stove size?- weird house layout

[threepin]

like many I am trying to figure out the best stove for my install

my house is about 3500 sq ft but is oddly divided- one large room of about 1000 sq ft and 22 ft vaulted ceiling is separated from the balance of the house by a short hallway-I assume limiting heat flow. The walls are swedish coped log about 16-20" in dia. Our climate is cold but consistent not very windy or extremely cold generally- about 8500 degree days. The stove would be on the hearth of a masonry fireplace within the envelope- about 10' wide and 5' deep. For WAF I am limited to enameled cast iron or soapstone stoves. Fuels here are larch, fir,pine. I would really like to have good all night burns and i am guessing that means going to at least a jotul oslo size in cast iron or perhaps a mansfield in stone (realize the fireboxes are different-hoping the stone would let me get away with going bigger). Would an equinox roast us out? will much heat actually move down a 10ft hallway to the rest of the house? We plan to make a larger connection between the two parts of our house in the future so at some point I am sure more heat will be able to flow. Anyone have an opinion on sizing?
I attached 2 photos 1 showing the fireplace mouth-any aesthetic views regarding stove choice welcomed- the other shows how the house is separated, the room in question is on the left


Thanks,

Bill

 

[branchburner]

Don't think a bigger stove is going to help pushing heat down the hall. That is going to be tough. I'd look at it as two separate spaces to heat, and therefore think about two stoves.

 

[threepin]

wasn't thinking about the bigger size moving heat down the hall- more like how much does the rest of the house count? the one room itself is the equivalent of the volume of a small house though so i am hoping i can go to a biggish stove and get a long burn with soft woods while on a low burn- without cooking us out

also there is a stove in the main floor of the other side- a resolute acclaim non-cat, the eventual goal is to replace it with a masonry heater- we are just trying to make the biggest room in our house a more welcoming space and get some kind of use out of the existing fireplace

 

[afblue]

I absolutely love your house, Would love to see more pics of the unique layout! I am estimating with a 22 ft vaulted ceiling you have roughly 16,000cu ft of space to heat so the 1000 ft is actually similar to 2,000 with 8ft ceilings. Unless you have ceiling fans to circulate the are you will have alot of heat convection to the ceiling, so you wont have much issue with a large stove in that room baking you out.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Welcome to the forum Bill and great house. I have a similar layout, 1200 sq ft open space with a hallway connecting the other wing of the house. A small fan in the hallway blowing into the common room really does an amazing job of circulating air. I have found that the big space can absorb a lot of heat and there is little downside to a big stove or insert.

How would you install a stove? Inside the fireplace? I think you might be better off with an insert as all that masonry will absorb a lot of heat from a stove. But the insert folks can comment on that.

Another thought, what is your central heat? Have you considered an add on wood furnace or boiler? You would get much more even heat through such a big broken up space and maintain the look of your fireplace.

 

[threepin]

AFB- Thanks for the compliments- will see if I do have more pics and post them up- there is a ceiling fan in the great room- seems to do a pretty good job-- as far as heat load- though the logs seem to do a pretty good job-we have some leaky spots we need to address and we want to insulate the walls of the crawl space underneath (right now its just under floor)

Solar- great to hear you actually get some heat movement out of a space like this- are you blowing cold in or hot out? we considered an insert but could not find an insert/surround combo we liked with the opening- plus we are trying to avoid a blower. Realize it might not be the most efficient but visual appeal has to trump ultimate efficiency. Heat right now is electric baseboard and electric forced air in the great room- not as bad as it might seem-right now we pay 5 cents a kwh. Eventual plan is a ground source heat pump-with rebates from feds,state and our coop works out to about 50% off these days.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Wow, you live in the good place. Ceiling fans in the great room and a fan on the floor blowing cold air towards the great room. Blowing hot air down the hall was ineffective at best.

With a big room and ceiling fans, you should be able to avoid the blower. But, I think you will want the biggest stove you can buy/fit especially if you plan to put it in the fireplace as opposed to in front of it.

 

[threepin]

kind of my thoughts as well- the stove would be part in, part on the hearth I think.

and thanks for the kind words,
the house had actually been on the market for a few years when we bought it-at the time (things were booming then) the price was only a bit more than the lot would have been. An odd layout and and the fact the lot had gone wild led to it being awkward to sell. Too, I think our timing was right. The first major projects have been clearing, fuels reduction and landscaping. The next steps are too unify and make a little more sense out of what the previous 3 owners have done. We seem to be serial renovators despite knowing better.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The next steps are too unify and make a little more sense out of what the previous 3 owners have done. We seem to be serial renovators despite knowing better.

We are in the same process and have the same sickness. 2 buildings that were tied to together with a third and then another addition. What are you supposed to do when you find a great lot in a great location with a house with potential at the right price? I'd like to think this is the last one I'll do, but I know better.

 

[threepin]

I know what you mean

hey which end of the hallway do you have the fan- the end at the great room?

 

[BrowningBAR]

like many I am trying to figure out the best stove for my install

my house is about 3500 sq ft but is oddly divided- one large room of about 1000 sq ft and 22 ft vaulted ceiling is separated from the balance of the house by a short hallway-I assume limiting heat flow. The walls are swedish coped log about 16-20" in dia. Our climate is cold but consistent not very windy or extremely cold generally- about 8500 degree days. The stove would be on the hearth of a masonry fireplace within the envelope- about 10' wide and 5' deep. For WAF I am limited to enameled cast iron or soapstone stoves. Fuels here are larch, fir,pine. I would really like to have good all night burns and i am guessing that means going to at least a jotul oslo size in cast iron or perhaps a mansfield in stone (realize the fireboxes are different-hoping the stone would let me get away with going bigger). Would an equinox roast us out? will much heat actually move down a 10ft hallway to the rest of the house? We plan to make a larger connection between the two parts of our house in the future so at some point I am sure more heat will be able to flow. Anyone have an opinion on sizing?
I attached 2 photos 1 showing the fireplace mouth-any aesthetic views regarding stove choice welcomed- the other shows how the house is separated, the room in question is on the left


Thanks,

Bill

Nice house. I love log homes.

I'm a big fan of multiple stoves. So, that is the direction I would take. May not be for you, though.

 

[threepin]

its our second, we said we would not do it again, but then...
they have some unique challenges when renovating and they require a fair bit of maintainance

are you in Dolyestown? I once lived on decatur and grew up in Bedminster

 

[BrowningBAR]

its our second, we said we would not do it again, but then...
they have some unique challenges when renovating and they require a fair bit of maintainance

are you in Dolyestown? I once lived on decatur and grew up in Bedminster

Yep. I'm in Doylestown. I nearly had a log home of my own. I was all set to purchase 2 acres in Arizona (just north of Scottsdale) and I had the blueprints done and finalized, but a few things fell through and it never happened. This was about 10 years ago during my 'I'm only 25, yet I'm still going through a mid-life crisis' period.

 

[threepin]

don't get me wrong-they are nice-just make sure that you really know where you want the walls to go,and wiring and plumbing,heating etc. as its a lot harder to move or hide stuff later

also make sure the logs are dry

25 huh-you probably don't want to hear this but you weren't alive when i lived in Doylestown

 

[SolarAndWood]

hey which end of the hallway do you have the fan- the end at the great room?

About a foot from the great room end. Just enough so that when you come around the corner you don't run into it. I'm going to do an experiment with insulated flex from the far end of the other wing and see if it does better. If it does, I am going to put cold air returns from all of the rooms right to the hearth while I have that side of the house open next year. We will eventually have a boiler with radiant floors but the stove does a pretty good job and is our only source of heat.