Woodstove, I want BIG, installer says I'll melt, thoughts?

[cheddar]

Hi all, info first - I've got a new freestanding woodstove going in next week, the house is relatively small but open plan with 15 ft cathedral ceilings and zero insulation or double glazing (that's coming later when I renovate). It's freezing in here in Winter, I can maybe get up to 18 degrees tops with the current (old and rubbish) inbuilt woodfire roaring its head off, in the mornings it's between 6 and 10 degrees in the living room/kitchen - the hallway and bathroom get down to around 2 degrees.

I want the 'mothership' 26kw woodstove but my installer reckons I'll melt, I said I'd just open doors to the hallway, bedroom and bathroom (although I can't imagine it getting that hot), he says it's still too big. I'm conscious that if I install something smaller I'll struggle to heat the place. Can't I just turn the big one down? Surely too much heat heat beats too little?

Any constructive input would be appreciated chaps.

Living room pic here, new stove being installed where the telly is:

[z4RRSchris99]

you will melt.

in our tv room which is prob 7mx7m we have a 7.5kw stove

gets far too hot.

it's an old stone house with no insulation

[jfdi]

26kW

You will melt!
Woodburners shouldn't be left to smoulder so you should be using all if not most of that 26kW all the time, our 7kW in a 19ft x 12ft room requires the door to be left open so we don't melt.

[crofty1984]

My parents have a decent woodburner and their living room varies between hot as fk and hot as fk.

[sunbeam alpine]

We have an 8 KW stove in our main room downstairs which is about 12m x 8m. It's more than enough so I think with 26 KW you should be able to make your own hole in the ozone layer

[gareth h]

You need to do heat loss calcs, the problem with wood burners is getting the heat to where you want it, that is why they are sized for the room not the house like a boiler.

[cheddar]

Mmmmm......

Ok, thankyou, I'm hearing you - a little more info first.

Above the ceilings there is tin, just corrugated tin, you can hear small birds walking on it, the walls have nothing in them and they're 'thin', the floors are wood and there's no underfloor insulation plus I'm remote, exposed and at about 300 metres elevation. In the past 2 winters I've run the heat pump and wood stove simultaneously to try and heat the place but they only just manage it, that's with all curtains closed and any adjoining doors closed plus towels at the bottom of the doors to stop the draughts. It's cold in here, I've owned old garages with better thermal efficiency.

[Patch1875]

Would you not get a stove that suits the room after renovation?

[herewego]

You should be insulating first and sizing the fire for the result.

[Sunnyone]

Listen to the installer. I went for a size under what I thought and the room is still very very hot.

[BFG TERRANO]

You will roast! And you will need a forest a day to feed it with! We wanted big but were advised a 5kw was plenty so went with a Charnwood country 4 and it's brilliant.

[frank hovis]

This my woodburner with obligatory hairy beast in front of it

It's a 6kw multi fuel in a room that approx 6m x4.5m

Even with doors open to the kitchen and un heated hallway it's so warm we sit in t shirts

A 24k is mental ! And would go through horrendous amounts of wood per hour

[0a]

I think you should go for the 26kw and report back.

[cheddar]

^^^^^^^^^^

Ok, I'm going to see some and to talk with the experts who'll call me mad - noted all the advice so far, thankyou, I'll report back later.

[singlecoil]

Main issue is how big are your logs, you need to chose a stove that has a door that is big enough.

[cheddar]

singlecoil said:

Main issue is how big are your logs, you need to chose a stove that has a door that is big enough.

Quite big but don't have to be - the mighty stove that I like has a 100 litre firebox and the company blurb quotes "You can even burn a small tree!"

[B17NNS]

frank hovis said:

Meahwile, in Australia.

[jrinns]

As stated you really need to start insulating . Just insulated all major rooms with 53mm insulating plasterboard. The difference is night and day. We have our 8kw chesney on and if we close the door at night it will still be warm in the morning .

[Baldinho]

frank hovis said:

This my woodburner with obligatory hairy beast in front of it

It's a 6kw multi fuel in a room that approx 6m x4.5m

Even with doors open to the kitchen and un heated hallway it's so warm we sit in t shirts

A 24k is mental ! And would go through horrendous amounts of wood per hour

On first sight I thought you were roasting a pig on the ceiling!

[C Lee Farquar]

singlecoil said:

Main issue is how big are your logs, you need to chose a stove that has a door that is big enough.

I agree, saves a lot of effort if you process your own.

We have a 13kw one with poor insulation, if it gets too hot we open the windows to blow the heat around. You can just put less wood on.

Father recently had a 5kw one fitted and struggles to get enough heat.

Get what you want!