RSF Onyx 2 & 800sqft

[dustyz]

Awesome site... especially for a newb like me! My wife and I are in the process of designing our new and final home, hopefully. We're in north central KY, where winters are cold, and summers are humid. We typically need some sort of heat 5-6 months out of the year. We want to minimize utilities, have roughly 200 acres worth of timber, mostly shagbark hickory & white oak, and love the ambiance of wood burning and the heat it produces. It seems like a good match.

On that note, let me throw out our plan, and possibly get a few opinions.

Our house is small, 800sqft roughly. It does have high ceilings in the living room where the fireplace will be. The house will also have a stone exterior, a rather tight envelope, and a ducted mini-split to cool the house & supplement the fireplace. I'd like to have the fireplace tie in to the mini-split duct, to help distribute throughout the house, somewhat evenly, and one gravity feed to the loft above. After a bit of research, we've chosen the RSF Onyx 2. It seems like a nice combination of everything we want.

Any concerns with the choice? Is there a better option? Our house is small & tight, and the Onyx can handle quite a bit more, so I don't want to have issues with under-burning. Is that a big concern? I've calculated somewhere between 18-24k BTU's needed. It is on a south facing hillside, with large south facing windows, so passive solar will help a bit too. We have a RSF dealer in southern Indiana, and I plan to hit them up before making a final decision.

Thanks for any advice. (I've been reading through the intro threads, picking up some very good beginner information, thanks for those.)

 

[begreen]

Welcome. RSF makes nice product but the Onyx 2 is a bit large for 800 sq ft. The 2.1 cu ft Topaz would do the job. How open is the living room to the rest of the house?

Note that hickory and oak wood need a couple years to season after it has been split, stacked and top covered. If there is ash on the property that would be the best to split now for fall.

 

[dustyz]

Thanks for the quick reply. The living room is fairly open, with a single 7' hallway tying it to the back (only) bedroom. The doors to the bathroom and utility room are off the hallway. Good info on the seasoning. Our family had the farm partially logged a few years ago, and the loggers left the tops. I'd say those would be the first thing I'd hit.

 

[begreen]

You might also take a look at the BIS Tradition CE fireplace. Looks good, 2 cu ft it will give you a 6-8 hr burn.

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[dustyz]

Awesome, thanks! Based on the size, 20x40 roughly, do you think a forced air setup is needed? Would the back bedroom maintain a solid temp, without burning us out of the living room?

 

[begreen]

It depends on how one likes the house temps. There will definitely be some heat that will make the bedroom warmer, but it will be cooler than the living area. Most people like that for better sleeping. It's up to you. Another option is to warm up the bedroom by putting a small table or box fan on the floor of the bedroom running on low speed blowing the cooler air toward the stove room. The cool bedroom air will be replaced by warm stove room air.

 

[Isaiah53]

I think you will appreciate the bedroom being a little cooler than the living area. I get about 6-10 F difference in my bedroom that is right next to the living area, and I like that for sleeping. I don't think it is necessary to duct heat into the bedroom and I am skeptical that it will work effectively. I have never read a positive review of one of these systems. I think the loft may get uncomfortably warm assuming it is open to the living area. I certainly would not install a gravity vent to warm it if it is open. I would recommend a ceiling fan up in the living area to circulate the air. It makes a big difference in my home.

I think your challenge will likely be to avoid overheating the house. I do not have experience with the RSF ZC units and maybe they operate differently, but my experience with my FPX ZC is that it puts out a lot of heat and does not have much turndown . I find myself having to cycle the unit on and off in warmer periods, which is manageable for me. I think you could have to do the same much of the time with such a small well insulated area. A small catalytic stove would give you more even low heat output if you don't want to do this.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. A freestanding catalytic stove from Blaze King, Woodstock or Buck is worth considering here instead of a ZC. It would be less expensive, take up less space and would be able to run at lower output for milder weather heating.

 

[Oldman47]

I think I agree with begreen that a free standing stove will give better heat with less space required.
Looking at your drawing it looks like you have a stairway in the laundry room. Does that go to an unheated basement? If so, I would want to close off the top of the stairs to reduce heat losses there.