Best bang for my buck

[efoyt]

Ok the wood stove that I have in my house is nearing the end of the line and I need to replace it soon. It's a russo wood stove...I'm not a huge fan of it but I guess it gets the job done. I had a Duchwest everburn in my last house that I loved. I'm looking to heat about 2000 square feet in a well insulated house with passive solar heating ( don't need to start the stove until 6-7 pm on sunny days). I'd like to look for deals or lightly used second hand wood stoves. Seams like I see a lot of two three year old stoves pop up for sale. Guessing that people didn't like burning wood as much as they thought or they didn't like the stove. So my question is what should I look for? What should I avoid? Old vs. new? Or a few years old vs. new. Any information will be helpful since I'm not looking for a particular type of stove...although I do like Vermont casting and my dad has a regency that I like. It will go in the living room so looking nice is also a plus.

Thanks

 

[Ashful]

Factory refurb'd Woodstock Fireview? You say looking nice is a plus, but don't specify your preferences, in that department.

It sounds like your heat load will be pretty low, which I would think favors a cat stove. You can get similarly low output with a smaller non-cat, but combining all-night burns with low heat output is definitely not the strong suit of a non-cat stove.

 

[mellow]

What size is the chimney?

If you are looking at used then you probably have a low budget number in mind since it will only be used at nights. I would look at the Englander 13, I think the 30 would cook you out if your setup is that tight, you can pick them up pretty cheap and they are new, they are not pretty but they put out BTU's.