Cat vs. Non-Cat

[Spletz]

Wood moisture meter.

Can be had from harbor freight for $15. Lots of others available. You split a piece and push the probes from the Meter into the freshly exposed wood. Its that simple

Thanks bud, sounds like an easy enough solution. Besides, I haven't taken real good care of keeping track which brace of logs are which age on my property. Suspect that going to an insert vs an open fireplace will force me to pay better attention.

You misspelled "truly dry wood". Get a cheap moisture meter and re-split a split and take a reading in the center of the spit, with the grain. 20 percent or under and you are good to go.

But you ain't gonna find a wood seller with wood that dry. Figure on buying it one to two years ahead to dry it yourself.

 

[Spletz]

Bart, thanks for your advice. But Misspelling? Where, and really?! I assume you meant split and not spit?

 

[BrotherBart]

There ain't no such thing as "seasoned" wood. There is wet wood and there is dry wood.

 

[Spletz]

There ain't no such thing as "seasoned" wood. There is wet wood and there is dry wood.

Understood and agreed, but not misspelled. Sorry, as the son of an English teacher, such things annoy.

 

[BrotherBart]

Oh good grief. It was a joke. Implying that you misspelled "dry" when you said "seasoned".

Read for comprehension.

 

[Spletz]

Gotcha. Sorry for not picking up what you were putting down!

 

[begreen]

Thanks very much! What search term did you use? I only got 6 threads.

Definitely read the last link provided. You are actually comparing a non-cat to a hybrid which is quite not the same as comparing to a straight cat stove like a Blaze King.

 

[BKVP]

Careful....these guys will start asking for pictures!!

 

[weatherguy]

I would rule out the 2.2cf stove, that isn't going to be big enough for your house, I would look for a 3cf or bigger. You may be able to put a free stander in your fireplace depending on the size of your fireplace.

 

[Grisu]

Thanks. I did a search on fireplacextrodinair on this site. Got very few applicable threads. Most were gas units. Reviews on the site seemed pretty good however. The lack of commentary on fireplacextrodinair is concerning however. Am I barking up the wrong tree? I'm told they are a top notch firm. Should I be investigating others? Being new to this I don't know who the major players are. I don't know if I'm looking at a JCPenny shotgun or a O/U Perazzi!

No knock against FPX by any means but before committing to such a large purchase you should certainly do your due diligence and investigate other units. There are quite a few other brands that make large fireplace inserts for installation into a masonry fireplace. You could also think about a hearth-mounted stove with rear-vent if you have some room to spare. Some inserts with a firebox ~3 cu ft to look at:

Pacific Energy Summit, Osburn 2400, Regency I3100, Lopi Freedom (all non-cat), Blazeking Princess (cat)

For hearth-mounted stoves it would be good to know the height of your fireplace. It should be at least more than 26" for fitting in the Woodstock's and at ~33" you should be able to install pretty much all from that list:

Jotul F600 and F55, Quadrafire Isle Royale, Hearthstone Mansfield and Manchester (all non-cat), Woodstock Progress Hybrid and Ideal Steel (cat/hybrids)

The final look would then be like that:

The advantage of a hearth-mounted stove is more radiant heat, cooking surface, no need for blower (good during power outages), different brands available.

Take your time with deciding on the insert/stove; you have 6 months until next winter. Just make sure you have dry wood when the winter comes.

 

[Charles1981]

I'm near Lansing. 2100sq foot 1971 ranch walkout with blown in.

You want the biggest stove you can get. I goofed and didn't know what I was doing initially. My stove is cat. 2.3cuft. I wish I had 3+ and better yet a 4+ cuft stove.

Even in -15 degrees this winter the house never dropped below 66 degrees (except at the very very early morning when waking up to a cold stove). When it was ~5-10 degrees the house was a comfortable 68-70 all the time and this is heating from the basement!

Our only regret was not knowing we should have gotten a bigger stove. But we are making do and really it isn't bad unless it drops below zero...which was 1/3 of this winter unfortunately.

We have electric baseboard heating and never once had to turn it on except when we left town for vacation a weekend or two.

 

[firefighterjake]

"Seasoned wood" ... the definition really depends on the person. A coworker who sells wood downeast was telling me the other day how oak takes a long time to season but maple is seasoned in two weeks ... yup ... he said two weeks!

 

[begreen]

He must put a lot of salt and pepper on the maple to get it to season that quickly.

 

[Spletz]

All, thanks much for all your inputs. Now, how do I sell the wife on a free standing unit (not flush mount that she wants "it's prettier"!). I know I'm not gonna win that battle. Perhaps a flush mount upstairs and what I want downstairs.

 

[begreen]

The FPX, RSF and Kozy units are good heaters. An advantage over freestanding is that you can duct the heat to remote locations which can help even up the heat in the house. It's not a bad compromise, particularly if she likes it.

 

[begreen]

Here's a link to the gallery for ideas and installations.

https://www.hearth.com/gall/v/WoodStoves/

 

[mellow]

Here are some others to balance it out:
Jotul

Wittus twin-fire:

Buck 261:

 

[Spletz]

I'm near Lansing. 2100sq foot 1971 ranch walkout with blown in.

You want the biggest stove you can get. I goofed and didn't know what I was doing initially. My stove is cat. 2.3cuft. I wish I had 3+ and better yet a 4+ cuft stove.

Even in -15 degrees this winter the house never dropped below 66 degrees (except at the very very early morning when waking up to a cold stove). When it was ~5-10 degrees the house was a comfortable 68-70 all the time and this is heating from the basement!

Our only regret was not knowing we should have gotten a bigger stove. But we are making do and really it isn't bad unless it drops below zero...which was 1/3 of this winter unfortunately.

We have electric baseboard heating and never once had to turn it on except when we left town for vacation a weekend or two.

Thanks. Very helpful. Will definitely be doing a 3 cu ft insert.

 

[Spletz]

All thanks for all your inputs. Truly helpful. An FPX large flush insert to be installed at the end of Sept in the upstairs fireplace. Excited to put the propane guys at bay! It will be professionally installed.

Any commentary as to how to begin/questions to the installer/what to watch for during install/notes to take going forward.

It's quite an outlay, but I figure to make it back after 4-6 winters if not sooner.

 

[Hogwildz]

Make sure it is lined from stove outlet to top, block off plate at bottom closing off the damper area around the liner.
Insulated liner is always a plus too.

 

[Spletz]

Ok, another question. Since I'm no longer going to be a slovenly traditional fireplace starter (newsprint, cardboard, wrapping paper, anything that's an easy quick start), how best to start cleanly my hybrid/cat insert?

I was thinking just kindling and a serious dose of MAPP gas torch. What is everyone's preferred method? I understand fresh starts will be few, as all winter it will go nearly 24/7.

Thanks as always!

 

[Spletz]

Here are some others to balance it out:
Jotul

Wittus twin-fire:

Buck 261:

Man that Buck looks like my next option in the walkout basement/mans room (shh she doesn't know that's the plan!).

 

[bobdog2o02]

http://woodheat.org/top-down-steps.html

Use this method from your beginnings and your set.

 

[Spletz]

Darn. Bad link. Thanks however.

 

[Grisu]

Here is the correct link: http://woodheat.org/top-down-steps.html
I tried top-downs a few times and they generate indeed less smoke. However, in my experience standard bottom-up will get all my wood burning quicker and therefore the stove warm sooner.

Standard black-and-white newspaper is fine or you can try Supercedars: http://www.supercedar.com/ A quarter of them is usually enough bringing the cost down to a few cents per start.

Man that Buck looks like my next option in the walkout basement/mans room (shh she doesn't know that's the plan!).

You are aware that the picture shows a Jotul stove, not a Buck?