Sizing a wood stove for a 20' yurt ?

[chrisdag]

Apologies if I missed an old post; tried a quick search with no results.

I'm in the process of planning for a 20-foot insulated yurt from

White Mountain Yurts

in NH and am looking for practical advice on sizing a wood stove to keep it comfortable in Western Maine. We are in the Bethel area near Sunday River and close to the ME/NH border.

If I just go by square footage I've got a smaller selection of wood stoves, all of which take 16 inch logs which are smaller than the 18 inch firewood we already have stacked to warm our cabin.

Does anyone have any advice or even BTU output range selections for picking a wood stove that would be powerful yet not overkill?

I'm looking at:

• Quadra-Fire Yosemite Yosemite Wood Stove
  
• Vermont Castings Intrepid II Intrepid II Wood Burning Stoves by Vermont Castings
  
• Vermont Castings Aspen Aspen Wood Burning Stoves by Vermont Castings

By square footage alone the 18,000 BTU Vermont Aspen stove is the smallest and most suited. I've never seen a stove that small though in online yurt pictures so I'm wondering if it may be undersized. The other Vermont Castings is specced at 27,000 BTU and the Quadra-Fire Yosemite is at 42,500 BTU

Thanks!

[Jafo]

You are going to want 3 times what you would normally need for the same volume in a regular home. That is just my opinion, but if you view other threads about

heating

in here, you will see that is the conclusion of others. You have about 315 sq feet in a 20 foot yurt. I am assuming you have tall walls. I forget how to calculate area in such a structure, but if I was shopping I would look for a stove that could heat a 1,000 square feet of room.

[chrisdag]

Thanks! After failing with search I found a few of the stove threads via browsing. I no longer feel wrong for looking at the larger stove options marketed at the 1000 sq foot + range

[cmwingfield]

In my opinion, I'd get the biggest stove you can afford. You can always open the door if it gets too warm! I also put a ceiling fan in and it makes a world of difference in bringing the warm air at the

dome

back down to the floor.

[Dan R-M]

Along the lines of wood stove size, I wonder if anyone who has put one on a raised platform felt it necessary to take into account weight in the location. I figure it would be somewhere around 200-400 pounds between the stove and any tiling/stone/other thermal protection for the floor.
Our platform follows Pacific Yurts' specs, with the 2x6 t&g boards sitting on 4x6 beams. Any thoughts?

[Jafo]

I never gave it any though to be honest lol..

[chrisdag]

The Yurt vendor told me to size the stove based on the SF of the yurt - everybody else told me to get a very large outsized stove to handle the known heat loss. We ended up purchasing a floor model Quadra-Fire Yosemite stove which should be great.

And on a side note while looking for methods to insulate the yurt base I found this vendor of reclaimed/recycled rigid foam

insulation

. Apparently it's quite cheap, usable and is popular with people who need to grab a few more LEED credits for their certification. Welcome to Insulation Depot - Rigid Foam Insulation, Used Insulation, Roofing Supplies, Roofing Material -- I found a Maine reseller of their stuff and will likely use the 2x8 3-inch XEPS boards (2-layers) for our project.

[YurtSquared]

Are there any formulas out there to estimate the heat loss in a yurt? I know there are lots of variables with the canvas walls, ceiling, and platform, I am just interested in seeing some numbers. Id like to compare the before and after with different

insulation

methods.

Chrisdag - the reclaimed insulation idea is awesome! Thanks for the link.

[Bob Rowlands]

I have a 16' home made yurt with woodstove. A drafty platform and door fit, and wall cover attachment to door frame fit. Not even close to a regular old house, way more drafty.

My brief experience firing the 1.6 cu ft woodstove a couple dozen times this fall tells me a 2.5 stove would be MUCH better.

I therefore suggest at least one size larger stove than the cubic footage recommended for a regular framed/insulated/weatherproofed home, should be considered. You can always stoke the stove more lightly and/or damp it down. Undersizing would be a mistake, in my experience.
Just sayin. Good luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

Sorry, I didn't read the entire thread.

18,000 BTU way too small for a 20' yurt in a cold damp climate. My 1.6 Cu ft stove is rated at 27,000 btus and it is too small for my 16'er. 42,500 seems about right for 20'er, and I see that's the one you bought. Good. You should be nice and toasty.