new stove time! looking for suggestions

[husky455rancher]

ok guys i normally heat my 1200 single level house with a small dutchwest insert. now it does do the job but not very well. not to mention the burn times are pretty bad. upgrading the insert isnt worthwile as my fireplace is pretty small i dont think upgrading to a slightly larger one would make much sense as the difference would be menial i believe.

i also have a old shenandoah freestander in the cellar. now it can heat the entire unfinished cellar and the living area perfectly. the only bad thing is it really eats the wood. i believe the stove is from the 1970's. this stove really did a much better job of heating but i seldom used it because it ate so much wood. i simply remove the door going into the cellar and the house is very evenly heated. heating the basement also doubles my heating area to approx 2400.

im a little leery of a cat stove as ive never tried one. ive read alot of good things about blazeking and pacific energy. specificly the summit. any info you guys could give me would be great as i hope to get a new stove sometime in october.

i cleaned my 2 chimney flues today and im ready to go for the season but id like to make it a little more pleasurable. im done with getting up twice a night to load the little insert when its really cold and having the house still be nippy.

thanks fellas and happy burning!

 

[MechanicMatt]

opcorn: Wow, I just asked a very similar question tonight. Looking forward to the answer. What are you going to do with your old insert? As I want to replace a firewood insert with a woodstove insert.

 

[husky455rancher]

i was planning on keeping the insert for the occasional fire on the weekends if i felt like it.

 

[EXCALIBER]

I have had my Blaze King several years now, I think 4, and have yet to have a problem with it. I would vote for the king model and you would be putting in wood once a day if you wanted or every other day, depending on quality of wood. No reason to be afraid of a cat I think they are warrantied for 10 years now. If your going to cook every meal on it I would look at something like the Alderlea T6 as an option. For heating I really don't thing you will get much better than a Blaze King IMO

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Hey h455r

How you doing?

I guess the first question I would ask is how much is the budget?

If you can swing it, the Jotul F118 would be a good choice. I heat my place with one no problem and it is very generous on the BTU output while being very stingy on the wood consumption. With decent wood I can get a productive 10 hour burn. Best part, it takes 25 inch wood which means if you can get it on the splitter it will fit in the stove. EPA rated, no cat.

Granted, it's a pretty basic looking cast iron box stove, but if it's going in an unfinished basement like mine, cosmetics are no biggie. Check with the big stove place down in Preston, they often have deals on their floor models.

Take Care

 

[Richard_]

I am partial to Pacific Energy , I heat our house with a Pacific insert , does great here in the Pacific Northwest , the Summit should work perfect for you

 

[dustytools]

I just bought and am in the process of installing a Pacific Energy Super 27 which is rated for up to 2000 square feet. I haven't had time to use it yet but I have read nothing but good reviews on PE products.

 

[naturelover]

I'll finally get to fire up the Englander 30 for the first time this week me thinks....

Another consideration.


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[drumbum]

If you are a" lot of bang-for-your-buck" kinda guy I would recommend an Englander 30-NC. Good north-south loading firebox, clean burning and throws the heat! Comes with legs and a pedestal to suit to taste and an optional blower. I think they can be had through home despot for $899 shipped, (but don't quote me on that). Overnight burns are a no-brainer. In mild winter weather (i.e. no wind 40 plus), 12 hr. burns are not a problem with good wood ( your mileage and insulation may vary).

 

[husky455rancher]

thanks for the suggestions guys. ill do a little reading on them. looks have no bearing on my decision whatsoever. this is about function over form.

my concern about a cat and it might be for not is how perfect does the wood have to be to effectivly burn in the stove? im always a couple years ahead on my wood storage but sometimes ill hear the wood hiss a little when its in the stove. i dunno how that would fly with a cat stove. i have my wood cut,split and stacked atleast 2 years or more before i burn it normally. next year im gonna be behind for the first time in almost ten years due to circumstances id rather not get into at the moment. so i may have to buy log lengths or something to get ahead im really not sure yet.

my goal is to be able to pack the stove at maybe 10pm and repack it at 5am before i go to work. if its possible to have a stove that effectivly still produces heat when i get home at 5pm i would be all over that. my crappy insert is all done by noon and i think im being generous on that. its not uncommon to come home to a house in the 50s. its still cold in the house when i go to bed too cuse it fell so far behind.

i disconnected my oil burner years ago so if i want heat i burn wood so i wanna get the right stove!

 

[kjp]

thanks for the suggestions guys. ill do a little reading on them. looks have no bearing on my decision whatsoever. this is about function over form.

my concern about a cat and it might be for not is how perfect does the wood have to be to effectivly burn in the stove? im always a couple years ahead on my wood storage but sometimes ill hear the wood hiss a little when its in the stove. i dunno how that would fly with a cat stove. i have my wood cut,split and stacked atleast 2 years or more before i burn it normally. next year im gonna be behind for the first time in almost ten years due to circumstances id rather not get into at the moment. so i may have to buy log lengths or something to get ahead im really not sure yet.

my goal is to be able to pack the stove at maybe 10pm and repack it at 5am before i go to work. if its possible to have a stove that effectivly still produces heat when i get home at 5pm i would be all over that. my crappy insert is all done by noon and i think im being generous on that. its not uncommon to come home to a house in the 50s. its still cold in the house when i go to bed too cuse it fell so far behind.

i disconnected my oil burner years ago so if i want heat i burn wood so i wanna get the right stove!

my pacific (forgot whats its called, the big one,27 maybe ?) will heat 12 hours, and when i get home i just stirr up some coals and throw some more wood in

 

[husky455rancher]

thanks for the suggestions guys. ill do a little reading on them. looks have no bearing on my decision whatsoever. this is about function over form.

my concern about a cat and it might be for not is how perfect does the wood have to be to effectivly burn in the stove? im always a couple years ahead on my wood storage but sometimes ill hear the wood hiss a little when its in the stove. i dunno how that would fly with a cat stove. i have my wood cut,split and stacked atleast 2 years or more before i burn it normally. next year im gonna be behind for the first time in almost ten years due to circumstances id rather not get into at the moment. so i may have to buy log lengths or something to get ahead im really not sure yet.

my goal is to be able to pack the stove at maybe 10pm and repack it at 5am before i go to work. if its possible to have a stove that effectivly still produces heat when i get home at 5pm i would be all over that. my crappy insert is all done by noon and i think im being generous on that. its not uncommon to come home to a house in the 50s. its still cold in the house when i go to bed too cuse it fell so far behind.

i disconnected my oil burner years ago so if i want heat i burn wood so i wanna get the right stove!

 

[Craz z]

My pops has a blazeking. I was talked into the secondary air tube pile of crap. I got a quadrafire. Im very sickened to learn after my first year of burning i have 5 gallons plus of buildup for me the quadrafire is no doubt double the heat output of a old school smoke dragon. If i would've listened to my gut instead of the ridiculous rational of no replaceable parts that a secondary vs. cat stove salesman told me I'd be a happy camper. I wanted the princess insert soooo bad but bought the quadrafire on a year end deal installed. the princess cat is scheduled to burn for 20-30 low hours. the quad is lucky to go 7 hours low. I don't care if i had to replace the cat once a year the cleanout of pops king blazeking is a 100th of what i got out of a secondary not to mention the attention to dismantling of cleanout of a secondary. airtubes have to come down. baffles have to come down, blankets have to comedown. all are which are sensitive to moving around and vacuuming and a pain to put back into place. the cats have a removable or selectable pull down that are literally one second to move outta the way. whatever your choice is don't listen to the secondaries are better cause there are no replaceable parts. Its absolute BS and i'm angry I didn't follow my gut on the best COLD and i mean Montana Cold weather stove choice. WISH I WOULDA GOT BUCK OR BLAZEKING. 3500$ stove should be a blessing not a worrying furnace.

my .02

 

[naturelover]

There are many positive reviews of the secondary type stoves elsewhere on the net.

Maybe it's something to do with the install?

From what I've read, the secondary stove can be a little more particular when it comes to drafting, flue temperatures, wood moisture and such.

I got my triple wall pipe section in, so guess I'm about to find out how well the Englander 30 performs....



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[EXCALIBER]

Maybe this will help with some of your questions. I also sent you a message with more info. I have sold about 2 stoves around me to friends at work after seeing how mine performs. I have also talked two other guys on this site who had Quadra Fire inserts into buying Blaze King Princess inserts and they are very happy with their choice. They told me they wish they had done the switch years ago! I just wish I got some kickback off of selling stoves lol maybe I should call them and see if I can get a free cat for when mine kicks the bucket in a few years? Hmmhttp://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/217824.htm
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/183224.htm

 

[Bob95065]

I had a Avalon Rainier insert in our last house that was 1200 sf. With a front blower it heated it fine. We moved in our new house this past August. Last weekend I installed a free-standing Rainier I bought off craigslist used. I am looking forward to fires this winter.

Bob

 

[Fyrebug]

Ok, so two things have not been taken into consideration 1) your budget 2) the size of the fireplace it will go in.

An insert will set you back at around $1k to $2K +. A cat insert even more. Then you have to factor in the liner ( You must have a liner, if you vent in a 6" or more chimney) That's an additional $500 +

Then... You have to measure your fireplace and look at units that will fit in there. Get the biggest one that will fit.

Even though you say looks dont matter, if there's a lady around she will repay you with kindness if you take he opinion into account. Always pays off to keep mama happy.

You may want to consider Osburn. It packs a lot of value for the dollar. Retails a lot less than some of the other brands yet the only brand that has lifetime warranty on glass (even if the kids break it), Lifetime on the burn tubes (even if you over fire), the only brand that has the bay window for a larger view of the fire (I burn that one myself).

http://www.osburn-mfg.com/en/heaters/wood-inserts


We make them so if you have any questions shoot away.

 

[sunfish]

Lot of efficient stoves out now that are cat free. Most Jotuls have no cat ,as does the one we got. We have been Very Pleased the Jotul FS118...