Heatilator Eco Choice WS-22 Review..

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bsj425

Burning Hunk
Jul 17, 2011
172
North Pole Alaska
I have been burninig in the stove for almost 4 weeks now so figured I would post the review now. I wanted to really put the stove through its paces before I did a full on review and I have done just that. It hasnt been above -30 for the past 5 days so what a better time for a review than now..


The setup:
Stove- Heatilator Eco Choice WS-22
7 ft. of double wall 6' pipe
8 ft Class A chimney
2- 45 elbows for offset

The Install:
The install went well only problem we had was the stud finder aparantly lied and we had a roof joist where one wasnt suppose to be so I had to use 2- 45's for a small offset so I didnt get the straight through shot as planned but all in all not a big deal. Stove is drafting great and I use a soot eater so not a problem for cleaning.

Burn Cycles:
So far have used about 1/3 cord and have been burning 24/7 for a while now doing a full reload at night full reload in the morning and a 1/2 load when I get home from work. There wasnt much of a learning curve with the stove I guess I got lucky and found the sweet spot on the first or second real fire after the break ins. She is a smooth cruiser right around 520 with secondaries going full blast. Everything works as it is suppose to and man it really cranks out the heat in fact that may be my only complaint ( i know terrible me my stove is too hot) So I rarely ever fill it to the gills or it will have the stove room around 86+ in no time. I opted for the corner install which can be as close to the walls at 3 inches from the corners and I am at about 5 inches away so no problems with clearences. When the stove is full blast the hottest the walll has gotten was 95 per IR thermometer so no concerns there. I strayed from the cycle this week just to see how long I cold go between Reloads. This week is has been -30 and colder and I did a full load and let it burn down to coals and didnt reload for 13 hours and still had good coals for it to take right off again without even using kindling.

End notes

All in all it is an Awesome stove which has far exceeded my expectations for the money I dont belive it can be beat price wise despite what the 30-NC crowd says ( ducks and hides). I have plenty of friends that wood burn and have first hand seen other stoves perform all the way up to the fancy soap stone's and this keeps up with stoves 2 and 3 times its price IMO.

stove.jpg


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Secondaries doing their thing..


I had a video but for whatever reason it is super dark when uploaded but looks fine on the camera. Anywho the video is of the fabeled blue flame secondaries I will try to edit it and brighten it up and repost. And yes I know I still need to trim the hearth I have been to busy being lazy and enjoying the stove.
 
Just realized I posted this in the wrong forum Mods can you move it to hearth room.
 
Yup wrong forum section but looks like a great stove! Any stove that will keep you warm in North Pole, Alaska simply has to be a great stove! Great looking install, secondaries and review! I love to see the stove burningand watching those secondaries doing their thing too so mesmerizing ..

Ray
 
I like the stove, and the setting.

Picture of the bear finishes it off rather well ;-)
 
woodchip said:
I like the stove, and the setting.

Picture of the bear finishes it off rather well ;-)

Woody you need to come to USA! Thinking you'd enjoy it..

Ray
 
raybonz said:
woodchip said:
I like the stove, and the setting.

Picture of the bear finishes it off rather well ;-)

Woody you need to come to USA! Thinking you'd enjoy it..

Ray

We had a great time in the Canadian Rockies a few years back, that's where we first saw wood stoves and cooking with wood.

Mostly larch trees there, must dig out some pictures for the perfect picture thread...

It's only a matter of time before we come over, maybe next fall if we don't go bust in the meantime (the whole world, that is)...... ;-)
 
Hi There,

I just wanted you to know that it was your review of this stove that pushed me into purchasing the WS22. I bought it from a local Farm/Auto/Home store in my area on Black Friday and got a great deal on it.

I love the large cooktop space, large window & huge firebox! Like you, I have also come to learn just how much heat this thing can put out.... which leads me to ask you an operating question.

The airflow lever on the right-hand side of the front; high position for max airflow, low position to throttle it low.......

How are you using yours? Do you just keep yours all the way open all the time or do you ever drop it down to 1 or 2? [Although, I do understand that it is much colder in Alaska than it is here in Iowa]

If you are throttling yours down after fully loading it, how long do you wait before lowering the throttle? I have read to wait anywhere from 1 - 30 minutes for reloads.

I pretty much have in mind to run mine the way you run yours.

Any advise you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

I'll post a picture of my installation after I get home tonight.
 
OK, I remembered when I got home so here's mine...
 

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Looks great RP!

Ray
 
Thanks Raybonz!

My wife and I did the hearth pad ourselves to save us some dough. The beast only requires 7" rear clearance and 9" to the sides, so this little pocket worked out as close to perfect as we could ask for. Now I am just trying to use my furnace fan to circulate the air throughout the house, even though she seems to be doing a fine job as it is.

She is rated @ 55Kbtu/1500-2700 sq.ft. My climate zone I think comes out to about 1800/1900 sq.ft. capacity and my house is 1750 so I think I got it just right on the sizing; however, like the original poster I also have the room that it is installed in with temps in the mid-high 80's at times with the rest of the main level in the mid 70's and upstairs bedrooms in the mid to upper 60's.

Do you know of a more suitable place where I could post my questions about operation that I posted above?

Thanks!
 
You posted this on the right place RP.. Keep us informed on how things go too..

Ray
 
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