Hello!
We are new to wood stoves - this is our second year with one. We live in South-East Wisconsin, and ideally would love to heat just with wood but have not been successful yet. We put in a Drolet 1800 last year and the stove heats the house fine with the temps are in the teens and 20s but not any colder than that. (We have the heat come on at 60, thermostat is in the living room). House was built in 1901, and probably needs new attic insulation, it currently has vermiculite and so we don’t go into the attic at all. House is about 2000 square feet, with the upstairs being about 700 square feet. I’ve attached a layout of the downstairs.
I have two questions.
1. What would be the best way to get heat to move more through the house? I’ve tried a fan in the living room pointing toward the stove and didnt notice any difference. There is a definite temperature drop in the living room and upstairs is really cold - probably 70+ in stove room, 60 in living room and 50 upstairs. Would a transom help? Wall vents with fans? I know some drop in temperature is to be expected, and perhaps the single doorway between the stove room and the living room is just too narrow to expect much heat movement. I expected the heat to naturally go upstairs.
2. Looking for recommendations on a better stove for the cold. We would love a cookstove but I’m not convinced we can find one we like aesthetically that can put out enough heat. To get enough heat currently we have to have the drolet running pretty hot and then it only burns for a few hours, definitely not all night. Is this all just because of wood quality or is it also stove quality? My husband would love to get a Homewood heritage stove from New Zealand but I’m concerned that the firebox is just too small to get enough heat for our house.
Thank you!
We are new to wood stoves - this is our second year with one. We live in South-East Wisconsin, and ideally would love to heat just with wood but have not been successful yet. We put in a Drolet 1800 last year and the stove heats the house fine with the temps are in the teens and 20s but not any colder than that. (We have the heat come on at 60, thermostat is in the living room). House was built in 1901, and probably needs new attic insulation, it currently has vermiculite and so we don’t go into the attic at all. House is about 2000 square feet, with the upstairs being about 700 square feet. I’ve attached a layout of the downstairs.
I have two questions.
1. What would be the best way to get heat to move more through the house? I’ve tried a fan in the living room pointing toward the stove and didnt notice any difference. There is a definite temperature drop in the living room and upstairs is really cold - probably 70+ in stove room, 60 in living room and 50 upstairs. Would a transom help? Wall vents with fans? I know some drop in temperature is to be expected, and perhaps the single doorway between the stove room and the living room is just too narrow to expect much heat movement. I expected the heat to naturally go upstairs.
2. Looking for recommendations on a better stove for the cold. We would love a cookstove but I’m not convinced we can find one we like aesthetically that can put out enough heat. To get enough heat currently we have to have the drolet running pretty hot and then it only burns for a few hours, definitely not all night. Is this all just because of wood quality or is it also stove quality? My husband would love to get a Homewood heritage stove from New Zealand but I’m concerned that the firebox is just too small to get enough heat for our house.
Thank you!
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