I was asked to submit a floor plan so I did a rough sketch. The area to the right is additional bathroom and bedroom and my little office converted from one of the bedrooms. I am not that concern with heating those spaces. I will continue to heat my bath with a small portable electric heater. The kitchen is a gallery type kitchen, cupboards on both sides. At the far left is a breakfast area and the planned area for the washer/dryer that I converted into a kitchen work area. The opening into the kitchen off of the dinning area does not contain a door. I am guessing that I may need to use some type of active device to help move air into the kitchen
Your under 1000 sq.ft. Not a very big stove needed. A couple other things for you/us to consider. What is sq.ft. Of Windows? How is insulation factor? What is worst or coldest temps and average temps in your area?
OK, so then I just need to think about the other aspects, such as amount of wood the firebox can hold and how long between reload times. The main issue I have with small stoves is that they can not hold a fire overnight. Getting up every morning to a cold house and having to build a new fire from a cold start is not appealing.
I hear you. You also don't want to be opening the windows every time you try to have an overnight fire. There are several things you can do. In your warmer climate, if your home is insulated well, you could look at stoves that will heat water. So that water can be stored and then disperse the heat throughout a longer period of time. The experts will need more information though. Is insulation good? What is your budget? How is home heated now? Is there hot water baseboard heating or forced air now? Etc. Tell them as much as you can.
We had a power outage once and I recorded the temperatures throughout the day. I will try to find that post.
Just a SWAG Kimberly but I would not get anything less than a 2 cu ft firebox. That should give you good overnight heat but not roast you out. As for the kitchen area. A small desktop fan in the doorway (or close to the doorway just so you don't have to stumble over it) blowing into the DR/LR should move enough heat into the kitchen to keep it comfy. Run the fan on low speed though.
There is also this adage, "You can build a small fire in a large stove but you can not build a large fire in a small stove".
My 13NC will heat my house just fine.............but the 1.8cu.ft. firebox requires 5 hour reloads on average; and that I get up about 3:00am to reload the stove on the cold nights. We've not had any of those yet though this year, and I wake up to a low/mid 60's house without reloading the stove and the overnight temps upper 20's to upper 30's. I still have enough coals to get the stove going again, but it's not putting out any useable heat. Get the 30NC and call it good
I'd get a large, or at least medium sized, cat stove. The tube stoves can't be turned down as low as the cat stoves, and with the smallish space you will want a low fire much of the time. The large size allows lots of wood to be added to the stove, while the cat allows the heat to be turned down, and the two together allow you overnight burns.
I agree with Backwoods Savage, a stove around 2cu foot should work well. But like mentioned by Gasifier you need to look at insulation as well. A well insulated house will help with wood usage and allow a smaller stove. But you can also burn a smaller load of wood in a bigger stove but not the other way around.
I have a small stove in my kitchen. Very small fire box. It's the Hampton 200. I think 1.34 ft.³ firebox. But all it has to do is heat the kitchen and my den. I have an old buck stove insert in the living room the easley heats the rest of the house. So I'm like others I would go with big enough, and not skimp. You can always build a small fire in a bigger stove. Now, as for small fireboxes not holding a fire. My little Hampton holds a fire as long as my big old buck in the living room.
I will add a little to what Dennis said. As for the kitchen area. A small desktop fan in the doorway (or close to the doorway just so you don't have to stumble over it) blowing into the DR/LR should move enough heat into the kitchen to keep it comfy. Run the fan on low speed though. What you want are small fans on the floor blowing cold air toward your stove room , I have a couple of 8 inch ones, placed strategically , I use and run them on low. You do this because, cold air is a lot more dense and easier to move than warm or hot air. Believe me I tried all kind of different ways to distribute the heat through the house, this technique works very very well. You can experiment with exactly where to put the fans to see what works best, but on the floor moving cold air toward the stove room is the way to go
