WS Absolute Steel appropriate for floor plan? (photo)

[Whirled Peas]

Hi all,

I posted a few weeks ago about about some input on a fireplace install in my old farm house and got some great advice. Today I'm back with a question about sizing. Here's the scoop...

1600 sq ft single story Vermont farmhouse built in 1790. exterior walls with batt insulation, a mix of old and new windows, unknown insulation in the ceiling (next project on the list), dry stone foundation/basement with concrete floor. Low ceilings, small doorways, Southern Vermont, Zone 5. 24' from hearth floor to top of chimney. Attached is a photo of the floor plan of our house.

The house has two identical, interior fireplaces (photo attached). One is at the far north end of the house and currently hosts a ~18 y/o Jotul F400 from the previous owners.

My question is-- do you folks think a Woodstock ASH would be too much for the living room? The previous owners largely stayed at the north end of the house and left the rest of the house very cool (low 50s at night, low 60s during the day) and I'd like it a bit warmer as we spend more time at that end of the house.

The current set-up with the Jotul heats half the house great and we have no problem staying warm at the kitchen end of the house. With the narrow central hallway, very little air moves to the far end of the house and its not uncommon for the kitchen to be 80 degrees while the back bedroom is at 60 degrees and being maintained at that temp by the furnace. My thinking was that a slightly larger stove in a more central location would be better able to act as a primary heat source for the house and allow the Jotul to provide supplemental heat as needed. I'd really like productive heat for >8 hours so that I don't need to start over with a cold firebox every morning, which I often do with the Jotul in the middle of winter.

That is how I arrived at the Absolute Steel. I was also interested in some of the BK stoves but they don't have approved clearances that worked for the mantle. The AS aesthetic isn't ideal for the room, but it's growing on me.

Am I on the right track? Would a smaller stove be better? Anything smaller that can reliably give me ~10 hour burn times?

-Dan

 

[begreen]

Looks more like an issue of circulation. The limiting factor is air distribution to the other side of the house due to the hallway openings restriction. A box fan (low speed) on the living room floor blowing cooler air toward the stove room should make a notable difference. I'd try that first.

 

[Whirled Peas]

Looks more like an issue of circulation. The limiting factor is air distribution to the other side of the house due to the hallway openings restriction. A box fan (low speed) on the living room floor blowing cooler air toward the stove room should make a notable difference. I'd try that first.

Yes, air distribution is definitely a major factor. I had a 9" fan sitting on the floor just inside the doorway between the living room and the hallway for a few weeks and it didn't seem to make much difference. The two doorways on the hallway are only 30" wide and 78" tall. 7'9" ceiling height.

Anyone had any 'not so obvious' technique tips lead to more success with fans?

 

[begreen]

A box fan will move a larger volume of air, even running on low speed.

 

[Woody Stover]

Did you try the fan in different spots? Try in the hallway on the floor, blowing into the stove room on low. If that doesn't work, I might stick the AS or another smaller cat stove in the LR hearth. Both the It would run low and long all night and keep the bedrooms comfy. Run the Jotul during the day for that end of the house.
Running two stoves is a hassle though, so you might try just the AS in the LR and use fans to move the heat, depending on where you are at different times during the day. The ceilings are low so moving heat should work.
Where does the stairs go, basement?

 

[Whirled Peas]

I guess I'll need to give fans a better shot. We're not out of heating season here yet so I've still got a little while to play with things before it warms up for the summer.

The stairs go down to the basement from the hearth/door side and up to the attic from the corner of the kitchen.

 

[Woody Stover]

I guess I'll need to give fans a better shot. We're not out of heating season here yet so I've still got a little while to play with things before it warms up for the summer.

When is that in VT, about the middle of June?

 

[DBoon]

I'd think about getting the AS to replace the Jotul you have now (solve burn-time problem) and put a good Mitsubishi HyperHeat mini-split heat pump in the LR area instead to balance out the heat, as required. That would still probably leave the back bedroom and bathroom on the cool side.

 

[SpaceBus]

What about a cook stove in the kitchen and a heat stove in the other end of the home.

 

[Whirled Peas]

A few ductless heat pumps are definitely in this house's future, but unfortunately aren't in the budget at this time. I also hadn't given much thought to the idea of putting the ASH in the kitchen and moving the Jotul to the living room.

A cook stove in the kitchen with a heat stove in the living room might be great! That would definitely be a departure of how we currently use the rooms. Because the kitchen hearth currently has the only stove, we often spend time in that room in the winter but I think we'd spend more time in the living room if it was warmer. That's certainly a fun idea to entertain. We'd need a pretty small one to fit in front of the fireplace. And a re-built hearth pad to house it on.

This forum seems to be really good at coming up with a whole bunch of new wood-burning related things for me to research. I better go sharpen my chainsaw.