I have had two older wood stoves for several years and they ate wood like crazy. They were not the efficient stoves of today. Also had a pellet stove which I hated when the power went out. I am now thinking about a getting a woodstove in my current home here in Idaho. My house is 1550 sq ft up and 1550 sq ft down in a daylight basement. It is well insulated but does have wood framed, sheetrocked and insulated concrete walls along the front and sides with sliding glass doors along the rear of the home. I am concerned about the future of our country and our personal well being due to all the worldly goings on. I am not a prepper but I call myself a realist with fears for our future. I have been building a large supply of food, a water purifier system and am now concerned that if for some reason we loose power I will not have heat or a way to cook. So here comes purchasing a wood stove to take care of that fear. I will be putting it downstairs and venting it through the wall and up per specs. My requirements are efficiency, ability to cook on it, heat water etc. I don't especially care for a catalytic stove. I have looked at the Vermonts, Quadra Fires, Blaze King, Jotuls, and numerous others. I am leaning toward the Jotul F50 Rangely where it has some nice cooking features, top loading (small wood) and the Jotul F500 and F600 that have side loads also. I think the cooking could be done on about any stove. I like the look of cast iron but am a little concerned about the needs for resealing the seams every few years. For my needs of heating and cooking if we ever have a disaster I need advice. I don't want the old wood/coal cookstove but an attractive stove that hopefully will only be used to warm the basement up occasionally when guests come but be there as a backup if needed. Please give me your opinions on stoves that might work for me. Thanks for your help.
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