10/04/2026
Can you have a wood stove in a Passive House?
Generally, in the Passive House world, the answer is no, and the reasons are valid. The low heating loads in a super-insulated building paired with high output wood appliances can easily lead to overheating. And combustion needs oxygen, which means that unless you design for it, wacky things can happen with air being pulled through a tight envelope. Not to mention that when the goal is excellent air quality, wood smoke is working against you.
Despite these very good reasons not to install wood heating in Passive Houses, we've designed many homes with either a wood stove or fireplace. We recently reached out to clients who've been living with wood heat to find out how it is going, what works, and what we can do better.
One client, after a full winter with it:
"It feels right-sized — we don't feel like the house overheats when we use the woodstove. It nicely heats the home, though the mudroom and downstairs bathroom don't quite get the heat the rest of the house does.
We did have issues with smoke and backdrafting at first. We quickly realized the issue was the airtightness, and now we simply crack one of the patio doors when lighting the fire and close it once it gets going — after a few minutes. It only needs to be a crack. You don't notice any cold air getting in.
We still get some smoke when we stoke the fire, but a chimney cleaner told us a softer angle on the pipe might help. We haven't bothered to change it yet.
I don't think there have been any surprises — I grew up with woodstoves, so I'm used to the process and troubleshooting. We definitely would rather have it than not. We use it a lot on weekends and love it for the heat, the smell, the ambiance. All the good stuff."
— Sambro Creek
Stove: Supreme Novo 24
First in a series — follow along to hear more from homeowners with wood heat in their Passive Houses.
