What size is your firebox?

[Isaac Carlson]

I was just curious how big of a firebox everyone is using to heat what size house and how well it works.

We have a 5 cubic foot firebox on our Kitchen Queen 480 and it heats our 840 sq ft house. There is a second floor and a partial basement. The house is very drafty. We are hoping to fix that this year. We also cook on/in the stove, since it is a cook stove. The house is normally 78°-86°, but occasionally reaches 100°+. The stove holds a lot of heat and we only load it about twice a day if the weather is above 0°. We average about a wheelbarrow load a day in the cold of winter. When it is warmer, a wheelbarrow load might last 2 days.

 

[bholler]

We have a 5 cubic foot firebox on our Kitchen Queen 480

Are you sure it is 5 cubic feet?

 

[Isaac Carlson]

yep. I measured it. The water coil is not in it right now, so it is a full 5 cu ft. With the water coil, it would be just under.

 

[BrotherBart]

The kitchen queen firebox is 4.6 cubic feet according to the maker's measurements. 20"X18"X22".

 

[Isaac Carlson]

That is with the water coil in it. We don't have ours in right now.

 

[bholler]

wow ok that is freaking huge

 

[jatoxico]

The house is normally 78°-86°, but occasionally reaches 100°+.

The house is very drafty. We are hoping to fix that this year.

One hundred degrees and you want to fix the drafts? I'd be adding to them.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

If we fix the drafts, we would be able to close the stove down even more. I will be adding secondary air to it this summer and then it will get moved to the central chimney where it can pull a real draft. The chimney it is on right now is short, as in 10 feet tall, total, short. The central chimney will have 21 feet above the flue connector, and the stove and pipe will add another 5 feet to that, for those of you who use the stove and pipe as part of chimney height.

 

[HarvestMan]

I was just curious how big of a firebox everyone is using to heat what size house and how well it works.

The house is normally 78°-86°, but occasionally reaches 100°+.

Yikes, must be quite a shock to the system to go outside after getting used to those kind of temps. I don't think we have ever had our first floor over 76 degrees in 25 years of burning. I simply can't imagine it. BTW, we have a Hearthstone Harvest Soapstone stove with 2.2 cubic foot firebox.

 

[bholler]

Mine is about 2 squ ft and i heat 75 to 80% of our old 1900 squ ft house with it

 

[Plow Boy]

Firebox Vol. cu. ft.: 2.15

 

[Mainely Saws]

1.7 cft to heat 1000sqft but looking to go a bit bigger & possibly a cat to get a realistic overnight burn at a lower setting .........

 

[TheRambler]

2.8 cuft hybrid stove heating 2200sqft with high cathedral ceilings(so maybe 3k sqft?)

 

[rideau]

why are you getting the house that hot? Do you need to do so to get the stove hot enough for cooking. Seems like you could load the box less full and still be uncomfortably warm in there....

 

[brad wilton]

over 4 cu ft of heady goodness

 

[7acres]

2.9 sq/ft heating 1800 sq/ft with ease.

 

[mellow]

2.8 cu ft heating a non-insulated 1200 sq ft

 

[Isaac Carlson]

We can cook a meal without raising the temp inside much more than 2° but it is nice to be toasty warm. She is a good stove and has no problem keeping us comfy.
We have been burning a lot of green wood this year because we used up this year's wood last year with temps of -40° to -50°. The kitchen queen uses half the wood of the epa stove and is many times bigger. It makes food taste better too.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Oh yeah....we rarely fill the firebox. it usually has about 5 pieces in it.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

1 cubic foot and 3.5 cubic foot. Both are pretty much supplementary as neither is big enough to heat it's structure fully.

 

[tarzan]

We heat 1500sq ft with a 2.8 cu ft stove. We have done it with a 2.1cu ft stove. I'm think a slightly oversized stove will use less wood than slightly undersized if you are trying to heat exclusively with wood.

Was at a friend's house for about 6 hours a few nights ago. He is heating roughly 1500sg ft with a 2.0 cu ft stove. House was warm but I watched him load it three times before I left.

BTW I think you keep your house rediculously hot but if my wife ever read your post she would use it against me. I have a hard time convincing her that 78* ain't normal!

 

[RFarm]

4.2 cft. We heat 2200 sqft exclusively with the stove to mid 70's using 6-8 splits of wood a day. I should mention I live in a highly insulated straw bale home with loads of thermal mass.

 

[rideau]

Burning green wood, hope you are checking your flue, Isaac.

A wheelbarrow full of wood a day I wouldn't say is half the wood used by an EPA stove.....just saying.

My EPA stove uses about 5 pieces of wood twice a day.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

3.0 firebox heating 2500. I use approx a good sized full wheel barrow for 24 hours burning. mix of hardwood and softwood - whatever is next in the pile.

 

[ssoucy]

Low to mid 60's with 1.9 Hearthstone stove. My Air conditioners would kick on at inside temp of 80. I think I would pass out in a house that warm. But, many people say I am crazy keeping my house so cool. So, to each their own.