BK Chinook 30 or 20 or Boxer 24. Should i consider any other contemporary stoves?

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A

ahreno

Member
Hearth Supporter
Dec 12, 2008
8
Eugene Oregon
Just built my own 2700 sqft house. i've got a great room thats lets say 38'x24' with a high (15' sloped celing with ceiling fans).

my primary heat source is heated floors but i have plans showing a wood stove because, well, they're awesome. so i'm looking for ambience and of course the warmth is always nice in the mornings or raining nights.

originally i was set on chinook 30.1 but i'm thinking that bigger isn't necessaryily better anymore. They must have just come out with the boxer 24 which i love the looks of and is $1k less ($2600 vs 3600). I'm also considering the chinook 20.2 but the stupid salesmen couldn't give me a price.

is there anything else to consider? 6" chimney flue is in
 
These are all cat stoves with very similar low burn rates. The larger models simply have a larger fuel tank for a longer burn and somewhat higher high output settings. I guess what I'm saying is that bigger is better in the BK world and especially in a house as huge as yours. For reference, I fully heat a very small 1700 SF of low ceiling and well insulated home in a similar climate with the largest 6" flue BK and do not feel oversized at all. Your tall ceilings, huge square footage, and perhaps concrete floors for radiant heat makes me pretty confident that you can't go too large with any 6" flue BK either.

The boxer 24 is a relatively new stove. It's an insert that is economically being used as a freestander. The specs are relatively poor and the firebox shape is weird compared to the other BK stoves.

Since you are using this for ambiance, you might want to consider the less efficient non-cats. They are less complicated to run and don't need cat replacements. Put off a heck of a fireshow and lots of heat quickly. I would recommend you look at the PE alderlea T6. It's a big welded steel stove with a cast iron shell around it.
 
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