Help on selecting a wood stove for a newbie!

[asburke39]

Hi all! I have never owned or really used a wood stove before but my husband and I just moved to Northern Michigan (not the UP) and we are building a tiny-ish home and looking for advice on purchasing a wood stove. I have attached our floor plan. It is 16' wide by 40' long (640 square feet), with a loft above half of it, as well as a full basement we plan to convert about 75% to living space over the next couple years. We will also have 2 split units to help with shoulder season heating. But we have about 60 acres of woods (lots of maples) and so we want to do the majority of our heating with a wood stove. From what I have read I would love something that is a low/long burn so not to get too hot. Just having a hard time really understanding what size is best. I have been looking at the PE T4/T5/T6 (actually we have a neighbor selling a 1 year old T6 for next to nothing! but worried that is just too big for what we need). The house will have spray foam, so it will be well insulated. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!

 

[begreen]

It's going to be hard not to overheat the space with a wood stove if 24/7 heating is the goal. With the foam insulation and tight new construction, the heat loss will be small. it is possible that just body heat, lighting, and appliance heat (like from a refrigerator) will be sufficient during the shoulder seasons. Depending on the mini-split chosen, some will heat down to -5ºF. For the coldest weather, a very small heater supplement may cover most of the heating needs.

 

[asburke39]

Thanks begreen, really appreciate the advice!

 

[begreen]

Here is a thread with some links for tiny home heaters.

Tiny wood stoves for tiny houses

This topic comes up often so I thought I would start a thread that contains links for stoves for small spaces. This Canadian site has some nice models made by Ekol and others. Some are quite stylish. They also have chimney supplies which can be hard to find for small stoves that have a 4" flue...

www.hearth.com

 

[Todd]

I would look into one of the small Blaze Kings, Woodstock Fireview or Keystone for those long burn low BTU outputs.

I’m heating a 600 sq ft log cabin with a 200 sq ft loft with a Jotul F45 but it’s not the tightest construction with logs so it might be too much for your tight home.

 

[EbS-P]

Will you want the basement heated by the stove?

 

[begreen]

Will you want the basement heated by the stove?

Good question. If the basement is the same size as the main floor, that changes the equation.

 

[asburke39]

Hi all! In a perfect world it would heat the basement too but realizing that might not work well/be efficient. We plan on finishing the basement over the next year or two. Would it be better to have a separate wood stove in the basement? Or could we potentially hear the whole house with one?

 

[EbS-P]

Hi all! In a perfect world it would heat the basement too but realizing that might not work well/be efficient. We plan on finishing the basement over the next year or two. Would it be better to have a separate wood stove in the basement? Or could we potentially hear the whole house with one?

If you are finishing the basement I might consider heating from it. Lots of members here heat from the basement. for a small footprint it might be worth hauling the wood down. Getting good air circulation would be the key in a space that size.

Here’s the thing new tight construction you need to have a heating load calculation done. We can guess and say oh 12k btus you want a blaze king. But if you only need 8k for most of the winter you just waisted lots of money and space for something that you only use 4-6 weeks a year.

Get a proper load calc then see if it warrants a wood stove. Maybe all you need it solar panels and battery, and split unit downstairs? A blaze king installed with tax credit from the basement will be close to 6k$ (Just a guess) .

 

[ABMax24]

Yes you can heat from the basement, I do it as well as many other members on this forum. I have 2 floors above my basement, the basement is normally warm-hot, the main floor is comfortable, and the top floor (where are bedrooms are) is cool (ideal for sleeping). If your mini splits are on the main floor what will heat the basement? Or is a wood stove to be the only source of heat down there?

640sqft is smallish, but not tiny. My house is 720sqft per floor, for 2160sqft total. I heat with a 2.4cuft Osburn Matrix.

If you want to have the stove on the main floor 2 things come to mind.
1. You likely want the ambiance/nice fire to watch while in the living room/kitchen, this rules out a cat stove, because at low output there will be no visible flame to watch.
2. Heating from the top floor you are only heating 640sqft, that requires a small stove, and an understanding that the temperature will fluctuate a bit with the stove/fire output. Some people don't like this, for some this is a benefit. You can load the stove to achieve the desired temperature, there is a learning curve to this, but by the first winter you'll have it mostly figured out. That being said something like an Osburn 950 would fit the bill, a PE T4 is in this 1.5-1.8cuft range too. Ideally a Pacific Energy 1.2cuft firebox would go here, but those are still unavailable, I believe because they haven't passed emissions testing.

 

[rijim]

If spending the money on a stove and having a good wood supply, you will want to use it. Sounds like the basement will begin unfinished and over the next few years the basement will be finished which will reduce the heat requirement. A highly efficient house of this size would seem to point to the basement as the location to allow the most use without over heating. You will want a heater that you can push a little harder in the short term to heat an unfinished basement and eventually you will want to reduce the heat output once done building out; take a look at the BK line, run it a little higher now and dial it back in the future. You will want to begin getting a wood supply ASAP; hard woods (oak) can take 2 years to season and the softer woods will need roughly a year minimum.

 

[stoveliker]

I don't think the advice that a flame view on the main floor rules out a blaze King is fair.
If you compare with a tube stove of the same firebox size, and run it at the same output, you'll have a similar flame show in a BK. The point of a BK is that you can extend the output range farther down than a tube stove can (in continuously burning rather than small fires and many restarts).

The BK is not designed to be a black box stove. It is designed to be a normal stove but has an extended BTU range as compared to a normal stove, and that extended range is in black box mode without flames.

That said, to really figure out what BTU output range would cover your needs, indeed a manual J calculation would help. This can allow you to find the right stove for your situation - whether a BK, or other. Many good stoves to choose from.

I concur with the advice to consider a basement install if it's going to be finished. In a smaller home, keeping the wood (mess, trash) downstairs from the main living area is nice. A walkout basement is ideal.


The one question I have is whether basement location would be above or below grade. You may need an outside air connection if your home is tight, and those can't run up from the stove (to reach above grade level).

 

[asburke39]

Wow, you are all amazing - thank you for the feedback! I never though about heating from the basement. It will be a walkout basement (built into a hill). We also plan to have almost like a root cellar down there. (a closet/pantry that is well insulated for storing food). If I insulate well enough, do you think the pantry in the basement could stay cool enough if we heat from the basement?

 

[stoveliker]

That depends; it might need to be insulated towards the basement, and only having a moisture barrier on the outside wall.

Would the stove be near the walkout side of the basement or the in ground side? (If it's going to be a basement stove at all.)

 

[EbS-P]

Any new tight home will need and ERV. One that can have higher intake than exhaust would be desirable. Need to consider moisture management anytime you are building a tight home. Again without a blower door test you are just guessing about infiltration rates and any systems added will just be a bit of trial and error to get dialed in.

I am becoming a big advocate for really good HVAC design and work. Once you get a really well sealed home the details really matter and at least where I live it’s really difficult to find a Contrator that will do the load calculation (manual J) and equipment selection (manual S) and blower door test.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Hi all! I have never owned or really used a wood stove before but my husband and I just moved to Northern Michigan (not the UP) and we are building a tiny-ish home and looking for advice on purchasing a wood stove. I have attached our floor plan. It is 16' wide by 40' long (640 square feet), with a loft above half of it, as well as a full basement we plan to convert about 75% to living space over the next couple years. We will also have 2 split units to help with shoulder season heating. But we have about 60 acres of woods (lots of maples) and so we want to do the majority of our heating with a wood stove. From what I have read I would love something that is a low/long burn so not to get too hot. Just having a hard time really understanding what size is best. I have been looking at the PE T4/T5/T6 (actually we have a neighbor selling a 1 year old T6 for next to nothing! but worried that is just too big for what we need). The house will have spray foam, so it will be well insulated. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!

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The only advice I would give to you is 1. build bigger than you think you need now. You will kick yourself if you try to cram things to work later wishing you would have built another few feet wider / longer 2. Assume you will put on an expansion for additional bedrooms, larger kitchen etc.
The reason I say plan now is, imagine if you put your electrical box in the living space right on that northern wall. with wires going to/from that location along the wall. It would be very challenging to open that wall up for an expansion thus you would have to likely pick the kitchen wall/living wall to the south. That may not be optimal in your situation due to a hillside, edge of property, view, septic being in the way, etc.

 

[begreen]

In this circumstance, the extended range of a cat stove is not needed. The mini-splits should easily cover mild weather heating needs.

Wood heating from the basement is possible, especially if well planned so that heat can convect well to the floor above. Another option would be to install a wood furnace for better heat distribution.

That said, a wood stove is really nice to have where you spend the most time. If that will be the first floor, then that is where it will be most appreciated. If the main place for people to hang out will be the basement then a stove there will be appreciated. A second stove in the basement is an option too.

Yes, you can have a root cellar in the heated basement. My sister's house has this configuration. They put a bump-out room in the foundation with a dining area above on the main floor. Their root cellar room is uninsulated, with an insulated door, and fully below grade. It works great for food storage.

 

[reaperman1]

If you decide to place a wood stove in the basement you will most likely haul all of your wood in from the walkout door, so make sure the door is wide enough. It would also be nice to have an unfinished room to store a few days worth of wood. Perhaps the cellar could pull double duty if its large enough right away.

I use my walkout sliding door for bringing in firewood. I have an ice fishing sled that's just wide enough to fit inside. I load it up from my wood shed and slide it down the hill and right inside the door.

 

[cahaak]

Highly recommend that you locate your stove in the basement and make that area your eventual family or living room. You can easily heat the whole house this way simply by letting the heat rise up a stairwell.

Did this in my previous house which was closer to 1200 SQ ft per level. It worked great and kept the bedrooms from getting to warm. If your house is tight, your heat load won't be that large.