good news tuna
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I use a T-5 in about 1400 sq/ft, fairly mild climate. Don't think you would be happy with a T-5 in a drafty 2100 ft. It would probably be great 90% of the time. That other 10% would be my concern.
Now I am really Confused....
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I have the T6, and can tell you that you will not get "baked out" unless you want to. I can have it going strong and be watching TV 5' from it, and it may be warm but no way unbearable. If I turn on the blower it heats the upstairs pretty fast, 900 sq ft with 9' ceilings. I keep it about 75-80 easily. You mentioned 12' ceilings, IMO if you get the T5 you will be pleased with the aesthetics but very dissapointed in the heat. With 12' ceilings, you need to multiply the sq ft x 1.5 since the stove heats volume, not sq feet. Given your climate, I would stick with the Summit, T6, etc. - what about an Englander 30? The Summit, like the T6, is more convective so add a blower to keep some of the heat off the ceiling and you will be much closer to heating the house with the stove than with the T5. BTW, I think the T5 price is decent, but not really a steal; that $1500 Summit, however, sounds like a great price. Less $, more heat, and you can always keep the fire small or let it go longer before reloading. It would be an easy choice for me.
Just saw the newer posts - go for the T6 if you like the look of the T5. The extra $200 is not much when you have to live with it every day (though I hear ya on the car repairs, can they put it on layaway for you?).
Just saw the newer posts - go for the T6 if you like the look of the T5. The extra $200 is not much when you have to live with it every day (though I hear ya on the car repairs, can they put it on layaway for you?).
That is a great price for the T6 as well. If it helps, we have a T6 in a 2000 sq ft, 80 yr old farmhouse with too much glass in a significantly milder climate. I was concerned about the T6 being too large as well. One dealer wouldn't even sell it to me. Then Tom Oyen and I had a long chat and he set me straight. It is not the size of the stove, it's the amount of fuel you put in it. He said that in our mild climate the T5 would cover about 80-90% of our heating. When it got very cold, we might need to supplement it with the furnace. But my concern was for when it is below 20 degrees and we have no power for a week or more. In that case, Tom indicated that the T6 would be fine. It would still be only good for about 90% of the heating, but this time it would be at the milder temperatures where we might not want to burn it. That's fine with us and why we have a heat pump. When it gets above 50ºF, the stove goes out.
The T5 is certainly a winner. It's an easy to run, eye-pleasing heater. But it sounds like you want more oomph and longer burning when it is cold. My concern is that the T5 won't put out a whole lot more heat than the Resolute when it gets really cold out. To do that and still have an overnight burn, you need more capacity. The important thing to remember is that you don't need to run the bigger stove with a full load of wood all the time. In 40ºF weather we are often only burning 2-3 splits at a time. The T6 rarely gets filled unless the temps are below freezing.
Hope that helps a bit. We were also anxious at first, but have never regretted getting the bigger stove. When the temp got down to the low teens this winter we were very grateful for Tom's good advice and the big stove that was heating us comfortably.
The T5 is certainly a winner. It's an easy to run, eye-pleasing heater. But it sounds like you want more oomph and longer burning when it is cold. My concern is that the T5 won't put out a whole lot more heat than the Resolute when it gets really cold out. To do that and still have an overnight burn, you need more capacity. The important thing to remember is that you don't need to run the bigger stove with a full load of wood all the time. In 40ºF weather we are often only burning 2-3 splits at a time. The T6 rarely gets filled unless the temps are below freezing.
Hope that helps a bit. We were also anxious at first, but have never regretted getting the bigger stove. When the temp got down to the low teens this winter we were very grateful for Tom's good advice and the big stove that was heating us comfortably.
It does help a lot! I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this subject. Funny thing, I just showed my wife a picture of both stoves and she thought the summit looked better. Who'd of thunk it??? Still going to mull it over for a day or so and see where it comes out. Any more thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.
One more comment for perspective. I live in an old, small house, only about 900 sq ft plus a basement. Climate with less extreme cold, but we get a few -20 days, mostly low teens at night and 20s-30s in the day. However, we have much more wind than most places. The living / dining area, over 1/2 the house, has R-13 and R-19+ wall insulation, attic is probably R-38+, newer metal siding that stops the wind. I have the T6 going full right now. Once it's up to temp and I turn on the blower it takes about 2 mins to notice a difference anywhere in the main room, about 20-30 mins the whole house is cozy. I shut off the blower and sit in front of the stove in the evening watching TV and am perfectly comfortable in sweats and a t-shirt (sorry for the image), in my house the blower makes all the difference because of the tall ceilings. Took a while to get used to it since I'm used to more direct heat, but it's definitely more versatile and I appreciate it during milder weather when I can still have a fire in the big beast for a little warmth but not get cooked out.
I agree that the 12' ceilings put a whole different spin on things--it's multiplying the room size by 1.5. That makes the bigger stove make more sense. You could be cooked out sitting at ceiling height, but comfy down below.
Just like you experienced today with the car, you never know when an emergency is going to pop up. I certainly didn't plan on my boiler failing, but if I hadn't had the stove not only in, but up and running with the kinks ironed out, I would have been in trouble. I think you're being wise to look at getting a stove in, and then doing the best you can with insulating as you can. Something to consider might be looking into state funding for beefing up the insulation--sometimes states or municipalities have weatherization programs that can really help take some of the sting out of paying for that.
The reality is that you can only do what you can do, and it sure can feel overwhelming at times. I took some criticism for getting the stove in when I did because I wasn't perfectly set up with a saw, truck, woodshed, etc. I just did what I could do, and improved as I went along. Thank God I put the stove in when I did. Lots of turmoil in the decision-making process--I was a basket case!--but I'm really happy that I took the time to work this decision through as best I could, and happy that I had all the help on this website that I did.
Have you looked at the stove review section here? There's lots of good info from people who have lived with the stoves you're looking at.
MF1529 was talking about the need for a reference for judging how much stove you need. This is how I did that (and explains in part why I ask the kind of questions I do, beyond sheer nosiness): I knew how much fuel oil my stove used to heat house and garage over the last 12 years, so I averaged that, and compared my house to similar-sized houses with similar layouts both here and i the Lower 48 that heated with fuel oil. When I found people who had similar sized houses and climates I could compare their fuel use and their stove selection. That was my key for judging stove size. There are folks with houses the size of mine in this climate who need a Blaze King King to keep their house warm--but when they were heating with fuel oil, they burned twice or more what I do. I know you don't have the luxury of a lot of time, but I hope it can help--and that info can help knowledgeable stove store guys to help you as well. I had one who was so good at that he was able to estimate my wood use pretty closely based on that info.
One more thought: if you are in an exposed area, planting some spruce or pine trees to the north of the house can help block the wind to a surprising degree. Or if you're planning a woodshed, locate it as a windbreak. Sounds like your're doing well with the windows. Step at a time.
Good luck, and keep us in the loop as this unfolds.
Just like you experienced today with the car, you never know when an emergency is going to pop up. I certainly didn't plan on my boiler failing, but if I hadn't had the stove not only in, but up and running with the kinks ironed out, I would have been in trouble. I think you're being wise to look at getting a stove in, and then doing the best you can with insulating as you can. Something to consider might be looking into state funding for beefing up the insulation--sometimes states or municipalities have weatherization programs that can really help take some of the sting out of paying for that.
The reality is that you can only do what you can do, and it sure can feel overwhelming at times. I took some criticism for getting the stove in when I did because I wasn't perfectly set up with a saw, truck, woodshed, etc. I just did what I could do, and improved as I went along. Thank God I put the stove in when I did. Lots of turmoil in the decision-making process--I was a basket case!--but I'm really happy that I took the time to work this decision through as best I could, and happy that I had all the help on this website that I did.
Have you looked at the stove review section here? There's lots of good info from people who have lived with the stoves you're looking at.
MF1529 was talking about the need for a reference for judging how much stove you need. This is how I did that (and explains in part why I ask the kind of questions I do, beyond sheer nosiness): I knew how much fuel oil my stove used to heat house and garage over the last 12 years, so I averaged that, and compared my house to similar-sized houses with similar layouts both here and i the Lower 48 that heated with fuel oil. When I found people who had similar sized houses and climates I could compare their fuel use and their stove selection. That was my key for judging stove size. There are folks with houses the size of mine in this climate who need a Blaze King King to keep their house warm--but when they were heating with fuel oil, they burned twice or more what I do. I know you don't have the luxury of a lot of time, but I hope it can help--and that info can help knowledgeable stove store guys to help you as well. I had one who was so good at that he was able to estimate my wood use pretty closely based on that info.
One more thought: if you are in an exposed area, planting some spruce or pine trees to the north of the house can help block the wind to a surprising degree. Or if you're planning a woodshed, locate it as a windbreak. Sounds like your're doing well with the windows. Step at a time.
Good luck, and keep us in the loop as this unfolds.
skinanbones
Feeling the Heat
As a Pacific Energy dealer in southern Ontario i'll tell you straight up you will regret the t5. The cast top retains allot of heat, we're selling them now only to heat 1500 sq ft bungalows. I think that even the t6 might have some issues in the deep cold of febuary. The prices quoted the second time for the summit are bang on for canadian retail, although the $1534 is a screaming deal for a plain summit.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Sounds like a good price on that T5. Dont know much about them. I wouldnt worry about getting too much heat you can always build a smaller fire and its nice to get longer burn times with a larger box.
certified106
Minister of Fire
If you can swing it I would get the T6 it's the same one I have been looking at for my house and it's about 2200sq ft. The other reason I say go for the T6 is because I'm partial to cast iron as it heats up a little bit slower but also retains it's heat better for more heat output if you have a long time period between reloads.
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