Wood Stove Recommendation

[7 Acre Wood Farm]

Looking for recommendations for a wood stove to heat a 24' diameter yurt (with 10' walls). We live in the highlands of Virginia, nestled in the mountains between Virginia and West Virginia, and have located the yurt in a relatively protected area. We have decided on a particular brand of soapstone wood stove so our question now is what capacity to purchase. We've heard that

heating

the yurt should be relatively easy and a small stove will be fine. Then we've heard from others that we should step up into a the next size wood stove (exceeding the yurt's square footage) to account for heat loss. [Note: other than the manufacturer's standard

insulation

for the walls and roof no additional

insulation

has been installed]

[Bob Rowlands]

I think a stove one size up is a very good idea. You can feed the beast a little less wood, and let it idle on cooler days if it's a little too much. When you really need the heat on cold days, bigger is better, ime.

[Jafo]

I like the stoves they offer at the Woodstock Soapstone Company. As a rule of thumb, you should get a stove sized to heat twice the square footage they are rated for. For example: 300sq foot structure? 600sq foot stove...

[Ivan]

We have a 24' yurt , and are

heating

with a VC Dutchwest ( small) 35,000 btu.. We are located in the mountains mid New Hampshire.. Generally it will not get cold inside, 50f , until it gets down to 0F outside.. The main issue is the burn time for us, as it needs to get stoked around 2-3 am, because of that I would have gotten a larger stove. I bought the stove on Craigs list, and it was a sweet deal .

[Jafo]

Originally Posted by Ivan

The main issue is the burn time for us, as it needs to get stoked around 2-3 am, because of that I would have gotten a larger stove. I bought the stove on Craigs list, and it was a sweet deal .

That is why I got the one from the company I did. You still have to get up sometimes, depending on how cold it gets. It is a 30' yurt so when it gets below 20F, generally you will have to load it up again once at night. However, anything above that and you can pretty much go a good 12 hours if you do it right.

[Wintergreen282]

If most of the time you need to heat your yurt up from freezing to nice (ie arriving on a wintery Friday night for the weekend - or even gone all day at work), an oversized stove is probably helpful. I have a smaller stove that came with the 24' yurt. One nice thing about that is the chimney stays very clean because I so often run it full bore. I try to keep the yurt below 80 and will let the stove go out before opening the vent or doors to cool it off.

I've also had to slightly adjust the door to *not* close air-tight because with two 90 degree bends and 2/3rds of the pipe outside, my stove needs to run hotter to keep a nice, smoke-free draft going while the stove is lit. Perhaps a bigger stove would allow me to burn less than the 3-4 cords I now go through living here full time. Overall it has worked for me.

Wind makes a difference in needing more heat, but there is a surprising amount of solar heating even though my yurt is all light colors. Generally at some point in the fall I will circle the yurt on a windy day looking for drafts. Once they are plugged it gets noticeable warmer. Yurts are beautiful: light and spacious. Wood heat is lovely, toasty and fantastic ambiance. It's definitely not push button easy and will never heat any structure evenly the way a furnace will.

[Wintergreen282]

Mixing some less seasoned wood in with the dry stuff and saving that big oak or beech log for the last nighttime loading helps for a longer burn. I generally don't get up to reload preferring an uninterrupted sleep to dealing with colder temps in the morning. That said, I will put a mix of wood types by the stove to easily toss in should I get up. A good bed of coals can take big logs, a weak bed needs faster burning wood. If you pay attention, you learn what will catch and what will leave you with half burnt logs in your stove. Draft makes a difference and I think the wind influences your draft. It's possible barometric pressure influences your draft. Trees around your yurt can grow taller from one winter to the next and make a difference.

[Bob Rowlands]

Good points. Thanks for the tips.

[Wintergreen282]

Dry wood REALLY makes a difference. A huge, huge difference. Unseasoned wood will sometimes burn pretty well, so you think you are okay. But much of the actual heat is going to drying the wood. Certain types of trees also burn hotter than others.

[Wintergreen282]

Bob. I would think you know all this and way, way more. Lol.