How to build a house

Some recommendations in regard to the design of single family houses with stove heating

Before we speak about the house lay-out, a choice of stove type we have to specify some basic principles. Let’s call the volume of the house which is limited by braced protective constructions which needs heating a heat circuit. The house may have one or several heat circuits on each floor.

The house will be good and convenient only in case when a suitable 3-D and design solution has been adopted. Protective guards, external and internal walls ( the latter are external walls in heat circuit),coverings, ceiling, floor, windows, doors ensure specified heat losses , and the stove compensates these heat losses, separately in each room. In summer protective guards limit the incoming heat. If the house have got a good heat circuit but hasn’t got a good stove or the house does not keep heat whereas the stove is quite good, it is not a good house. One should not economize on thermal protection of buildings. Generally, it is more practical to spend capital for increasing heat protection and heat insulation of buildings, those which are being erected as well as the existing ones. In this case a complex solution of air recirculation system is necessary which is normally performed by professionals. Even experienced designers sometimes do not take into consideration some peculiarities when designing houses with stove heating.

What one has to bear in mind when one is going to build a new house with stove heating or reconstruct an old house?

The typical design project with centralized communications shall be rejected. Its design does not suit for stove heating.

One shall start from the stove. The house lay-out is formed round the stove.

The house shall have a solid construction. It shall be suitable for living all the year round , even if you are not going to live in it. The value of the house in this case is getting higher at low costs.

One shall draw the floor lay-out to scale indicating heat circuits having the size of up to 60 m2. Each circuit shall be heated by its own stove having a capacity corresponding to the heat circuit size. The lay-out, square and purpose of each circuit are different, and they are equipped with stoves of various functional purposes. For example, a two-storey house has two circuits on the floor. The first circuit consists of an entrance, a kitchen and a dining room and the fire-place hall. The second circuit comprises two bed rooms. On the first floor there is a third circuit. It has a common room and two bed rooms.

So the first circuit can be equipped with heating and cooking stove incorporating a fire-place (OVIK_ZK or OVIK_BK) or a Russian stove with a fire-place (RTIK_ZK or RTIK_BK). The second circuit shall be equipped with heating stove OIK. The third circuit shall be equipped with a heating stove OIK with a transit chimney or heating stove with a fire-place OIK_K with a transit chimney.

The stove of the third circuit is installed onto one of the stoves of the ground floor.

It goes without saying that the number of heat circuits can be different, as well as their functional purpose. The stove shall be placed in the middle of the room ( a variant of stove location for heating of two circuits is also possible) and the rooms ( up to four) round the stove.

The staircases between the floors shall be located outside these heat circuits, whereas the landing staircase can be heated or remain cold.

If the house is designed in such a way, it is possible to live in it during cold seasons in any circuit separately or in the whole house simultaneously depending on the number of people living in this house at a given moment. A variant when people live in it in winter from time to time is also possible, in this case the walls design shall allow to heat the house within 6 or 9 hours.

It is known that in order to increase the room temperature a significantly bigger capacity is needed than the capacity to maintain constant temperature, whereas the quicker you want to increase the room temperature, the more power you need. In order to be able to maintain constant temperature in heat circuit of 60 m2 power of 1.5 kWt/h is needed. This ratio depends on the average heat requirement to square unit, which is different in various countries. In practice the design of our stoves provides a possibility to use electric energy as a stand-by fuel that enables to maintain constant room temperature once you have heated the stove. Our stoves can be heated simultaneously with wood and electricity.

The specified heat losses in heat circuit shall be compensated by the stove heat capacity if we burn the stoves two times a day. This is very important. A good heating system shall be effective in a rather large field of heat capacity, i.e. in a wide temperature range outside. Unfortunately the efficiency ratio of modern heating systems significantly depends on the capacity at which the system is functioning. The lower is the rate of using the system ( a heating capability is 12 kWt, we use but 3 kWt) the lower is the efficiency ratio, and the more is the fuel consumption. Judging by the results obtained by Finns, we can conclude that if a heating system of 12 kWt and efficiency ratio of 75 % has been chosen for house heating, and we use only ј of its power ( 3 kWt), then its efficiency rate will make 19% only.

Therefore fuel consumption will be 5 times as much in comparison with the calculated values.

For our conditions the maximum requirement in heating power arises during a short period of time during the most cold five-days. The stove in this period is burnt twice a day with a maximum efficiency rate. The time during which only a half of heating capability is needed comprises only 1/3 or ј of the heating time. During this time the stove is burnt only once a day with a maximum efficiency rate. The biggest part of time and fuel is used for furnace operation with a capacity of ј from maximum value. During this time wood or electricity is used for maintaining a constant room temperature.

Therefore it is to no purpose to build a stove which has a bigger capacity than it is needed according to the calculations or to have a stove that compensates heat circuit losses when the stove is burnt once a day. If one builds a stove which is not powerful enough as it is needed as per the calculations, overburning of stove takes place, and it leads to premature failure of the stove.

I.V. Kuznetsov