Buying a new woodstove... Which ones are less than 28 1/2 inches high?

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Nater

Member
Jan 3, 2011
135
Southern Maine
I started looking at new woodstoves last week and my top two choices were the Alderlea T6 and the Jotul F600. Both are too tall and won't fit inside my fireplace. I looked at the Jotul Oslo and it looks like it will fit (and has an available short leg kit) but I was hoping to get a bigger stove as my house is about 2500-3000 square feet. There didn't look to be any others at the store, except real small ones, which would fit.

What other stoves are less than 28 1/2 inches high and have a larger firebox?
 
The specs on the Quarda-Fire Isle Royale show as being 30" tall with the rear flue. I didn't see any short leg kit being offered for it either, so I guess that one is out too. I've noticed that most of the larger stoves are 29" high and up.

The new Woodstock stove does look interesting. The specs show it at 33.25" high, but has an optional plinth/short leg kit which reduces it 5", so it would just fit at 28.25". It sounds like it won't be available until October, which would be cutting it quite close for this burning season.
 
Nater said:
The specs on the Quarda-Fire Isle Royale show as being 30" tall with the rear flue. I didn't see any short leg kit being offered for it either, so I guess that one is out too. I've noticed that most of the larger stoves are 29" high and up.

The new Woodstock stove does look interesting. The specs show it at 33.25" high, but has an optional plinth/short leg kit which reduces it 5", so it would just fit at 28.25". It sounds like it won't be available until October, which would be cutting it quite close for this burning season.


A large wood stove that is no higher than 28.5" high? Might be tough. None of the Pacific Energy stoves meet that. Jotul's Firelight is to tall as well. Didn't see anything from Quadra Fire Hearthstone Mansfield and Equinox is too tall.

Vermont Castings Defiant comes in at 28.875". I'm guessing that is to high as well.

Can you do an insert? Because 28.5" for an insert gives you a lot of options.
 
As I understand it, Woodstock has finished the stove, just pending testing/EPA cert, so I would think that those dimensional specs would be pretty accurate. Wouldn't hurt to call and verify. You would need to pull the stove out of the fp periodically to clean the cat, but after watching the video of the secondary burn, I don't see much smoke making it up to the cat, and the convoluted baffle might drop the amount of fly ash. Have you considered mounting a rear-vent stove out in front of the fp? That would give you more options.
 
BrowningBAR said:
Nater said:
The specs on the Quarda-Fire Isle Royale show as being 30" tall with the rear flue. I didn't see any short leg kit being offered for it either, so I guess that one is out too. I've noticed that most of the larger stoves are 29" high and up.

The new Woodstock stove does look interesting. The specs show it at 33.25" high, but has an optional plinth/short leg kit which reduces it 5", so it would just fit at 28.25". It sounds like it won't be available until October, which would be cutting it quite close for this burning season.


A large wood stove that is no higher than 28.5" high? Might be tough. None of the Pacific Energy stoves meet that. Jotul's Firelight is to tall as well. Didn't see anything from Quadra Fire Hearthstone Mansfield and Equinox is too tall.

Vermont Castings Defiant comes in at 28.875". I'm guessing that is to high as well.

Can you do an insert? Because 28.5" for an insert gives you a lot of options.


I could do an insert, but I figured a free standing stove would heat my house better. The fireplace is in the living room (where the TV is) so I would like to not have to run a blower all the time.
 
Nater said:
BrowningBAR said:
Nater said:
The specs on the Quarda-Fire Isle Royale show as being 30" tall with the rear flue. I didn't see any short leg kit being offered for it either, so I guess that one is out too. I've noticed that most of the larger stoves are 29" high and up.

The new Woodstock stove does look interesting. The specs show it at 33.25" high, but has an optional plinth/short leg kit which reduces it 5", so it would just fit at 28.25". It sounds like it won't be available until October, which would be cutting it quite close for this burning season.


A large wood stove that is no higher than 28.5" high? Might be tough. None of the Pacific Energy stoves meet that. Jotul's Firelight is to tall as well. Didn't see anything from Quadra Fire Hearthstone Mansfield and Equinox is too tall.

Vermont Castings Defiant comes in at 28.875". I'm guessing that is to high as well.

Can you do an insert? Because 28.5" for an insert gives you a lot of options.


I could do an insert, but I figured a free standing stove would heat my house better. The fireplace is in the living room (where the TV is) so I would like to not have to run a blower all the time.

Then you might want to consider doing what Den mentioned and get a large rear vent stove and have the stove out in front of the fireplace so it gives you more options in terms of height.
 
Den said:
As I understand it, Woodstock has finished the stove, just pending testing/EPA cert, so I would think that those dimensional specs would be pretty accurate. Wouldn't hurt to call and verify. You would need to pull the stove out of the fp periodically to clean the cat, but after watching the video of the secondary burn, I don't see much smoke making it up to the cat, and the convoluted baffle might drop the amount of fly ash. Have you considered mounting a rear-vent stove out in front of the fp? That would give you more options.


I was planning on rear venting the stove into the fireplace, but would still need to be under the 28 1/2 inches to run the pipe into the fireplace. Here's a picture of my old stove and setup before the liner, but with the liner it is still setup the same way. The opening to the fireplace is only 28 1/2 inches high, so I wouldn't think I could have a stove taller than that even if it was rear-vented.

index.php
 
That is a serious tank in there now. How about running a big stove like a Buck 85, without any insert surround? It can be installed with legs or as an insert without legs. Or see if a PE Summit will fit and run it without the surround. The blower is pretty quiet and it convects well with the blower off.
 
Sweet hearth, Nate! Well, why didn't you say you were doing hearth mount?! :p Yes, that does give you more options. The key spec to look at is the flue height, which often differs from the stove height, but apparently not on the F600, which shows the same height for top and rear flue. But look at the Woodstock: 33.25" stove height and 27.7" @ center of rear flue, ~ 30.7" for 6" pipe. That's 3.18" lower for the rear vent.
 
BeGreen said:
That is a serious tank in there now. How about running a big combo stove like a Buck 85 or 94 or larger, without any insert surround?

Buck 94: 34-1/4" W x 23-3/16" H x 28-7/8" D

Is that with or without the feet, out of curiosity?

But, yeah, that would work and it should definitely throw some heat with a 4.4 cu ft firebox.
 
I'm thinking the Defiant would work as well. But if your going from a huge pre-epa stove and you are looking for whole house heating, I'd go with BeGreen's suggestion and go with the large Buck stove.
 
Good suggestions. I looked at the Jotuls first and thought they all had the flue right at the top of the stove. I do have a 6" liner, so I wouldn't be able to do the Buck 94, but could do the Buck 85. But it says the firebox is 2.4 cubic feet. Isn't that about the same as the Jotul Oslo? and the new Woodstock is 2.7 cu. feet. The new woodstock keeps sounding like the better option, but the wife nixed it because it was "ugly".

So I guess I am looking for one that has a maximum rear flue exit height of 28 1/2 inches (width and depth are not really an issue), a big firebox, and not "ugly". The wife really likes the looks of the Jotuls, but I just don't think the Oslo is big enough to heat the house.
 
That's funny! Right now there is something akin to a black trash compactor on the hearth. No matter what you put in there it is going to look way better.
 
Nater said:
Good suggestions. I looked at the Jotuls first and thought they all had the flue right at the top of the stove. I do have a 6" liner, so I wouldn't be able to do the Buck 94, but could do the Buck 85. But it says the firebox is 2.4 cubic feet. Isn't that about the same as the Jotul Oslo? and the new Woodstock is 2.7 cu. feet. The new woodstock keeps sounding like the better option, but the wife nixed it because it was "ugly".

So I guess I am looking for one that has a maximum rear flue exit height of 28 1/2 inches (width and depth are not really an issue), a big firebox, and not "ugly". The wife really likes the looks of the Jotuls, but I just don't think the Oslo is big enough to heat the house.


Wait a minute, you have a medieval washing machine currently making it's home in your living room, but your wife thinks the Woodstock is ugly?

Look at the Defiant, I guess. It has about a 3.1 cu ft fire box.

Seriously, though, I think you need to oversize since you are used to a huge pre-epa tank blasting away.
 
Nater said:
Good suggestions. I looked at the Jotuls first and thought they all had the flue right at the top of the stove. I do have a 6" liner, so I wouldn't be able to do the Buck 94, but could do the Buck 85. But it says the firebox is 2.4 cubic feet. Isn't that about the same as the Jotul Oslo? and the new Woodstock is 2.7 cu. feet. The new woodstock keeps sounding like the better option, but the wife nixed it because it was "ugly".

So I guess I am looking for one that has a maximum rear flue exit height of 28 1/2 inches (width and depth are not really an issue), a big firebox, and not "ugly". The wife really likes the looks of the Jotuls, but I just don't think the Oslo is big enough to heat the house.

I think you are right . . . the Oslo looks good, but with the size of your house I'm not sure it would be able to heat the whole place either . . . truthfully I suspect you will need to have a big 'un to heat the whole place . . . but if you're looking for a stove to supplement the heating . . . .well then the Oslo might work.
 
What about removing one layer of brick beneath the stove...wouldn't have to be the entire width of the hearth? That'd give you a lot more options.
 
BeGreen said:
That's funny! Right now there is something akin to a black trash compactor on the hearth. No matter what you put in there it is going to look way better.

LOL. I know, I care more about how well it works opposed to how well it looks. You should see my truck. :) Runs great, looks like hell.

But, as they say, happy wife, happy life.
 
DanCorcoran said:
What about removing one layer of brick beneath the stove...wouldn't have to be the entire width of the hearth? That'd give you a lot more options.

I thought about that too. But the hearth is about 200 years old, so I am worried about opening up a can of worms there.
 
Den said:
I too find that funny. :) Also, nobody has seen the new Woodstock yet. What did she find unattractive, the Frankenstove prototype, or the model?

All the woodstock stoves. Just didn't like the stone look I guess.
 
Nater said:
DanCorcoran said:
What about removing one layer of brick beneath the stove...wouldn't have to be the entire width of the hearth? That'd give you a lot more options.

I thought about that too. But the hearth is about 200 years old, so I am worried about opening up a can of worms there.


I can relate.
 
BrowningBAR said:
Nater said:
DanCorcoran said:
What about removing one layer of brick beneath the stove...wouldn't have to be the entire width of the hearth? That'd give you a lot more options.

I thought about that too. But the hearth is about 200 years old, so I am worried about opening up a can of worms there.


I can relate.

I noticed you have 3 stoves in your sig. Do you run all three to heat your house?
 
Nater said:
BrowningBAR said:
Nater said:
DanCorcoran said:
What about removing one layer of brick beneath the stove...wouldn't have to be the entire width of the hearth? That'd give you a lot more options.

I thought about that too. But the hearth is about 200 years old, so I am worried about opening up a can of worms there.


I can relate.

I noticed you have 3 stoves in your sig. Do you run all three to heat your house?


Yup.
 
Wow, that sounds like a full time job to heat your house. Luckily, mine has not come to that yet, but I do have 3 flues in my chimney just in case. :)

I took a look at the Vermont Castings site and I think I could probably squeeze the new Defiant 2-in-1 in there. It is listed at 28 7/8 inches high, so I could just chip away a little bit of brick if I really needed to. It has a 3.2 cu foot firebox too. I tried searching on this new 2-in-1 model but didn't come up with much. What are everyones opinion on it? It says it can be run on a 6" liner, but is it really designed for a 8"? It looks like it is quite pricey on their site, what is the typical price at a shop for it? Anyone have any pictures of the classic black one? My wife doesn't like the enamel and I can't seem to find a picture of the classic one.
 
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