we're building in Childers Qld (Zone 2) on top of a hill 120m above sea level with no chance of being built-in as we are on a 69 acre block. Quite windy all the time predominately from the SE. All outside doors will be security. Roof has vents in the gables on all four sides so I can leave open to purge heat during summer and close off in winter. Bed 2&3 doors used to be adjacent bathroom door for cross breezes but a layout change in the bathroom meant having its door on the east now. Not ideal but necessary. Dark colour unfortunately is dictated by our very red soil that will stain any light colour so had to go dark, would of preferred light. So I should make my eaves 1200mm all around?

Thanks for the additional info and photos, EL, and what a clever husband to construct the model! If it were me, I would install the heater on the wall in sitting/dining room. I say this location as it is tucked away a little better than the location behind kitchen wall, and seems safer (for people walking past it when in use), to me anyway. The TV could be placed or mounted next to it, but far enough away so heat doesn't affect it in any way (not sure if that's a consideration). My folks had a large wood burning stove installed in their old house long ago, to replace the original fireplace. My mother used to cook large pots of homemade soups on the top of it, letting them simmer all day long - the aromas were amazing. Your house project is exciting. Best wishes.

Hi Ben, advise you engage a Pro to assist you with the front end design process. All these design decisions need to be founded securely on construction cost knowledge, and it's invariably about balancing your requirements to budget within context. Whether it's sub floor, 2nd storey or going out or whatever there are always options on how to achieve your needs and pro/cons & costs to stack up. Working out various configurations of spaces etc is relatively easy, however designing to budget is not, which is where you get the value of utilising professional services for this. These types of projects and investments involved are with all due respect too large, complex and significant to risk DIY'ing the critical front end. You can give it a go but I'll bet you continue to go round in circles. As we explain to our clients in the preliminary conversations, it's not your job to "work it out". All you need to "work out" at this stage is clarifying your particular living requirements and nominate a budget. The "how" and balancing up/negotiation/compromising between the project priorities/requirements and the budget limit is the job of the professional, what the design process deals with, and what we (as design professionals) have the superior capacity/experience to assist you working through it all to achieve the best solution for your particular situation/scenario. That's your best bet here. Hope this helps steer you in the right direction. Cheers PD

Hi. I have read these comments and am really surprised - although a couple I share - i have the ten installed in room that is completely open on east side so on a minus 2 evening that’s what it is under the roof. the heater does smoke on start up so we leave the door open and wait until the fire is established Some may think this is a design issue and maybe it is but the cold steel will not draw warm air up until it’s warm. once that’s achieved the fire is beautiful. I don’t like the vermiculite tiles so am having a steel floor and back made with 50mm risers/dogs to life the kindling off the base and enable airflow underneath. That’s a choice not a fault. I have a Ned Kelly and it needs cleaning frequently too and its burn is far less efficient than the Scandia. I don’t burn 800mm logs but use standard RedGum and Sugar gum and the latter requires more heat energy to get going but once it’s burning it is also beautiful. the burn leaves almost no coals and logs retain shape but just turn to ash So in my view its more efficient than a few others I’ve seen and used inc the Ned BUT Customer service is useless and uninformed I was told the heater had fans and of course it doesn’t hence the thermals on top deck I can see people have had horror stories and experiences and that’s terrible but I’m happy as and would buy again I didn’t want to spend 10-15k as I wanted a large heater not a smaller one