Drolet for my sq footage.... terrible house diagram included :P

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Big Donnie Brasco

Feeling the Heat
May 29, 2012
315
East Central Kansas
My house is 1266 sq ft, not insulated very well at all but I have all new windows and NEW insulation in the attic.

Like a lot of folks, I am trying to go with a modestly priced stove without buying junk.

Here is my house and the two stoves I am considering (open to others). CLEARANCE and ember protection are important as well. With small spaces I need to keep it as close to the wall as I can!
The stove pipe will go STRAIGHT up with zero bends through an open attic. Placed dead center of the house.



http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200307393_200307393

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?storeId=6970&ipp=24&Ntt=drolet
 
My house is 1266 sq ft, not insulated very well at all but I have all new windows and NEW insulation in the attic.

Like a lot of folks, I am trying to go with a modestly priced stove without buying junk.

Here is my house and the two stoves I am considering (open to others). CLEARANCE and ember protection are important as well. With small spaces I need to keep it as close to the wall as I can!
The stove pipe will go STRAIGHT up with zero bends through an open attic. Placed dead center of the house.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200307393_200307393

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?storeId=6970&ipp=24&Ntt=drolet

Don't know the clearance specs but have been keeping a list of ember protection only stoves and here it is:

All Pacific Energy Alderlea stoves
All Pacific Energy models
Lopi Endeavor
Lopi Revere
Blaze King Chinook
Blaze King Princess
Blaze King Sirocco
Blaze King Chinook 20
Hampton H200 (unsure, manual gives conflicting information)
Regency CS1200
Jotul F100
Drolet Myriad
Englander VL17
Century stoves
Quad Isle Royale
Osburn (2200)
Jotul 400 Castine
Hearthstone Mansfield
Hearthstone Heritage
Jotul Oslo 500
Jotul Rangely
Hearthstone Bari, Tula and Mansfield
Vermont Castings Encore (with bottom heatshield)
All Enviro freestanding stoves
Napoleon 1100, 1100L, 1100C, 1150, 1400, 1400L, 1450 & 1900
Most Lopi and Avalon lines including the Sheffield, Leyden and Arbor
Most Buck and Country stove lines (3/8" non-combustible) etc.

Ray
 
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If I am torn between the Myriad and the Savannah, do you think the Savannah would be enough stove, and is there a downside to going with the larger stove?
I would assume I could just build a smaller fire if I didn't need a raging burn?!

Thanks!
 
If I am torn between the Myriad and the Savannah, do you think the Savannah would be enough stove, and is there a downside to going with the larger stove?
I would assume I could just build a smaller fire if I didn't need a raging burn?!

Thanks!
So much depends on the house and climate. If your winter climate is cold and windy and the house is not very well insulated, I'd go with the larger stove for sure in spite of the modest house size. You can have small fires in any stove as long as you keep the the flue hot enough to prevent creosote and keep the secondaries burning. We all do it in the shoulder seasons like now. Anything in the 2 cf range would be fine.

Your proposed site is a good one in the house, being pretty central.
 
Looks like the Myriad would burn overnight....but is it too big, and would heat you out when burning clean in the secondary mode overnight?? During the day, running the smaller fires would work....
I only sleep a few hours at a time so I could make it work, but a normal person... ==c
 
go with the bigger stove. cracking a window if needed is always better than not having enough stove. there's no way i'd go with less than 2 cubic feet for the amount of space you want to heat as the primary source of heat. i like to look at the bottom sq ft it's rated for and add a couple hundred. i have a buck model 74 (2.6 cu ft firebox, but i believe that's without factoring in the secondaires, so more like 2.3) and heat about what you do, and i would not go smaller. you don't have to run the stove 24/7 anyway. you can get up to a predetermined temperature and then wait to it gets down to another predetermined temperature if you want. a 1/4 of a super cedar to restart is nothing. btw, buy a box of super cedars (just google to find it) because they are amazing.
 
A quality 2.0 cu. ft. stove will easily provide overnight burns up to 12 hrs. I heat over 1600 sq. ft. with a stove of this size with ease and the stove is not working too hard doing it..

Ray
 
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Get the Myriad (or any of the other Drolet large firebox stoves), bigger is better. I have an Austral which is the same stove but with legs instead of a pedestal, and it's a beast. A word of advice though, don't buy it from Northern Tool, your profile says you live in East Central Kansas. I assume you are close enough to buy a stove from Witchita or Topeka. Wait til fall, Menards will run a sale on wood stoves, you can get the stove for cheaper and save yourself the $200-$300 freight (unless you have a Northern Tool store close.) I bought my Austral from Menards for like $650...
 
Get the Myriad (or any of the other Drolet large firebox stoves), bigger is better. I have an Austral which is the same stove but with legs instead of a pedestal, and it's a beast. A word of advice though, don't buy it from Northern Tool, your profile says you live in East Central Kansas. I assume you are close enough to buy a stove from Witchita or Topeka. Wait til fall, Menards will run a sale on wood stoves, you can get the stove for cheaper and save yourself the $200-$300 freight (unless you have a Northern Tool store close.) I bought my Austral from Menards for like $650...


There is actually a Norther Tool a few miles from my office :)

I THINK there is a Menards going in this summer near my house too.
 
One this to keep in mind as well when looking at sq footage a stove can heat those tests are done in a home in a very mild climate like SC. I say buy bigger stove and not smaller, I wish I would have gotten a bigger stove but can now buy a bigger one as I am moving!
 
You're going to do well with anything around 2 cf. Burn dry wood and you'll do just fine. Let us know what you decide to get. Good luck!
 
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I would go for a 2 to 2.5 cu ft stove. Look at the firebox shape too. If you can get one with a more square firebox I think you'll find it easier and more versatile to load. Some other Canadian stoves to look at would be the Enviro Kodiak 1700, Napoleon 1400, True North TN19.
 
ok all.... one more (or two) players to consider -

I am seriously considering the Englander 30-NC because I can get a great deal on one, BUT if you go back up and look at my stove placement will it heat us out? I think I am only heating 1,200 sq ft or so.

Is the answer "build smaller fires" ? ... smaller stove?

Thank you all so much!

Don
 
You're going to have this stove for a long time. I would get the best 2-2.5 cu ft stove you can afford and preferably one with fully shielded sides in what appears to be a traffic area. The Napoleon 1400 is one to shop around for. The Pacific Energy Super 27 is another. Call your local dealers and see if they have a floor model they want to move.
 
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ok all.... one more (or two) players to consider -

I am seriously considering the Englander 30-NC because I can get a great deal on one, BUT if you go back up and look at my stove placement will it heat us out? I think I am only heating 1,200 sq ft or so.

Is the answer "build smaller fires" ? ... smaller stove?

Thank you all so much!

Don
I feel the 30NC is too big for 1200 sq. ft. unless you heat with your windows open.. A decent 2.0 cu. ft. stove or maybe a little bigger would be a better fit. I heat 50% more space with 2.0 cu. ft. and the heat doesn't run..

Ray
 
My house is 1266 sq ft, not insulated very well at all but I have all new windows and NEW insulation in the attic.

Like a lot of folks, I am trying to go with a modestly priced stove without buying junk.

Here is my house and the two stoves I am considering (open to others). CLEARANCE and ember protection are important as well. With small spaces I need to keep it as close to the wall as I can!
The stove pipe will go STRAIGHT up with zero bends through an open attic. Placed dead center of the house.



http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200307393_200307393

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?storeId=6970&ipp=24&Ntt=drolet

I think you're in the ballpark. My 1400 sq-ft on two floors has a fairly open floor plan, decent replacement windows and slightly better than average insulation. My two cubic ft Heritage easily heats the place even in single digit temps. Most of the time I have to be careful about not overheating the joint. Maybe a stove in the 2.5 to 3 cf range could be loaded lightly most of the time and packed full when you really need an extended burn time?
In the lower price range world of Drolet and Englander I don't think you can go wrong. Begreen might have something with his suggestion of a clad stove to mitigate the potential for " burn your face off" heat from an all steel box.
 
How young are your children? If young, do you have room to put a guard rail around that stove? It is right in the path of the bedrooms/bathroom, would be some concern to me if you have little ones, or if you entertain much...don't want anyone bumping into the stove...or cutting the corner too closely going down from the master bedroom into the kitchen...where is the laundry?
 
I had a Napoleon 1101 insert,1.7 cf firebox. It did a good job of heating my whole very drafty 1700 sf when temps were above freezing, and not too windy. When it dropped below 30* we would close a door to a very drafty room and run the oil burner in the morning for 20 minutes to even the house out. I think you would do fine with a 1.7cf stove. You're better off with a 2-2.5cf for less frequent loading, but I am pretty convinced my old Napoleon could do a good job of heating 1,266sf nicely. That being said, it is nice to have the ability to burn long log lengths NS or EW. Large fireboxes give you a little more flexibility.
 
I'd also say no less than a 2.0 cf stove. 2.5ish would be ideal IMHO. I heated 1800 sqft last year with a 2.0 cf stove and worked the snot out of it when it got real cold. It did the job but I had to close off 2 rooms on the far end of the house to do it. This year I upgraded to a 3.0 cf stove and didn't think twice about it. Go big, I don't think you'll regret it
 
Besides... BIG is in your name!! ;)
 
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ok all.... one more (or two) players to consider -

I am seriously considering the Englander 30-NC because I can get a great deal on one, BUT if you go back up and look at my stove placement will it heat us out? I think I am only heating 1,200 sq ft or so.

Is the answer "build smaller fires" ? ... smaller stove?

Thank you all so much!

Don

just a though what you might save on the 30 you might have to invest into building the hearth to code versus the myriad or its siblings
plus the drolets dont have that branding iron door latch assembly but I think thats a right passage into the englander sorority - pibetaburnyourself
 
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