Regulating temperature using wood stove

The house you're heating plays a huge roll. If its not well insulated, then typically you need to "oversize" which makes the stove room a hotspot. I've been in my house for 5 years now, and I don't think we could have sized the stove any better. We're heating about 1400 sq ft with a keystone near Syracuse NY. The house is made with strawbale walls, with about 1 1/2" of plaster on the inside, which is a LOT of thermal mass. Once it gets cold like now (highs below freezing) its just a perfect match. I'm running 2 fires a day with sugar maple, and the upstairs and downstairs thermostats only vary from 68-73 on any give day. In the shoulders, I'll use lesser woods like poplar, or red maple and achieve the same thing.

Layout also plays a big roll. If the stove is centrally located, in an open space, you'll tend not to get "cooked out" as much. Our stove is only 8' from my wifes spot on the couch and 10' from mine. It never feels like a death because the heat is pulled up and away from the living room, so we're only getting the radiant part of the heat.

TL;DR. Woodstoves are cool. Insulate your house.

 

The doors are open today. Got it down to 80 in here.

 

In shoulder season, I have a fire every few days and let the thermal mass handle the rest. Concrete walls with the insulation on the outside, concrete floor in contact with the ground below and insulated at the perimeter. Coast on mass alone for a few months each spring and fall.

When it gets too warm I just move to a cooler room. Get too cold, move closer to the stove. Set things up intentionally to have a temperature gradient. Even heat is for people who's spouse likes it the same temperature they do. Never met such a couple.