On the proper integration of wood stoves in passive houses under cold climates

• Wood stoves power is said to be oversized for an integration in passive houses.
• Integration is considered in cold climates using detailed dynamic simulations.
• The overheating appears comparable between cold climate zones.
• Current state-of-the-art stoves can already be integrated without overheating.
• The space-heating fraction covered by the stove depends on the local climate.

The space-heating (SH) of residential buildings using a wood stove is an attractive solution. The way to properly integrate stoves in passive houses (PH) is still in question: current nominal powers are generally oversized compared to the PH needs (i.e. overheating risk) and it is not well understood how one stove can contribute to the SH of the entire building during a heating season. This question has already been addressed for the temperate climate of Belgium in a previous paper. The present work investigates cold climates also using a larger range of stove parameters. This is done using detailed dynamic simulations (TRNSYS) on a typical Norwegian single-family house typology. Using a large sensitivity analysis, recommendations to prevent overheating are given with a distinction between pellet and log stoves. Results also show that the overheating risk is somehow comparable between cold climates. On the contrary, the ability of one stove to ensure alone the thermal comfort strongly depends on the local climate. For the milder climates, the stove can cover a significant part of the SH while, for colder climates, the stove should only be considered as a part of the total SH emission system.