What would you do?

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chrisasst

chrisasst

Minister of Fire
Aug 13, 2008
1,289
cortland ny
If you had a stove ( like me) and you don't think it is performing well. Money is limited, so you could either look on craigslist for a used stove and take your chance it wil be better than the one you have or spend that money you would use to buy that stove and tighten up your house more ( more insulation, new doors etc..) so that may help your current stove perform better..
So which option would you choose...?
 
I'd get a energy audit done on my home , and also see if my state has any programs, grant money available for weatherization project
on your home. My state has up to $4,500 for energy improvements. but you have to have a professional audit done first to qualify.
 
Both? I know money is tight!

I would go the better performing/higher rated BTU stove route myself. Then chip away at the tightening up project little by little. Having a rock solid heat producer helps over come the heat loss blues. And you would be warm as soon as its cranking heat. Heat loss is often tough to nail down!

A tip is to try to get the mid point of the new stove to where your max output(roughly) of this stove. The new to you unit would be cruising and still have room on the top for the extreme cold. Please don't get the same size you know is a bit too small for your pressent heat loss!
 
Before I'd scrap the stove and get another unknown preformer, I'd work on the stove. That's the old, "My used truck doesn't run well, but it gets me there and I know what's wrong with it, and when I get money ahead I'll fix it, but until then....." That's right, fix the known or suspected performance issues.

BUT, you "don't think it's performing well". There is the nitty-gritty issue. What do you expect from the stove and what is it doing? Are you expecting too much? Is the stove not performing, or are your issues with the fuel, the installation, the location, the area you expect to heat... and so forth. Now you need to jump in the hot seat and let the forum do your talking.

BTW, the Kozi is not the most popular stove on the forum, but my experience is that the issues I have seen are often traced to owner errors. Bought one a few years back for the price of scrap. Guy said it wouldn't heat for sh...!!! Fact was, he had run three tons of really bad pellets through it and never cleaned it. I have never seen a stove so choked. Current owner is heating twice the area, loves the stoves and gets her kids involved in the Saturday morning clean the stove party. Clean stove means pancakes!!!! Another was a broken hopper switch, too many bags slammed down on it without thinking... Was that the stove's fault????

Not trying to imply you don't pay attention, just that in neither case was the stove the problem.
 
littlesmokey said:
Before I'd scrap the stove and get another unknown preformer, I'd work on the stove. That's the old, "My used truck doesn't run well, but it gets me there and I know what's wrong with it, and when I get money ahead I'll fix it, but until then....." That's right, fix the known or suspected performance issues.

BUT, you "don't think it's performing well". There is the nitty-gritty issue. What do you expect from the stove and what is it doing? Are you expecting too much? Is the stove not performing, or are your issues with the fuel, the installation, the location, the area you expect to heat... and so forth. Now you need to jump in the hot seat and let the forum do your talking.

BTW, the Kozi is not the most popular stove on the forum, but my experience is that the issues I have seen are often traced to owner errors. Bought one a few years back for the price of scrap. Guy said it wouldn't heat for sh...!!! Fact was, he had run three tons of really bad pellets through it and never cleaned it. I have never seen a stove so choked. Current owner is heating twice the area, loves the stoves and gets her kids involved in the Saturday morning clean the stove party. Clean stove means pancakes!!!! Another was a broken hopper switch, too many bags slammed down on it without thinking... Was that the stove's fault????

Not trying to imply you don't pay attention, just that in neither case was the stove the problem.
Click to expand...

I have been trying to "fix" or work on it for 3 years now. I have to keep it clean to produce any heat. I have tried several pellets in this stove.

This stove says it is rate 10k - 40k btu I have a 10k kero heater, so together in theory that is 50k btu. I have the kero heater on one end of my room and stove on the other end, and it is only 64 degrees in my room ( 12 outside). The room is over my uninsulated crawl space. That probably means nothing to you guys with out see the house set up, but to me that is not good...
 
Figure out how much to insulate the crawl space, Then what it would be for a used stove. Pick the cheaper route?

Adding a second stove along with this is also an option. Look at how snowy rivers is doing it. Plus don't forget the rated BTU is input not output on the stove. You may only be getting 32K or there abouts from it.

Does the house have a furnace or did it have one at one time? What was its BTU output if it was keeping the house warm in this type of weather. Just trying to get a feel for what might be the needed BTU's.
 
"The room is over my uninsulated crawl space."

Well what ya waiting for an engraved solid gold invitation? Fix your heat loss problem.
 
Keeping the stove clean is essential regardless of the stove you have.

Next, the stove output range is theoretical. You can't burn a theoretical figure to generate a bit of heat. Realistically you are probably at a 80% of max, but that is the max setting. You should really not be burning at the top end all the time. That is not the most efficient setting of the stove to run, How tight is the "room" and how big is it. What is the highth of the ceiling and how much insulation do you have up in the attic? Are the walls insulated and what about the glass? Are all four wall exposed to the 12* weather?

An uninsulated crawl space leaves a lot to imagine, but I have lived Upstate, so I have some idea.Is it vented and does it retain any heat? If you are trying to warm a 12* floor, there is no stove that will help. without getting and keeping some heat under the floor. My sister in Washington had a crawl space on their home overlooking the Puget Sound. My cheap BIL didn't insulate it until the utility company paid 1/2 the cost. With the same heat setting their inside temp went up 14*, freaked my sister out. Also cut down their slipper budget dramatically.

I heat 900 square feet with a very small stove, never use a high setting, except after start up on a very cold morning. Run the stove more or less 24/7, and am comfortable at 65*. The shop has two stoves one pellet and one wood. May have a duster soon :cheese: It isn't always heated, but I can crank about 175,000 BTU's if I wanted. Certain areas of the house just get shut off during the Winter and I don't even worry about them. So, now you know my story what's yours?
 
j-takeman said:
Figure out how much to insulate the crawl space, Then what it would be for a used stove. Pick the cheaper route?

Adding a second stove along with this is also an option. Look at how snowy rivers is doing it. Plus don't forget the rated BTU is input not output on the stove. You may only be getting 32K or there abouts from it.

Does the house have a furnace or did it have one at one time? What was its BTU output if it was keeping the house warm in this type of weather. Just trying to get a feel for what might be the needed BTU's.
Click to expand...

It had an oil fired, water baseboard heat. I don't know what the btu's of that were. I thought about doing the 2 stove thing, I am scared to have another heavy object on my floor though. the corner where my stove is now, has dropped about 3" ( however I don't know if it was like that before the stove or not.) and I would have to convince my wife that 2 stoves are good..
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
"The room is over my uninsulated crawl space."

Well what ya waiting for an engraved solid gold invitation? Fix your heat loss problem.
Click to expand...

I want to tear my floor up next summer and dig out my crawl space so it is a decent size. ( If any one watches Holmes on Homes, you may have seen an episode where he did that.) Then hopefully restructure my outside wall where the floor is sagging and concrete it and insulate it. Of course that is the vision in my head at-least.
 
Get a really powerfull stove and make it blow so much heat that it seals any leaks
 
Answers in Bold

littlesmokey said:
Keeping the stove clean is essential regardless of the stove you have.

Next, the stove output range is theoretical. You can't burn a theoretical figure to generate a bit of heat. Realistically you are probably at a 80% of max, but that is the max setting. You should really not be burning at the top end all the time. {its the only way I can get Heat out of it} That is not the most efficient setting of the stove to run, How tight is the "room" and how big is it. { I just insulated the room, it is about 35x14..However, both ends lead to areas of noninsulated rooms} What is the highth of the ceiling and how much insulation do you have up in the attic? {2 story house, main floor ceiling is 10', needs more insulation in attic} Are the walls insulated and what about the glass? {Brand new windows, tightly sealed}. Are all four wall exposed to the 12* weather? {Basically}

An uninsulated crawl space leaves a lot to imagine, but I have lived Upstate, so I have some idea.Is it vented and does it retain any heat?{ Its not tight, no heat} If you are trying to warm a 12* floor, there is no stove that will help. without getting and keeping some heat under the floor. My sister in Washington had a crawl space on their home overlooking the Puget Sound. My cheap BIL didn't insulate it until the utility company paid 1/2 the cost. With the same heat setting their inside temp went up 14*, freaked my sister out. Also cut down their slipper budget dramatically.

I heat 900 square feet with a very small stove, never use a high setting, except after start up on a very cold morning. Run the stove more or less 24/7, and am comfortable at 65*. The shop has two stoves one pellet and one wood. May have a duster soon :cheese: It isn't always heated, but I can crank about 175,000 BTU's if I wanted. Certain areas of the house just get shut off during the Winter and I don't even worry about them. So, now you know my story what's yours?
Click to expand...
 
If funds are tight right now, my suggestion is insulating the house
as much as possible would give ya the best bang for the buck in the short term.
You will be warmer and the stove won't have to work so hard to keep up.
Then save up and get a bigger stove next year.
 
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