Help with stove size

[trailrun]

Hi all,

We're interested in getting a wood stove for our 1170 sf ranch-style home, which is currently heated with a heat pump. We will be first-time stove owners. The stove that's made it to the top of our list is the Hearthstone Green Mountain 40 because of its style, big window, emissions/efficiency, long burn time, and soapstone firebox lining. Plus its dimensions and top flue exit fit well with where it'll be installed - see picture of brick surround & chimney pipe.

The GM 40 is rated up to 1400 sf, but we're wondering if it would truly be able to heat our entire house (basement excluded) due to the corners/doorways the heat would need to move through. See attached diagram of the house layout. All rooms have ceiling fans, including the living room where the stove will be. Is this a tricky layout for heat to move through? Would moving up to the 60 be better/necessary for heating the bedrooms, especially the master? On the other hand, we're concerned that the 60 would make the living room too hot, which is where we spend most of our time when not asleep. It doesn't get super cold here (40-50F during the day, 20-30F at night), but the house is a bit drafty and not the best insulated. Also, since the heat pump thermostat is in the living room it won't be kicking on to heat the bedrooms when the stove is lit unless we crank the temperature way up. We'd prefer to not have to do that and just use the stove by itself instead.

Finally, does anyone have experience with the Green Mountain? Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[moresnow]

What is the inside diameter of your chimney? We have a very pleased 40 user here. Hopefully he will chime in.

 

[trailrun]

What is the inside diameter of your chimney? We have a very pleased 40 user here. Hopefully he will chime in.

The diameter of the stove pipe is 8", not sure yet what the inside looks like. We're pretty sure there's a wasp nest in there, so we're waiting for a few more cool days so they'll die off before we open it up to clean it out. If it helps, I've attached a picture of the outside portion of the chimney.

 

[moresnow]

Sounds like 6" class A. I was curious.

 

[begreen]

The stove is in the center core of the house. It will heat that area well. The bedrooms will be a bit cooler, but that can be nice for sleeping.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

The Green Mountain Line is attractive. We looked at it briefly a couple of years ago when we were considering a stove. Have you been able to see the stove in person to look at the size of the firebox? The 40 is a small stove, and you'd have to cut and split some pretty small wood. I think the 60 would be easier to manage in that respect. If you have the room on your hearth, I'd opt to go up a size if you really want to rely on it from most of your heat. I think the 60 is still just 2 cubic feet, and I seem to remember the firebox itself seeming even smaller than that.

Your home layout looks nice from a heating perspective. A stove is fundamentally a space heater, of course, but there are ways to encourage airflow. One trick is to use a small fan to blow cold air out of a room that needs heat and let the warm air flow in to replace it. That could help with heating your master bedroom. I doubt you'd roast yourself out with a 60, and you can always just load less wood or let the fire die down if temperatures are mild.

 

[trailrun]

We saw the 40 in person, but we didn’t think about needing to cut the wood down so small. It really is a nice looking stove - clean and simple with some nice touches like the wood handle. Definitely our style. The 60 should also fit just fine in the space we have.

I wasn’t sure if constantly burning a larger stove on low is a good idea. Would it lead to creosote buildup, would it not get hot enough to engage the cat, or anything else I’m not aware of? Would a smaller fire in a larger firebox still burn throughout the night or are those burn times based on a full load?

 

[Todd]

I prefer to run a stove with a full load, thats how the EPA test is done and I would think manufactures would design their stoves for optimum performance in this regard.
Burn times are a scrap shoot, many variables and opinions. I can have enough coals for relighting another full load in my little .8 cu ft firebox in 6-9 hours depending on the wood and or weather but it only makes usable heat for about 4-5 hours.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We saw the 40 in person, but we didn’t think about needing to cut the wood down so small. It really is a nice looking stove - clean and simple with some nice touches like the wood handle. Definitely our style. The 60 should also fit just fine in the space we have.

I wasn’t sure if constantly burning a larger stove on low is a good idea. Would it lead to creosote buildup, would it not get hot enough to engage the cat, or anything else I’m not aware of? Would a smaller fire in a larger firebox still burn throughout the night or are those burn times based on a full load?

I really don't think that you'll find a 60 box too big, and when you burn a small fire in a larger box, you still work to burn it hot rather than smolder it. (Though it's a bit different with a cat, come to think of it. You actually can cut the air to smolder it, and the cat still cleans emissions.) We had a 2.2 cubic foot insert when we lived in Virginia, and when we were considering stove options for our new home in Texas, we really didn't want to go smaller than that. Part of that was our situation with some pretty gnarly live oak that is impossible to cut into straight pieces, but you do want to pay attention to how you will be getting wood for your stove.

Since I don't have personal experience with burning a Green Mountain, I can't help so much on burn times. With our 2.2 cubic foot non-cat, we needed it full to have what I considered a real overnight burn in winter in Virginia. We even would have liked larger. We enjoy having extra room in our firebox now, and we don't need to load it full during our days.

I think member @Nigel459 has a Green Mountain either 40 or 60, so I'll see if he can give you more first-hand information on actually burning in the stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

When I first came on this site a number of years ago and was looking for advice on stoves and sizes one member said to figure out my spacing needs according to my house's size . . . and then go one size larger. Over the years I have been very appreciative of that bit of advice and personally recommend it to most other folks as well.

One can always build a smaller fire in a larger woodstove if the heating requirements are not so great. It is however much harder to build a larger fire in a smaller woodstove if the firebox is already packed to the gills.

While I have no experience with Green Mountain stoves or even cat stoves I can tell you that folks here say the cat stoves do really, really well at burning low and slow . . . and for a very, very, very long time.

In my own case our fall temps here are similar to your winter temps. I manage to still burn cleanly (and keep warm) in the fall by using the fuel load to control the heat output. I learned early on that if I pack the stove full of oak, beech or sugar maple and reload it early and often I will turn my house into a sauna and before you know it I am wandering around the house in my skivvies half delirious opening every window (and this is something none of the neighbors want to see). Instead, during this time of year I use my lower BTU woods -- softwoods, poplar, etc. -- or my chunks and uglies which keep me from really packing the firebox full . . . and I avoid reloading the stove . . . or at least avoid reloading the stove too soon depending on what the temps are forecast to do in relation to warming up or cooling down.

Incidentally, I would say "burn times" are often over-rated. The problem is manufacturers bandy about burn times . . . but never really explain what that definition is. I may consider a burn time the amount of time from when I light a match to the kindling to when the last coal goes out . . . another user may consider only the time when usable heat at X degrees is coming off the woodstove . . . and still another person may think it is the time from when the woodstove is producing heat until you need to reload to maintain a set temp . . . and you can go on and on with various definitions. That said, as I said before . . . cat stoves are well known for their longer "burn times."

 

[kennyp2339]

That said, as I said before . . . cat stoves are well known for their longer "burn times."

All good info, but not all cat stoves are created equal, just like air tube reburn stoves, certain brands have certain qualities, for cat stoves it really depends on where the cat is located and if the cat is only there to clean up emissions, or if it was designed and made to be apart of the stove system to extract heat produced.

 

[tabner]

@trailrun just curious what did you decide?

 

[DandL2311]

We own a Green Mountain 60. Our house is a ranch style and 2000sf. The GM60 easily heats our entire home. I do have 5 little ones who run around and circulate the heat for us.

 

[logfarmer]

To be honest depending on insulation, about a 45k btu stove will be a good fit!