First of all, thanks for a great forum! I've been enjoying everything I can get my hands on here as I've been researching to upgrade my freestanding wood stove. I currently have a VC Vigilant with an 8" pipe. We use wood as our primary heat from Oct - May in the mountains of Southern California (about 5k elevation). It's not our sole source of heat, but we enjoy it best! Air quality restrictions hit closer to home each year and this seems like a good time to upgrade. The Enviro Boston freestanding stoves and the Quadrafire Explorer II seem to be quite similar from what I can tell. Both have steel fireboxes with cast iron exteriors, brick lined, secondary air tubes and ceramic baffles. The Quadrafire seems to land somewhere between the Boston 1200 and 1700 as far as the specs. But specs are about as specs can be, thus this forum! Does anyone have experience with these models? And if not, any input on the technology, brand reliability, etc?
Enviro Boston vs. Quadrafire Explorer II
- Thread starter RCS7
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Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Welcome, RCS7. What is the square footage you're trying to heat, and what's the climate like at that elevation? Open floor plan where heat will move well?
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Oregon aloha
Feeling the Heat
When researching my stove I talked to two people that were replacing their Quadrafire stoves. Both were having parts issues and felt replacement parts were too expensive. I almost bought an Enviro stove, but they didn't make the right stove for my instalation. I am very happy with my Kuma stove and feel I would have been just as happy with an Enviro stove.
Average winter temps are in the mid 20's and 30's. The house is only 1500 sq ft, (2 story; heat travels upstairs freely) but with 2x4 construction, walls don't have much insulation. If our house didn't sit in the shade for most of winter we wouldn't be burning wood for seven months out of the year.
Hey RC
I have a enviro Kodiak 1700 insert . We are heating 1500 sq ft 2 floors with soft wood. I have no experience with the Boston , but am very happy with our Enviro Kodiak. The Boston 1700 would be the same firebox size as mine (2.5) and it does the job well. Our climate is mild (-10 c) most of the burning season but we see up to a month of -15 to -20 c a season. I imagine the freestanding stoves would be excellent.
I have a enviro Kodiak 1700 insert . We are heating 1500 sq ft 2 floors with soft wood. I have no experience with the Boston , but am very happy with our Enviro Kodiak. The Boston 1700 would be the same firebox size as mine (2.5) and it does the job well. Our climate is mild (-10 c) most of the burning season but we see up to a month of -15 to -20 c a season. I imagine the freestanding stoves would be excellent.
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lml999
Minister of Fire
And I have the 1200 insert. Rock solid after 6 years of use. No issues at all. The insert heats 3 rooms on the main floor and 3 bedrooms 6 steps up (opposite side of house).
If I didn't love how the Hearthstones look/work, I'd buy a freestanding Enviro as my next stove...
If I didn't love how the Hearthstones look/work, I'd buy a freestanding Enviro as my next stove...
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