Hi everyone,
I am posting today to get the information I need to make a decision about buying a woodstove before winter is over. I have learned quite a bit online but I am finding all the opinions on stove models overwhelming.
I am currently burning wood in an old half-moon shaped stove, see attached pic. It's huge, it's old and I imagine it's eating up all my wood that I spend so much time and effort cutting. The house is a leaky 100 year old farm house, the first floor is 900 sq.ft and the floor plan is not open, there are doorways from the 234 sq.ft den (where the stove is and where we spend a vast majority of the time) to the kitchen, bedroom and parlor. Heat from the stove makes it's way into the bedroom and parlor on its own but we use a small doorway fan to get more heat into the kitchen. There's a large laundry room/bathroom off the kitchen. There are also a number of large, though modern windows in all the rooms.
The upstairs gets whatever heat makes its way through the ceiling and up the stairway. We have back up LP but we use wood as much as we can in the winter to save money. I never load the stove to capacity, it would be like loading a traditional fireplace to capacity. There's usually never more than a few medium sizes logs in it at a time. The den can be made toasty (with a cold layer of air at floor level), the other downstairs rooms are cooler and the upstairs is chilly on a cold day. Oh, we have a ceiling fan in the den getting the hot air off the ceiling.
Given the layout and draftiness of the house I'm not sure what size stove I should be considering, but I've been hoping to getaway with something like Jotul 602 CB, and just read some about the Englander VL17 and the Morso 2B. I am thinking that almost any EPA certified stove will be a huge improvement over what we have now. The only nights we have coals in the morning is if I put in chunks of wood late at night and I normally check the fire every hour or so when I'm home. It's like a needy pet. Money is a big issue, the less I have to spend the better, the look of the stove means nothing to me.
Thanks,
Bob
I am posting today to get the information I need to make a decision about buying a woodstove before winter is over. I have learned quite a bit online but I am finding all the opinions on stove models overwhelming.
I am currently burning wood in an old half-moon shaped stove, see attached pic. It's huge, it's old and I imagine it's eating up all my wood that I spend so much time and effort cutting. The house is a leaky 100 year old farm house, the first floor is 900 sq.ft and the floor plan is not open, there are doorways from the 234 sq.ft den (where the stove is and where we spend a vast majority of the time) to the kitchen, bedroom and parlor. Heat from the stove makes it's way into the bedroom and parlor on its own but we use a small doorway fan to get more heat into the kitchen. There's a large laundry room/bathroom off the kitchen. There are also a number of large, though modern windows in all the rooms.
The upstairs gets whatever heat makes its way through the ceiling and up the stairway. We have back up LP but we use wood as much as we can in the winter to save money. I never load the stove to capacity, it would be like loading a traditional fireplace to capacity. There's usually never more than a few medium sizes logs in it at a time. The den can be made toasty (with a cold layer of air at floor level), the other downstairs rooms are cooler and the upstairs is chilly on a cold day. Oh, we have a ceiling fan in the den getting the hot air off the ceiling.
Given the layout and draftiness of the house I'm not sure what size stove I should be considering, but I've been hoping to getaway with something like Jotul 602 CB, and just read some about the Englander VL17 and the Morso 2B. I am thinking that almost any EPA certified stove will be a huge improvement over what we have now. The only nights we have coals in the morning is if I put in chunks of wood late at night and I normally check the fire every hour or so when I'm home. It's like a needy pet. Money is a big issue, the less I have to spend the better, the look of the stove means nothing to me.
Thanks,
Bob
Not many wood stoves here.
