Newbie needs advice

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7521

Member
Feb 25, 2012
15
California sierras
Hello everyone. This is my situation. We are purchasing a home in Coarsegold Ca. This is on the western side of the Sierra Nevada range at an altitude of about 2000'. The average lows in December and January are about 34 with about 33" of rain a year. The home is 1550 sq ft ranch style built in 1983 with dual pane glass. The home already has a spot for a wood stove in a corner of the den with a brick surround installed but the stove is MIA.
My questions are; 1. Should I stick to the manufacturers square footage ratings or oversize the stove? I do have a dual pack on the roof but heating is propane. The plan is for the wood stove to be the primary heat, supplemented by the forced air heat.
2. Cast iron or steel?
3. Englander seems to have favorable comments, any thoughts?
4. I need to do this for a reasonable amount of cash so please be gentle.
5. Cat or Non cat?
 
Why would you put two six-packs on the roof?
 
7521 said:
Hello everyone. This is my situation. We are purchasing a home in Coarsegold Ca. This is on the western side of the Sierra Nevada range at an altitude of about 2000'. The average lows in December and January are about 34 with about 33" of rain a year. The home is 1550 sq ft ranch style built in 1983 with dual pane glass. The home already has a spot for a wood stove in a corner of the den with a brick surround installed but the stove is MIA.
My questions are; 1. Should I stick to the manufacturers square footage ratings or oversize the stove? I do have a dual pack on the roof but heating is propane. The plan is for the wood stove to be the primary heat, supplemented by the forced air heat.
2. Cast iron or steel?
3. Englander seems to have favorable comments, any thoughts?
4. I need to do this for a reasonable amount of cash so please be gentle.
5. Cat or Non cat?


1. No. The square footage ratings vary a lot from manufacturer to manufacturer. Best stat is firebox size.
2. Your preference.
3. Good stoves. Good customer service.
4. I change my answer on no.2. Steel stoves are less expensive.
5. Again, your preference. Some love them, some hate them. I have owned three Cat stove and two non-cat stove. I prefer Cat stove for my situation.

Based on your location, and square footage I would go with a 2.0-2.5 sq ft firebox stove. You might be able to get away with an Englander 13 or a Pacific Energy True North. Also, check out Napolean, Osburn, Pacific Energy, US Stove, and Drolet. Most are reasonably priced.
 
It never hurts to go larger so you have the heat when you need it. I have discovered I really like cast iron a lot however there are good steal stoves. If you go the cat route look at Woodstock they have great customer service. Steal tends to loose heat faster than cast or stone and is a intense heat. Cast and stone tend to give a much softer and more relaxed heat which lasts longer by being retained and radiated in the cast and stone. Cat stoves are very very clean burning when used properly and keep a coal bed for quite a long time. Tube stoves are very good as well and hold a coal bed for a long time as well but slightly less clean burning.
It really is a personal preference!

Pete
 
Also do not buy vogelzang or us stove I have owned both and can say they are junk. I have seen improvements in recent years but they are still china cheap. We purchased a jotul recently and discovered you really do get what you pay for. Englander is great company on a budget or not and drolet makes a good stove from what I have read as well.

Pete
 
7521 said:
Hello everyone. This is my situation. We are purchasing a home in Coarsegold Ca. This is on the western side of the Sierra Nevada range at an altitude of about 2000'. The average lows in December and January are about 34 with about 33" of rain a year. The home is 1550 sq ft ranch style built in 1983 with dual pane glass. The home already has a spot for a wood stove in a corner of the den with a brick surround installed but the stove is MIA.
My questions are; 1. Should I stick to the manufacturers square footage ratings or oversize the stove? I do have a dual pack on the roof but heating is propane. The plan is for the wood stove to be the primary heat, supplemented by the forced air heat.
2. Cast iron or steel?
3. Englander seems to have favorable comments, any thoughts?
4. I need to do this for a reasonable amount of cash so please be gentle.
5. Cat or Non cat?

House layout (floor plan) would help.

Pics of the landing site would help, as well.

Welcome to the forums !
 
From the sounds of things you may be better off with a convective stove. In a milder climate a stove with mass or a cat helps provide more even heating. Most pure cast iron stoves are radiant heaters. Some stoves that might work are the Quadrafire Cumberland Gap, Pacific Energy T5, Hearthstone Heritage, Woodstock Fireview.
 
Unfortunatly I'm 150 miles away from the house at the moment. We currently live in Bakersfield CA but will be moving in a few weeks. The floorplan is a typical ranch with all 3 bedrooms on one end, living room an kitchen in the middle and a family/den and garage in the other end. The landing is used brick floor to ceiling and about 48" both directions from the corner of the family room, (rear corner of the home). Also the stove will rest on a permanent base of used brick.
 
One question you need to answer is what size and height is the flue. Most stoves are designed for 6 inch flue but a few are made for 8 inch. The right flue size will help insure the stove works well.

You also need to think about how much time and effort you will want to devote to tending the stove and how much you will be home. A smallish stove might heat the house but will not burn as long as a larger stove (bigger firebox = longer burn) so you will have to tend it more frequently. If your heating season is mild and short, as I think it will be in CA at 2000 ft, then maybe you don't mind fussing with the stove every four or six hours. If you have to heat for five months and you are out of the house a lot then a longer burning stove would be very nice. My personal experience is that I enjoy messing with the stove and don't mind when I am home, but I am not always home enough to use the stove as my primary heat source. I also don't mind reloading at night, but some nights I sleep thru and the stove doesn't get reloaded - again, if it was the primary heat source the house would be cold in the morning. So, if I was buying another stove I would buy one with long burn times, which would probably mean a big catalytic stove.

If you are collecting recommendations I will say that my Lopi stove seems like a very good quality stove and has worked great.
 
Typically ranch houses respond well to putting a table of box fan at the far end of the hallway, on the floor pointing toward the stove room. Run the fan on low speed, blowing the cooler air toward the stove room. This can be surprisingly effective.
 
If you want to save money and you dont mind doing your own possible repairs with the excellent customer service provided over the phone (and the great folks here) I'd be fine with an Englander. I agree with the other posts, 2.5 CF firebox for the overnight burns, fan option and convection heat.
 
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