Building a 1000 sqft house elevation about 5,800' long winters with temps below -30 F (-34 C) what stove would you use?

[bobanne]

Hello! Fairly new to wood stoves and looking for recommendations.

We are building a 1000 sqft house (9' ceilings), dry climate, elevation about 5,800', long winters with temps below -30 F (-34 C).

So far I've been reading about Morso stoves, also Vermont Castings Aspen C3, Hearthstone Lincoln, and Fisher Baby Bear. I've also seen some recommendations for Woodstock Soapstone stoves, Jotul stoves, Drolet, and BK.

I'm leaning towards a Morso, but I'd really love to hear from people who have used some of these stoves or others that they would recommend - or not recommend.

Thanks in advance.

 

[EbS-P]

Hello! Fairly new to wood stoves and looking for recommendations.

We are building a 1000 sqft house (9' ceilings), dry climate, elevation about 5,800', long winters with temps below -30 F (-34 C).

So far I've been reading about Morso stoves, also Vermont Castings Aspen C3, Hearthstone Lincoln, and Fisher Baby Bear. I've also seen some recommendations for Woodstock Soapstone stoves, Jotul stoves, Drolet, and BK.

I'm leaning towards a Morso, but I'd really love to hear from people who have used some of these stoves or others that they would recommend - or not recommend.

Thanks in advance.

What is your heating load calculation? Are you wanting wood to be primary or supplemental heat?

 

[Todd]

If I were building a new home I would seriously consider a masonry heater like Tulikivi. As far as stoves go there are many choices out there. Don’t go too small, look for one that has a 1.5-2.0 cu ft sized firebox so you won’t have to feed it constantly.

 

[kborndale]

How tall will the chimney be? At high elevation unless you have a tall chimney you will need an easy breathing stove.

 

[Dataman]

Blaze King "King". Big Firebox and Efficient with Wood. Downside overkill if it's not cold enough. I use Harmon XXV and it gets -20f here. It's borderline on those nights. Which are few.

 

[stoveliker]

Regarding BK, if you get a model 20 or 30 , they can dial down the heat output to about three and a half standard 1.5 kW plug-in heaters.
That is quite low, and it does not require you to build small fires (reloading often), or do many cold starts in a "pulse and glide" heating mode with larger temperature swings. It's low and consistent (and for 20-30 hrs at those setting), but they can also pump out higher heat. Many folks in Alaska use BKs too.

If you are going to use this as primary heat, I think BKs are very nice.
The masonry heaters mentioned above have similar benefits, but require many fires to be started from cold (twice a day when it's cold out).

You do have to have sufficient flue height for this stove to work well.

 

[bobanne]

What is your heating load calculation? Are you wanting wood to be primary or supplemental heat?

If I calculated correctly the heat load is 36,000 BTU. We are in region 5. Wood will be primary. We have a gas stove for secondary.

 

[bobanne]

How tall will the chimney be? At high elevation unless you have a tall chimney you will need an easy breathing stove.

The chimney will be verticle and 15' or possibly higher. How do I find out which stoves are easy breathing?

 

[bobanne]

Regarding BK, if you get a model 20 or 30 , they can dial down the heat output to about three and a half standard 1.5 kW plug-in heaters.
That is quite low, and it does not require you to build small fires (reloading often), or do many cold starts in a "pulse and glide" heating mode with larger temperature swings. It's low and consistent (and for 20-30 hrs at those setting), but they can also pump out higher heat. Many folks in Alaska use BKs too.

If you are going to use this as primary heat, I think BKs are very nice.
The masonry heaters mentioned above have similar benefits, but require many fires to be started from cold (twice a day when it's cold out).

You do have to have sufficient flue height for this stove to work well.

How do I tell if it's a model 20 or 30? If I am reading the website and model numbers correctly, you mean anything except for the King 40. I've been leaning towards the Sirocco 20. https://www.blazeking.com/products/sirocco-20/
Do the older BK's dial down this way? I see quite a few Princess stoves on the used market.

 

[begreen]

Many Canadian (but not all) stoves are easy breathers. Look at the minimum chimney height requirement in their manuals. Stoves from SBI (Osburn, Drolet, Century), Regency, and Pacific Energy are generally easy breathers.

I would skip the Morsos if the goal is heating 24/7. Their fireboxes are small. They are better as room heaters. For this space, a reasonably long burn time between reloads will be appreciated.
Will the floorplan be quite open? What will the insulation value be in the walls and ceiling? Will there be any large window areas?

 

[bobanne]

Many Canadian (but not all) stoves are easy breathers. Look at the minimum chimney height requirement in their manuals. Stoves from SBI (Osburn, Drolet, Century), Regency, and Pacific Energy are generally easy breathers.

I would skip the Morsos if the goal is heating 24/7. Their fireboxes are small. They are better as room heaters. For this space, a reasonably long burn time between reloads will be appreciated.
Will the floorplan be quite open? What will the insulation value be in the walls and ceiling? Will there be any large window areas?

Insulation is nothing special, R-13 I believe. There are several big windows in the great room near the stove. I'm including a sketch.

 

[begreen]

Unless convective assistance is added, most of the heat will remain in the great room. The large amount of glazing will contribute to heat loss. I'd consider a medium-sized stove in the 2 cu ft size range. There are many options depending on the budget and aesthetic desires.

 

[stoveliker]

How do I tell if it's a model 20 or 30? If I am reading the website and model numbers correctly, you mean anything except for the King 40. I've been leaning towards the Sirocco 20. https://www.blazeking.com/products/sirocco-20/
Do the older BK's dial down this way? I see quite a few Princess stoves on the used market.

Yes, the princess is similar to the Ashford/sirocco/Chinook 30 models.
The low BTU rate is similar between the 20 and 30 models, but the 30 models will be able to go 30 hrs at the lowest output while the 20 models "only" 20 hrs.
They provide even heat due to the thermostat.

I think any BK after 2005 will be similar in performance.

Do look at the other options that Begreen mentioned. Looks and other attributes (breathing) matter.

 

[EbS-P]

Here is a sketch of the floor plan. View attachment 330830

View attachment 330831

I would rethink your insulation plan. -30 temps and R14???? Go 2x6 walls (or insulated zip system) and r60 attic.

AC or no?

As for the stove a BK won’t be any different when it’s cold out. One stove that hasn’t been stated is the pacific energy lines.

 

[bobanne]

I would rethink your insulation plan. -30 temps and R14???? Go 2x6 walls (or insulated zip system) and r60 attic.

AC or no?

As for the stove a BK won’t be any different when it’s cold out. One stove that hasn’t been stated is the pacific energy lines.

Yes, I am looking into an upgrade on the insulation. Now that I posted the sketch I can explain that the original structure was built for summer use only. We are adding the great room and mud room.
No AC.
I'm not sure what you mean by "As for the stove a BK won’t be any different when it’s cold out."
I am checking out the Pacific Energy, I like the idea of being able to cook on the stove in a pinch.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

I have similar square footage, 2x6 walls and great insulation but less aggressive temperatures. I get by with a 1.8 cubic foot stove and don't really run it too hard.

 

[kborndale]

Yes, I am looking into an upgrade on the insulation. Now that I posted the sketch I can explain that the original structure was built for summer use only. We are adding the great room and mud room.
No AC.
I'm not sure what you mean by "As for the stove a BK won’t be any different when it’s cold out."
I am checking out the Pacific Energy, I like the idea of being able to cook on the stove in a pinch.

The blazeking can run for 30 hours but to do that is is turned down low and not putting out much heat. When it gets real cold out and you have to turn the blazeking up to high heat it won't be running 30 hours, especially in a house built for summer use only in Wyoming winters it will get the same burn times as other non cat stoves.

 

[stoveliker]

All correct. The heat output in those shorter burns (and the long ones) will be more even though , courtesy of the thermostat on the stove.

Every climat also has shoulder seasons, where less heat is needed.

 

[bobanne]

Unless convective assistance is added, most of the heat will remain in the great room. The large amount of glazing will contribute to heat loss. I'd consider a medium-sized stove in the 2 cu ft size range. There are many options depending on the budget and aesthetic desires.

New question, I'm not sure the wood I can get this winter will be fully seasoned. We buy it by the cord, mix of pine and fir. But I don't know when it was cut or how it's been stored. Am I setting myself up for grief with a catalytic stove?

 

[EbS-P]

New question, I'm not sure the wood I can get this winter will be fully seasoned. We buy it by the cord, mix of pine and fir. But I don't know when it was cut or how it's been stored. Am I setting myself up for grief with a catalytic stove?

Pine can dry in a summery if it’s split and stacked. Dead standing could be marginal. But yes if your wood is wet much above 20% mc measured on a room temp fresh split face it will be a frustrating experience.

Have you calculated the cost of natural gas heat vs wood?

 

[ispinwool]

...Welcome to the Hearth!
I can't be of much help in choosing a wood stove but I can attest to "thermal covers for windows" when it gets really
cold. Your lovely BIG windows will lose quite a bit of heat--if it's in the negatives outside your stove will struggle to
keep up. We have a mid-sized Heritage and it'll struggle at zero degrees...so I generally cover our windows to help
keep the heat in/cold out. I bought a bolt of thermal fabric from Joann's (the stuff that pot holders are made of).
here's an old post (I hope the link works!): https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/successful-test.173966/

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

New question, I'm not sure the wood I can get this winter will be fully seasoned. We buy it by the cord, mix of pine and fir. But I don't know when it was cut or how it's been stored. Am I setting myself up for grief with a catalytic stove?

Like others have said I would check the moisture and see where you are at. I dealt with some parwood the first year burned a little hotter split a little smaller didn't go for the cool guy all night Burns. Wetwood will not work well in any modern EPA stove not just catalytic ones.

 

[kborndale]

Subpar wood sucks but you can make it a little better by adding in bio bricks or a similar compressed sawdust log, construction lumber or pallet wood (make sure it's not green pressure treated and no nails in a cat stove) or the supermarket bundles are expensive but can supplement your wet wood and make it burn better.

 

[mr meener]

Hello! Fairly new to wood stoves and looking for recommendations.

We are building a 1000 sqft house (9' ceilings), dry climate, elevation about 5,800', long winters with temps below -30 F (-34 C).

So far I've been reading about Morso stoves, also Vermont Castings Aspen C3, Hearthstone Lincoln, and Fisher Baby Bear. I've also seen some recommendations for Woodstock Soapstone stoves, Jotul stoves, Drolet, and BK.

I'm leaning towards a Morso, but I'd really love to hear from people who have used some of these stoves or others that they would recommend - or not recommend.

Thanks in advance.

with the winter you have described you might need a nuclear reactor lol

 

[bobanne]

Pine can dry in a summery if it’s split and stacked. Dead standing could be marginal. But yes if your wood is wet much above 20% mc measured on a room temp fresh split face it will be a frustrating experience.

Have you calculated the cost of natural gas heat vs wood?

We have natural gas heating and electric as well in the main structure. For the addition we hope to use wood, minus the cost of the stove and install it is cheaper for that space, but it also gives us a backup in case the utilities go down.