple of weeks ago when I put up a thread specifically asking for what a Princess was going for these days?)

 

[fossil]

Seems to me I spent about $700 on my shop stove, installed it myself (had a mason build the hearth, the Class A was already installed). Since my wife has yet to insist that I spend the night in my shop, burn time's not a particularly big issue. When that stove's burning, I'm never far away. Don't need any overnight burns. Yes, I build a new fire every morning...big deal. Chose to spend the "big bucks" on the larger, nicer stove in the house where we live, rather than in my "cave". Can't imagine (or justify) putting a really nice expensive stove in an application like that...overkill in every respect. Functionality is what counts, and there's really not a whole lot expected from it. Less is more. Rick

 

[Wet1]

BB,

I had to shop to get those prices. In fact, we get bent over on the east coast when it comes to BK stoves. It seems east coast BK dealers have to buy their stoves through a distributor (Fireside) which jacks the prices WAY up. The dealers elsewhere in the country go directly through BK. I ended up saving about a minimum of $1000 on my stove by ordering it from a west coast dealer and having it shipped to me. Technically BK says they wont do this, but there are plenty of dealers west of the Mississippi looking to make a buck and frankly I was more than happy to see the east coast distributor not get my money since nobody was willing to move on the ridiculous price... And I say ridiculous because the dealer I bought from obviously made plenty on my sale as well, so on the east coast we are just simply getting gouged, mostly I would have to assume to be thanks to the distributor.

 

[elmoleaf]

I'd consider how much time you plan on spending in your office/pool room before springing for a stove. A space heater might be quicker to heat the space and more convenient, especially if your insulation is done well. Also...
1. Will you get tired of lugging wood upstairs to this space?
2. Have somewhere nearby or in the space to store extra wood?
3. Willing to put up with a bit of bark/debris and/or some dust floating about on your tv?
4. Will there really be enough clearance around the pool table to play, have a desk etc. and clearance from a woodstove?
5. Is your roof or adjacent roofs such that you won't need anything complicated for flue installation, such as extra height?
6. Many small stoves state they'll take a 16" log, but once you put one in, it sometimes gets more complicated trying to maneuver anything else in. As a practical matter, 12" and 14" lengths are often easier to pile into the stove.

Good luck...let us know how it all turns out.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Hello,

I am considering putting a woodstove in the new space I am finishing out above my garage. The space will be used daily as my office, and I also am installing a pool table and home theater. It is stick framed with R13 in the floor and walls, and R38 in the ceiling. The windows and doors are gas filled low-e items, so it is well insulated and tight. The dimensions are 24x32, with 9' ceilings. It will really be one large room, with only a few knee walls breaking up the space.

I have unlimited free wood, but have concerns that a woodstove will "run me out" in this small space.

How well can the output be regulated? I suppose this is my wishlist, in terms of importance:

1. maintain comfortable temperature in the room without constant effort
2. attractive, as it will be very conspicuous in the main room
3. long burn time
4. full size wood

It seems my goals are easier to accomplish when dealing with a bigger space. can anyone recommend a small unit that fits my needs?

Thanks in advance,
-Ted

how about this... (broken link removed to http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/wood-stoves/stove-details?product_id=4)

or woodstock's line (broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/index.html)

your 4 "wants" to me cry out for soapstone. bit pricy but drop dead beautiful products. or if soapstone doesnt fit what you are looking for i'd go cast with a cat. or a jotul as recommended earlier all great stoves , the BK is pretty solid as well and offer a cat line. as for my stoves in that small an area i think you would have trouble backing them down enough to keep the windows closed. steel non-cats are aggressive heaters which reading your post wouldnt suit what you are wanting to do.

hope this helps

 

[begreen]

What's the budget and style preference for the stove? How important are clearances? The Morso 2110 and the Jotul F3CB take up to an 18" log. But only 2-3 small to medium splits at a time. Fire only lasts about 3-4 hrs, but they do put out good heat.

Regardless of stove, be sure the garage ceiling is well insulated, sealed and isolated from the upper room. And be sure to install a CO detector.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

yes they make cat stoves without soapstone, i suggested soapstone due to the want for "even heat" of which soapstone is the absolute champ. he also wants an attractive stove look at the link , its a sweety. the first link is what i think best fits his room size along with the other "buying points" he listed.

second option would be a cast unit with a catalyst, long burns not quite as aggressive heatwise. a steel non cat would potentially overheat the space he listed even a small box unit , only way to avoid this would be to underload which takes away the long burn time. much easier to dial back a cat stove , and soapstone stoves tend to conduct even heat and radiate after the fire is down helping with cycle times.

 

[skinnykid]

If I had an excuse to buy a small stove I would buy this. Super cute and just plain cool!
(broken link removed to http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-602-CB/)

 

[Highbeam]

I don't think there is a real cast iron catalyst option available. In case I was too subtle, that means no VC products.

 

[Todd]

I second the Woodstock stoves. The Palladian and Keystone would be a perfect fit for you. Long burns, even heat that won't blast you out of the room and also takes 16-18" firewood. Great time to buy one, good sale and Fed tax rebate you end up paying about half price.

 

[Bobbin]

Ted., my workroom is a bit larger than is your's (28x36) and I have a Woodstock Classic in it. It may be a bit of "overkill" but soapstone stoves don't "blast you" with a wall of heat the way metal stoves do. I also like the the catalytic combustor (though many don't) and find it improves efficiency and minimizes wood consumption.

I looked long and hard at the Palladian and the Keystone, smaller offerings from Woodstock more suited to the size of the space, but aesthetically I find the styling of those stoves lacking in the "fine furniture" details I find so appealing and evident on the Classic and the Fireview.

 

[begreen]

In WI or ME I might recommend the classic Woodstock, but for a well insulated 768 sq ft space in southern VA I'd lean towards about a 1.5cu ft stove assuming this space has backup heat for overnight. The Palladian or Keystone seems like it would be a nice fit.