Whats heat?

[Mr Good Wood]

All these heating appliance mgfs say will heat 2000-3000 sqf or a sqft range of XXX-XXX. Well what is there definition of heat? none of them say. Is heat 60 deg or 65 or what? What about ceiling height? on there sqft range? My thoughts of heating are 70-71 degrees with 8-10 ft ceiling height.

 

[Landmark]

they are probably figuring anything above outdoor temp is heat.

 

[lone wolf]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit

 

[Chris-PA]

Their definition is that if their claim gets you to part with your money, then it's good. Any spec that is not fully defined, referenced to a standard or proven through 3rd party testing is meaningless marketing BS.

Stoves aren't magic - look at the size of the firebox, as you can at least easily verify that.

 

[Stlshrk]

It isn't just the ceiling height either. A house of the same sq footage built in 1950 vs 2010 will have very different heatloss from insulation, doors, windows, etc. Lone Wolf hit the nail on the head when they pointed you to look for a BTU output rating.

Without that rating it is like buying a bucket of fried chicken at KFC that they tell you should feed 6 people. Maybe so, but 2 or 3 blokes that have been working firewood all day will kill that same bucket!

 

[Oldman47]

When I was researching to find a wood stove I knew what I wanted it to do so I was reading the BTU/hr info and the range of square footage in the estimates. I knew about what I was using in my present home in terms of my furnace rating, how much the new home varied from that in size and insulation and that the new place was much tighter. I also knew my furnace only ran about 1/3 of the time on some of the coldest days. That gave me a very rough estimate that I needed a 20,000 to 25,000 BTU/hr stove continuously and would need to push it a bit to heat the new house with wood. The rough square footage numbers let me compare that estimate to my square footage and see if I was getting about the same answer. It gave me a bit of confidence that the stove I selected could be my emergency heat source if I kept it stoked well and an occasional heat supplement when I was in the mood. Since I will be living away from town I know I will be one of the last to have power restored after a storm so I want to be able to ride out a week without power. The estimates at least agree with each other which is the only value I place on the estimates.

 

[Chris-PA]

look for a BTU output rating.

But that is also just an unverified marketing claim. Is it a long period average output, or is it the peak output during max secondary combustion under the most favorable conditions? I think a lot of people are getting burned by this rating (pun intended), as even if the output rating is real it represents the peak. Once secondary combustion ends the output is lower for the remaining 1/2 to 2/3 of the burn time for the load, and thus the average output for the fuel load is not as optimistic.

I can measure BTU/hr for a 5min period. Or I could just make up a number.

 

[Ironworker]

If you have a big home, you get a big stove, if you have a medium home, you get a medium stove and if you have a small home, you get a small stove. We're not splitting atoms here people, we're heating with the most primal way we know, use your instincts please.

 

[greenskeeper]

All these heating appliance mgfs say will heat 2000-3000 sqf or a sqft range of XXX-XXX. Well what is there definition of heat? none of them say. Is heat 60 deg or 65 or what? What about ceiling height? on there sqft range? My thoughts of heating are 70-71 degrees with 8-10 ft ceiling height.

Go one size bigger than recommended for your square footage and you will be happy.

Too many variables with house construction and local climate.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I'm gonna light my second stove to heat 350 sq.ft.
BRB with pic.

 

[Ironworker]

My stove is rated for 2250sq.ft., my home is 3100sq.ft. Heats just fine into the lower teens as long as I feed it but has a hard time with the over nites.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Here's my shack.

 

[Gypo Logger]

All these heating appliance mgfs say will heat 2000-3000 sqf or a sqft range of XXX-XXX. Well what is there definition of heat? none of them say. Is heat 60 deg or 65 or what? What about ceiling height? on there sqft range? My thoughts of heating are 70-71 degrees with 8-10 ft ceiling height.

I have no clue what heat is, but I think cold is the absents of warmth.
John

 

[allstihl]

I have no clue what heat is, but I think cold is the absents of warmth.
John

think warm thoughts, it helps.

 

[svk]

Go one size bigger than recommended for your square footage and you will be happy.

Too many variables with house construction and local climate.

Yes!

The propane heater for my hunting cabin was advertised to heat 550sf. It does but if temp is below 25 outside there's no chance of holding 70 degrees.

 

[Chris-PA]

I have no clue what heat is, but I think cold is the absents of warmth.
John

Cold has something to do with shrinkage I think.

 

[NSMaple1]

All these heating appliance mgfs say will heat 2000-3000 sqf or a sqft range of XXX-XXX. Well what is there definition of heat? none of them say. Is heat 60 deg or 65 or what? What about ceiling height? on there sqft range? My thoughts of heating are 70-71 degrees with 8-10 ft ceiling height.

Then there are the little things like climate, construction quality, and insulation.

So they pretty well pull those numbers out of butts....

 

[maine]

View attachment 400234 Here's my shack.View attachment 400233

that camper sure is a tight fit in your garage.

 

[Mr Good Wood]

Yes i forgot the insulation factor and windows . This though was brought on by the Blaze King long burn times and sqft rating. When they got the 40 hr burn on the King on low setting I wonder what wood they had in it? Also how many of yall actually get yer wood down to 13% mc like they say to do? but I do agree on having wood css for 2 years min. I have red oak 2in thick board in the pole barn that read 10-11% mc and they have been in there 11 years just saying.

 

[Gypo Logger]

that camper sure is a tight fit in your garage.

Ya, I was trying to make it airtight.
I noticed my mattress was freezing to the wall, so I got the other stove going in the attached garage.