Sunroom Zone Heater

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OregonMike

Member
Dec 4, 2018
19
Portland, OR
So my parents live in Idaho and when they've come up to my house in the winter my dad just loves the Lopi insert I use to heat the house. I think he remembers the old wood stoves his family used when he was a kid and just really likes the radiant heat from wood.

They recently sold their house to downsize to a home in town. Long story short my mom gets a new sunroom but the deal is my dad gets to put in a wood stove to heat it in the winter. It sounds like unfortunately the way the house is laid out that their won't be much airflow between the new sun room, about 8 x 20 and the rest of the house except the kitchen. What would be a good zonal heater, He also likes the look of the ornate vermont casting enameled stoves.
 
So my parents live in Idaho and when they've come up to my house in the winter my dad just loves the Lopi insert I use to heat the house. I think he remembers the old wood stoves his family used when he was a kid and just really likes the radiant heat from wood.

They recently sold their house to downsize to a home in town. Long story short my mom gets a new sunroom but the deal is my dad gets to put in a wood stove to heat it in the winter. It sounds like unfortunately the way the house is laid out that their won't be much airflow between the new sun room, about 8 x 20 and the rest of the house except the kitchen. What would be a good zonal heater, He also likes the look of the ornate vermont casting enameled stoves.
Sun rooms and radiant atoves dont work well together at all. Those windows will do very little to block the radiant heat. Which means much of the heat will go outside. Even a more convective stove will still have massive losses in a sun room but much better.
 
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The big issue with the sunroom may be a short chimney. Most modern stoves need 15-16'.

The Hampton H300 might be a good compromise. It will work on a 12' chimney as will the PE Alderlea T5.

They also need fully seasoned wood. Can you get a couple cords for them that is truly seasoned?
 
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have they considered gas? it might be better suited for this than wood, it's not going to be a main heat source, easier to vent, still gives flames, less handling and processing for dry wood.
 
This is interesting. A lot is going to depend on the part of ID, the direction the sunroom will face, and the amount of shade around it. Several years ago I had a small green house. On a bright sunny winter day, I would take a book and a lawn chair out to the green house. Even with a foot or more snow on the ground it would get over 70*F.

Are they wanting to heat it at night? If your father only wants to sit out there to enjoy the sun he may be able to get by with any stove that provides the ambiance more than heat.
 
have they considered gas? it might be better suited for this than wood, it's not going to be a main heat source, easier to vent, still gives flames, less handling and processing for dry wood.

They have a gas insert in the living room already, I told him I thought if he wants a stove it would make more sense to put a wood burner there but my mom likes the push button convenience.
 
This is interesting. A lot is going to depend on the part of ID, the direction the sunroom will face, and the amount of shade around it. Several years ago I had a small green house. On a bright sunny winter day, I would take a book and a lawn chair out to the green house. Even with a foot or more snow on the ground it would get over 70*F.

Are they wanting to heat it at night? If your father only wants to sit out there to enjoy the sun he may be able to get by with any stove that provides the ambiance more than heat.

Pocatello, It can get pretty cold but yeah, southern exposure might make the need of a stove mute.
 
If you search hearth for threads containing "porch" or "sun room", you won't find a whole lot of people talking about how great their stove is in that location. Some people expect to heat their houses from there, and they end up disappointed.

Some people have had some success, but they tend to have an insulated porch, insulated drapes, and fans.

That's not to say that you can't use a stove to warm up the sunroom/porch while you sit in it, but it won't be contributing much to the house being warm.
 
Pocatello, It can get pretty cold but yeah, southern exposure might make the need of a stove mute.
Southern exposure don't mean diddly when it's cold and rainy.
That's not to say that you can't use a stove to warm up the sunroom/porch while you sit in it, but it won't be contributing much to the house being warm.
Depending on the house layout, if the sunroom is warm enough one can move some of the heat out with a fan.
 
I live high in the mountains. Our attached greenhouse has a good-sized wood stove in it. On very cold nights, I use that stove to keep the room above freezing. I don't bother trying to grow plants out there in the winter, but a water line runs through it.

It works fine for keeping the temp's up to prevent freezing, but it does not get toasty warm. I can sit out there in a heavy robe and be ok at night, if I want. My greenhouse is about 300 sq ft. Any larger, I might need an additional stove. I have a couple chairs next to that stove, and it can be pretty nice to have a fire on a cloudy, snowy day and go out there to sit and read. But I need to really get that stove hot, and it's a fairly efficient Rais/Wittus.
 
We had a couple threads this year where people reported some success.

This one had some good discussion in it.
Yes but she is now quite dissapointed with the heatoutput of the stove. I cant help but think it is due to being in a sunroom.