Looking for a more efficient stove

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2broke2ride

2broke2ride

Burning Hunk
Dec 23, 2014
221
Townsend MA
I am hoping you guys can give me some suggestions for a more efficient stove to replace my Shenandoah r77. It is in my unfinished basement so looks are not a concern but I also don't want to spend two or three thousand for a stove. Thanks
Kevin
 
What are you looking for the stove to do for you?


There are lots of budget friendly stoves out there. I could throw out some names, but ts probably best. To find out what you want the stove to do first so size and features can be better matched.
 
How large an area is the Shendandoah heating now? The uninsulated basement means you will need 30% more heating capacity just to overcome heat loss. It will burn 30% more wood than in an insulated space.

My guess is you will want a 3 cu ft stove. Two good bargain stoves in that size are the Englander 30NC and the Drolet 2000HT.
 
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Sorry.......... The Shenandoah is currently my primary heat source for 2100 sq.ft. It is supplemented by a wood cook stove in the kitchen and a soon to be efel harmony in a fireplace in the living room. I would like something that I can get as much or more heat out if as the Shenandoah and hopefully use a little less wood and make a little less creasote.
 
I just had a chimney fire 2 days ago from this stove so that's my reason for looking.
 
Sorry to hear that, but glad you ok and are here to report it. Either should burn less wood than the Shenadoah, but part of the creosote prevention is up to you the operator. Dry, fully seasoned wood will be required and the new stove will burn differently than the old stove. That will take a little getting used to. Folks like both the Englander and Drolet. They represent a good value.

The other important issue here is the chimney? What are the current dimensions for height and liner size? Is it stainless steel lined? If not, an inspection and probable insulated stainless liner will be needed.
 
Finding the root cause of the chimney fire is critical to prevent reoccurrence.
EatenByLimestone said:
What are you looking for the stove to do for you?


There are lots of budget friendly stoves out there. I could throw out some names, but ts probably best. To find out what you want the stove to do first so size and features can be better matched.
Click to expand...

Sounds like not to cause another chimney fire. Just guessing :)
 
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I can understand that goal!

Please have the chimney inspected. Include a liner in your budget.
 
I am back up and running with my current setup........ The chimney was inspected today by a licensed sweep. It is an 8" square tile lines masonary chimney it is about 20ft tall.
I don't care for this stove and it's thermostatic draft control. I get it hot and it damps itself down....... I know the fire was caused by a combination of crappy wood and this stove shutting itself down. Unfortunately I didn't close on this house until Labor Day weekend so it left me little time to get wood in. I was lucky that I have a friend that let me cut a bunch of wood on his property.
 
If it's exterior and uninsulated the flue too is contributing to the creosote problem.
 
It is an interior chimney.
 
Sounds like you need a chimney liner first. If you were closer I would show you a stove that I build in my shop. My 2.5 cu ft stove would heat your house & burn for 20-24 hrs on a load of wood. They have full time cats in them & burn very clean. They are top loaders & down draft stoves, full of firebrick & work excellent. I would be willing to send you diagrams If interested. Can be built for about $700.00 in materials. I'm not trying to promote these at all just want you to know there are different alternatives. Hope this helps !
 
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Yes, a liner will be in the budget for piece of mind if nothing else.
I would be very interested in those diagrams as I am quite a do it yourselfer
 
Sorry to the admins if my two topics seemed redundant......... I kind of thought I was asking two different things but at any rate............ Sorry.
 
No problem. We want you safe and warm.
 
I just closed the other one so advice wouldn't be spread over two threads since you mentioned the chimney fire in this one too and the cause. Saves you having to bounce back and forth. Nothing to be sorry for.
 
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shoot-straight said:
From all on here best bang for the buck for a 3 cuft stove is a Englander nc 30. American made. Good track record. Few are unhappy with them.
Click to expand...

Agreed. But I am not sure if the OP will be any better off with the 30NC when only having wet wood to burn. A chimney fire may just occur as likely then. Maybe it would be an option to live with the current stove through the winter while cleaning the chimney regularly (every 3 to 4 weeks). In the spring the 30NC is often one sale from HomeDepot for ~$700, add a liner, install it yourself and the OP will have a new system for less than $2000. In the mean time keep splitting and stacking wood for next winter.
 
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Grisu said:
Agreed. But I am not sure if the OP will be any better off with the 30NC when only having wet wood to burn. A chimney fire may just occur as likely then. Maybe it would be an option to live with the current stove through the winter while cleaning the chimney regularly (every 3 to 4 weeks). In the spring the 30NC is often one sale from HomeDepot for ~$700, add a liner, install it yourself and the OP will have a new system for less than $2000. In the mean time keep splitting and stacking wood for next winter.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much my plan, I am in no kind of denial about my wood not being any good but it is all I have for now. I have already begun cutting and splitting for next year.
 
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I doubt the stove is the problem when it comes to the chimney fire. I replaced my Shenandoah with a Woodstock catalytic just last fall. The Shenandoah had been our heat source since 1975. I have Metalbestos chimney pipe, and I had never cleaned it since installing the stove way back then. I checked it, never needed to clean. So, the Shenandoah isn't a problem. I hated to pull out the old stove, but I am really enjoying the newer, more-efficient Woodstock. It is using about half the firewood as the old Shenandoah, which is quite nice when I am pressed for time and don't really want to go out cutting more trees out of the woods.
 
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Wet or insufficiently dried wood and a new current model stove = unhappy camper. Make of stove doesn't even enter equation . Flue fire - that was caused by your fuel as noted previously. Might want to get a bunch of the compressed wood blocks to mix with your inadequate wood splits. That masonry 8x8 flue is over sized which is contributing to your creosote problem also. Going to be hard pressed to get a insulated liner down that flue- will likely have to breakout the clay tile liners to do so.
 
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Your 8x8 nominal dimension flue should be just fine for your needs. It's been inspected and approved so no further fixes should be necessary. The standard 8x8 is really 7x7 inside and for flow computations the square corners are omitted which should equal a 7" round pipe.

If it were me I'd save the money on chimney alterations and look at a Woodstock ideal steel hybrid for your heating needs.
http://www.woodstove.com/ideal-steel-hybrid
 
blades said:
Wet or insufficiently dried wood and a new current model stove = unhappy camper. Make of stove doesn't even enter equation . Flue fire - that was caused by your fuel as noted previously. Might want to get a bunch of the compressed wood blocks to mix with your inadequate wood splits. That masonry 8x8 flue is over sized which is contributing to your creosote problem also. Going to be hard pressed to get a insulated liner down that flue- will likely have to breakout the clay tile liners to do so.
Click to expand...
As I keep saying, I know my wood is no good and that problem will be solved next year. I have no misconceptions about a new stove fixing a bad wood problem. I want a new stove so I can have better control over it and hopefully use less wood for the same amount of heat. The chimney will be relined in the spring for piece of mind.

Right now I am working to install an efel harmony into my fireplace flue in the living room with a full 6" stainless liner. Hopefully this stove will take some of the loud off the old Shenandoah.
 
Also you guys seem to think this wood I'm using is just dripping wet and green as grass....... The least seasoned stuff I have is poplar and even that if I split it into kindling sized pieces I can lay it on papers and it goes right up, I can put full size splits of it on a bed of coals and they light off in a minute or two.
I get absolutely no sizzling at all from the ends when burning. I don't have a fancy moisture meter but I don't think the wood is really as bad as we've made it out to be here.
 
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