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[Scott7m]

I'm primarily looking at the 5036, how many sq ft will this heat under normal circumstances? 

[Scott7m]

is there any reason for someone to get anything bigger than a 5036 if there not going to heat over 3000 sq ft with it?

[ckbetz]

I'd look at the cost difference.  If you're right at the limit there's no question you should go bigger.  Remember they all give you the absolute greatest BTU rating that the stove is possible of having.  It's a rating that you'll rarely, if ever, see.  I know my house takes a lot of heat but I'm sure I'm not requiring 500,000 btu/hr to heat it. 

If you go to heatinghelp.com and look around you can also find a nice heat loss calc that will get you in the ball park.  Then remember that the stove rating is probably twice what you'll actually get out of it.

[Scott7m]

If I went with a 6048, could it be to big?

For example, if I'm needing to heat 2500 sq ft and the 5036 will do it, will the 5036 do it more efficiently than the 6048???

or would the 6048 simply result in longer burn times?

[ckbetz]

The major difference in the models is how much hot water you heat.  So to heat more water you have a larger firebox.  Having more hot water will provide you with more btu's of heat for your home.  In theory if it takes so many btu's to heat your home then the units should perform similarly.  The difference should be in longer burn times since you have a larger firebox and more hot water at your heating disposal. 

In other words, if you have a 6048 that is putting out 300,000 btu/hr and a 5036 that puts out 200,000 btu/hr and your house requires 100,000 btu/hr then you can see that you'll use up more of the potential in the 5036 during one hour of heating.  But then that's complicated by things like amount of wood in the box when it has to fire, what type of wood, etc.  That's why the numbers they give aren't that accurate.

Go to heating help and get the free heat loss calculator from slant fin.