Picking a woodstove

[cmsmoke]

I've used the energy max 110 for maybe 12 years now. Great stove...Simple, Long burn times, built like a tank. I haven't done anything to it other than empty ashes and yearly clean.
https://dsofpa.com/wp-content/uploads/DS_Brochures_EnergyMax_2021_ToPub_HighWeb.pdf

 

[sam s]

Thought I would update this thread.
I ended up getting a kuma for a stove. It’s 2.5 cubic feet. Been burning for about a month and happy with the stove. Can get an overnight burn with it so that is nice. It’s a supplement heater so I don’t have to run it real hard.
I probably would of went with a pacific energy but the stove shop had this one on the floor so that’s how I ended up with it.
I’m guessing I would of been happy with any of the stove people talked about. Nice to walk in the house that is 75 inside when it’s 0 outside temperature.
Hope the pictures show up. Here’s after 9 hours of oak and after adding more wood after 10 minutes it’s lights right off.

 

[esshup]

The firebox size is 2.7 hence the 27 in the name/model. I always have plenty of coals remaining to light off a reload in the morning. Once winter temps are here to stay I'm burning 24-7 and I dont ever have the need to restart. If I'm not needing much heat like in the spring and fall, It will hold live embers for many hrs if you dont disturb the ashes. My only issue with the stove is live coals will build up too much with certain types of wood and in certain conditions. If I'm burning the stove hard in really cold temps then it seems that it will burn the new wood and not burn down the coals. Oak will not coal up as much as the Elm that I normally burn, so for those times adding in some Oak or softwood will help with the coaling issues. It's my understanding that many of these EPA secondary burn type stoves can have this problem.
The baffle on the PE stoves is a stainless steel rectangular type hollow box that sits in the top of the stove and brings in oxygen rich fresh air to the top of the fire thus supporting a secondary burn and mine is in great shape, showing no signs of wear ,etc. The other reason that helped me decide on the PE brand is their floating firebox design. My understanding is that the actual firebox and outer shell of the stove are not welded together so they can expand and contract at different rates as fires heat and cool. Mine shows no signs of stress cracks in the corners or anywhere that may let air in and not allow control over the burn with the lever on the stove.

When the coals build up, do you just wait until it burns all the wood, then scoop out a majority of the coals and ash, leaving enough coals to get the wood burning again?

I have the same problem with my QuadraFire Insert. I forget the model, but it's rated high enough to keep a 2,500 sq. ft. house warm. Since I have 1,700 sq. ft. it does a relatively good job, but since it isn't centrally located the West side of the house gets cool - 20°F cooler than the East side of the house where the insert is. I can keep the East side of the house 90°F warmer than outside temps if I push it, but the coals build up pretty quickly.

I can leave the insert unattended for 12 hours and while the house has cooled down considerably, there is still enough coals to get a new fire going without doing anything other than stirring them up, putting wood on them and opening the air intake 100%.

 

[Ronaldo]

When the coals build up, do you just wait until it burns all the wood, then scoop out a majority of the coals and ash, leaving enough coals to get the wood burning again?

I have the same problem with my QuadraFire Insert. I forget the model, but it's rated high enough to keep a 2,500 sq. ft. house warm. Since I have 1,700 sq. ft. it does a relatively good job, but since it isn't centrally located the West side of the house gets cool - 20°F cooler than the East side of the house where the insert is. I can keep the East side of the house 90°F warmer than outside temps if I push it, but the coals build up pretty quickly.

I can leave the insert unattended for 12 hours and while the house has cooled down considerably, there is still enough coals to get a new fire going without doing anything other than stirring them up, putting wood on them and opening the air intake 100%.

I've not had to scoop out and waste any coals, I just put a couple smallish splits of oak, mullberry, ash, hickory, (not elm),etc and burn them wide open and the draft over the coals helps to burn them down. This is only needed in the coldest of temps with low wind chills when I'm really pushing the stove.

Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

 

[esshup]

I've not had to scoop out and waste any coals, I just put a couple smallish splits of oak, mullberry, ash, hickory, (not elm),etc and burn them wide open and the draft over the coals helps to burn them down. This is only needed in the coldest of temps with low wind chills when I'm really pushing the stove.

Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

Thanks!!

 

[Mustang71]

When the coals build up, do you just wait until it burns all the wood, then scoop out a majority of the coals and ash, leaving enough coals to get the wood burning again?

I have the same problem with my QuadraFire Insert. I forget the model, but it's rated high enough to keep a 2,500 sq. ft. house warm. Since I have 1,700 sq. ft. it does a relatively good job, but since it isn't centrally located the West side of the house gets cool - 20°F cooler than the East side of the house where the insert is. I can keep the East side of the house 90°F warmer than outside temps if I push it, but the coals build up pretty quickly.

I can leave the insert unattended for 12 hours and while the house has cooled down considerably, there is still enough coals to get a new fire going without doing anything other than stirring them up, putting wood on them and opening the air intake 100%.

I mainly burn ash and that stuff coals really bad. Its not a big deal when I'm only heating from the time I get home from work to when I load it again before bed. When I burn all weekend long I'm always fighting to burn out the coals while trying to heat. This morning I took out a gallon bucket of coals and ashes. Hot coals too. If I burn other wood I do not have this problem but I have a large amount of ash wood since I had a couple hundred trees die.