Another Stove Recommendation Thread - 7,000' in Colorado

[baldum]

Hi all,

I've been reading through threads and shopping around, and I have a couple of questions. I'm also just generally looking for input from people who know more than me.

I have an ~2,400 sq. ft. space to heat. It will be effectively 100% stove heated. There is a token smattering of electric baseboard, but I don't need to tell anyone that I don't want to use it. I burn 100% ponderosa pine in at 7,200' in Colorado. The house has a good amount of solar gain, but I'll cover that in a second. It is totally constructed from CMUs and the back length of the house is dug into a hill. I basically live in a walkout basement. The ceilings in the main portion of the house are a single pitch and reach vaulted ceiling heights in the back. The thermal mass of the house + the construction approach means that the main room does not dip below 50 degrees with zero heating. I've gone on vacation in January with no heaters on, and it'll be something like 52 degrees at 10 PM when I get back. It likewise takes a ton of BTUs to get up to temp.



The 1,200 sq. ft. black section is the main room that I'm talking about. It gets all the solar gain (the "bottom" side is south facing and this room as floor to ceiling windows). The purple section is the master bedroom, and it doesn't have the high ceilings of the main room and does not have much solar gain. It gets down to 40 in the winter. It's the most sealed off room, with only two doorways connecting the air mass to the rest of the house. The blue section is a bathroom and guest room area. It's well connected to the main room, and it stays about similar temps in the winter. The light blue is our absurdly large walk in closet. I don't need it heated, but that would be swell if I can. Orange is the location where the stove will go. A wall runs most of the length of the blue square, so it'll be primarily radiating into the black section. We got some powerful ceiling fans right above it.

My local dealer carries BK and Lopi. He is recommending a Lopi Liberty II NextGen Fyre. My neighbor has a BK Chinook in a smaller log cabin-type house and loves it. Right now, my interest list is:
1) Lopi Liberty II NextGen Fyre
2) BK King 40
3) Drolet HT-3000
4) PE Summit

Given the general layout and type of home that I have, does this list make sense? Should I be looking for a steady temp stove like the BK, or something with more rapid heating capabilities? With the ponderosa, I don't think that super long burn times are possible, but something to last the day while I'm at work and (especially) something to last the night is ideal. Should I be considering another stove, or is this list a good place to start?

Lastly, we currently heat with an old Langer. Upgrading my habits will absolutely take a learning curve. Also, thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

The BK King 40 is a good choice for a wide range of temp control. It's the only stove listed that takes an 8" flue. The Princess takes 6". All of these stoves are good ones. They're all N/S loaders and have a good track record.

Higher altitude locations often need a taller flue system to compensate. How tall is the ceiling at the stove location?

PS: If you can get some high mountain spruce, that packs more btus and will burn longer.

 

[baldum]

The BK King 40 is a good choice for a wide range of temp control. It's the only stove listed that takes an 8" flue. The Princess takes 6". All of these stoves are good ones. They're all N/S loaders and have a good track record.

Higher altitude locations often need a taller flue system to compensate. How tall is the ceiling at the stove location?

PS: If you can get some high mountain spruce, that packs more btus and will burn longer.

I currently have 16 ft of pipe for the fireplace in the location that I'm converting back to a stove alcove. I believe that this is not long enough, correct? The quote that I got for the Lopi was to use the existing run (with new pipe).

I live right up against national forest, and there are literal tons of beetle kill ponderosa. Not so much spruce though :/

 

[begreen]

Canadian stoves from Regency, Drolet, Osburn, and PE will generally work better on a shorter flue. They are not as draft fussy.

Can you explain more about the alcove? What is existing and what is planned? This type of installation has its own set of clearances. Some stove alcove requirements can be quite restrictive and may narrow down the selection.

 

[qwee]

Your house is interesting. CMUs are concrete mass units? So, the strategy is to let the heat of the earth pass through the concrete and warm the house to the earth's temperature? Yes, this would be like one of those old rock houses or an earth ship/adobe type house. This is different from most construction house builds. You have more thermal mass and the earth to consider. I would think you would want to oversize the stove some to compensate for the heat draw.

 

[baldum]

Canadian stoves from Regency, Drolet, Osburn, and PE will generally work better on a shorter flue. They are not as draft fussy.

Can you explain more about the alcove? What is existing and what is planned? This type of installation has its own set of clearances. Some stove alcove requirements can be quite restrictive and may narrow down the selection.

The alcove used to house a stove, but the original owners inexplicably changed it to a rumford style fireplace. I have no idea how they kept the house warm after that. The mantle is 7 ft wide and 32 inches deep. I think that almost all of that is available judging by some pictures that I have of the house under construction. There is now a tile plinth/footing in front of the alcove, so I have a lot of wiggle room on depth, and it wouldn’t be a terrible burden to extend the footing


You can actually get a great look at how the three main compartments of the house intersect here. The master is through the door on the left, while the rest of the house on the right directly shares air mass with the main room. The center door is a bathroom that has no ceiling of its own!

 

[baldum]

Your house is interesting. CMUs are concrete mass units? So, the strategy is to let the heat of the earth pass through the concrete and warm the house to the earth's temperature? Yes, this would be like one of those old rock houses or an earth ship/adobe type house. This is different from most construction house builds. You have more thermal mass and the earth to consider. I would think you would want to oversize the stove some to compensate for the heat draw.

That’s basically it, yes. Good catch! The original owners/builders were motivated by the old earth ship house movement. I would, indeed, probably need to oversize my stove

 

[begreen]

How is the fireplace stove connected? Is there a stainless flue liner in the chimney? Or will this all be new? Is there a block-off plate just above the fireplace lintel to keep most of the heat in the room?

You have a good selection of stoves to chose from. It sounds like the main issue will be getting the room heat to circulate to the MBR. The simplest solution would be to put a floor fan in the doorway facing the stove room and running it on low. The cooler air blown into the stove room will be replace with warm air at the top of the doorway.

 

[baldum]

How is the fireplace stove connected? Is there a stainless flue liner in the chimney? Or will this all be new? Is there a block-off plate just above the fireplace lintel to keep most of the heat in the room?

You have a good selection of stoves to chose from. It sounds like the main issue will be getting the room heat to circulate to the MBR. The simplest solution would be to put a floor fan in the doorway facing the stove room and running it on low. The cooler air blown into the stove room will be replace with warm air at the top of the doorway.

Good questions. I’m still in the process of determining what I have in the chimney itself. I can definitely install a block off plate if there isn’t one. I haven’t demo’d the rumford yet to see what they left. I think a mason just built the fireplace in the alcove and sealed things off with a single layer of brick

 

[baldum]

I hadn't looked at Regency, but the F5200 seems to be quite a bit of stove. Seems like it deserves a spot on the list

 

[Jnclem]

Have you looked at Kuma Stoves out of Idaho? Each stove is made individually by one welder in Idaho with US steel. Three generation family business. I live near Gunnison at 8050’. Installed a Kuma Wood Classic last summer and it is by far the best stove I’ve run in the nearly 50 years I’ve been heating with wood. If you call Kuma, a knowledgeable human will answer and help you with any questions. I can’t say enough about this company and their products.

Ours is a hybrid stove, tubes and cat. I was shocked early last fall when I could start a small fire with Aspen, and in a short time it would be burning with a blue flame and the cat would be glowing red. We burn Aspen spring and fall, Lodgepole is our main bulk wood, and Doug Fir is the best wood we have - so no really good wood. But that stove runs everything so efficiently, it’s amazing.

All the stoves you are looking at are great stoves, just thought I’d throw one more into the mix.

 

[baldum]

A local store did their best to convinced me that a Hearthstone Mansfield might be my best bet to not cook ourselves out of the living room but still function as a thermal base load for any future plans in the master bedroom, such as a heat pump. My own thought is that a BK Princess could do the same task if controlled correctly

 

[baldum]

A local store did their best to convinced me that a Hearthstone Mansfield might be my best bet to not cook ourselves out of the living room but still function as a thermal base load for any future plans in the master bedroom, such as a heat pump. My own thought is that a BK Princess could do the same task if controlled correctly

Does anyone have much input on this? I would think that the Princess would do everything that the Mansfield can do (other than look different) because of the thermostat, but I've come across haters and lovers of both stoves while looking at threads on this site

 

[begreen]

For looks, the Mansfield wins but for operation, I would take the Princess, Sirocco 30, or Ashford 30. For soapstone consider the Woodstock Progress Hybrid.

 

[Grinnell]

We are in Colorado at 7000'. Front Range.

a 1800 sq ft log house with a 2 story open living area. electric baseboard in a few rooms.

We put in a PE Alderlea T5, 30 ft of insulated liner, in the basement . If i hadnt got a great deal on the T5 i might have gone with a T6. takes a bit to warm up from 40F in the dead of winter but burns well and easy to use. we burn 5-7 year old ponderosa ( kept in a barn)

 

[HearthstoneTim]

We have had 2 Hearthstones in our old farmhouse over the past 35 years. The stove room is small, 9 x20 and the stove sits in the middle of the 20' wall. The current Heritage is basically the new version of the Hearthstone II we bought in 1989. We eat all our meals in there, plus spend much of our time in that room. I think a steel or cast stove would heat us out of there. The Hearthstone keeps the room warm, plus the adjoining kitchen, but we can keep the temp in the low 70's most of the winter. The fire lasts overnight - 9 to 10 hrs. It will be maybe 65 on the coldest mornings in that room.

The Hearthstone will hold heat for a long time. In the spring and fall, we often just let the stove go out during the day, or maybe throw in a single stick a couple of times and it keeps those 2 rooms warm. I can't comment on how well it will heat a large area, since we are only able to heat the 2 small rooms we use so much - the configuration of our house simply does not allow the heat to move further. Our stairway is on the opposite side of the house, so no heat from the stove gets up there. But we have loved both these stoves and would not have another brand.

Tim