New to the site and I have a couple questions.

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Gundog

New Member
Dec 30, 2013
11
Ridgefield, WA
I live in the Pacific Northwest and I would say we have a moderate climate typical winter lows are in the 30's with highs in the upper 40's we occasionally dip to single digits but not often. We have a well insulated 3200 Sq Ft single level home. We have an old Waterford free standing stove on a rock wall hearth designed for a wood stove. We purchased this home a year ago and the little wood stove had never had a fire in it. I had it inspected and it was all in good shape but the older people who built the house never used the stove I had to buy a couple fittings to hook it up but it works. The chimney is tera cota oval I think 8" or 10" with a round port going thru the rock hearth into the flue.

The small Waterford stove does not work very well and I would like to get a new stove to replace it. I have looked at Vermont Castings Defiant on line and a local dealer has a Quad Fire Isle Royal that is very similar. I would like some feedback on either of these brands and maybe some other brands to consider I would like to budget around $3000-$3500 for the stove. I would also like to stick to well know brands that parts are available for.

Thanks Mike

Here is a picture of our existing stove.

 
How big is the stove room? Is the stove centrally located? 3200 sg ft is a lot to heat on one floor. Check out blaze king or Woodstock.Based on your climate a catalytic stove would give you a cleaner burn at lower output.
 
chipsoflyin said:
How big is the stove room? Is the stove centrally located? 3200 sg ft is a lot to heat on one floor. Check out blaze king or Woodstock
Click to expand...

The stove room is at one end of the house with a vaulted ceiling, the room is about 38' x 25' there is a fresh air return in the ceiling and a ceiling fan. We have a newer heat pump and if we can get enough heat out of the stove we can run the heat pump in fan mode to circulate the warm air through the whole house.

Thanks Mike
 
The Quad Isle Royale has been out for a long time and has a good reputation as a reliable, low service heater. Can't say that for the new Defiant yet. A couple other stoves to consider would be the Jotul F600 and the Hearthstone Manchester.
 
Big room gives you a lot of options, go big, 3+ cu ft box, check out regency 5100
 
That's a big stove but it needs an 8" flue and I don't think that will fit the fireplace or decor.
 
How big is that area where the stove goes? How high is the flue from the ground? What's the size of the hearth?
 
weatherguy said:
How big is that area where the stove goes? How high is the flue from the ground? What's the size of the hearth?
Click to expand...
The alcove is 44" high 41" deep (back wall to front of hearth) 39" wide Flue opening is 38.5" to the center of the 8" hole I have an 8" to 6" adapter for the 6" pipe on the existing stove. The whole hearth is about 8' wide and 13' tall. The recessed portion of the alcove is about 12" deep.
 
Gundog said:
The alcove is 44" high 41" deep (back wall to front of hearth) 39" wide Flue opening is 38.5" to the center of the 8" hole I have an 8" to 6" adapter for the 6" pipe on the existing stove. The whole hearth is about 8' wide and 13' tall. The recessed portion of the alcove is about 12" deep.
Click to expand...
Ok, its much bigger than it looks, thought you might have problems fitting in isle royals on that space but you should be good to go.
 
From the perspective of your photo it's hard to tell how far your hearth extension sticks out from the fireplace opening. I have a Jotul F600 sitting on my hearth extension, which is 17" and the rear legs of the stove sit just inside the fireplace opening. The dimensions of my fireplace is almost identical to yours, except my opening is only 33" tall instead of your 44". With my set up I can open the right side door of the Jotul for loading, which most Jotul owners like to do since using the front doors makes a mess with ashes falling out if you try to load that way.
Also, what is front of your hearth on the floor? Your current stove appears to be a front loading stove, so I'm assuming you have some sort of floor protection that extends at least 16" out in front of your hearth extension where your stove is sitting. The Jotul F600 throws a lot of heat and is very easy to run, so I can highly recommend it. Good luck in your search. Be sure to check closely on how a new stove will sit on your extension if you plan to load from the side since the door has to be far enough outside your fireplace opening to swing open far enough to fit splits through.
 
The Isle Royal is a very sturdy wood stove. Low maintenance and just dirt reliable. The F600 also has quite a following for the same reasons.
I realize that you are in the PNW but 3100 sqft of home is gonna need a big stove. Stick with stoves at 3+ cuft (heavy on the plus). Also - review some of the cat or cat/tube combo stoves. The low, slow burn might work very well for your config.
 
Jags said:
The Isle Royal is a very sturdy wood stove. Low maintenance and just dirt reliable. The F600 also has quite a following for the same reasons.
I realize that you are in the PNW but 3100 sqft of home is gonna need a big stove. Stick with stoves at 3+ cuft (heavy on the plus). Also - review some of the cat or cat/tube combo stoves. The low, slow burn might work very well for your config.
Click to expand...
I agree that that's a lot to heat with one stove. have you considered an alternative of having two stoves? two smaller-medium stoves might be more comfortable than one real big one. one on each end of the house......how about keeping your current stove as is and get another medium stove and put it at the other end of the house. then, in a year or so you can replace your current stove........just a thought.
 
tcassavaugh said:
I agree that that's a lot to heat with one stove. have you considered an alternative of having two stoves? two smaller-medium stoves might be more comfortable than one real big one. one on each end of the house......how about keeping your current stove as is and get another medium stove and put it at the other end of the house. then, in a year or so you can replace your current stove........just a thought.
Click to expand...

Thank you for all the suggestions they all help. I don't think a side loading stove would work that well for me because of the recessed alcove. I like the top loading feature of the Royale and the Defiant. I think the final decision is going to be the Royale because that dealer is more professional than the dealer with the Defiant.

I won't name business names but when you only sell spas and stoves and they tell you their stove guy is not in that day something is wrong. I have been in to the same dealer for my spa when the spa guy was not in. This is a small business with 2 guys working if it were my business we would have a training session on my products because turning away customers or telling them to come back another time because I know nothing about the products we sell is just not good business.

I have done business with both businesses over the years for both stove and spa stuff and the one dealer has always been good to deal with the other has been hit and miss.
 
Just be aware that ANY 3 cuft stove is gonna work its butt off heating 3100 sqft. Keep reasonable expectations.
 
Jags said:
Just be aware that ANY 3 cuft stove is gonna work its butt off heating 3100 sqft. Keep reasonable expectations.
Click to expand...

The big problem with the stove we have now is burn time no mater how I adjust it the burn time never exceeds 2.5-3 hours and I sit about 20' from it and can't feel any heat. It burns a ton of wood and does not put out very much heat. I have my own wood source so it does not cost me anything but I wish we could get more heat from it.

Mike
 
In any case - you should be able to improve upon your current performance with the stoves you are considering.
 
if you have a single story, and you are the least bit handy, its not that hard to put in a chimney. the hardest part is cutting that hole through the roof. there is a psychological barrier you have to cross there if you don't do it regularly. check the cost of pipe from on line or your hardware store with a through the ceiling install. or, sometimes out a side wall is easiest too. anyway, I know you're on a budget but you might be able to swing doing it yourself this year with a medium stove and replace the old stove next year. I just think you're going to be beating a new stove with a stick to get it to heat the house. can you add a key damper to the old stove to help contain the burn rate? best of luck with whatever you do.....and happy new year!
 
southbalto said:
You moved quick! Looks really nice....

How's it performing so far?
Click to expand...
It is early to tell but it putting out more heat I can feel it from where I sit and the other one I couldn't. I love the top loading feature and this think will take a big piece of wood. The old one could only take a 16" piece and I cut a few pieces over sized so they were out by my wood shed waiting for me to cut them in half I loaded them all in my wood cart because now they fit in the new stove.

The dealer let me use his stove cart so I installed it myself and got it all hooked up today. They are going to give me $150 for the old one so I am happy.

Mike
 
I'm curious.

Is there a block off plate where the flue goes up into the opening?
Or is it a snug fit as it is?
 
HotCoals said:
I'm curious.

Is there a block off plate where the flue goes up into the opening?
Or is it a snug fit as it is?
Click to expand...

There is a round tera cota opening that the stove pipe fits into and a trim ring around the pipe that covers the pipe like a flange that part I re-used from the old stove. I installed the old stove also and had a chimney sweep / stove installer inspect the old install this one is installed the same way. I sealed all the joints with stove pipe silicone. I am not sure if that answers your question.

Mike
 
Gundog said:
There is a round tera cota opening that the stove pipe fits into and a trim ring around the pipe that covers the pipe like a flange that part I re-used from the old stove. I installed the old stove also and had a chimney sweep / stove installer inspect the old install this one is installed the same way. I sealed all the joints with stove pipe silicone. I am not sure if that answers your question.

Mike
Click to expand...

Yes it did,thanks.
Interesting. nice looking setup! Cheers!
 
congrats on the new stove, looks sweet.
 
I'll bet that makes a major difference in your heating. It looks great there. I was ok with the install till I heard "stove pipe silicone" There's no such thing for direct contact with single-wall wood stove pipe. It gets too hot for silicone. You need to use furnace cement if you want to seal the joints. If you start noticing bad fumes at high temps, that is where I would look first.
 
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