Best way to size a wood stove

[Gooserider]

Something I just thought of, I'd like to figure out a way to force feed some heat into the basement. The laundry and a small work shop are down there. There's a closet wall about 3 feet from where I plan to locate the stove. I'm thinking a cold air return grill near the top of the wall, and then box in a fan/blower to pull some warm air into the basement. There's another wall in the living room that would accept a similar arrangement. Sucking heat into the basement would rob a bit of warm air from the living area. Given that, the Mansfield may not be much overkill after all.

I'll be stopping in at a few more stove shops this week to see what's available, and what my options are. I'll mention also, I'd like to go with a non cat stove. Just for ease of operation and simplicity. If I'm not around my wife may need to fuel the stove. The simpler the better, trust me.

It's late.... maybe I'm becomming delerious....

Thanks again for all the input and advice.

As an additional note, I would agree that I don't think we've had any really successful methods of getting stove heat to go down into a basement. I would also add that Codes don't allow cold air returns to be located w/in 10 feet of a woodstove that hasn't been rated and designed for it.

I think most folks that need intermittent supplemental heat in a basement end up with some sort of auxillary heating system, either a small electric space heater, or using the furnace as needed.

Gooserider

 

[JimWalshin845]

[quote author]="Webmaster" date="1198660709"]1600 Sq ft in Central NY state is like 2500 in southern NJ!

Cold stuff.......
[/quote]

Add in vaulted ceilings... not too much insulation up on that roof.. maybe 3,000sf in S. NJ! ;-)

 

[bbc557ci]

OK- now that we have the exact size of the stove right ................

What do you guys think about cast vs soap (oh no ...... 'nuther can 'O worms LOL). If I get a stove that is sized right, or, a bit overkill, will a cast stove give enough burn time to get me through the night? Or be such that I won't have to start a fire from scratch when I get up in the a.m. Remember, it gets cold as heck around here LOL

 

[jbrown56]

bbc, the size of my firebox is two 6" - 8 splits on the bottom, two 6" splits on top and whatever else fiits on top of that at 10p. At 7a the stovetop is around 200* and there is a 2" bed of hot coals to start the whole process all over again. I burn mostly white and red oak.

Jim

 

[babalu87]

jbrown - I've been trying to find out the size of the fire box in the F500 (and other Jotul's) and have not had much success. Nothing in the broshure, and I haven't been able to find the sizes on the net. Do you know how many CF the box is in your 500 ??

I hear you on the heat blast with cast stoves. I like that idea too. But don't know if I'd get a full overnight burn/heat with a cast stove. How has that worked out for you ? I don't wanna get up at O'dark:30 to add logs if I don't have to.

Yep ..... I'm a whimp LOL

Bill

A packed firebox in a 2.5 ft stove should get you 8-10 hours of burn time. It sure does on mine.

 

[begreen]

If you are burning 24/7, soapstone can be very nice. It retains heat better than cast or steel, but is slower to warm up. If the stove is likely to be needed for a more rapid temp increase because it is not being run 24/7 then the cast stove is a better choice. But the Oslo is used 24/7 in a lot of homes coast to coast.

Good to check on the Morso as well. It's another solid Scandinavian burner.

 

[bbc557ci]

I was just on the net looking at the cast Lopi Lyden. Net site says it's a top loader and will take 45-65 lbs of wood!! Also says 12-18 hrs. burn time. No doubt 12 to 18 is lets say, optimistic. But with that much wood, it seems like the stove should have a decent burn time. Only a 2.3 CF fire box though. Seems a little small.

Any thoughts on this one ?

 

[begreen]

Do a search on 'everburn'. and one on the Leyden. There are lots of threads on the topic. So far the court is out on these stoves. They can be draft fussy. The Harman Oakwood appears to be built a bit more stoutly, but if you want a simple stove for your wife, this is not one. For a simpler stove at 2.4 cu ft look at the Quadrafire Cumberland Gap. For a 3 cu. ft stove that has wide appeal and now is cast iron clad, maybe also look at the Pacific Energy Alderlea T6. This is a very easy to use stove.

 

[bbc557ci]

If you are burning 24/7, soapstone can be very nice. It retains heat better than cast or steel, but is slower to warm up. If the stove is likely to be needed for a more rapid temp increase because it is not being run 24/7 then the cast stove is a better choice. But the Oslo is used 24/7 in a lot of homes coast to coast.

Good to check on the Morso as well. It's another solid Scandinavian burner.

Morso is on the list to check. Thanks, BeGreen

 

[jbrown56]

bbc, I looked at the Lopi Leyden as well and didn,t want to deal with the two damper system. I also have balance problems so the top loading wouldn't be good for me. I think the castings are better on the Oslo. One other reason for choosing the Jotul was the side door is bigger than the Hearthstone Heritage.

 

[bbc557ci]

A stove that looks interesting to me is the Hearthstone Bennington. It has the side loader and at 2.5 CF, it might be one to consider. Another one, but is a little on the small side, is the Phoenix. A combo of cast and soap stone. Kind of like the best of both worlds. Would be a consideration if it had a +2.5 CF box.

It's obvious I need to take time to get around and look at a more stoves. Probably best if I took an afternoon off work and planned a road trip to see what's out there. Heck, I might just do that )

I just want to mention again that I appreciate everyones advice.

Bill

 

[jbrown56]

Bill, from people I have talked to, Hearthstone builds great soapstone stoves. This is what they do best.

Just a thought

Jim

 

[bbc557ci]

Well I got out yesterday and looked at a couple more stoves. BeGreen mentioned Quadrafire so I did a 100 mile round trip to a neighboring town and checked them out. I like them. When I got home I did a search here on the Quads and read a bunch of threads on them. I found tons of positive comments, and about zip for negatives. Seems like they are pretty straight forward to use and burn great. I'm going to check another stove place out this afternoon. But so far I think I've narrowed the choices down to;

Hearthstone Mansfield
Hearthstone Bennington

Jotul F500 Oslo
Jotul F600 Firelight

Quadrafire Cumberland Gap
Quadrafire Isle Royale

Looks/asthetics - Hearthstone Mansfield, hands down !!
Function - all seem to be very good but I seem to be leaning towards the Quads

Opinions ??

Thanks - Bill

 

[begreen]

These are all really good stoves. I like the Isle Royale a lot, but did not suggest it because it does have a draft diverter + 2 air controls. The stove is easy to operate, and a top loader which is a plus, but the requirement was to be as simple as possible. The Cumberland Gap has 2 air controls (startup and primary) which is a good thing, but if you want a single control stove it may be out as well. Jotuls & Hearthstone are single control.