I'm trying to estimate the required BTU/hour that would be required to heat the 1 ½ story 20' wide cabin if I followed the insulation as speced in the pans. I live in upstate New York and this will be a year round home.
I'm planning on using a single wood stove and a single direct-vent propane wall-furnace to heat the home and I am trying to determine what but rating they should each have.
Any advise would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Mischa
Here is a pretty handy sizing guide
http://www.sunstarheaters.com/corcho/archive/sizing_guide.html
Talk to Al:
http://www.alsheating.com/
We have a 24x32 1.5 story FirstDay Cottage and we heat with a Jotul woodstove and a Rinnai 1004 heater on the first floor (not from Al, but his page helped us choose). This is 10,500 - 38,000 BTUs and it puts out plenty-probably could have gone with a lower model.
We built a 1 1/2 20' in Alaska. The smallest Kuma oil stove maxes at 18,000 BTU. It keeps our cabin at 50 when it is -15 outside. We have lots of windows that we have yet to curtain. The problem is when we arrive up and it is 0, it takes a long time to heat all of the cabin surfaces. We boost with a 30,000 BTU radiant propane heater to speed the process and then switch to just oil. It burns 2.5 gal per 24 hours at 18,000BTU.
I found these two calculators to be useful.
http://www.herman-nelson.com/BTU_calculator.cfm?type=F
http://www.heatershop.com/btu_calculator.htm