What size of stove for a large 2-story great room?

[havermeyer]

Hi everyone,

We are in the middle of building a new house and we plan on having a wood burning stove in the great room. The great room is about 24 x 24 with 20 ft cathedral ceilings and the room is open to the rest of the house (total sq footage of the house is about 5000 sq ft). The second floor also looks over the great room so I expect a lot the heat to float upstairs. The stove will be placed in the middle of an exterior wall surrounded by windows. The house will be well insulated (spray foam insulation) and the builder says his houses go well beyond the minimum insulation requirements. Our main heat source for the house will be propane and we are in central Massachusetts. (I'm adding pictures for reference)

My goal for the stove is to be used as a supplemental heating source and to keep the great room cozy (75-80) in the winter. If we do ever lose power, it would also be nice to at least keep all the rooms of the house above 55. The house will be modern-ish so we are leaning towards a less traditional looking stove.

I've gone to two different stove places and they are steering me more towards medium size stoves (e.g. Lopi Evergreen, Pacific Energy Super LE/Neo 2.5 LE) saying the house is going to well insulated and I don't need a big stove. I can go either a catalytic stove or secondary burn.

What do you all think - would a medium size stove like the Lopi Evergreen be enough or should I go bigger? If you have any recommendations for a stove, love to hear 'em as well!

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

That tall glass wall and th other big windows will lose a lot of heat. Put the best glazing possible in there. A mid-sized stove will work fine for a heating boost. Definitely put a ceiling fan or two in the great room. Otherwise a lot of the heat wll pocket at the peak and the 2nd floor will be hotter. It looks like the flue system will be tall. If >25' you'll want a key damper in the stove flue right above the stove.

 

[havermeyer]

That tall glass wall and th other big windows will lose a lot of heat. Put the best glazing possible in there. A mid-sized stove will work fine for a heating boost. Definitely put a ceiling fan or two in the great room. Otherwise a lot of the heat wll pocket at the peak and the 2nd floor will be hotter. It looks like the flue system will be tall. If >25' you'll want a key damper in the stove flue right above the stove.

We definitely plan on having a large ceiling fan. Didn't think about adding a damper - will talk with the installers about that.

 

[bholler]

We definitely plan on having a large ceiling fan. Didn't think about adding a damper - will talk with the installers about that.

You absolutely need a big stove. I would look at the Regency 5200.

 

[John Galt]

I've had stoves in two houses. The first was a very leaky log cabin and the loft was 25 degrees warmer than the main level. The house that I'm building is spray foamed and currently has no drywall up yet so the ceiling is about 20 feet. The attic is only 2 degrees warmer than the main level. It's not a scientific study, but I believe there is less of a chimney effect if there is no air leaking into the house. You might see the same results, or it might be that the convective loop works better since I don't have any walls to block the flow.

 

[begreen]

You absolutely need a big stove. I would look at the Regency 5200.

I thought that at first, but the OP said "supplemental" so I think that depends on how it will be used. If it's just for a 5º heat boost on nights and weekends, then a medium sized stove will get the job done. For 24/7 operation I would go large.

In large stoves the Osburn 3500 and Pacific Energy Summit are also easy breathers but that is not going to be an issue with the tall flue, quite the opposite. I would also add the Lopi Liberty to the suggestions for this reason.

 

[havermeyer]

I thought that at first, but the OP said "supplemental" so I think that depends on how it will be used. If it's just for a 5º heat boost on nights and weekends, then a medium sized stove will get the job done. For 24/7 operation I would go large.

In large stoves the Osburn 3500 and Pacific Energy Summit are also easy breathers but that is not going to be an issue with the tall flue, quite the opposite. I would also add the Lopi Liberty to the suggestions for this reason.

To add more detail... ideally I'd like to set the thermostat to 60 and let the stove heat the house to 70+.

 

[begreen]

To add more detail... ideally I'd like to set the thermostat to 60 and let the stove heat the house to 70+.

That's a very different requirement than supplemental. 5000 sq ft is more like wood furnace territory. Put in a large stove.

 

[Todd]

Look for a more radiant large stove. I’d look hard at the Woodstock PH.

 

[Warm Floor]

With a big stove you have flexibility on how you choose to burn (large vs small load), and capacity which can lengthen your burn time. If you home is really tight, you might want to consider an outside air kit? My home is small so I can't comment on the dynamics you might be facing with length of pipe and the resultant draw that creates or weather an outside air kit would exacerbate the draw or not?

 

[Highbeam]

You can’t get too large of a stove for that space and you don’t want one any smaller than you must. If you like PE then skip the super box and get the summit box.

 

[havermeyer]

Would the Blaze King 30s be too small for this space? This is another stove we are considering.

 

[begreen]

Would the Blaze King 30s be too small for this space? This is another stove we are considering.

The BK's top end is limited by the thermostat. The advantages of running a cat stove diminish when running it at full bore all the time. This is why the Progress Hybrid and F5200 were suggested. They are hybrids with secondary combustion and a cat.

 

[stovelark]

X2 for the large stove, the room the stove is in is 1500 sq ft almost (stoves are rated based on 8' ceilings, 20' tall is a lot of volume. I'd go large, hopefully you have good seasoned wood too.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'd go either BK ashford, princess, sirroco, or PE summit, regency F5200. I wouldnt go with Wood stock progress hybrid or a jutol. The Woodstock stoves had issues with supply replacement cats and left a lot of owners hanging out to dry since their cat was unique to the stove and being a smaller brand, sourcing parts became an issue when thing got tight a few years ago (wake up call on supply stock) Jotul makes a beautiful stove, but I feel that the fix to making it to the current epa air regs took away from the stove itself and will its bigger, the true output of the stove became sluggish.
The BK units were designed since day 1 to use a cat as part of its operating system and since they are so popular theres always a stock of cats with a lower cost, regency stoves have since come on board with designing stoves that also incorporate a cat in its operation, rather then using a cat on the back end to meet the clean air regs.
Pe is still the secondary reburn type stove, the only issue with that is the stove will need to be ran for more top end heat rather then be turned down like the others when its warmer out, to combat that, you just make smaller batch fires which is either fun or a pain depending on your lifestyle. But the PE is a proven work horse with (2) models for the same fire box size, basic steel box for more radiant heat and a beautiful polished box for a more convection type heat.

 

[bigealta]

Most of the heat will go upstairs. Open lofts with woodstoves are problematic in this configuration.
I'd still have one and have big ceiling fans but the design just is what it is, and it will be hot up there on the second floor.

 

[begreen]

I wouldnt go with Wood stock progress hybrid or a jutol.

Why that? The Jotul F55 would be a good fit here too.

 

[xshmoox]

I vote bk king that way you can load it less often and if you’re only using it supplemental you can turn the thermostat down when the room is not in use and turn it up a bit for flame show when in the room.

 

[all night moe]

I vote bk king that way you can load it less often and if you’re only using it supplemental you can turn the thermostat down when the room is not in use and turn it up a bit for flame show when in the room.

This^^^^

I'd even consider necking down the 8'' flue to 6'' for your tall chimney. Come off the stove with about 24'' of the stoves 8'' before the reducer.

 

[havermeyer]

I'd go either BK ashford, princess, sirroco, or PE summit, regency F5200. I wouldnt go with Wood stock progress hybrid or a jutol. The Woodstock stoves had issues with supply replacement cats and left a lot of owners hanging out to dry since their cat was unique to the stove and being a smaller brand, sourcing parts became an issue when thing got tight a few years ago (wake up call on supply stock) Jotul makes a beautiful stove, but I feel that the fix to making it to the current epa air regs took away from the stove itself and will its bigger, the true output of the stove became sluggish.
The BK units were designed since day 1 to use a cat as part of its operating system and since they are so popular theres always a stock of cats with a lower cost, regency stoves have since come on board with designing stoves that also incorporate a cat in its operation, rather then using a cat on the back end to meet the clean air regs.
Pe is still the secondary reburn type stove, the only issue with that is the stove will need to be ran for more top end heat rather then be turned down like the others when its warmer out, to combat that, you just make smaller batch fires which is either fun or a pain depending on your lifestyle. But the PE is a proven work horse with (2) models for the same fire box size, basic steel box for more radiant heat and a beautiful polished box for a more convection type heat.

I do like the Blaze Kings 30s but worried that the top end BTUs the stove is putting out in the middle of the winter won’t be enough for that size of house.

 

[havermeyer]

Why that? The Jotul F55 would be a good fit here too.

Definitely considering the F55 though I need to get the wife on board with the look. She prefers the the Lopi Evergreen on a pedestal but I think it would be too small.

 

[begreen]

Definitely considering the F55 though I need to get the wife on board with the look. She prefers the the Lopi Evergreen on a pedestal but I think it would be too small.

The Liberty would be a better choice Lopi.

 

[Highbeam]

The problem with the king or the 5200 is that goofy 8” chimney requirement.

 

[havermeyer]

I think I've narrowed it down to either the Regency F3500 or the Pacific Energy Summit. I was leaning towards the Jotul F55 but the wife vetoed it because it clashes with the "look" of the house. I saw the Regency in person today it seems like a pretty solid stove.... and I hear nothing but great things about Pacific Energy on the forum. If anyone has any opinions on either of them I'd love to hear them!

 

[bholler]

I vote bk king that way you can load it less often and if you’re only using it supplemental you can turn the thermostat down when the room is not in use and turn it up a bit for flame show when in the room.

The look of the king is problematic for many which is why I suggested the 5200