Need help choosing stove size with house layout! Morso?

[enigmablaze]

Hello amazing folks . We are wanting to install a wood burner in our house and originally we were interested in an open fireplace but you folks have gotten us very very curious about stoves! The unit would be primarily for my husband's wood-burning enjoyment, ambiance & family enjoyment secondly and also as heat source for our small house (we have central air so it would not likely be primary heat but we don't want to lose heat through it or anything like that!).

I like the look of Morso stoves particularly but we're very unsure about what size we should be looking at, and also what type (radiant or convection?). I am guessing if we did a stove we would build an alcove/hearth for it if that makes any difference. I don't want to be blasted out of the room when it's burning since it is a small room but the tiniest stoves do seem very small, I just need you guys' experience!

Mostly we're looking at Morso, the 1410, 1440 and 7110 (<- hoping this might work...bigger wood size and fire viewing window), or the Jotul F100 but just not sure if we're looking for a stove for the room's size or the whole house? The whole house is probably about 1,400 sq ft.

Here is a picture of our layout/room sizes. The upstairs has a 1/2 story cape cod bedroom. The stars are the three places we are thinking of installing the unit (the fourth in the sunroom in the back is probably a separate issue, that room is largely uninsulated, walled off from the house and on a slab).

Thank you so much for any advice

 

[enigmablaze]

I should probably add that star #1 is largely our preferred location for other reasons (possible future changes)

 

[begreen]

Most Morso stoves are radiant heaters. I personally would try to avoid the stoves that require tiny wood lengths. Not as many wood sellers are going to offer 12" wood without a high premium. That brings the selection down to the Morso 7110 or the Jotul F3CB. The Hampton H200 might also be worth looking at. All 3 are radiant cast iron stoves. You might also want to consider cast iron jackets stoves for closer clearances. An example would be the Quadrafire Explorer I.

 

[xman23]

Good comments as usual from BG. #1 location looks fine. If you have good insulation you should be able to heat the whole house. The back bedrooms will be 5 degrees or so cooler. I have a open floor plan and cathedral ceilings and we have no issues maintaining even heating.

 

[enigmablaze]

Most Morso stoves are radiant heaters. I personally would try to avoid the stoves that require tiny wood lengths. Not as many wood sellers are going to offer 12" wood without a high premium. That brings the selection down to the Morso 7110 or the Jotul F3CB. The Hampton H200 might also be worth looking at. All 3 are radiant cast iron stoves. You might also want to consider cast iron jackets stoves for closer clearances. An example would be the Quadrafire Explorer I.

I had not even considered that wood suppliers might charge more for the smaller length. I'm really glad you mentioned that. I would totally prefer the larger wood size too since the point is the hubby's enjoyment (and he's used to fireplaces), but will those larger stoves way overheat the living room?

 

[enigmablaze]

Good comments as usual from BG. #1 location looks fine. If you have good insulation you should be able to heat the whole house. The back bedrooms will be 5 degrees or so cooler. I have a open floor plan and cathedral ceilings and we have no issues maintaining even heating.

So does the heat really make it through little doorways into the whole house? Ours is a 50's cape and quite compartmented...I want to make sure the living room doesn't get unusably hot to heat the rest of the house.

Do you use a convection or radiant? The Morso 1440 says its convection though I can't fully say I understand what that means

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I would choose 2 or 4.

1 would be right in front of the door and in a path of travel. This could be annoying over time in my opinion. 3 would look great inside, but chimneys on the front of the house always bothered me aesthetically. There isn't anything wrong with them functionally. If 3 could be moved back to the centerline/just in front of the main beam I'd choose that. 4 would look good aesthetically, but the heat would have the longest path of travel to the bedrooms. Depending on how the sunroom's roof is set up you may also experience draft issues when the wind blows just right...

 

[Niko]

Well I would say this is not going to be a cheap investment so if you want something that looks cool and you don't really care about it bein primary heat get a gas or electric stove.

If your real serious about heating your house and saving money invest in a stove the will heat you whole house. You gotta have space for the firewood outside, a way to bring it inside and making sure you keep stuff clean doing it.

Your stove room will be hot 75-85 give or take on how good your insulation is in the house and how hot you run the stove without producing creosote.

I'm all about long burn times so I don't have to load the stove so much and the stove I have lets me burn real low to achieve lower temps without creating to much creasote. The stove I have is a Blaze King. Now as far as light show type of stove I always like the Osborne. Never bought one but I do like the look of it.

I think by what you said about in your earlier posts that your better off putting your money in your pocket instead of buying a wood stove.

Now if you wanna heat your house and save money do some research on where to put the stove, what type stove to get for the size of your house, where to buy firewood and for how much,

In my opinion this investment should be geared towards heating your house period.

 

[Squisher]

Not everyone wants the same thing from a wood fire in their home. And there's nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[begreen]

I had not even considered that wood suppliers might charge more for the smaller length. I'm really glad you mentioned that. I would totally prefer the larger wood size too since the point is the hubby's enjoyment (and he's used to fireplaces), but will those larger stoves way overheat the living room?

The amount of fuel the stove is fed, outside temps and the duration of the fire will determine how warm it gets. Build smaller fires and let it burn out if the place gets too warm.

 

[enigmablaze]

Well I would say this is not going to be a cheap investment so if you want something that looks cool and you don't really care about it bein primary heat get a gas or electric stove.

If your real serious about heating your house and saving money invest in a stove the will heat you whole house. You gotta have space for the firewood outside, a way to bring it inside and making sure you keep stuff clean doing it.

Your stove room will be hot 75-85 give or take on how good your insulation is in the house and how hot you run the stove without producing creosote.

I'm all about long burn times so I don't have to load the stove so much and the stove I have lets me burn real low to achieve lower temps without creating to much creasote. The stove I have is a Blaze King. Now as far as light show type of stove I always like the Osborne. Never bought one but I do like the look of it.

I think by what you said about in your earlier posts that your better off putting your money in your pocket instead of buying a wood stove.

Now if you wanna heat your house and save money do some research on where to put the stove, what type stove to get for the size of your house, where to buy firewood and for how much,

In my opinion this investment should be geared towards heating your house period.

I guess we just have different priorities, a gas or electric stove is not an option for this project as my husband really misses burning wood. I know that greatly increases the cost/complexity but that's entirely the point for him. Are stoves really only effective as heaters? People must use them for enjoyment and ambiance as well, surely. I mean we do want to heat the home but a stove that heats the entire house but renders the living room unusable would be a big miss for us.

 

[enigmablaze]

The amount of fuel the stove is fed, outside te.ps and the duration of the fire will determine how warm it gets. Build smaller fires and let it burn out if the place gets too warm.

I've been wondering about this, am I correct that if you get a stove "too big" and build small fires in it that it is not firing correctly and would create creosote and ash on the glass? Or is this really a possibility for long-term use?

 

[enigmablaze]

Not everyone wants the same thing from a wood fire in their home. And there's nothing wrong with that at all.

Thank you, Squisher...we want something that will draw folks around it that is not a TV :D My parents have an open hearth and inefficient though it may be they have that thing running nearly every day and love to sit around it.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thank you, Squisher...we want something that will draw folks around it that is not a TV :D My parents have an open hearth and inefficient though it may be they have that thing running nearly every day and love to sit around it.

My kids were sad this morning that I let the stove go out (it was 71 degrees in the house, and the outside went up to the sixties). My oldest was sitting in front of the stove with her book waiting for me to add logs before breakfast. We're in for crummy weather for the weekend, so we'll be burning then.

My vote, like Jetsam's, would be for number 2 or 4. I like the idea of having a stove centrally located, but if your sunroom is a chilly spot in winter, and your purpose isn't to heat the whole house, it would make sense to have it there if you like to spend time there. If no one would spend time there anyway, though, then it would be a non-starter. Also, if it's a one-story addition on a two-story house, that could cause issues for the chimney.

For numbers 1, 2, and 3, one big factor to think about is the living space upstairs that will have to be closed off around a chimney. If there's a hallway above number 2, for instance, you just wouldn't have room.

In terms of stove size, we have a 2.2 cubic foot firebox in a room of about 400 square feet but the ceilings are less than 8 feet so the cubic footage is not 3,200. That size allows us to use fairly decent sized wood. If we filled it full every time we loaded it, we could pretty easily overheat the room. When starting from cold, we burn about a 3/4 load to get some good solid heat to warm things up, but during the day we burn a half load or even less to keep things warm but not to keep raising the temperature. We do load it full for an overnight burn.

If you're really just looking to have a fire for the fun of a fire and for ambiance, you'd probably not be keeping it going 24/7, and overheating would be less of an issue. It takes more BTU's to warm a place up than to maintain it.

 

[snavematt]

My wife would say definitely no to 3 if the chimney would be on the front of the house. I personally would go with 2 because it's not in the walking path of the front door and messing with the flow of the house. Someone mentioned the Explorer 1, I just installed the 2 and have no regrets, it heats far more of the house than I ever imagined.


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[enigmablaze]

My kids were sad this morning that I let the stove go out (it was 71 degrees in the house, and the outside went up to the sixties). My oldest was sitting in front of the stove with her book waiting for me to add logs before breakfast. We're in for crummy weather for the weekend, so we'll be burning then.

In terms of stove size, we have a 2.2 cubic foot firebox in a room of about 400 square feet but the ceilings are less than 8 feet so the cubic footage is not 3,200. That size allows us to use fairly decent sized wood. If we filled it full every time we loaded it, we could pretty easily overheat the room. When starting from cold, we burn about a 3/4 load to get some good solid heat to warm things up, but during the day we burn a half load or even less to keep things warm but not to keep raising the temperature. We do load it full for an overnight burn.

If you're really just looking to have a fire for the fun of a fire and for ambiance, you'd probably not be keeping it going 24/7, and overheating would be less of an issue. It takes more BTU's to warm a place up than to maintain it.

So cute about your kids, I love that they like being around the stove...that's what I want for my boys (big and little ).

The biggest stove we're looking at is just over 1 cubit foot of firebox (Morso 7110) but of course our "stove room" is -200 sq ft. I'm starting to lean a little bigger than I was before but I am concerned about creosote buildup when the stove is consistently not fired at "full tilt". Do you find that is an issue for you at all? I had totally not considered what you say about the initial heat-up vs maintenance heat. Though our furnace keeps the house at a comfortable heat so though we could turn the thermostat down obviously, there wouldn't be a real "cold" room to start it with.... Can a stove be safely used at partial capacity long-term?

 

[enigmablaze]

My wife would say definitely no to 3 if the chimney would be on the front of the house. I personally would go with 2 because it's not in the walking path of the front door and messing with the flow of the house. Someone mentioned the Explorer 1, I just installed the 2 and have no regrets, it heats far more of the house than I ever imagined.


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I just looked at the explorer stoves, very pretty! Do you ever use the screen/open door viewing? Is it worth it? That's a wild card for me, it sounds lovely but I don't know if it's really great or just a novelty that people don't really use?

 

[snavematt]

I just looked at the explorer stoves, very pretty! Do you ever use the screen/open door viewing? Is it worth it? That's a wild card for me, it sounds lovely but I don't know if it's really great or just a novelty that people don't really use?

we did not get the screen, we may in the future, the glass is very large so we get a good show, plus I wanted the stove for heating more than for ambiance, but it is nice looking too, running it open with the screen while nice and will provide heat just not as much, I wanted to heat for long periods of time.

here it is set up (back wall a work in progress)

 

[revdocjim]

Ambiance is a big factor for many wood stove users. Don't be afraid to prioritize that, especially if you are willing to continue using your other heat sources. As for location, 2 would probably provide the most even heating. Depending on your furniture layout, 3 might be the most attractive... if you can find a satisfactory line for your chimney outside the home. 1 looks like it would be in the way.

Burning smaller fires is not that much of a problem, as long as your wood is properly dried (less than 20% moisture). You just burn one split at a time rather than two or three or four.

I just installed a Morso 2110 in my son's cabin and it looks really nice. The cabin is still under construction so I can't say much about the performance.

 

[enigmablaze]

we did not get the screen, we may in the future, the glass is very large so we get a good show, plus I wanted the stove for heating more than for ambiance, but it is nice looking too, running it open with the screen while nice and will provide heat just not as much, I wanted to heat for long periods of time.

here it is set up (back wall a work in progress)

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I really like that tall straight pipe, very attractive! I wonder often how the "open door viewing" works with smoke etc. since the air wash systems would assumably cause some smoke to be blown out the door?

 

[enigmablaze]

Ambiance is a big factor for many wood stove users. Don't be afraid to prioritize that, especially if you are willing to continue using your other heat sources.

Burning smaller fires is not that much of a problem, as long as your wood is properly dried (less than 20% moisture). You just burn one split at a time rather than two or three or four.

I just installed a Morso 2110 in my son's cabin and it looks really nice. The cabin is still under construction so I can't say much about the performance.
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If you burn one split at a time, do you have to run really hot fires occasionally to burn off the creosote or would that then be dangerous of igniting any? If you burn just the small fires will you get the secondary combustion to burn off all those gases?

That stove looks SO nice in there, just curious how you landed on the 2110? Do the double doors offer any benefit?

 

[snavematt]

I really like that tall straight pipe, very attractive! I wonder often how the "open door viewing" works with smoke etc. since the air wash systems would assumably cause some smoke to be blown out the door?

With the draft I have I doubt I would have any spillage of smoke, if you were open door viewing, you probably would have the air control all the way closed since the open door would provide quite a bit of oxygen to feed the fire


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[revdocjim]

I really like that tall straight pipe, very attractive! I wonder often how the "open door viewing" works with smoke etc. since the air wash systems would assumably cause some smoke to be blown out the door?

That depends entirely on your draft. With a good, strong draft there probably won't be any smoke spillage. Draft depends on at least three factors: 1. Chimney configuration: straight, long vertical runs make for good draft. Too many turns, too much horizontal and the draft suffers. 2. Chimney materials: class A chimneys are the best. They are double walled and insulated. This keeps the temps high within the chimney, making for better draft and less creosote. 3. Stove temps: draft gets better as stove temps rise.

I have very good draft in my home stove (Napoleon 1400 and very long class-A chimney) But still, sometimes I get smoke in the house when loading the fire, especially if it isn't very hot. Opening the air control helps but still some small amounts of smoke get in the house.

 

[revdocjim]

If you burn one split at a time, do you have to run really hot fires occasionally to burn off the creosote or would that then be dangerous of igniting any? If you burn just the small fires will you get the secondary combustion to burn off all those gases?

That stove looks SO nice in there, just curious how you landed on the 2110? Do the double doors offer any benefit?

Like I said in the previous post, a good, class-A chimney with a long vertical run largely eliminates creosote problems, as long as your wood is good and dry. I'm able to burn one split at a time and get great secondaries!

We chose the Morso 2110 because my local stove shop sells a lot of Morso stoves and offers very good discounts; because it's a great looking stove that seemed to blend in well with the cabin, and because it was the right size for our space.

 

[enigmablaze]

Like I said in the previous post, a good, class-A chimney with a long vertical run largely eliminates creosote problems, as long as your wood is good and dry. I'm able to burn one split at a time and get great secondaries!

So...I think I'm beginning to understand, is it that creosote is not formed from too small fires, it's formed from too cool fires? Like one split with the damper 50% open or more would not contribute creosote but three splits with the damper mostly closed would?

Is that a correct understanding? So if I consistently ran a larger stove with one split at a time it would work correctly, get a secondary combustion and not contribute creosote (above any normal minimum) as long as the damper was not too closed?

Having the damper 50% or more open would cause the fire to be hot and to burn faster but would be safer to the chimney...is that right?