Thanks for your input everyone. We have a 2 story 2k square foot house, built in 1993. It's a split foyer with an open stairway that allows a good deal of air movement between the floors. We'd like to heat the first level with a wood stove and allow the warm air to rise through the open stairway to the second level. Each floor has approx 1k square feet, a pretty evenly split floorplan. We live in Iowa so overnight temps in January can get down to 0. From reading on the forum I know not to gauge the size of the stove by the recommend sq feet that it will heat. My question is how large of a firebox to look for? 2 cu feet? 3 cu feet? (This will be supplemental heating and the first floor is a walk out basement.) Thanks. Anything else I should think about?
How many cubic feet firebox for 2k square foot house?
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Hi Ericj
There’s no standard test in the hearth industry to tell you that a 2.3 or 3.4 cu.ft firebox will burn a precise number of sq.ft. The same way that there’s no test to validate what manufacturers say regarding how much sq.ft the unit will cover based on their btu’s value. At the end of the day, gauging the size of the stove by what the manufacturers say is the closes way to do it. Still, I always tell consumers that they need to see wood stoves as a vehicle, is not because the speed limit is 70 that you want a car that goes only up to 70; you always want something able to give more than what you need. A good method is to find out where the manufacturer is from, is not the same thing to heat 2k sq feet in southern Tennessee than it is in Canada for example. If you are looking for a big stove, I will recommend you take a look at three units: Enerzone 3.4, Osburn 2400 and Osburn 2300. Let me know if you need more information on these units. All the best!
There’s no standard test in the hearth industry to tell you that a 2.3 or 3.4 cu.ft firebox will burn a precise number of sq.ft. The same way that there’s no test to validate what manufacturers say regarding how much sq.ft the unit will cover based on their btu’s value. At the end of the day, gauging the size of the stove by what the manufacturers say is the closes way to do it. Still, I always tell consumers that they need to see wood stoves as a vehicle, is not because the speed limit is 70 that you want a car that goes only up to 70; you always want something able to give more than what you need. A good method is to find out where the manufacturer is from, is not the same thing to heat 2k sq feet in southern Tennessee than it is in Canada for example. If you are looking for a big stove, I will recommend you take a look at three units: Enerzone 3.4, Osburn 2400 and Osburn 2300. Let me know if you need more information on these units. All the best!
ericj said:
You are right, it would be the fire box size that will help you with your heating requirement. Its also a good indicator of extending your burn times as the cu ft get larger. My guess is that you will be looking at 2.5 cu ft as a minimum. Others from your climate will chime in soon.
Cheers.
Go bigger rather than smaller. I wish I did. You can load it up more at night and you can fit bigger splits in. I'm always having to re-cut wood I scrounge,
I've got a Lopi Freedom that posts a 2.9cf firebox. It will take a 24" split, but only in the front and its pretty close to the glass. The firebox is no that deep either, so North/South splits are limited to about 16". It's installed in a 340 sqft room that is open to my kitchen through a 6' opening. The family room is on one end of the house, and the rest of the house is the typical 2200 sqft colonial. There are times when the room is 90 degrees and the rest of the house is 68-75F, and then there are times when the whole house is 70-72. It all depends on who's running the stove, and how long I've been running it.
Supplimental heat: I try to burn 2 cord/yr, but I know its closer to 3+. The first two years I was burning whenever I wanted, this year I'm being a lot more stingy with the fires, even though it will be the first season with a decent wood supply. I keep the thermostats at 60 degrees all week, have one fire at night and that pushes the house to about 72. We all cuddle into the family room then slump off to the cold bedrooms. By the time we wake up the house/bedrooms are 65F and the stove room is still 68. Then we go to work/school. I tried heating a house when no one was there, just so I could walk into a warm house. That gets old. Once the weekend hits I run the stove full time and in a day or so the downstairs is 72-75, and the bedrooms are in the high 60s. I pull way back on the fan and just let the firebox radiate, and even though its an insert I get a pretty good amount of heat from it.
I did it to save money, but now its more than that.
Supplimental heat: I try to burn 2 cord/yr, but I know its closer to 3+. The first two years I was burning whenever I wanted, this year I'm being a lot more stingy with the fires, even though it will be the first season with a decent wood supply. I keep the thermostats at 60 degrees all week, have one fire at night and that pushes the house to about 72. We all cuddle into the family room then slump off to the cold bedrooms. By the time we wake up the house/bedrooms are 65F and the stove room is still 68. Then we go to work/school. I tried heating a house when no one was there, just so I could walk into a warm house. That gets old. Once the weekend hits I run the stove full time and in a day or so the downstairs is 72-75, and the bedrooms are in the high 60s. I pull way back on the fan and just let the firebox radiate, and even though its an insert I get a pretty good amount of heat from it.
I did it to save money, but now its more than that.
We heat around 1,800 sq. ft. (1K downstairs, 800 up) with a Lopi Endeavor, which has a 2.2 cubic ft. firebox. Though we're in TN, our location on the Cumberland Plateau can lead to some cold stretches in the dead of winter. I know last year we set records that hadn't been seen in 30 years, and we spent a 2 week stretch never leaving the teens. In situations like that, based on our house layout/windows/insulation/etc., we really needed about 3.0 cubic feet of firebox.
For sure, though, I would in no way go with less than a 2.0 cubic foot firebox, and I'd lean more towards the 3.0 range if I could find a stove that would work with my tastes and clearances.
For sure, though, I would in no way go with less than a 2.0 cubic foot firebox, and I'd lean more towards the 3.0 range if I could find a stove that would work with my tastes and clearances.
I would look into a stove in the 2.5-3.0 range for your situation, but measure the fire box yourself, most manufactures include the baffle and space above it for their fire box sizes.
Erik,
I recently bought a 2.2 cubic foot Lopi Republic 1750 for a similar house/situation, and here's the question I would pose:
Will you be happy with a house that's 65 degrees in 1/2 the house, and 80 degrees in the area with the stove, and maybe needs some extra help during those cold snaps...or will you want a stove that can keep the house toasty and 75 during the cold snaps, extra-help be damned?
If the latter, I'd go with what is routinely called a "large" stove/insert....bout 3.0 cubic feet.
If the former, I'd go with the medium (and did myself). I'm also faced with the fact that I have no wood on my land, so I'm entirely scrounging. A bit smaller firebox with higher efficiency (medium stoves tend to be a hair more efficient) means maybe .5-1.0 cord less consumption over the course of a full winter.
I recently bought a 2.2 cubic foot Lopi Republic 1750 for a similar house/situation, and here's the question I would pose:
Will you be happy with a house that's 65 degrees in 1/2 the house, and 80 degrees in the area with the stove, and maybe needs some extra help during those cold snaps...or will you want a stove that can keep the house toasty and 75 during the cold snaps, extra-help be damned?
If the latter, I'd go with what is routinely called a "large" stove/insert....bout 3.0 cubic feet.
If the former, I'd go with the medium (and did myself). I'm also faced with the fact that I have no wood on my land, so I'm entirely scrounging. A bit smaller firebox with higher efficiency (medium stoves tend to be a hair more efficient) means maybe .5-1.0 cord less consumption over the course of a full winter.
Before we added a couple more rooms and a second stove we did pretty well heating 2000 sqft with a 2cf firebox. However, that required a lot of tending in the teens and below. So I think the 2.5-3cf recommendations are on the mark.
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