Advice needed on wood stove for 1200 sq ft

[bag of hammers]

In Altoona PA I would also be looking at an extra-high efficiency heat pump system. That will provide heating and cooling. If you install a mini-split system like the Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat it can be efficient down to -5F degrees. Moderator pen installed this system last year in PA. Second choice would be a Fujitsu. These units are miserly with electricity. Look in the Green Room or DIY section for more info on them.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/minisplit-ductless-heat-pump.105278/page-2#post-1391846
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/impressed-with-the-daikin-ductless-heat-pump.60963/

Timnus - FWIW - I have some friends who went with the mini-split solution ( Fujitsu I believe) a couple years ago. On the colder days they have a small oil stove that keeps them warm, but on the not so frigid days, and during the shoulder seasons (and occasional crappy days in between when they need some easy heat) it works great. And they get air conditioning in the summer which they LOVE. They report the same thing about the unit sipping electricity too. I would have jumped all over one of these myself but I needed a no-freeze solution for the many days we're away, and we get just a bit too cold mid-winter for the heat pumps to work or at least to be very efficient. Once we're full time residents (there to tend the wood stove 24/7), I'm going to likely be looking at these units again.

 

[Timnus]

Ok, so I remeasured my place and it is 1300 sq ft. (not much different from 1200), but in the course of thinking things through I realized I would like to be able to heat my garage or basement at times as well. My garage is insulated and connected right onto the rest of the house (just one long ranch). The wood stove would be located about 20 feet from my 650 sq ft. garage, and 2 door ways to get to the garage (in line and 8 ft apart).

I spoke with Jamie at Woodstock today and he suggested the Progress Hybrid as the best option to heat the main area of the house and the garage or basement. Even if I only heated the 1300 sq ft., he said I should be able to operate it low enough to not overheat the place, and then if I want to heat the garage it has the capacity to do that.

I prefer the larger glass on the PH or the Keystone over the Fireview, but I am still deciding things.

So, here are my latest questions comparing 2 options between the PH and the Keystone:

1. Will the PH operate well in a low setting and not overheat the main part of my house (the 1300 sq ft.) when I am not heating the garage? (can it stay below 80 degrees)
2. Would a Keystone be able to heat the main part of the house (1300 sq ft.) up to 80 degrees and then also heat the garage (650 sq ft.) at least to 70 degrees?

**(I realize that the temperatures depend on the insulation level and outside temps. Assume a moderate level of insulation and the location is in Central PA. )​

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[begreen]

You are not going to get instant heating of the garage, certainly not by opening a door. It will take many hours if not all day to bring it up to temp using a fan to assist. This is because it takes a long time for the contents and walls of the garage to get up to temp. The floor will remain a heat sucker no matter what unless it's insulated and heated.

The basement is a completely different issue. Are you thinking of putting the stove in the basement? If not, remember hot air rises, it doesn't want to go down. You could engineer a heat flow-thru with a fan, but if the basement walls are not fully insulated I suspect the net gain will be small. Again, like the garage it takes a long time to raise temp. Remember, the stove is an area heater. If the use is occasional you would be better off with a pellet stove or electric heater in the basement.

 

[Woody Stover]

One thing that's harder with no front door is cleaning the glass. Not a big deal, though; I remove the andirons, then it's easy.

 

[Dave A.]

Andirons are removable, didn't realize that, Woody, -- that's something. No stove is ideal, it's just a question of balancing what's important. Still it's better to know these things ahead of time.

To me that's something of value here, sharing the experience -- good and bad. Yet some apparently don't want anything negative said about products, not sure why -- advertisers, members with commercial interests? -- haven't figured that out yet.

 

[kingquad]

One stove can not do what you are asking. Would you be open to a EPA rated ZC fireplace with "heat zones" plumbed into the unit. The Osburn Stratford would be a good option at a reasonable price. Osburn also has top notch customer service. RSF and Napoleon models also have this option.

 

[Chitty]

As far as Pacific Energy Summit goes the glass is big and provides a nice view of the fire. I've run it 2 1/2 years now throughout all the seasons, big fires and small. The only time I've ever had black on the glass is occossionly when a piece of wood settles within 1/2" or closer to the glass. By the time I burn the next load it is clean again with the exception of a little bit of dusty grey ash. When I clean the chimney once a month and or when the stove is cool I shoot it with windex, wipe it clean and it stays like new. Can post pictures to prove that. PE definitely has a glass wash system that works. and no I don't sell them lol.
Clean my chimney once a moth you say! Yes I am a fanatic but so easy this way, swipe it twice with a brush, scrape the rain cap, empty the ashes, done. Inspect chimney by dropping a flashlight down on a string and the chimney is CLEAN. You can see the stainless shining from top to bottom inside except for a small residual dusty soot. Usually get about a 1/2 to a whole 1kg coffee can size of ashes out of the chimney on average. Whole procedure takes 1/2 hour tops and that includes pulling the black pipe and 90 with the damper from the stove to the inlet at the masonry in the basement.
Trick I've learned in the mid season when a stickier build up is in the chimney, mostly top 2 feet where the stainless liner protrudes out of the masonry chimney, I let the system go out for 6 hours or more to let the chimney cool right down. This allows the deposits to crystalize and harden so they come right off and are not sticky and tar like.
I spoke to a friend of mine just last week and he was saying hadn't cleaned his in 3 years cause he always burns hot and not worried. I laughed when he called me couple of days later and told me he spent the better part of 6 hours scraping and brushing his back to shape and admitted he didn't know why it hadn't caught fire!
Much easier to clean often, safer so even if a hot fire were to start a fire within the chimney, very little to even burn anyway. Peace of mind makes that wood stove even more of a comfort.
Sorry if I veered off topic but thought being new to the wood heat it may help, Others may post differently

 

[jeff_t]

Yeah, a bit off topic, but if you burn dry wood that wouldn't happen. I get about a cup of dusty brown stuff once a year.

 

[fox9988]

How often is there someone home to reload the stove? The Keystone measures out to be 1.4 sqft firebox. I think the Keystone would need 2 full loads a day + a partial in the evening (3.5 sqft of wood) to heat the 1300 sqft, normally. If you could reload 5 times a day (7 sqft wood) it would heat 2600 sqft of the same house/climate. I can get by on 2 loads a day most of the winter, 3 loads when temp dip to ~8 at night and ~26 day. I'm heating 1536 sqft, new house.

Edit: This was my Keystone's first winter, I'm Very happy with it and Woodstock.
I'm burning marginally dry red oak. Expecting to be even more impressed over the next few years when my wood stash hits 3+ years seasoned.

 

[Woody Stover]

I shoot it with windex, wipe it clean and it stays like new.

I've seen some manuals that don't recommend using ammonia on ceramic glass. I don't think it's gonna hurt short-term, but could eventually be a problem...

The Keystone measures out to be 1.4 sqft firebox. I think the Keystone would need 2 full loads a day + a partial in the evening (3.5 sqft of wood) to heat the 1300 sqft, normally. If you could reload 5 times a day (7 sqft wood) it would heat 2600 sqft of the same house/climate. I can get by on 2 loads a day most of the winter, 3 loads when temp dip to ~8 at night and ~26 day. I'm heating 1536 sqft, new house.

Edit: This was my Keystone's first winter, I'm Very happy with it and Woodstock.
I'm burning marginally dry red oak. Expecting to be even more impressed over the next few years when my wood stash hits 3+ years seasoned.

I definitely noticed the difference in the size of the load I could fit, going from the Ks to the Fv. The Ks will still burn pretty long though on lower settings. I still had coals after 12 hrs. but obviously not a lot of heat coming off at that point.

 

[fox9988]

Yeah, not making a lot of btu's at 12 hrs, but works well on most days for me. I have acid stained concrete floors throughout the whole house= ~65,000 lb heat sink, + lots of insulation. Much easier to heat than my old shack.