Blaze King Chinook 20 Sirocco 20 vs Chinook 30 Sirocco 30?

[begreen]

Most non-cats are very simple and easy to use. We heated a small 900 sq ft house for several years with a non-cat. However, without knowing the heat loss calcs of the new house it is hard to say what is a good fit.

Perhaps I misunderstood this - The stove is mostly aesthetics, If the stove is primarily for backup heat over an extended period of time then a cat stove from BK or Woodstock may be a good choice.

 

[syadasti]

It's for both, but truthfully I prefer KISS and was hoping we wouldn't do a stove and keep combustion appliances out of the house but gotta keep everyone happy. The backup or saving money on heating aspect in cold/nights makes it more attractive to me.

 

[syadasti]

Looking more like Sirocco 30.1 with pedestal or F3500. Which of these is easier or better suited to typically operating on low? BK says low on the Sirocco is 12K BTU but Regency just shows a range with 8K BTU being the bottom. I am guessing with the thermostat the Sirocco might be easier?

Are there any smaller but very long running low output stoves I should look at - 12K BTUs is probably around the maximum output I really need? I also want something that is very clean and efficient burning like the the two stoves I've mentioned. Thanks

 

[begreen]

At what stage is the construction? Has the HVAC contractor sized the heatpump yet?

 

[syadasti]

The decision on mechanicals and whether to have a wood stove or not wasn't finalized until recently but cold climate heat pump is the primary for certain. It became apparent this week we would be going through with the extra expense of doing the wood stove. I think the rough estimate was about 7 btu/sq ft or less for heating the home. Another expensive option, radiant heat for flooring comfort, was proposed but not done due the very low heating requirements and minimal temperature differential between air and floor in tight well insulated homes with high thermal mass/triple pane windows, etc, etc.

 

[begreen]

At 7 btus/sq ft max heating load you'll want to err toward the smaller size. Take a look at the Woodstock Keystone (or Palladian). It is a good looking stove that can go down a bit lower in btu output than other cat stoves. Woodstock is in your neighborhood and takes good care of their stove owners. They sell direct and have a 6 month satisfaction guarantee.

 

[syadasti]

We don't like the soapstone and want a pedestal base base though - more neutral or contemporary design is preferred. Also those Woodstock both have 8.5K BTU minimum which is .5K more than the F3500? F3500 is up to 24 hrs and Sirocco 30 hrs both with high efficiency and lower emission than Woodstock too?

 

[begreen]

Unfortunately I know next to nothing about how the F3500 performs in the real world. I haven't seen one yet and think we've had only one or two reported here. The one I remember sounded like it was being overfired. FWIW Real world user reports often have higher value than marketing claims. BK is pretty straight forward though and better than many companies for accurate numbers.

 

[syadasti]

Yeah the Sirocco 30.1 was the way I was leaning I just have to run it by the architect and modeling person once that data is verified by both. I am really hoping the low 12K BTU is suitable for our needs.