Am I crazy?

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Corriewf

New Member
Dec 2, 2009
290
Central VA
Hello,

I may have become addicted to spending money and/or wood stoves. I am not sure, please advise. Last November I bought a Vogelzang colonial insert. It has a small firebox of about 1.4 cubic. So far teh results have not been bad. I can heat right now to 70s ( shoulder season ) and in upper 60s when it is cold. Half of my house which it is in was built in 48 and with cinderblock. It gets cold quick. I can have that side of the house up to 70, go to sleep and wake up to high 50s. It has saved me some electricity trying to heat with space heaters last year. Here's the problem, my son is 2 and is going to be moving from my side of the house ( my bedroom ) with the heat pump to the side of the house with the stove. I don't want the heat to cut off so early in the middle of the night leaving him cold. I am thinking about selling the current insert for 500 which I bought for 900 and buying a Napoleon 1402. The Napoleon has a 2.2 firebox and two 200 cfm fans vs the one 130 cfm fan now. It also has a fan that cuts off when the stove cools down. Currently the fan keeps running till we wake up and this pulls more cold air into the house I believe. I can get this new stove for 1600. Am I crazy to sell a stove at a loss and spend money on a new stove after just one season? Have I lost my mind or am I doing the right thing?

Tell me I have not just got the wood stove fever. :)
 
Corriewf said:
Hello,

I may have become addicted to spending money and/or wood stoves. I am not sure, please advise. Last November I bought a Vogelzang colonial insert. It has a small firebox of about 1.4 cubic. So far teh results have not been bad. I can heat right now to 70s ( shoulder season ) and in upper 60s when it is cold. Half of my house which it is in was built in 48 and with cinderblock. It gets cold quick. I can have that side of the house up to 70, go to sleep and wake up to high 50s. It has saved me some electricity trying to heat with space heaters last year. Here's the problem, my son is 2 and is going to be moving from my side of the house ( my bedroom ) with the heat pump to the side of the house with the stove. I don't want the heat to cut off so early in the middle of the night leaving him cold. I am thinking about selling the current insert for 500 which I bought for 900 and buying a Napoleon 1402. The Napoleon has a 2.2 firebox and two 200 cfm fans vs the one 130 cfm fan now. It also has a fan that cuts off when the stove cools down. Currently the fan keeps running till we wake up and this pulls more cold air into the house I believe. I can get this new stove for 1600. Am I crazy to sell a stove at a loss and spend money on a new stove after just one season? Have I lost my mind or am I doing the right thing?

Tell me I have not just got the wood stove fever. :)


I have purchased three stoves in 18 months. So, my definition of crazy, might be different than most, BUT, if you are financially capable of handling and it doesn't put you in a bind, the answer is clearly; no you are not crazy.
 
BrowningBAR said:
Corriewf said:
Hello,

I may have become addicted to spending money and/or wood stoves. I am not sure, please advise. Last November I bought a Vogelzang colonial insert. It has a small firebox of about 1.4 cubic. So far teh results have not been bad. I can heat right now to 70s ( shoulder season ) and in upper 60s when it is cold. Half of my house which it is in was built in 48 and with cinderblock. It gets cold quick. I can have that side of the house up to 70, go to sleep and wake up to high 50s. It has saved me some electricity trying to heat with space heaters last year. Here's the problem, my son is 2 and is going to be moving from my side of the house ( my bedroom ) with the heat pump to the side of the house with the stove. I don't want the heat to cut off so early in the middle of the night leaving him cold. I am thinking about selling the current insert for 500 which I bought for 900 and buying a Napoleon 1402. The Napoleon has a 2.2 firebox and two 200 cfm fans vs the one 130 cfm fan now. It also has a fan that cuts off when the stove cools down. Currently the fan keeps running till we wake up and this pulls more cold air into the house I believe. I can get this new stove for 1600. Am I crazy to sell a stove at a loss and spend money on a new stove after just one season? Have I lost my mind or am I doing the right thing?

Tell me I have not just got the wood stove fever. :)


I have purchased three stoves in 18 months. So, my definition of crazy, might be different than most, BUT, if you are financially capable of handling and it doesn't put you in a bind, the answer is clearly; no you are not crazy.

Wow can I hear that story? Ahaha! Yeah I have the money but like always the money could be used on other things you know. However I feel like I need something larger. I need more even heat after I go to bed. Maybe my son could get by with a down blanket but being just 2 years old, I don't like it. Sometimes he tosses and turns knocking the blankets off him. He doesnt realize it. Also if I could heat both sides of the house, I could save more electricity on the heat pump side of the house. My house is around 1800 sqf.
 
Corriewf said:
It also has a fan that cuts off when the stove cools down. Currently the fan keeps running till we wake up and this pulls more cold air into the house I believe.

Cold air should not be pulled into your house with the fan. It should only circulate. Is this an insert with an unsealed ash dump below the stove?
Oh , by the way, I also purchased two stoves within two heating seasons. I dont think we are crazy. Just inspired. ;-)

Good luck with what ever ya do. We are all pullin for ya.
 
north of 60 said:
Corriewf said:
It also has a fan that cuts off when the stove cools down. Currently the fan keeps running till we wake up and this pulls more cold air into the house I believe.

Cold air should not be pulled into your house with the fan. It should only circulate. Is this an insert with an unsealed ash dump below the stove?
Oh , by the way, I also purchased two stoves within two heating seasons. I dont think we are crazy. Just inspired. ;-)

Good luck with what ever ya do. We are all pullin for ya.

Well, that is what I meant. It pulls the cold air from the floor and circulates it throughout the room cooling the room down faster. If I had a well insulated house, this probably wouldn't be an issue, however the air close to the floor is cooled fast when the stove is circulating it without heating. The stove doesnt have a ash dump.

You guys think I will see a great improvement with the 1402 with 400 cfm fan? Is it worth the 1000 bucks (after selling current for 500 ) to upgrade?
 
Corriewf said:
The stove doesnt have a ash dump.

You guys think I will see a great improvement with the 1402 with 400 cfm fan? Is it worth the 1000 bucks (after selling current for 500 ) to upgrade?

Did your old fireplace have an ash dump that is now below your new insert letting a draft in from your existing outdoor clean out?

Now about the improvements between the two stoves....ONLY MONEY WILL TELL. :lol:
 
Corriewf said:
I have purchased three stoves in 18 months. So, my definition of crazy, might be different than most, BUT, if you are financially capable of handling and it doesn't put you in a bind, the answer is clearly; no you are not crazy.

Wow can I hear that story? Ahaha! Yeah I have the money but like always the money could be used on other things you know. However I feel like I need something larger. I need more even heat after I go to bed. Maybe my son could get by with a down blanket but being just 2 years old, I don't like it. Sometimes he tosses and turns knocking the blankets off him. He doesnt realize it. Also if I could heat both sides of the house, I could save more electricity on the heat pump side of the house. My house is around 1800 sqf.[/quote]

I have an old stone farm house in an 'L' shape with no central chimney, but it does have three chimneys, one at each end and one at the 'L' bend. Bought the first stove in August of '08. Thought it was fantastic by the end of December, by February I realized I needed another stove to heat more of the house. Bought the second stove in April of '09. Lots of issues with the install, but it finally is a heat producer. Realized I need a third stove for the last chimney for whole house heating and to keep the house comfortable on the very cold days. Purchased a third stove this month.

My tombstone will read 'It never got hot enough for me'. :)

My wife has gotten completely spoiled with the ability to get areas of the house up to 80°. I used the oil furnace for a bit over the weekend for a few reasons and I set the thermostat to 70° and I see her on the couch in a fleece jacket with a blanket on. I gave her a lot of crap for that as she used to only dream of the house being 70° before we had wood stoves.
 
north of 60 said:
Corriewf said:
The stove doesnt have a ash dump.

You guys think I will see a great improvement with the 1402 with 400 cfm fan? Is it worth the 1000 bucks (after selling current for 500 ) to upgrade?

Did your old fireplace have an ash dump that is now below your new insert letting a draft in from your existing outdoor clean out?

Now about the improvements between the two stoves....ONLY MONEY WILL TELL. :lol:

Ahahah! Only money will tell.. Damn you! :) Man common sense tells me 400 cfm vs 130 cfm means more heat output. I know firebox is important but isnt the fan as well?
 
BrowningBAR said:
Corriewf said:
I have purchased three stoves in 18 months. So, my definition of crazy, might be different than most, BUT, if you are financially capable of handling and it doesn't put you in a bind, the answer is clearly; no you are not crazy.

Wow can I hear that story? Ahaha! Yeah I have the money but like always the money could be used on other things you know. However I feel like I need something larger. I need more even heat after I go to bed. Maybe my son could get by with a down blanket but being just 2 years old, I don't like it. Sometimes he tosses and turns knocking the blankets off him. He doesnt realize it. Also if I could heat both sides of the house, I could save more electricity on the heat pump side of the house. My house is around 1800 sqf.

I have an old stone farm house in an 'L' shape with no central chimney, but it does have three chimneys, one at each end and one at the 'L' bend. Bought the first stove in August of '08. Thought it was fantastic by the end of December, by February I realized I needed another stove to heat more of the house. Bought the second stove in April of '09. Lots of issues with the install, but it finally is a heat producer. Realized I need a third stove for the last chimney for whole house heating and to keep the house comfortable on the very cold days. Purchased a third stove this month.

My tombstone will read 'It never got hot enough for me'. :)

My wife has gotten completely spoiled with the ability to get areas of the house up to 80°. I used the oil furnace for a bit over the weekend for a few reasons and I set the thermostat to 70° and I see her on the couch in a fleece jacket with a blanket on. I gave her a lot of crap for that as she used to only dream of the house being 70° before we had wood stoves.[/quote]

Damn I thought my situation was bad. YIKES! I dont envy your wood processing and hauling to load three stoves. Maybe you should install a revolving door for you getting the wood. Damn seriously, that's a lot of stoves to tend to. :lol: How much wood you going through? 10 cords?

It's amazing how much money we will spend to get women to wear less clothes huh? :lol:
 
Corriewf said:
Man common sense tells me 400 cfm vs 130 cfm means more heat output.

Or it may mean more cold air circulating around when the fire goes out. %-P
Yes I know the Nap has a stat to shut the fan off. Just ribbing ya.

I am am pretty sure there would be an improvement. I think you should go bigger if your gonna expect more return on your $ down the road. Expessially if you want to increase your burn times as well.
 
Corriewf said:
Damn I thought my situation was bad. YIKES! I dont envy your wood processing and hauling to load three stoves. Maybe you should install a revolving door for you getting the wood. Damn seriously, that's a lot of stoves to tend to. :lol: How much wood you going through? 10 cords?

It's amazing how much money we will spend to get women to wear less clothes huh? :lol:

I only have two installed right now. The third will be installed over the summer. But feeding the stoves won't be bad. Since each stove only needs to heat about 700sq ft I don't have to run the stoves hard. Which means longer burn times.

I am unsure as to how much would I will use. I am thinking it will be about 7 cords, but could be as much as 9.
 
north of 60 said:
Corriewf said:
Man common sense tells me 400 cfm vs 130 cfm means more heat output.

Or it may mean more cold air circulating around when the fire goes out. %-P
Yes I know the Nap has a stat to shut the fan off. Just ribbing ya.

I am am pretty sure there would be an improvement. I think you should go bigger if your gonna expect more return on your $ down the road. Expessially if you want to increase your burn times as well.

Yeah, the fan will go off I hope. Keep the warm air where it is and cold air somewhere else. ahaha! I could lie to the boy and tell him I had to deal with 60 degree temps when I was growing up... but uhh I grew up in Florida.. ahah!

Well, this would be going from 1.3 cubic foot firebox to 2.2. You think I need to go bigger? You think 2.2 won't push 1800 square feet? I am worried about it. I was looking at a Lopi Freedom Bay used for 1400 but some bastard had to come and buy it before I could shoot off the email. Arrgg! I really can't afford much more than 1600 for this stove. :(
 
BrowningBAR said:
Corriewf said:
Damn I thought my situation was bad. YIKES! I dont envy your wood processing and hauling to load three stoves. Maybe you should install a revolving door for you getting the wood. Damn seriously, that's a lot of stoves to tend to. :lol: How much wood you going through? 10 cords?

It's amazing how much money we will spend to get women to wear less clothes huh? :lol:

I only have two installed right now. The third will be installed over the summer. But feeding the stoves won't be bad. Since each stove only needs to heat about 700sq ft I don't have to run the stoves hard. Which means longer burn times.

I am unsure as to how much would I will use. I am thinking it will be about 7 cords, but could be as much as 9.

I would guess based on long burn times and only loading when temps start to drop, about 2 cords per stove. I think that is fair estimate. I think you will probably find a stove not getting used from time to time as the heat output will be so high. With 3 stoves heating 700 sqf each, your gonna have each stove probably spilling heat over to the other. The whole house could try and hit 80 after the first burn gets going strong in all 3.

On to more serious topics though... My wife is still in a jacket around the house... What size stove to get it hot enough in here that she starts shedding. ahahah!
 
Corriie, by the sounds of it perhaps you should be thinking even bigger. Especially for overnight burns. It seems to me like something more in the 3 cu ft would suit you much better. Better to err on the big side rather than too small again.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Corriie, by the sounds of it perhaps you should be thinking even bigger. Especially for overnight burns. It seems to me like something more in the 3 cu ft would suit you much better. Better to err on the big side rather than too small again.

Completely agree. Having easier overnight burns eliminates a lot of hassle.
 
Stories like this is why when people ask on here if they should get a stove from TSC or another cheap stove, I advise against it. I too was in that game of stove trading. Just so happens I ended up with a keeper after my first folly. I was lucky. I think the best advice is to go to the stove shops and see what you like. Then come here and look it up and ask if you don't see what you need. I would even say that it's better that you don't look at price tags at all. In the end the price doesn't matter. In the end it's how well you like your stove. It's funny how we will spend $1000 three times but balk at spending $3K for the stove that we love. In the end you take all the expense and divide it by 10-15 years (or more hopefully) and that stove isn't very expensive at all. Subtract all the frustration and time spent trying to make something you aren't happy with work, and that 'expensive' stove really isn't bad at all. No you aren't crazy.... Just suffer from sticker shock and a little long-term vision impaired. Now go get the stove that will work for 15 years!....
 
BrowningBAR said:
Backwoods Savage said:
Corriie, by the sounds of it perhaps you should be thinking even bigger. Especially for overnight burns. It seems to me like something more in the 3 cu ft would suit you much better. Better to err on the big side rather than too small again.

Completely agree. Having easier overnight burns eliminates a lot of hassle.

+100
Dennis and BBar are on it like white on rice. If you have the room, get yourself something in the 3 cuft range for that insert. I run a 3.0 cuft stove in ~1800 sqft of "needs better insulation" and would NEVER consider going smaller.
 
Listen to Backwoods! Get a bigger stove tha will burn all night.

I can just re-start my stove overnight or after work. My gas bill is $30-40 a month (hot water and dryer). Get something near 3 cubif ft.

PS -

The cold may bother you but kids probably aren't bothered. I was raised under a down tick. My sons went tent camping and slept under down by themselves at 8 weeks. Mama did make me bring a small stove and was a bit annoyed when her cup of water had a skin of ice in the morning. I admit I'm getting to like the stove in the tent as I approach 50.

ATB,
Mike
 
zzr7ky said:
Listen to Backwoods! Get a bigger stove tha will burn all night.

I can just re-start my stove overnight or after work. My gas bill is $30-40 a month (hot water and dryer). Get something near 3 cubif ft.

PS -

The cold may bother you but kids probably aren't bothered. I was raised under a down tick. My sons went tent camping and slept under down by themselves at 8 weeks. Mama did make me bring a small stove and was a bit annoyed when her cup of water had a skin of ice in the morning. I admit I'm getting to like the stove in the tent as I approach 50.

ATB,
Mike

Well I wish I could afford it. I just dont have 3 grand. I called around and the cheapest deal I could find was a Buck Stove 81 insert black 2.4 cubic box for 1900.... No gold door.
 
Corriewf said:
zzr7ky said:
Listen to Backwoods! Get a bigger stove tha will burn all night.

I can just re-start my stove overnight or after work. My gas bill is $30-40 a month (hot water and dryer). Get something near 3 cubif ft.

PS -

The cold may bother you but kids probably aren't bothered. I was raised under a down tick. My sons went tent camping and slept under down by themselves at 8 weeks. Mama did make me bring a small stove and was a bit annoyed when her cup of water had a skin of ice in the morning. I admit I'm getting to like the stove in the tent as I approach 50.

ATB,
Mike

Well I wish I could afford it. I just dont have 3 grand. I called around and the cheapest deal I could find was a Buck Stove 81 insert black 2.4 cubic box for 1900.... No gold door.

I completely understand the money issue. I bought all three stoves used. Total cost for all three was $1,800 vs. the $6,000+ it would have cost me if I bought three new stoves. $1,900 seems to be within your price range (sort of?), if the gold door is an option you can always buy the gold door later and sell the black door on CraigsList/Ebay to get back some of the money back.

I'm not telling you to buy the Buck stove, just offering potential solutions to a problem.
 
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