Two Stove Question

[ambull01]

Hello everyone,

I currently have a NC30 stove in my living room. My house is an old Victorian style 3 story. The stove is really struggling to heat the whole house. The layout of the house and the placement of the stove is just not ideal I guess. I'm currently stuck in the middle east so I can't do much right now but I'm thinking about buying another stove (most likely an Ideal Steel or BK King) and placing it in my family room. How feasible is it to run two wood stoves? Anyone else need to run two stoves just to get the chill out of the air?

 

[begreen]

That will help heating performance as long as you don't mind the extra work, especially when it's cold outside. In milder weather The 30NC may be able to handle the load. Addressing heat loss where ever possible will make the job a bit easier.

 

[tcassavaugh]

Thanks for your service. i run two stoves, sometimes. i have a Jotul F3CB in my living room that i run all the time and a PE Summit i have downstairs when it gets really cold....for Maryland thats about 15-20. My Summit burns twice the wood the Jotul does but its probably twice the stove for btu. i've tried heating with just it but it doesn't quite cut it. the jotul does most of the time. i don't know if the BK King might be too much or not. the BK princess has great burn times and has had few complaints from what i remember. good luck.
safe return.

 

[ambull01]

That will help heating performance as long as you don't mind the extra work, especially when it's cold outside. In milder weather The 30NC may be able to handle the load. Addressing heat loss where ever possible will make the job a bit easier.

Yeah I was trying to address heat loss/insulation but the deployment was very short notice and I had a massive to do list I needed to complete so some things were never done. By the time I return to the states it will be mid/late summer. I don't want my family to suffer through another winter again freezing their butts off in the house.

The 30NC is supposed to be able to put out a lot of heat but it doesn't exactly run us out of the living room.

Thanks for your service. i run two stoves, sometimes. i have a Jotul F3CB in my living room that i run all the time and a PE Summit i have downstairs when it gets really cold....for Maryland thats about 15-20. My Summit burns twice the wood the Jotul does but its probably twice the stove for btu. i've tried heating with just it but it doesn't quite cut it. the jotul does most of the time. i don't know if the BK King might be too much or not. the BK princess has great burn times and has had few complaints from what i remember. good luck.
safe return.

Thanks. How many cords do you go through every winter? I think I'll be able to get by burning pine in either the BK King or IS so I should be able to find an adequate supply. I'm kind of amazed when I read people posting about their BK King/IS/whatever stove heats their super leaky house to 70+ with outside temps ridiculously low. They must have magic stoves.

 

[webby3650]

I run 2 stoves once it's real cold and I love every minute of it!

 

[jetsam]

It's possible you could end up doing less wood-related schlepping with two stoves for most of the year.

If you put a King in a better location than your current stove, you could end up loading that sucker once a day and only burning the NC30 when it's very cold, but that really depends on the house's insulation and layout.

You may want to consider using the money for windows and insulation first, anyway.

 

[webby3650]

I run 2 stoves once it's real cold and I love every minute of it!

But I should say, it wouldn't be such a joy if one of them wasn't a Blaze King. It does the bulk of the work.

 

[ambull01]

It's possible you could end up doing less wood-related schlepping with two stoves for most of the year.

If you put a King in a better location than your current stove, you could end up loading that sucker once a day and only burning the NC30 when it's very cold, but that really depends on the house's insulation and layout.

You may want to consider using the money for windows and insulation first, anyway.

Loading once a day and being able to walk around the house without a winter coat would be a dream come true, especially for my wife and kids. They are pretty miserable right now.

Insulating the exterior walls will be a bit problematic. I'll have to insulate from the inside I guess. I can get to a portion of the attic but the other half of the house has two rooms on the third floor. I may need to pry up the wood floor and place insulation there I guess. I have so much work to do when I return.

 

[webby3650]

Loading once a day and being able to walk around the house without a winter coat would be a dream come true, especially for my wife and kids. They are pretty miserable right now.

Insulating the exterior walls will be a bit problematic. I'll have to insulate from the inside I guess. I can get to a portion of the attic but the other half of the house has two rooms on the third floor. I may need to pry up the wood floor and place insulation there I guess. I have so much work to do when I return.

That's a difficult situation to be in.
Is there a central heating system in the house or is the stove it?

 

[jetsam]

Loading once a day and being able to walk around the house without a winter coat would be a dream come true, especially for my wife and kids. They are pretty miserable right now.

Insulating the exterior walls will be a bit problematic. I'll have to insulate from the inside I guess. I can get to a portion of the attic but the other half of the house has two rooms on the third floor. I may need to pry up the wood floor and place insulation there I guess. I have so much work to do when I return.

I wouldn't do any interior insulation if I was trying to heat a 3 story house with a wood stove.

Invest $30 in an IR thermometer (or get an IR camera if you're rich), and you can figure out where your worst problems are.

For your average old house, it's windows and insulation.

Insulating exterior walls can be a real project if you have plaster and lath everywhere. Worst case, the walls are already stuffed with newspaper or something and you can't even blow in insulation. Then you get to choose whether you want to take down the plaster and lath inside, or the siding and plywood outside. On a 3 story house, both options stink. If there's nothing in there, you can cut holes in between every stud and blow insulation in from the inside.

In the good news column, updating the windows to cheap vinyl double panes can make an unbelievable difference, and is not a major project.

When I was in the service, I never knew where I'd be living next year, which is a major obstacle to doing renovations too. :/

 

[ambull01]

That's a difficult situation to be in.
Is there a central heating system in the house or is the stove it?

Nope. It had electric baseboard heaters but I disconnected all of them lol. The thermostats were broken so a few of them were on full blast all the time. I found out when I received the electric bill.

I wouldn't do any interior insulation if I was trying to heat a 3 story house with a wood stove.

Invest $30 in an IR thermometer (or get an IR camera if you're rich), and you can figure out where your worst problems are.

For your average old house, it's windows and insulation.

Insulating exterior walls can be a real project if you have plaster and lath everywhere. Worst case, the walls are already stuffed with newspaper or something and you can't even blow in insulation. Then you get to choose whether you want to take down the plaster and lath inside, or the siding and plywood outside. On a 3 story house, both options stink. If there's nothing in there, you can cut holes in between every stud and blow insulation in from the inside.

In the good news column, updating the windows to cheap vinyl double panes can make an unbelievable difference, and is not a major project.

I have a IR thermometer.

I have have plaster everywhere. I'll look into vinyl double panes. Never heard of that option. Thanks

 

[JA600L]

I'm really wondering how the NC30 is being operated. It's a big stove and should create a lot of heat.

Are they filling the stove full and doing a longer burn cycle or just tossing in a piece here and there?

What kind of wood are you using and how long was it seasoned? If that stove can't run you out of a living room there is something wrong.

 

[ambull01]

I'm really wondering how the NC30 is being operated. It's a big stove and should create a lot of heat.

Are they filling the stove full and doing a longer burn cycle or just tossing in a piece here and there?

What kind of wood are you using and how long was it seasoned? If that stove can't run you out of a living room there is something wrong.

So last winter I was filling up the stove and doing full burn cycles. I'm not sure how my wife is using it because, no matter how many freaking times I tell her what to do, she keeps tossing in a few pieces at a time. I guess she can't stand to do a full burn cycle because it starts to get chilly at the end.

I have a mixture of red and white oak, mostly white. Both have been seasoned about two years. I know, that's what I was thinking! My wife and kids should be sweating in the living room.

 

[jetsam]

So maybe advice on NC30 stove operation would be the thing that could help right away. I am sure we have some experts here. (Any who live near Eastern MD?)

 

[Marshy]

Thanks. How many cords do you go through every winter? I think I'll be able to get by burning pine in either the BK King or IS so I should be able to find an adequate supply. I'm kind of amazed when I read people posting about their BK King/IS/whatever stove heats their super leaky house to 70+ with outside temps ridiculously low. They must have magic stoves.

There's no magic about the King. It is very possible to have a heating demand higher than the King is capable of. Idk how much heat you need or how the King compares to your current stove but my guess is you might bet better results from the king because it's more simple to run. Load it and walk away and in 10-15 minutes after a high burn set to your desired heat level on the thermostat. If you're like me and need a lot of heat then if the firebox is packet tight you can burn a solid 8-9 hours on high before reloading. If your wife is having trouble loading you current stove the King might not be the better option because the cat housing hangs a little lower than the top edge of the door making it a challenge to get it stuffed to the gills.

How you doing ambull?

 

[ambull01]

There's no magic about the King. It is very possible to have a heating demand higher than the King is capable of. Idk how much heat you need or how the King compares to your current stove but my guess is you might bet better results from the king because it's more simple to run. Load it and walk away and in 10-15 minutes after a high burn set to your desired heat level on the thermostat. If you're like me and need a lot of heat then if the firebox is packet tight you can burn a solid 8-9 hours on high before reloading. If your wife is having trouble loading you current stove the King might not be the better option because the cat housing hangs a little lower than the top edge of the door making it a challenge to get it stuffed to the gills.

How you doing ambull?

What's up Marshy! I've been doing fine, just ready to go home.

I'm getting a little frustrated with the heating situation. My in-laws have one wood stove that heats their entire house. Gets so hot in there I usually step outside to cool off. They have a smaller house though. I have to figure something out.

 

[webby3650]

Until this week I've never heard anyone complain about the catalyst housing hanging down near the top of the opening. Maybe they should change it? So it's like most other stoves, no extra room above the door... Most stoves have a set of tubes just above the opening that cause problems loading. I think it could be that since there's room to each side of the housing and it makes you really want to get one more piece in there and you can't. I could fit like 16 pieces of wood In my King! Easily twice as much as the other stoves I've had. I can deal with leaving that final piece out of the top center.

 

[Woody Stover]

thinking about buying another stove (most likely an Ideal Steel or BK King)

I don't know for sure, but would expect the BK King to increase heat "a notch" over the 30-NC, the IS, two notches. I'm a Woodstock guy based on the quality I've seen so far, and the fact that I'm a long-time ash-grate fan. I've never seen or ran a Woodstock hybrid though. Apparently the ash grate on the IS needs a little tweak to bring it up to the functionality of their other stoves.

I have a mixture of red and white oak, mostly white. Both have been seasoned about two years. I know, that's what I was thinking! My wife and kids should be sweating in the living room.

It's entirely possible that Oak isn't quite as dry as it needs to be, especially if the splits are 5 or 6" on a side.
Can you make a sketch of the layout? Doesn't have to be anything fancy...

 

[Marshy]

What's up Marshy! I've been doing fine, just ready to go home.

I'm getting a little frustrated with the heating situation. My in-laws have one wood stove that heats their entire house. Gets so hot in there I usually step outside to cool off. They have a smaller house though. I have to figure something out.

Idk what your in-laws have but if it's an older non-epa stove then that could be the difference. They usually radiate a lot more heat and are capable or higher output at the price of short cycle times.

How big are you splitting your pieces? I use to use some very large splits in my old non-epa stove to help the cycle times but with my new stove I use a lot thinner splits. I know my wife appreciates the smaller splits.

How much longer before you're headed home?

 

[ambull01]

I don't know for sure, but would expect the BK King to increase heat "a notch" over the 30-NC, the IS, two notches. I'm a Woodstock guy based on the quality I've seen so far, and the fact that I'm a long-time ash-grate fan. I've never seen or ran a Woodstock hybrid though. Apparently the ash grate on the IS needs a little tweak to bring it up to the functionality of their other stoves.
It's entirely possible that Oak isn't quite as dry as it needs to be, especially if the splits are 5 or 6" on a side.
Can you make a sketch of the layout? Doesn't have to be anything fancy...

Really? I would have thought the IS would have similar max heat output as NC30 and just a tad less than the BK King. I'll have to read up on the ash grate, haven't been monitoring this site for a while.

I think my splits are about 4-5" or so. Haven't seen my wood pile in about 5 months though so I could be wrong. I made a sketch for a member here a while ago, I'll have to see if I can find it.

 

[ambull01]

Idk what your in-laws have but if it's an older non-epa stove then that could be the difference. They usually radiate a lot more heat and are capable or higher output at the price of short cycle times.

How big are you splitting your pieces? I use to use some very large splits in my old non-epa stove to help the cycle times but with my new stove I use a lot thinner splits. I know my wife appreciates the smaller splits.

How much longer before you're headed home?

I don't remember the brand or model they have but it's a cat stove. Don't believe it's an ancient stove. It has pretty respectable burn times.

My split may be too big. I'll have to ask my wife to take some pictures to refresh my memory.

I'm hoping to head back around mid July or early August.

 

[Destructor]

Your house is probably balloon framed. Your outside walls may be open from the basement to the attic, each stud bay is a chimney. If you can block the stud bays in the basement, studs may be sitting directly on the foundation sill, and block them in the attic you can stop the chimney effect and create a dead air space in your walls.

 

[ambull01]

I don't know for sure, but would expect the BK King to increase heat "a notch" over the 30-NC, the IS, two notches. I'm a Woodstock guy based on the quality I've seen so far, and the fact that I'm a long-time ash-grate fan. I've never seen or ran a Woodstock hybrid though. Apparently the ash grate on the IS needs a little tweak to bring it up to the functionality of their other stoves.
It's entirely possible that Oak isn't quite as dry as it needs to be, especially if the splits are 5 or 6" on a side.
Can you make a sketch of the layout? Doesn't have to be anything fancy...

Found the sketch

 

[ambull01]

Your house is probably balloon framed. Your outside walls may be open from the basement to the attic, each stud bay is a chimney. If you can block the stud bays in the basement, studs may be sitting directly on the foundation sill, and block them in the attic you can stop the chimney effect and create a dead air space in your walls.

Damn I think you're right. Just read about balloon framing, fits in with when my house was built. The studs do sit on the foundation sill. Although, how else would the studs sit on the foundation?

 

[webby3650]

Damn I think you're right. Just read about balloon framing, fits in with when my house was built. The studs do sit on the foundation sill. Although, how else would the studs sit on the foundation?

In modern construction you have a floor system that sits on the foundation walls, then your stud walls are built in top of the floor.