Deciding on stove / insert size for a small house

[mqbs]

My wife and I live in a small house (single floor, about 1000 sq ft), built in 1930, with a large centrally located chimney. We love to sit by a roaring fire in the winter, but between the inefficiency and the noticeable drop in indoor air quality we've decided it's time for an upgrade.

What I'm struggling with is figuring out what kind of hearth (stove in the current fireplace vs insert) and heat output is right for our house. Most of the posts I've seen are by people with houses twice our size, or with a chimney on an external wall, or with a freestanding stove with no masonry. And most have multiple floors! Our house's insulation is pretty mediocre, but we plan to upgrade it sometime in the next year when we convert from baseboard and window units to a heat pump.

Our highest priority is a pleasant fire in the living room, though I would love to be able to shut off our heat and let the hearth keep the house warm overnight if that was possible. We do lose power from time to time and it would be nice to have a backup. On the other hand, I want to avoid radiating so much heat that the room is unpleasant.

Here's some photos of our current fireplace, with an opening that is 32" W x 30" H x 19" D


Any thoughts? Or professionals we should talk to? We're located in the Hudson Valley, about an hour north of New York City.

 

[bundy150]

Small Regency insert cat or noncat.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. How large is the room that the fireplace sits in? Is the floorplan open to this room or is it segmented by doorways?

The fireplace narrows to the rear. What is the rear width?

 

[EbS-P]

So I think question that you need to explore is how much do you want to use the heat pump in the winter? 1000 sq ft decently insulated and air seal isn’t a huge load for a heatpump. Second how long of burn times do you want. Are you a want to light it after dinner throw a few logs on and go to bed and relight the next day or are you wanting to burn 24/7. Third is what are you wanting to spend on an insert/stove (and heatpump as I think they should be budgeted together as they will probably be working in tandem during the coldest 10-15 days of the year (if they are not I feel like they have been over sized or you have a blazeking. )).
So my thoughts on size. 1.5-2.0 cu ft seems about the right size to handle more than 95% of your heating demand. The smaller you go the shorter the burn time and the more I would expect the heatpump to work. If you are wanting the 26% tax credit your choices are limited.

I finished my third winter with a stove and used it to carry 90% of my heating needs. I’m probably going to shift that to only 60-70% in the future. For the sole reason it that my heat pump is pretty efficient down to 35 degrees and in the south that’s cold. The extra work to run the stove and process wood just isn’t worth the 25$ a month that it would probably cost me to run the heatpump more.

now to the stove choices. I currently looking for something to Install in my 1000 sq ft basement fireplace so these are the ones I have considered ( minus the Morso as I think it’s just too small)
You should decide if you are ok with a catalytic stove. If you check and see if a blazeking insert will fit. A thermostatically controlled stove would be perfect for your space. If I didn’t want a cat pacific energy makes some smaller insert. I like the arch and might consider a freestanding stove. Morso might have something. Vermont castings Aspen C3 could be neat and it tax credit eligible.
Just some thoughts.
Evan

 

[begreen]

If you want to maintain the look of the arch, perhaps consider a small freestanding stove like the Vermont Castings Aspen.

 

[mqbs]

Welcome. How large is the room that the fireplace sits in? Is the floorplan open to this room or is it segmented by doorways?

The fireplace narrows to the rear. What is the rear width?

Thanks! Happy to be here.

The room is about 11'x13', and there's a similarly sized room we use as a dining room right next to it, connected by a with a wide open 5' archway. Our bedroom is on the other side of the wall.

The rear width is 19".

 

[mqbs]

So I think question that you need to explore is how much do you want to use the heat pump in the winter? 1000 sq ft decently insulated and air seal isn’t a huge load for a heatpump. Second how long of burn times do you want. Are you a want to light it after dinner throw a few logs on and go to bed and relight the next day or are you wanting to burn 24/7. Third is what are you wanting to spend on an insert/stove (and heatpump as I think they should be budgeted together as they will probably be working in tandem during the coldest 10-15 days of the year (if they are not I feel like they have been over sized or you have a blazeking. )).
So my thoughts on size. 1.5-2.0 cu ft seems about the right size to handle more than 95% of your heating demand. The smaller you go the shorter the burn time and the more I would expect the heatpump to work. If you are wanting the 26% tax credit your choices are limited.

I finished my third winter with a stove and used it to carry 90% of my heating needs. I’m probably going to shift that to only 60-70% in the future. For the sole reason it that my heat pump is pretty efficient down to 35 degrees and in the south that’s cold. The extra work to run the stove and process wood just isn’t worth the 25$ a month that it would probably cost me to run the heatpump more.

now to the stove choices. I currently looking for something to Install in my 1000 sq ft basement fireplace so these are the ones I have considered ( minus the Morso as I think it’s just too small)
You should decide if you are ok with a catalytic stove. If you check and see if a blazeking insert will fit. A thermostatically controlled stove would be perfect for your space. If I didn’t want a cat pacific energy makes some smaller insert. I like the arch and might consider a freestanding stove. Morso might have something. Vermont castings Aspen C3 could be neat and it tax credit eligible.
Just some thoughts.
Evan

Thanks, this is very helpful! I'll look into all of those options.

At least today, our house isn't particularly air sealed (1930s construction) but I think we can make some strides with good caulking and weatherstripping. Not ever going to be as well sealed as a new house as far as I understand but we can get there. And I wouldn't mind blowing in some insulation and double-insulating the attic too.

I think we'd prefer to light the stove as-needed rather than having something going 24/7. We're thinking of putting solar on the roof at some point, and if we do then the cost to run the heat pump will be negligible, but I love the feeling of wood heat so I think we'd still want to burn regularly. I like the idea of a catalytic stove from an emissions and efficiency perspective, but since we're not actually aiming for day-long burns it might be overkill. What do you think?

I'd never heard of a thermostatically controlled stove, will definitely check that out.

The arch is great, I'm hoping if we got an insert we'd be able to get a metal or something to fit the space that let us keep the arch. Good point though about how a freestanding stove would make keeping the arch in place a snap...

 

[begreen]

If an insert fits within the arch it could be installed without the surround or having a custom surround that fits within the archway might be an option.

 

[buc74]

Our opening is similar to yours, only smaller in the front and 22" in the rear. This is a Kuma insert 1.8 firebox with no surround located in our kitchen/dinette area. 12x20 room I'm guessing. Just to give you an idea how it may look.

 

[mqbs]

Our opening is similar to yours, only smaller in the front and 22" in the rear. This is a Kuma insert 1.8 firebox with no surround located in our kitchen/dinette area. 12x20 room I'm guessing. Just to give you an idea how it may look.
View attachment 277842

This is really helpful, I hadn't considered the possibility of getting an insert without a surround. That would preserve the arch nicely but also keep the stove from protruding out too much into the room.