Heating a Whole House W/ a Hitzer 30-96

I am considering buying a Hitzer 30-96 to put in the basement and hoprfully heat my whole 1500 sq. ft. 2 story house. It would be placed under my main heat trunk which already has a large removable panel in it for duct cleaning. Of course, there are stairs leading out of the basement and stairs to the second floor.

Will this work? Does this model have sufficient btus?

I can also turn on the blower to my furnace to circulate the heat, but I want it to be able to do the job w/out electricity. That's why I decided no to get a 503 insert since I was told that w/out electricity, it would heat, but not well, w/ most of my heat going up the chimney.

We don't often have power outages here, but w/ the way things are going, I don't want to depend on electricity to keep warm.

Also, has anyone heard of, or used a Cabela coal camp stove?

Thanks.

You mean a 30-95...
http://www.hitzer.com/products/stove/Model-30_95- ... per-Stove/
The stove has a max 60k btu/hr rating...
Depends on how well insulated and sealed the house is...
A heat loss calculation and leak test is the only way to tell for sure...
Then you have the issue of heat circulation...
My Mark II at 72k btu/hr was not able to keep up with the heat loss on a 20* windy day...
But this is a poorly insulated, ceiling insulation only and drafty 1000 sq/ft cape...
But the DS Basement #4 at 130k btu/hr had no issue keeping up...
Even though it is now heating twice as much space because it is in the semi-finished basement...
Large air grate above the stove 24x36 and several cold air returns scattered about the house...
We also have a cottage here and that is well insulated building
that 600 sq/ft building has a heat loss of only 24k btu/hr on a 0* day with a 20 mph breeze...
SO...
Does the 1500 sq/ft include the basement or is it just the two floors...
Poorly insulated or newer well insulated house...
Have you had an energy audit done and know the heat loss...
The audits are done for free here...
If you house is older and has a higher heat loss you may be on the low side with the 30-95...

Welcome to the Forums...

First, there are some threads on this same topic about trying to heat a whole house with a stove. Stoves are good for immediate areas and maybe a floor above, moving the warm air and cold air return are other problems . having duct work for the heat to rise and cold air return.

Here's one.
Can I Comfortably Heat My Whole House With Only a Stove?

Trying make a stove into a furnace usually doesn't work, but in some instances (heat jacket, extra blowers, good insulation, etc...) it may work. Some on here have successfully made stoves work in the basement to heat the house.

You have to have enough or more BTU's in the stove to satisfy the heating requirements, in which you will loose quite a bit in the basement alone without a heat jacket.

There are a lot of factors to consider. I tried a Keystoker 90K in the basement, but couldn't keep up, especially on really cold winter days. Couldn't get it above about 60 upstairs.

What type of heating do you have now? Forced air or boiler? either you should consider an add on type stove/boiler to help supplement it....

If your stove is going in the basement, and you have a 1500 square foot house setting on the basement, you will be very disapointed useing the HITZER 30-95. You need to step up to the HITZER 50-93, or the HITZER #82. If the stove is going up in a 1500 square foot house, then you'll be fine with the 30-95.

Sorry, a 30-95.
Thanks for all the advice. I was considering the 50-93 and I called Hitzer and the guy told me to go w/ the 30-95 because he said it is better to run a stove at the top of it's capacity than to run a stove at beneath it's capacity. He felt it would heat the house but now you guys have made me nervous.
As I explained, the stove would be in the basement with the 1500 sq. ft. above. I have forced air heat. The house was well buit in 1941. Only minimal insulation in the attic and I don't think there is any wall insulation.
I'd really like to heat from my living room fireplace, but can't seem to find a stove to fit it. Don't want an insert since you seem to really need the blowers to push the heat out and I don't want to need electricity. A Chubby would fit if I sawed the legs a bit...

Hi Luigi,
Where are you from (maybe I missed it)? It would help to know what temps you experience and what your current heating system is. One other thing check out DS Machine stoves the have a hand fed that puts out 170k btu, that should be enough heat, or maybe a little overkill
Have a great day, Eric

If the insulation is lacking...
I would go bigger than the 30-95...
How much fuel did you use last year and what temps did you keep the house at...
When the furnace was running on a cold day was it 50% or 90%...
What is the btu/hr of the current furnace...
I think a hand fed at 50-60% is the sweet spot...
If you run a hand fed at 80-90% yo will be filling it more than every 12 hours...
The DS Machine line is great...
Hopper fed, big coal capacity, Bi-metalic air control and no fan...
I have a DS Basement #4 and could not be happier...

If you can get the heat into the central system you have now you may do pretty well!

I installed a stove in a house I use to own just around the corner from the central system's return and had pretty good results running the blower to circulate the heat throughout the house while heating only with the stove.

Another house I owned had the stove in the basement with a grate in the floor directly above the stove which on the main level came out under the kitchen table. This worked OK (Much better with a box fan dropped over it pulling the air up to the main level) but not as well as the first set up!

Without power in both places we where fine as far as keeping warm, we just could not move the heat around as well as when the fans where up!

SD

SheepDog68 wrote:If you can get the heat into the central system you have now you may do pretty well!

I installed a stove in a house I use to own just around the corner from the central system's return and had pretty good results running the blower to circulate the heat throughout the house while heating only with the stove.

Another house I owned had the stove in the basement with a grate in the floor directly above the stove which on the main level came out under the kitchen table. This worked OK (Much better with a box fan dropped over it pulling the air up to the main level) but not as well as the first set up!

Without power in both places we where fine as far as keeping warm, we just could not move the heat around as well as when the fans where up!

SD

Furnace fan alone.......with metal duct work, no way. Not in the cold northern states anyways. Furnace running..........taking in pre-heated air through cold air return, works quite well. Insulated flex duct may have better results. I wouldn't choose my heating source based on duct work material. Still, 30-95 would be too small if basement square footage matches house square footage. The other replies you have gotten to your post are quite accurate. Don't put the 30-95 in the basement, and expect it to heat the house above. It's a great little stove but, if you're going to heat your house from the basement, it's too small. If you hadn't noticed, I have 30-95 & 50-93. The 30-95 throws a lot of heat. The 50-93 will blast you with a wall of heat. There's a big difference between the two stoves. As capeCoaler said; If you TRY to crank up the 30-95 to the out-put of the 50-93, you'll be feeding the stove more than every 12 hours. The stove will be on the edge of over firing, which can damage the stove.

oliver power wrote: Furnace fan alone.......with metal duct work, no way. Not in the cold northern states anyways. Furnace running..........taking in pre-heated air through cold air return, works quite well. Insulated flex duct may have better results. I wouldn't choose my heating source based on duct work material. Still, 30-95 would be too small if basement square footage matches house square footage. The other replies you have gotten to your post are quite accurate. Don't put the 30-95 in the basement, and expect it to heat the house above. It's a great little stove but, if you're going to heat your house from the basement, it's too small. If you hadn't noticed, I have 30-95 & 50-93. The 30-95 throws a lot of heat. The 50-93 will blast you with a wall of heat. There's a big difference between the two stoves. As capeCoaler said; If you TRY to crank up the 30-95 to the out-put of the 50-93, you'll be feeding the stove more than every 12 hours. The stove will be on the edge of over firing, which can damage the stove.

Decidedly something to think about!!

It worked really well in the house with the return right behind the stove, but of course a lot less well in any place with the return in another part of the house.

SD

I was in your situation about 3 years ago. I have a 2 story house and a basement with 800 sqft a level, this is close to the size of your place. You are heating really 2400 sq.ft. and the basement is a big heat sink and figure a loss there because your fighting ground temp. I recommend nothing smaller than a hitzer 82, and I am in south central pa near harrisburg. I use a hood/cabinet built around mine and a fan to suck the heat from the hood and blow it into a vent on the first floor, this does 95% of the heat of my house. Hitzer makes the FA model with cabinet and blower etc, that is very good, and d.s. machine makes LARGE hand fired furnaces, and Harman has a furnace model too. A small stove in the basement won't cut it. If your north or around I-80 I would absolutely not get anything smaller than the hitzer 82 unless it is super tight, or your willing to accept it as just supplementing your other system. I have needed my oil furnace on some of the absolute coldest days of the year at the temps I like to keep the house, but we wouldn't have frozen. My house is old too, and decently constructed, but probably no true wall insulation, just the heat wrap and drywall over plaster inside, and who knows what else, I've chosen not to do a wall autopsy yet. Also remember you can always open a window, but shivering will probably get you in the dog house.