Have NC30, need more stove

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

We installed the NC30 to see how it would perform n our home. The install went beautifully and will have to post pictures. It does pretty good, but we ask it to do a LOT!! I am thinking about moving into a different stove... BKK, Equinox, Progressive Hybrid or PE T6 unless there are other suggestions.

The Englander does OK, but we go through a LOT of wood. We are heating almost 6000 SQ ft, but are very well insulated. So my goal is to go to the biggest most efficient stove. The only problem is that we have 6" pipe that was installed. To change it is a MAJOR deal for us because our home is concrete walls. So if I go with either of the first 2 stoves I have to step the pipe down to 6" at the stove. BTW, the central heat really only comes on about 1 time in the early morning with the set up we have now. So I know we are pretty close.

If anyone have any suggestions, I would appreciate it. I have had a lot of great advice here, and appreciate it. We have oak, pine and cedar readily available to us.
THANKS!

 

[begreen]

I don't think any of these stoves is going to reduce your wood consumption at all. You are heating two large houses worth of space. There's only so much that insulation can do. I'll bet there is a lot of glass at about R2 in the building too. Sounds like wood furnace or boiler territory, unless another fuel source is more plentiful in the area.

 

[rottiman]

Not sure how a stove designed to heat 2200 sq ft would even come close to satisfying 6000 sq ft.. Begreen is absolutely right-on, your way beyond wood stove range, especially one wood stove.

 

[Todd]

Where's your stove located? Could you install another stove and burn two?

 

[hilbiliarkiboi]

Any high ceilings in that monster? Single level?

Sounds like your looking for a stove with 137% efficiency!

Edit: you could put a timer on your central unit for fan only circulation.

 

[Grisu]

I agree: To heat that monster of a house you will need a second stove or at least close up some rooms during the winter months. If, as you say, your central heat comes on only in the early morning is there really a need to change anything? Is the heating bill really so outrageous that you need to go exclusively with wood?

 

[DexterDay]

Im sure some BK owners will chime in on the 6" with a King. . I dont own one (I own a 30-NC) but just what I have read, 8" is needed.

I agree with everyone else. Way to much for one stove. Not only will you still burn a lot of wood (BTU's are BTU's), you will still not satisfy the entire house.

X amount of wood = X amount of BTU. You need so many BTU to heat the home and keep up with the loss. Your gonna burn the wood no matter what.

You say your walls in your basement are Concrete? Are they insulated? You say its well insulated. But does that include basement walls and the basement floor?

 

[BrowningBAR]

With 6,000 sq ft you will either need two or three stoves or a wood furnace.

I'd keep the 30 installed and look into a wood furnace.

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

My house is ICF construction, our walls are 12"thick.

http://www.buildblock.com/?gclid=CImUzfnEu7ICFad7QgodozoAUQ

Our utility bills are less than our neighbors with half the square footage we have. During the summer, our home will stay 78 degrees or below even when the temps hit over 100. I have had the home for near 3 years and have turned on the central AC 3 times, mostly to make sure it was still working. As for windows, we have energy efficient windows and have added double honeycomb binds behind our insulating drapes. The attic has been insulated to Energy star ratings as well. We are pretty close to being an Energy Star home. The floor of the basement is not insulated, but unlike our other homes with a basement, oddly the floor is never cold in this one. We do have area rugs over quite a bit of the floor though. As far as putting a second stove in, we have given it some thought. But if you look up how the home was built, anything that is on the inside that needs to go outside really needed to be in place when the concrete was poured into the walls.To have holes cut through concrete/rebar is pretty tough and the Styrofoam has to be cut quite a bit away to keep it from melting.

As I said, the Englander comes close. It keeps the house warm, I can not remember at what temperature, but in the 70's I am just looking to see if the other stoves are more efficient with longer burn times. BTW, the stove is in the basement, working with the heat rising

edited to add...yeah, 18'celing in the main room on the main floor but it opens up right into the upper level

 

[begreen]

IIRC you have the stove in the basement and are actually trying to heat 7400 sq ft. Is that correct? How much wood did you burn last season?

In 6" the next step up for capacity is the Enerzone Solution 3.4. A newcomer in the big stove league is the Regency 5100, but it's 8" - http://www.regency-vision.com/product-f5100.php

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

Hard to tell, we have some wood racks that my husband built, they are 6 foot long and 4 foot high, we went through about 7 or 8 racks....I think. Mixed woods, oak, cedar and some pine. Also first burn season. 6200 is including the basement & main floor - give or take a square foot or two. The upper story has it's own furnace, but it does not come on too much. There is a bonus room above the garage on that floor, but we keep the door to that room closed in the winter...the chill out room! It is more like traditional construction because the wall above the garage doors is not ICF ;(

A second stove on the main floor would be the best, I guess we could do one in the middle of the floor and out through the roof, but that would be a lot of modification too. Will look at the stove you mentioned. Thanks begreen

 

[begreen]

If the racks are just one split deep, then that is nothing. We go through about the same amount of wood (288 cu ft) in a winter and we live in a mild climate with a house that is less than one third the sq ftg..

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

If the racks are just one split deep, then that is nothing. We go through about the same amount of wood (288 cu ft) in a winter and we live in a mild climate with a house that is less than one third the sq ftg..

Yeah, just one split deep....so could be worse....some of us just want to perfect the art of energy savings...not to be green so much as to be as self sufficient as possible

 

[FyreBug]

I agree with all the other posters here. That's a lot of house to heat and not sure any other wood stoves will do the trick.

The NC30 is an excellent radiant wood stove. It may be a 'convective' stove (ie. one that pushes more warm air) such as an Enerzone 3.4 will fare better since it has a built-in heat exchanger for the blower and a lot of mass (550 lbs).

We make it but I wouldnt guarantee it will heat the entire house. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Hard to tell, we have some wood racks that my husband built, they are 6 foot long and 4 foot high, we went through about 7 or 8 racks....

That's only about 2.25 cord of wood. To put that in perspective, I would go through 28 of your racks a winter.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

actually, im pretty tickled to see a 30 actually at least holding its own in a 6000 sq ft home, thats almost 3 times its rated capacity. im of the mindset of the members above in looking at a second unit preferrably in a different heating zone (other end of the house if feasible)

@fyrebug; thats a really sharp looking unit bro.

 

[FyreBug]

@fyrebug; thats a really sharp looking unit bro.

Thanks, you aint too shabby yourself...

 

[Jags]

Even though I am a fan of the Enerzone I don't think it will have much of an advantage over the NC30 in this type of environment. I doubt if radiant vs. Convective is gonna make much difference with the amount of footage they are trying to heat. As far as efficiency - there won't be a couple of splits worth of difference between the two.

I am not sure if any 6" piped stove out there is gonna do it. At 2.25 cord of wood used for the majority of the heat - that is impressive as heck. Actually - I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one.

 

[begreen]

Nothing is going to reduce the the wood consumption here. Methinks the OP is gloating and happy as a clam that she's getting away with such low consumption for an industrial sized house. I would be too.

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

OK, well I might have been off by a little, 6 of the racks are 8 feet long ;( ...it was late here when I was posting. I really would like longer burn times so it does not dip down so much in the morning. I have hot coals in the AM, but would relly like a little fire Am I just asking for tooo much, lol! We do have some mahogany around, but it is very pricey and I have no idea where to get it for myself.

 

[Pagey]

I simply cannot imagine trying to heat 6,000 sq ft with a single stove of any kind. We struggle to heat 1,800 sq ft in the relatively mild Cumberland Plateau area in the deeper parts of a good winter! Wish I had some magic advice, but short of more stoves or some type of central heating system...I dunno.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Only other option is the Blaze King King. You wont get the 40 hour burns, or even 20 hour burns, but is should give you 12 hours burned at a higher temp. Maybe more, but it is impossible to tell with your square footage and comments that the 30 does heat the home. Either way, it should still burn longer than the 30, giving you a warmer house in the morning.

You will not drop your wood consumption in this example, though, as it is a larger firebox. Meaning it holds more wood and you will not be burning it slow and low like most BK owners.

 

[Highbeam]

Pretty sure there are wood furnaces that use the 6" flue and make lots of heat. Otherwise, run what you've got, there isn't much else.

 

[begreen]

These options were suggested in the original thread when searching for a stove/furnace. The OP chose the least expensive route and it sounds like it's working pretty well. If the desire is for more heat in the morning just set the nat gas system to come on about 30 min before wake up time. The gas bills for this barn are trivial.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/help-lennox-canyon-310-alderlea-t6-jotul-600-or-quad-5700.55124/

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

I know we filled all the racks out there, 8, 8 foot racks and there is 1, 4 foot rack and we had a little left over at the end of the season. I don't remember that we went and got more wood after the season started. If my husband ever gets home from all the fires this year, I will double check with him. This house in incredible when it comes to being efficient. That is why I bought it. I knew I could heat/cool it for the cost of a home 1/3 of the size. I have friends with similar sized homes here and their bills are 3-4 times higher than ours. One thing that really helps is that the stairs are 4 feet wide so there is plenty of room for air movement and there are double doors leading to the staircase from the basement and the intake to the furnace is right outside the doors.