Morso: Real World Capabilities ?

[BonnieVibes]

Any Morso owners out there who can weigh in on what kind of heat and burn times they're getting out of their stoves? I just started using a Morso 3450 on a daily basis at my 900sqft house and getting the place up to temperature seems to be a bit of an uphill battle even with good wood and draft. Its been very mild lately, I worry it will really struggle when it actual gets cold. Manual says maximum recomended load of wood is 5.5 lbs, I find you need everybit of that to get any real heat. I reload after about an hour and a half if I'm trying to get the temp to climb. I realize its a quite small stove, but it seems a little underpowered compared to other "35000" btu stoves. Appreciate any input from people whove used anything similar. Thanks all.

 

[begreen]

A cold place takes a lot of continuous btus to bring the entire environment up to temperature. The air may warm up but the furniture, walls, floor and ceiling take a lot longer. Once the place is up to temp, keeping it there is much easier. I haven't run the 3450, but have run the 2110 and have found it takes about 6-8 hrs to heat up a space well if it is say @35F to start with.

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

Those small European stoves are more room heaters than whole house heaters. You can realistically expect to get about 6000 BTU per lb of wood. With 5.5 lb you get 33,000 BTU. If you reload every 1.5 hours that's about 24,000 BTUs per hour. You will need to judge for yourself if that is enough to keep your home up to temperature but it does not sound like it is the case. Plus, you will need more heat if you want to heat the house up from a lower temperature. What other fuel source did you use last winter? Based on your previous consumption you can estimate how many BTUs a woodstove will need to supply.

Another problem may be your wood. Those modern stoves need dry wood with an internal moisture content below 20% to work effectively. When was your wood split and stacked? Did you check its moisture content with a moisture meter?

 

[BonnieVibes]

Thanks guys, yeah I have a propane hot air system, so I'm starting at about 56 degrees. It takes about 3-4 hours to get up to warm (72 in the living room where the stove is, 66-68 evrywhere else). But again it was like 40 degrees outside today.

I don't have a moisture meter yet, but the wood I'm burning was cut about a year and a half ago and I try to take pretty good care of it. I think I'm get a pretty clean burn. I do think that my expectations were probably a little off in terms of what kind of heat this stove could kick out, but some reviewers seemed to be using it in decent sized spaces.

It does however make the place a lot more comfortable and will cut down on my propane use. I'll admit it was a bit of an impulse buy because it looked cool, I might look for something that can handle more of a workload down the road.

 

[brad wilton]

i have a dovre 400 a small cast iron woodstove it heats 900sqft house very well just burns fast because of size. make sure you get your timing right for shutting down air. cast takes a bit longer to heat up. also keeps house at 25 to 27 degrees C 73 F

 

[Grisu]

Thanks guys, yeah I have a propane hot air system, so I'm starting at about 56 degrees. It takes about 3-4 hours to get up to warm (72 in the living room where the stove is, 66-68 evrywhere else). But again it was like 40 degrees outside today.

I don't have a moisture meter yet, but the wood I'm burning was cut about a year and a half ago and I try to take pretty good care of it. I think I'm get a pretty clean burn. I do think that my expectations were probably a little off in terms of what kind of heat this stove could kick out, but some reviewers seemed to be using it in decent sized spaces.

It does however make the place a lot more comfortable and will cut down on my propane use. I'll admit it was a bit of an impulse buy because it looked cool, I might look for something that can handle more of a workload down the road.

Getting the house from 56 to ~70 in 3 to 4 hours is actually pretty good. You may have a chance that the stove can keep your home warm even when it is colder. You will need some furnace assistance, though, to get the house warmed up. How many gl of propane do you usually burn in January/February?

 

[BonnieVibes]

Getting the house from 56 to ~70 in 3 to 4 hours is actually pretty good. You may have a chance that the stove can keep your home warm even when it is colder. You will need some furnace assistance, though, to get the house warmed up. How many gl of propane do you usually burn in January/February?

Great, I'm glad to here it. I'm gonna say around 110 gl per month during the winter. I'm not all that liberal with it. I don't have any expectation of completely replacing the furnace, but I have plenty of wood on my land so I'd like to use it as much as is practical when I'm around the house.

 

[Grisu]

110 gl of propane give you about 8 million BTU in an 80% efficient furnace. That's 270,000 BTU per day or a bit over 10,000 BTU per hour. That is really not that much and your stove could do that if you can reload it constantly. A small catalytic stove like a BlazeKing Chinook 20 or a Woodstock Keystone would probably be ideal in your space. Due to their catalytic operation you can load them full, turn down the air and have continuous low heat for a long time. That way the stove can keep the house warm even when you are away or sleeping.

 

[Osuna]

Any Morso owners out there who can weigh in on what kind of heat and burn times they're getting out of their stoves? I just started using a Morso 3450 on a daily basis at my 900sqft house and getting the place up to temperature seems to be a bit of an uphill battle even with good wood and draft. Its been very mild lately, I worry it will really struggle when it actual gets cold. Manual says maximum recomended load of wood is 5.5 lbs, I find you need everybit of that to get any real heat. I reload after about an hour and a half if I'm trying to get the temp to climb. I realize its a quite small stove, but it seems a little underpowered compared to other "35000" btu stoves. Appreciate any input from people whove used anything similar. Thanks all.

Hi there, I purchased a Morso 6140 three years ago, and everyone in the family loves it. I usually burn in the evenings when I get home from work, and burn times are similar to yours, perhaps closer to 2 hours. Once I establish a good bed of coals, and it's up and running for a couple of hours, it holds the house (1900 sq. ft.), especially downstairs, at 68-70 degrees, which is fine for us as we prefer moderate heat. Last winter with the sustained cold temperatures in Rhode Island, I did have to run the stove pretty hard at times, but overall, I was pleased with its performance. I have found that the wood (as most tend to comment on this website) truly has to be well-seasoned to maximize the potential of the stove. Best of luck with your new stove!

 

[brad wilton]

for that size house i don't think you'll have problem.by the way does it have a blower if not get one it will help

 

[begreen]

A 15F temp change is going to take time. It's a small stove and it's an area heater designed to heat one or two rooms as is typical in Europe. Close off remote parts of the house until the stove area has had a chance to warm up. Then open up the rest of the rooms.

 

[BonnieVibes]

Thanks Osuna, glad to hear its worked well for you, I think I just need to get more used to the stove. I was definately under-estimating how long it would take to heat up. It doesn't make a big impact for the first two hours but then really starts to gain ground pretty quick after that. It's been getting me up to temperature pretty well if I stick with it. And I think what it does it pretty good considering how little wood its using. The burn time is a little disapointing though.

I've just been circulating air with my houses furnace blower, honestly it doesn't seem heat up the other rooms much faster than letting it happen naturally. My place is pretty open, there are only two rooms (bedroom and bathroom) that are seperate from the main living area.

 

[begreen]

The house's furnace fan can actually cool down the air too much and may be related to the slow warm up. Is the ductwork (supply and returns) sealed and fully insulated? If not, the ductwork could be losing a lot of the heat. Try warming up the house without the furnace blower instead. It could warm up faster. To warm up the bedroom areas if they are at the hallway, try this trick:
For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Just curious if you're new to wood burning or new to this stove?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Often a small stove's effectiveness can be increased by using caulk and foam to seal places where air is leaking in and out of the house. It's often more effective than adding insulation alone.

 

[xman23]

But, more important can you keep the house at temp when it's colder outside?

 

[BonnieVibes]

The house's furnace fan can actually cool down the air too much and may be related to the slow warm up. Is the ductwork (supply and returns) sealed and fully insulated? If not, the ductwork could be losing a lot of the heat. Try warming up the house without the furnace blower instead. It could warm up faster. To warm up the bedroom areas if they are at the hallway, try this trick:
For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

Thanks for the tip I'll try it, my ductwork is insulated but my early-on opinion is that the system doesn't help much with the woodstove. My house is pretty tight, I'll heavily insulated window quilts on all my windows except for the couple I'm still sewing.

 

[BonnieVibes]

Just curious if you're new to wood burning or new to this stove?

I am new to woodburning. I've used my grandparents wood stove before but never heated my own house, so definately pretty new to it.

 

[saskwoodburner]

I am new to woodburning. I've used my grandparents wood stove before but never heated my own house, so definately pretty new to it.

Well, if it's anything like my situation, your wood stove will "magically" start working better once you get 'er figured out.

 

[mass_burner]

With the 5650, I heat the 1000 sq ft main living area nicely, with 1.6 box.. It would heat the whole 2000 sq ft, but pushing air effectively under door thresholds is easier said than done in my space.

What is the size of your box?

 

[BonnieVibes]

Fire

With the 5650, I heat the 1000 sq ft main living area nicely, with 1.6 box.. It would heat the whole 2000 sq ft, but pushing air effectively under door thresholds is easier said than done in my space.

What is the size of your box?

Firebox is 1.0. Manual recomends a max load of 5.5 lbs of wood.

 

[begreen]

Sizing a stove based on the mfg sq ftg is hit or miss. There are too many variables in sizing. Firebox size is a better guide. In colder climates it is usually a good idea to oversize the stove by ~50% to cover colder temps if the goal is full time heating. The 2110 would probably be a better size to work with. The 3450 is more of an area heater that one would light up on nights and weekends when one is in that room or area. It will get the job done though, but with more refills and a bit longer time.

 

[BonnieVibes]

But, more important can you keep the house at temp when it's colder outside?

In practical terms, I'll say almost but not quite. Last night it was about 19 out in my neck of the woods so it was a good test for a typical winter day. When I got home in the evening it was about 58 in the house, after about 4-5 hours it was 67 near the stove and about 64-62 everywhere else. Bottom line I think this stove can keep the house at temperature but will need the furnace to help get there (I've mostly been keeping it off to test what the new stove can do).

My biggest problem with this stove is the very short burn time. With the air control about 1/3 open I've been getting a little over an hour of good burn before going to coals that don't give off a ton of heat. On a typical day I don't think I'm home long enough to get the house up to temp with just the stove before going to bed.

 

[mass_burner]

In practical terms, I'll say almost but not quite. Last night it was about 19 out in my neck of the woods so it was a good test for a typical winter day. When I got home in the evening it was about 58 in the house, after about 4-5 hours it was 67 near the stove and about 64-62 everywhere else. Bottom line I think this stove can keep the house at temperature but will need the furnace to help get there (I've mostly been keeping it off to test what the new stove can do).

My biggest problem with this stove is the very short burn time. With the air control about 1/3 open I've been getting a little over an hour of good burn before going to coals that don't give off a ton of heat. On a typical day I don't think I'm home long enough to get the house up to temp with just the stove before going to bed.

Hmm, 4-5 hours is a long time, I have a hard time thinking the 1/2 cu ft between your stove and mine makes that much of a difference. I've come home to a 58d house many times, and within an hour I'm sitting at 65, 2 hours at 70 easy. And the 5660 is an insert, then fan is temp controlled, so it doesn't come on until about an hour or so into the burn.

I'm thinking there may other variables at play.

 

[BonnieVibes]

Sizing a stove based on the mfg sq ftg is hit or miss. There are too many variables in sizing. Firebox size is a better guide. In colder climates it is usually a good idea to oversize the stove by ~50% to cover colder temps if the goal is full time heating. The 2110 would probably be a better size to work with. The 3450 is more of an area heater that one would light up on nights and weekends when one is in that room or area. It will get the job done though, but with more refills and a bit longer time.

Yeah I agree, its a beautiful and fun little stove, be perfect to sit around some evenings if I had a date over. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of nowhere so that doesn't happen to often, I'm already wishing I had looked at the 2110 : ) The guys I bought the stove from were nice enough but not a wealth of information about the stoves.