Morso 1440 and 6143, hearth pads

[Aiyana]

We are building a new house, and have chosen the Morso 1440 (convection squirrel) and Morso 6143 for our two main living spaces. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them generally, and get advice on choosing/ making a low-profile hearth pad. We are considering glass under the Morso 6143 (to show off the wood floors), and might go with a granite slab that we have (it was free!) under the 1440.

We live in southern Oregon and have 4 distinct seasons, with lows of 32-0 degrees F in the winter. The house is a total of 2200 sf on one story, but really divides into 1400 sf + 800 sf, with about 50 sf on each side being mudroom (not needing much heat). The stoves will be back to back on a wall, near the center of the house. The house is very well insulated and sealed. We will have forced air (heat exchanger and... I don't know how that works), but we hope to rely mainly on the wood stoves when possible especially on the smaller side of the house. The house is also passive solar (good windows on the south side) so we'll have some heat gain from that during sunny days. Wood floors over a concrete slab. We cut our own wood off our property, a mix of oak and soft woods.

Any thoughts?

Morso 1440 (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/us/indoor/wood-burning-stove/shop/p1440_us)
Morso 6143 (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/us/indoor/wood-burning-stove/shop/p6143_us)
Morso glass hearth pads / plates (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/en/indoor/accessories/shop/mors%C3%B8-hearth-plates_us)

 

[begreen]

Both of these are tiny stoves that takes 11-12" wood. They are small room heaters with short burn times. I would only use it in a small room that needs a chill chaser for an hour or two. If the goal is for a quick spurt of heat on nights and weekends then they might be ok. If the intent is to put in a stove that heats 24/7 these are not good choices.

 

[Squirrel]

Having heated 750sq ft under similar conditions with a 1410 squirrel (my chimney goes through an upstairs bedroom and helps with heat distribution) I also think you may be expecting too much from these stoves.

During the coldest weather my stove needs to be reloaded every two hours to maintain maximum heat output using good hardwood, this has to be cut to a maximum of 10".

If I wasn't home all day and enjoyed playing with the stove I would go bigger for sure.

 

[ddddddden]

During the coldest weather my stove needs to be reloaded every two hours. . .If I wasn't home all day and enjoyed playing with the stove I would go bigger for sure.

. . .and what about nights?

 

[Squirrel]

. . .and what about nights?

Loaded at 10:30 with hardwood on a good coal bed and turned down there will stil be enough coals to relight at 7am, the stove is still warm enough to make a difference to the room temp. This is when insulation and air sealing really count.

 

[Crimson Blaze]

Loaded at 10:30 with hardwood on a good coal bed and turned down there will stil be enough coals to relight at 7am, the stove is still warm enough to make a difference to the room temp. This is when insulation and air sealing really count.

Hi dddddddden (how many d's?) anyway, we just installed a Morso 1440 and I'm curious, when you said turned down, you don't mean all the way I presume... How much air do you leave to maximize the burn time on a full load? Thanks!

 

[Squirrely]

We are building a new house, and have chosen the Morso 1440 (convection squirrel) and Morso 6143 for our two main living spaces. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them generally, and get advice on choosing/ making a low-profile hearth pad. We are considering glass under the Morso 6143 (to show off the wood floors), and might go with a granite slab that we have (it was free!) under the 1440.

We live in southern Oregon and have 4 distinct seasons, with lows of 32-0 degrees F in the winter. The house is a total of 2200 sf on one story, but really divides into 1400 sf + 800 sf, with about 50 sf on each side being mudroom (not needing much heat). The stoves will be back to back on a wall, near the center of the house. The house is very well insulated and sealed. We will have forced air (heat exchanger and... I don't know how that works), but we hope to rely mainly on the wood stoves when possible especially on the smaller side of the house. The house is also passive solar (good windows on the south side) so we'll have some heat gain from that during sunny days. Wood floors over a concrete slab. We cut our own wood off our property, a mix of oak and soft woods.

Any thoughts?

Morso 1440 (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/us/indoor/wood-burning-stove/shop/p1440_us)
Morso 6143 (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/us/indoor/wood-burning-stove/shop/p6143_us)
Morso glass hearth pads / plates (broken link removed to http://morsoe.com/en/indoor/accessories/shop/mors%C3%B8-hearth-plates_us)

Since you're using small stoves, the best thing you have going for you is your new draft free well insulated house. It will drastically reduce your heating requirements. And since your floors are wood over concrete, had you considered cutting out a section of flooring and installing tile for your hearth? You can make if flush with the wood so there are no stubbed toes on the edges of the hearth pads. Tile is dirt cheap and your decorative choices are endless. Our whole floor is a hearth.



As to the stoves themselves, we have a Morso #1410 as our sole heating source. It's a simple practical rugged well built stove.



Even though the climate is mild here in Southern California, we built our 1,100 square foot house with 8 inch thick insulation in the walls and 12 inch thick insulation in the roof, so a small stove works great. I cut toy sized firewood for it.



Greg

 

[begreen]

April 2017 thread. Hopefully they have decided by now.
One doesn't heat in LA, one warms the house. Eugene can be a lot colder for a lot longer.

 

[Squirrely]

Ha! I would hope so. Saw the latest post and just assumed it was current.

A modern home built to the latest energy conservation standards can really help to overcome weather obstacles. Old houses need way bigger stoves to compensate for their greater heat losses.

Heat here is like cold where you are. Over the years we saved thousands of dollars in cooling costs by eliminating the need to run expensive air conditioning, as well as saving us thousands of dollars for the cost of a unit itself. We're up in the hills, and even though it's not Ice Age like where you are, it does get cold enough to freeze the fish ponds solid every Winter.

Greg