heating my home

[Durantefarm]

I have received so much awesome info from this group so I will keep asking questions . new to insert community and we bough a VC insert . the info that came with the insert says it will heat from 1400-2500sqft. our house is a 2 story home built in 1976. we have replaced roof and all new windows and siding is is being changed from aluminum to vinyl ask we speak . the house is 2100 spft . my question is can the insert produce enough heat to warm the whole house? or do I still need to keep furnace on ? if I run the furnace fan will that help pull heat to second floor or with that hinder the fire ? the insert is on first floor in a existing fireplace. thank you all in advance .

 

[Ashful]

Those sq.ft. ratings vary in their optimism, from one manufacturer to the next, but more often they’re based on ideal conditions of a well-insulated home in a milder climate. If your home is less-well insulated, as might be the norm for 1976, you might want to assume the stove will be more sized for 1400 sq.ft. than 2500.

That said, if you have a functional central heating system, I’d not try sizing the stove to heat your entire house on the coldest day. Folks do this, and then find it’s overheating their home most of the time, and that they can’t even use it in the fall/spring shoulder seasons. Instead, size it moderately, so that it can carry the full load of the house in more average weather, and let the central heating pick up a little of the slack on those few coldest weeks of the year. This way, you’ll be able to run it more of the year, and potentially save yourself more than otherwise.

I’m basing this on your use of the word “furnace”. If you had a heat pump, my advice would be different.

 

[venator260]

I think it would depend on your house; layout, insulation quality. Unless you're adding insulation behind the vinyl siding, it won't make much of a difference. And I wouldn't think the roof changes anything, either.


For me, my insert takes a big chunk out of the heating load of the house. To rely soly on the basement stove requires more electric baseboard and more wood used. To not burn wood would result in several hundred dollar electric bills. It sounds as if you already have the insert. In your shoes, I would run the insert as hard as I can safely during the coldest days, and if the furnace still kicks on, know that a big chunk of your heating load is still being taken care of by wood.

 

[venator260]

That said, if you have a functional central heating system, I’d not try sizing the stove to heat your entire house on the coldest day. Folks do this, and then find it’s overheating their home most of the time, and that they can’t even use it in the fall/spring shoulder seasons. Instead, size it moderately, so that it can carry the full load of the house in more average weather, and let the central heating pick up a little of the slack on those few coldest weeks of the year. This way, you’ll be able to run it more of the year, and potentially save yourself more than otherwise.

I tend to agree with this. I'm glad that my insert isn't any bigger, as during the warmer days, I can burn a fire at night, let it out through the day, and my house isn't uncomfortable. On the coldest days, I can use my 30NC as others would a central heating system, and simply reload it every 12 hours or so. This takes my basement from about 45-50 degrees to about 60-65 and sends enough heat upstairs to allow the FP25 to keep up without much of a struggle.

On the other end of that, I did have a stove dealer out, and he wouldn't sell me any of the zc fireplaces he dealt with (Quadrafire), and directed me to look at sub 2 cf stoves. I'm glad that I didn't take that advice either, as I did want something that would get me away from my basement stove most of the time, as my basement is uninsulated.