Stove recommendations

[p575]

I'm looking at purchasing a new stove that would qualify for the tax credit. My home is a 2 story cape cod (with a basement, but that's not going to get heated by this). Main floor is 1350 feet with another ~800 upstairs. This would be in one corner of the main living area (fairly open concept) and used for supplemental heat. We run heat pumps and just like the extra heat from a stove and I enjoy cutting wood and need to drum up more chores for the children. What is the cheaper end of what is recommended for a stove that would qualify for the credit? Tractor Supply has Grand Teton and some others in the $6-700 range that qualify. Are these absolute garbage that will make me hate life, or are they the Honda Accord of the stove world? I know that there are some high quality stoves (Jotul, Vermont Castings, etc...) that are super nice, but I can't justify the price tag on those right now. At our old house we had a 1970 something steel box of a stove and while inefficient, it worked for us.
Thanks for any insight.

 

[Gumneck]

I've had my Lopi Freedom Bay large insert for 14 years. When I bought it I was able to use the tax credit for it as well. I've never had a problem with it so far. I will need to replace some fire bricks soon as some are cracking. Being in Chesapeake right on the coast we dont have to have it as the house has central air/heat via gas and with our up and down temps. When it's cold I keep it running. My honest opinion on your price range is that I would be cautious that you're gonna get a stove that is not going to be built to a level that you'll get alot of years out of it problem free. I wish my Lopi only cost $6-700, however, I dont have any problem with what I paid years ago with the way it's performed. In fact, I was so impressed, someone posted the exact same stove for $100 bucks and it was only a couple of miles away, It's sitting in my shed either as a backup here or possibly install at a farm house.

Well those are my thoughts. I haven't looked at what TSC offers but the cheapest isn't always the best option and I invented being cheap. Good luck with your search.
Tom

 

[BeatCJ]

I'm another happy Lopi user. I have the stove that turned into the Endeavor. It is ready for a door gasket, and I have replaced the firebrick, but it's as good as the day it was built. My house is 1600 on the main floor, with an L shaped hallway. It's really hard to heat the Master bedroom at the end of the hall due to the poor airflow, but that's not the fault of the stove. I believe a stove is one of those places where you will be disappointed if you buy cheap.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

I have a Vermont castings. It’s an epa stove so I guess it would qualify for the tax credit. Mine was $3400 6 years ago.

 

[Jacob Joseph]

The Grand Teton is a good budget choice for supplemental heat, but stepping up slightly in price gets you a much more efficient and enjoyable stove. Adding graphite felt can further enhance heat retention and efficiency. If you have experience with older stoves, you’ll probably appreciate the modern features of even a basic EPA-certified model.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Look for a used one on FB Marketplace or Criagslist but in the spring, not now. Always buy off season, not on season. When it warms up, they will get sold. Used ones will need some work, pretty common because like old chainsaw, people just don't take care of them. So long as the bones are good, they air rebuildable.

How I bought my second one for the shop and when I bought my second one, all the double wall flue pipe came with it. Needed some minor work but nothing major.

Understand however, a used unit won't have an EPA credit on it but the used price will probably offset the credit substantially anyway.

Bought a snowmachine like that as we;;. Got it cheap in the summer because people want to off stuff like that.

 

[Jeff Lary]

I have a Blaze King I do like it, it was like going from a Farmall to a Corvette. Compared to my previous stoves but it cut my wood consumption by 1/3. It is the highest efficiency rated stove available I've heard. Can't prove that by me though, I just wanted a stove that would produce heat and run 15-20 hours on a load, and it will. Mine is the Princess model.

 

[pdqdl]

I recently had problems with my quadra-fire insert, but only because I allowed the stovepipe to fall into disrepair. I consider the "stove" to be flawless. It burns very efficiently and sheds quite a bit of heat. After 22 years of service, it was recently overhauled without any part failures except for the fire-brick lining. Not a single part has rusted out or needed repair, except as described below.

I've already replaced those once before, but with a softer variety of brick that didn't stand up as well as the factory originals. Also: my fan died a couple of years ago, and I was unwilling to pay their price. A common squirrel cage blower has boosted my output now, but doesn't look nearly as cool.

I suspect that brand is way higher than your budget allows, however.

 

[pdqdl]

It's really hard to heat the Master bedroom at the end of the hall due to the poor airflow,

Try putting a fan outside your master bedroom to shoot the cold air down the hallway floor. Cold air will be flowing out your bedroom, with warm air being pulled along the ceiling into each room down the hallway.

I can balance the heat in my whole house out by putting a blower at the far end of the house, pushing the cold air closer to the stove. I've tried blowing the warm air down the hall into the rooms, but it doesn't work.


The closer to the floor the air is projected and the less air-mixing that occurs with the ceiling warm air return, the better your results will be. To find this kind of fan consistently, shop "air mover fan" online.

Why this works: The stove is picking up the cold air near the floor, and circulating the warm air up to the ceiling. Blowing the cold air back towards the stove is just supplementing the directional air movement. Anything that mixes the ceiling air with the colder floor air interrupts the circulation and creates a warm zone closer to the stove, and a colder zone behind the fan.

If you have a ceiling fan in the same room as the stove, make it rotate so that air is pushed up to the ceiling, helping the stove lift the cold air and then propelling the warm air across the ceiling, down the walls, and then replacing the cold air on it's return to the stove's heat source. It might not work out that way if the ceiling fan is on the opposite end of a large room from the stove.

 

[SS396driver]

I have a Drolet ht it’s been a great stove . It did cut my wood consumption by about a third. My old stove was a Dutch West cat model . I don’t think I’d ever go back to a cat stove the secondary burn works and there is no cleaning or replacement . Had to replace the cat a few times over the years in the DW . View attachment IMG_5491.mov

 

[pdqdl]

...the secondary burn works and there is no cleaning or replacement .

Yes! My stove has a row of little pipes across the top of the firebox, delivering air to that area for a secondary burn.

In 22 years of burning, I've never had any soot or creosote accumulation.

 

[SS396driver]

Yes! My stove has a row of little pipes across the top of the firebox, delivering air to that area for a secondary burn.

In 22 years of burning, I've never had any soot or creosote accumulation.

I’ve had mine about 6 years . Same about the soot and creosote. Clean the chimney every fall before the season get about a one pound coffee can full of powder and the pipe is clean. The cap used to have the oily creosote buildup with the old stove this one a few swipes with a stiff brush and it’s clean

 

[pdqdl]

I recently removed my badly decayed stovepipe and cleaned out the area behind the fireplace insert. After 22 years of burning, the bucket of sand I swept up wasn't even fully black from mixed in soot. The rusted out stovepipe had no residue, the steel liner of the chimney was clean, but the damper and smoke-shelf of the fireplace were significantly blackened.

 

[dboyd351]

I have an Osburn 2300. It is made my SBI industries in Canada, the company that also makes Drolet, Englander, Century and several other stove brands. Mine also has the secondary burn tubes in the top, that promote clean burns and efficiency. I get very little soot or creosote. I used to clean the chimney every season, but quit doing that because it had so little soot. What I do get is dry granular powder, not sticky. I have been burning with my stove for 12 years and love it. It helps a lot if you have access to somewhere you can cut wood and like the physical labor that goes with cutting, splitting, stacking and burning wood. It is a lot of work, but I like doing it and especially like getting electric bills of just over $100/month in the winter. My electric bills are actually lower when it gets really cold because it is easier to regulate the heat when you can run the stove pretty hot.
I agree this is one purchase where is is a mistake to go too cheap. A quality stove will last nearly forever and is safer and more efficient. Remember, you are putting a fire inside your house - probably not the best place to cut corners.
Also, be aware the stovepipe itself is not cheap - that can easily add close to $1,000 to your installation cost.
The SBI website (including the Osburn and Drolet sub-websites) has some very good information on things like how large a woodstove you should buy depending on the square footage of your house and the climate where you live.
I need to try PDQDLs suggestion on the floor fan - makes complete sense since cold air sinks and hot air rises. It can be difficult to get rooms that are far away from the stove to be warm enough - so that should help.
One thing I can assure you - There is NOBODY that doesn't love coming in and standing in front of the stove when it is cold outside, and the doggies love sleeping in front of it.

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

Not a wood stove user, but I've read more than a few threads about them. I've seen it said often not to skimp on buying a good quality stove. I've also seen that at least one manufacturer (forgot who) provides superb customer service and offers replacement parts for every model they ever made. If you buy used, do some research before you buy.

 

[dboyd351]

I tried pdqdl's air moving floor fan suggestion and it works VERY well. Actually a bit too well, as even the lowest setting is very loud. I am thinking those come inmore than one size and they sent me the BIG one. Didn't have it in stock a the local Walmart so I couldn't look at it before purchase.
One thing for sure - the cold room is no longer cold!

 

[pdqdl]

Very good! I am pleased to hear that my suggestion helped out. I discovered that many years ago, mostly by accident.

Here's a neat trick to further help diagnose your circulation problems:

Buy a small helium balloon at some store that keeps them. My local grocery store often has them on holidays in the flowers section. Weight it down with paperclips or other small items until it is exactly neutral density with your room. It needs to rise or fall with the air currents, neither going to the ceiling nor settling to the floor. This is surprisingly easy to do, too.

Then turn it loose in the house and watch where it goes. It will wander down the hallway near the ceiling with the warmer air, ducking under the door lintels and circulating through the various rooms, then go shooting down the hallway near the ground level when it finally circulates down in front of the fan. This plan fouls quickly, however, if you leave any of the ceiling fans turned on.

 

[dboyd351]

sounds like a fun experiment

btw - do you know if that fan I got is the same one you suggested?

 

[pdqdl]

sounds like a fun experiment

btw - do you know if that fan I got is the same one you suggested?

It certainly looks like the same style. I have always found that the centrifugal fans produced the most air movement with the least noise. Yours might be an exception, though.

They also produce a bit higher air pressure and a somewhat laminar flow of air. This makes for a stronger "jet" of air that carries the cool air down the hallway considerably better than a circular fan which causes more air mixing and a wider stream of air flow.