What size stove do i need?

yummum77

My husband and I want to get a woodburner in our lounge. However we are divided in the size. technically for our lounge and dining room we will need a 5k. We have an average size 3 bed semi. We would like to heat as much of the house as possible. so with the lounge and dining room that is only separated by double door arch we want to heat kitchen and hallway/stairway. We always have all doors open so no room is closed off and then looks very open plan really. my husband wants a 10kw to do the job with the plan to open windows if the room gets very heated!!!!! So fresh air and heat. I'm very very apprehensive as I envisage sitting very uncomfortable in my lounge and at most would have an 8. Please can anyone provide some advice or share their own experience if they have done similar thing. I don't necessarily need expert opinions about working out room size to kW size. I really want real life know how!!!

Skulls

Stick to the 5Kw. I've gone from a 16Kw Villager to a 5Kw Burley, used about half as much wood the last winter and it still warmed the whole house.

Rolandtheroadie

We've a 3 bed semi and have a firefox 8.

Heat the whole house? Nope. Not a chance.

Even with the livingroom door open, you can feel a temperature change between the livingroom and hall/staircase. Ok, it might just be the livingrooms really warm.

Thats using coal. And it's Central Scotland.

Gloomendoom

I don't know how people manage to heat the whole house with a stove in one room. I tried it once and it became so hot in the room with the stove that it was unusable. Even the cat had to go out and lie on the patio to cool down.

Rolandtheroadie

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I don't know how people manage to heat the whole house with a stove in one room. I tried it once and it became so hot in the room with the stove that it was unusable. Even the cat had to go out and lie on the patio to cool down.

We're in whats known as a Coal Board house. I've lived in them for 35 years.

There was a fire in the living room, and another 2 in 2 out of the 3 bedrooms.

I remember in winter dad would take the TV upstairs and light the fire in one of the bedrooms. We'd all jump into bed and watch TV.

There was no way the one fire could heat the whole house.

cod3

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I don't know how people manage to heat the whole house with a stove in one room. I tried it once and it became so hot in the room with the stove that it was unusable. Even the cat had to go out and lie on the patio to cool down.

Cat thermometer! :rotfl:

suki1964

A 5 kw working at full tilt will make the room you are in toasty. The heat will move into other rooms but they will never feel as warm because your living room will be so hot

My living room is upstairs. My house is 200 sq metred so in effect it's warming 100 sq metres. Living room will get to mid 20s, bedrooms to around 18. Warm enough to sleep in and warm enough to dress/ undress The only rad I have on in the winter is the bathroom

Getting a bigger stove will mean you will either slumber it, or not be able to sit in the same room. There are some days when I've run the stove hard all day I'm sat here with just a tee shirt on and it being minus 15 outside

suisidevw

And even think about going 4.9kw so you don't need an airbrick to the outside - happy days!

wintergirl

We did a lot of research about stoves before getting ours 2 years ago. Our lounge/diner is 12ft x 22ft, double glazed, with large patio doors at one end, and a window at the other. 4 bed semi.
Hubby wanted a big beast of a burner, :eek: I calculated a 5kw!
Our installer was very good, and agreed with my sizing . He said (and I have heard this a lot since) that it is much better to run a small stove HOT, than slumber a large stove because not only will it roast the room up to an unbearable heat in the rooms its in, but slumbering (esp. with wood) will gunk up your chimney in no time with tar deposits.
We had out flue swept a few weeks ago - first time since install. Sweep got about 1/3rd of a bucket of very fine ash out and said we were obviously burning it spot on.

So go with a lower output and burn it hot!

muckybutt

wintergirl wrote: »

We had out flue swept a few weeks ago - first time since install. Sweep got about 1/3rd of a bucket of very fine ash out and said we were obviously burning it spot on.

Bang on that is, I generally say for a stove with a liner that anything more than two cupped handfulls of soot is too much and its not burning right.