Can I Comfortably Heat My Whole House With Only a Stove?

The way I look at it Dave is that if your home had no floors at all & was just a shell, the heat would easily make it's way all the way up to the top floor & pool up there......SO the trick is to allow as many ways as you can for the heat to travel upstairs & the cold return air down, unrestricted by the floors above. (simple to word but not easy to accomplish! )

You guys are a great help so far. I will take some measurements, and pictures today after work.

Ok, I'm back from the cellar. I have some more specific info about the stove.

There is a date of testing listed in march 1980.

The inside dimmensions are 12 x 14 and 9 deep to the top of bricks. So 168 sq in . I'm guessing about 50000 btu?

I have some pics too. so maybe it is similiar to other Russo models. Let me know please.

tell me what you all think. I know it needs a cleaning and some paint, but pleanty of time for that.

Can you get that shaker grate wheel (pic 3)to move alright or is it warped?

works awesome. Moves left and right, and the dump door opens and closes real easy.

You have a fine stove. Some Scotch-Brite pads will take care of that rust. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Manuf ... ageHandler
High temp black paint. Baro damper, screws and some stove pipe.

davelikesbeer wrote:works awesome. Moves left and right, and the dump door opens and closes real easy.

Sounds like a winner!

Dave , I think that this is a crap shoot on whether it will heat it or not. I believe it will save you tons of money. What I think( and the $.01that is worth) is when you figure your square footage you have to include the basement because it is the floor it is on and has to get heat, so really you are heating about 2200 ft^2 (3x750 and I rounded for easy math) with a basement that the walls will suck heat. The hitzer 30-95 has a 180 sq in firebox and they say 1800 ft^2 . I think you may be a bit undersized with my figure of 2200, however, there are alot of variables and the only way is to just burn and see what happens. I don't doubt you will save a ton of money. You'll have to post and let us know how it goes. My house is about 820 ft^2 a floor with 2 finished floor with a basement of 820ft^2 also. I used 2500 ft^2 as a guide and got a hitzer 82 u.l. on the way. If I am wrong in my method of figureing, i'll be way oversized and have the windows open.

sharkman

I'm sure I'll save money, and the oil burner is new, so it will be a very reliable backup and supplement. I'm just looking forward to the season so I CAN SEE. I feel like a little kid waiting for christmas so I can play with the toys I saw in the closet. I'm going to clean the stove all up, paint it, put on a few feet of chimney and burn it in the yard to get the paint seasoned. Hopefully in the next week or so.

You're not going to heat you entire house with that, what you'll be able to do is if you distribute the heat upstairs is keep a few rooms warm and keep the basement comfortable. I deally you'd want it on the first floor but if that is not possible the basement isn't bad place for it either. Just try and direct as much upstairs and be sure to insulate well around the rafters where they meet the sill. At the very least you'll have nice warm floors distributing some heat upstairs. As the other poster suggested there is no reason not to use it... You can always upgrade at a later date.

davelikesbeer wrote:I'm sure I'll save money, and the oil burner is new, so it will be a very reliable backup and supplement. I'm just looking forward to the season so I CAN SEE. I feel like a little kid waiting for christmas so I can play with the toys I saw in the closet. I'm going to clean the stove all up, paint it, put on a few feet of chimney and burn it in the yard to get the paint seasoned. Hopefully in the next week or so.

It does become a wintertime hobby for allot of us! (must be the Neanderthal "Man against Nature" thing!)

First floor would definitely be the place to try and heat your whole house with it but if not then like it was said before try and insulate the sides of the basement as best you can. Also create some vent holes and maybe install some ducts with power fans to help draw as much heat as you possible can to the up stairs.

That bad boy is going to throw some heat out. 1500sq. ft is not that big of a house so you'll see this winter. Make sure you get all the rust off before you paint it. Stove Bright makes excellent high temp paint and goes on beautifully.

Stove bright, eh. Brush on, or spray? Which would be better, if it matters.

Spray, much easier to apply and many choices of color.

Greg L