Pacific Energy T5 or Napoleon 1100C?

Hi Folks,

My family has recently moved to a new home in Rhode Island and we are in the process of deciding which stove is correct for our home and layout. The house is a split level ranch with a total heatable space of approximately 1700 sq. ft. The living space is located on the top floor (1200 sq. ft.); 3 bedrooms and an open sitting/dining/kitchen area. The open common area is 500 sq. ft. with 11 ft vaulted ceilings, the remainder of the house has 7.5 ft ceilings. From what I can tell this fall the house is fairly tight (built 1980). The only insulation which I can get to is in the boiler room (R11), not sure if this is throughout all the walls or a thicker mat used elsewhere? The down stairs of the house can be closed off with doors and is zoned independent from the top floor, so heating this area is not a huge concern.

The stove will be installed in the corner of the common area upstairs with seating 5-7 ft away from the front of the stove (facing the stove), this will be our primary living room. We have boiled our decision down to the Napoleon 1100c or the PE T5 due to close clearances and convective nature of the stoves. We heated our last home 24/7 (850 sq. ft.) with the Napoleon 1100c and were very pleased with it's performance and burn times - perhaps a bit too much heat during the night. My original thought was to go with a slightly bigger fire box (2.0 - 2.5 ft3) due to the increase of heatable area and increased burn times, however, I am concerned with blasting us out of our living room or having to resort to burning small inefficient fires. My questions are as follow:

1) Does anyone have experience with the T5 in this type of setting with seating fairly close to the front of the stove - is it too much stove?

2) Any comments on the performance of either stove to heat the required space described - Napoleon too small?

3) What are the actual measurements of the T5 from back of the stove to the front door? The manual only gives measurements from the back to the front of the ash lip. Keeping a small footprint is important for our set up.

4) Comments on the overall quality of the PE T5 compared to the Napoleon?

I appreciate you advice!
Matt

Thanks for the information - you have furthered my hunch that the PE is a superior stove. As for the chimney, it will be a straight run through the roof. About 5.5' double walled inside and I reckon another 7'+ of double walled stainless outside? Since the stove will be on the top floor can I expect much heat to move downstairs once the top floor is fully heated? If not, should I consider the heatable space to be 1200 sq. ft. (top floor) instead of both floors (1700 sq. ft.)?


Unfortunately I do not have a dealer local to go look at the stove in person. How does the overall size compare to the Napoleon 1100c? The specs indicate it is only a few inches deeper but pictures make it look like it will take up a much larger footprint.

The information provided on this forum is very helpful.

Sounds like the T5 is a good bet. Just to open another can of worms - any thoughts on cast iron catalytic stoves that would fit the bill. The crux with catalytic is that we need a close corner clearance as space is a premium in our seating area and I can't seem to find one that would take up the same foot print at the T5. It seems tough to beat the clearances of jacketed stoves which is why we ended up purchasing a Napoleon 1100 in our last home. At any rate I thought I would get some insight from the knowledge base here before I pull the trigger on the T5.

The extra maintenance and care of the catalyst is not a negative for me. The increased efficiency and burn time coupled with the ability to burn long slow fires is appealing.

Thanks - Matt

We will be using the stove as our primary heat 24/7. Smaller fires while awake seems logical to keep the heat in control. My concern is overheating 1200 square ft when stuffing the box for an overnight burn or while away from the house. As previously stated 500 square ft of the home has 11ft vaulted ceilings.

Any thoughts or experience running the T5 or similar stoves in 1200 square ft?

Thanks begreen. The Blaze King Ashford 20 does look like a mighty nice stove. I could certainly have a less enjoyable task as the current - deciding on a new stove. Now the trick is to actually make a decision before I drive my wife mad!

We decided to go with the t5 and have been burning it for a week now. My first impression is very good - excellent build and burn. Thanks for the previous input; it always helps to have first hand accounts from those who have used the unit.

Matt