alderlea t4 or t5?

[tower of power]

been obsessively going through hearth.com trying to choose a stove. i am leaning towards a PE alderlea t4 or t5. we have an interesting layout issue so not sure how big a stove we should use. the house is 1500 square feet. eight hundred sq ft on top floor ( top floor is completely open with living room, kitchen and dining nook in one great room with 16 ft cathedral ceilings. downstairs is a daylight basement with two bedrooms and radiant heat in slab. there is a 6 by 10 ft open section in the upstairs floor, open to below. the stove will likely go next to this open area ( a good central location).

i have been figuring that we should plan the stove to only heat the upstairs, if we have it upstairs as we plan. so this would mean an 800 square foot space with cathedral ceilings to heat with the stove.

with fans could there be any heat directed downstairs? i am thinking no, but i would love to heat the whole house mostly with wood. should we think of the stove downstairs? if so, it would go in the children's play area - not a great match.

the propane heated radiant slab, used to heat the downstair bedrooms, will also heat up the upstairs some. so a wood stove upstairs would be needed to top off the heat in the room.

so would a t4 or a t5 be best to heat the upstairs pretty full time in a western ma winter?

thanks

 

[begreen]

Normally I am not a fan of basement stoves, but with the house description I think placing it downstairs would give the maximum benefit. I am assuming that the lower floor walls are insulated and that the stove will be place relatively close to the large stair opening is that correct? In that case I would go with the T5. Kids have a healthy respect for things that can harm them. Train them to learn the stove is HOT and can be an Owee and I think they'll give it wide berth. If still concerned there are child gates that you can surround the stove with for greater safety.

If the final choice is upstairs, then I think the T4 will probably suffice, but I prefer the T5 for longer burn times and stainless baffle.

Not that it makes much difference heatingwise, but is this western MA or NY state?

 

[Elfin]

Tough call, the heat would definitely flow through the house better if the stove were downstairs, but the configuration sounds pretty difficult in terms of piping, plus having the main living area upstairs. We have pretty good luck in our house moving warm air through our furnace ducting system, but it seems the sucess of that really depends on the layout of the house and can have varying results.

Have you had a chance to see these stoves in a showroom? We thought about the T4 at first, but it's a pretty tiny stove. We weren't so much concerned about it heating well, but we were concerned about the size of the firebox. In any case, we love the T5... good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[jpl1nh]

Seems to me the T4 could do it but the t5 would give you longer burns if that's important.

 

[tower of power]

thanks for the input.

a gate would work with the kids if we put the stove downstairs. i think as well we would get the most heat for the buck if the stove was downstairs, but there is a big part of me that wants the stove a part of our main living space.

would a t5 heat us out of our living space upstairs? - i am thinking we would wait and see and burn smaller fires if we have to.

i have thought about the duct possibilities. it would be possible to put a duct at the top of our cathedral ceiling that collects the hot air and use fans to blow the hot air into the bedrooms downstairs through ducts that go along the east and west walls. i could install it, but the question is would it work to get enough hot air downstairs?

thanks again.

 

[Jimbob]

My vote is for the T-5, and a good ceiling fan on the ceiling right above the open section in the floor.
You can always build a small fire in the T-5 if needed, or use smaller split softwood for "flash" fires.

My geography sucks, where is the Hudson Valley??

 

[tower of power]

hi Jimbob,

i am leaning towards the t5 and following your suggestions. a flash fire, i will learn about these. been awhile since i lived with a woodstove.

hudson valley is in new york - along the hudson river, halfway between new york city and canada. i grew up not far from the hudson valley and did not know about it until i moved here.

thanks

 

[Hogwildz]

I'd go with the T6 and reap the benefits of the EBT.

 

[Jimbob]

hi Jimbob,

i am leaning towards the t5 and following your suggestions. a flash fire, i will learn about these. been awhile since i lived with a woodstove.

hudson valley is in new york - along the hudson river, halfway between new york city and canada. i grew up not far from the hudson valley and did not know about it until i moved here.

thanks

Ah, ok so your winters aren't severely cold.

If you read the thread linked below, you'll see how I start "flash" fires. I would modify the procedure and use a bit less wood in your case, though.
Notice how quick the stove comes up to temp. then starts to come back down.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/9812/