Hello, I don't know a whole bunch about wood stoves. We have been looking at US Stove's Wonderwood, which is a wood stove encased in a cabinet. We want to install one in the basement and need to heat app. 1800 sq ft. Does anyone have any comments on this type of stove? They seem to be less expensive than the traditional free standing stoves, and hold larger logs. Thanks.
Circulators
- Thread starter chad
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keyman512us
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Hello Chad... Welcome to the forum.
I just looked a t US Stove companies' web site:
http://www.usstove.com/
Which particular model # are you looking at???
As far as "circulators" are you reffering to a "wood fired hot air furnace" or simply a stove that has a heat chamber with a circulating fan???
If you are talking "furnace" yes they do produce a fairly good amount of heat.
If you are talking about one with a simple blower??? Then it all depends on what you expect to get for heat...
Again...Welcome to the forum.
I just looked a t US Stove companies' web site:
http://www.usstove.com/
Which particular model # are you looking at???
As far as "circulators" are you reffering to a "wood fired hot air furnace" or simply a stove that has a heat chamber with a circulating fan???
If you are talking "furnace" yes they do produce a fairly good amount of heat.
If you are talking about one with a simple blower??? Then it all depends on what you expect to get for heat...
Again...Welcome to the forum.
My brother used to have something very similar in his trailer, always kept him warm. That being said, I personally think there are very few woodstoves uglier than those. Also, US Stove has a very checkered reputation, many of the stoves they sell are "EPA exempt" for one reason or another. For the money, you might want to look at other stoves, especially the Englanders.
I have a 1600M wood/coal furnace from US Stove, I'm happy with it. Keep in mind that any stove in the basement is going to be an uphill battle to warm a house. Depending on how your basement is constructed, you can lose nearly 100,000 BTU's per hour just to the walls and floor! My old house was never actually "warm" when I just had a freestanding stove down there. Now with the furnace heating only the air from upstairs, the basement is much cooler, but the house is warm. I wouldn't recommend any of their wood furnaces other than the 1600 and 1800. The others are very cheaply made, I've heard reports of the fireboxes burning through after 3-5 years. I bought mine at Tractor Supply, think it was 1200 or 1300. They don't list them in the catalog or website, I just happened to ask the right questions when looking at the stoves there.
Maybe not, but I think you'll need a much larger stove if you want to heat from the basement, and with an increase in the size of the stove, you're going to have a subsequent increase in wood consumption. Weigh your options carefully so you don't have any regrets later. If you have to, take a couple months more to save a few extra bucks to get a stove that will work properly for you. I put mine on layaway for 2 months, only way I could afford it. Even now, I'm looking 3 or 4 years down the road at replacing it with a Caddy EPA wood furnace.
I have a 1600M wood/coal furnace from US Stove, I'm happy with it. Keep in mind that any stove in the basement is going to be an uphill battle to warm a house. Depending on how your basement is constructed, you can lose nearly 100,000 BTU's per hour just to the walls and floor! My old house was never actually "warm" when I just had a freestanding stove down there. Now with the furnace heating only the air from upstairs, the basement is much cooler, but the house is warm. I wouldn't recommend any of their wood furnaces other than the 1600 and 1800. The others are very cheaply made, I've heard reports of the fireboxes burning through after 3-5 years. I bought mine at Tractor Supply, think it was 1200 or 1300. They don't list them in the catalog or website, I just happened to ask the right questions when looking at the stoves there.
Maybe not, but I think you'll need a much larger stove if you want to heat from the basement, and with an increase in the size of the stove, you're going to have a subsequent increase in wood consumption. Weigh your options carefully so you don't have any regrets later. If you have to, take a couple months more to save a few extra bucks to get a stove that will work properly for you. I put mine on layaway for 2 months, only way I could afford it. Even now, I'm looking 3 or 4 years down the road at replacing it with a Caddy EPA wood furnace.
I looked at the Wonderwood model 2941 by US Stove. It has an optional blower, so it doesn't automatically blow into the room, so I am confused about how the "circulator" aspect of it works.
I think the "circulator" talk is just marketing BS from USSC. "Circulator" usually refers to the pump that moves liquid in a hydronic system, not to air movement. They tend to overstate the functionality of their systems, I think.
Eric Johnson
Mod Emeritus
I didn't know anyone made an EPA furnace, Gibbonboy, since they're exempt. Who do that, and what kind of emissions and efficiency are we talking about? It's been awhile since I looked at furnaces.
Seems to me EPA compliance (theoretical) it would be a lot easier with a furnace than a boiler. I had a wood furnace about 20 years ago and it worked OK, but burned a lot of wood and produced a lot of smoke. That's probably mostly operator error associated with trying to heat with green wood, but I suspect (hope) the technology has evolved over the past couple of decades.
Seems to me EPA compliance (theoretical) it would be a lot easier with a furnace than a boiler. I had a wood furnace about 20 years ago and it worked OK, but burned a lot of wood and produced a lot of smoke. That's probably mostly operator error associated with trying to heat with green wood, but I suspect (hope) the technology has evolved over the past couple of decades.
Wow, I thought it was you that told me about these, Eric! Here's a link to the one I'll probably get:
http://www.psg-distribution.com/product.aspx?CategoId=16&Id=335
Also, US Stove has a model: http://www.usstove.com/proddetail.php?prod=1950
Wouldn't doubt that Harman and others are "on the case" as well. My USSC 1600 burns fairly clean if I watch it closely. Like you said, dry wood is the key. My neighbors' house is really close and susceptible to smoke if I make alot, and they aren't afraid to complain and make trouble when it suits them. So far, no complaints, which either means I'm burning clean or they've seen me carrying the assault rifles to the car.
http://www.psg-distribution.com/product.aspx?CategoId=16&Id=335
Also, US Stove has a model: http://www.usstove.com/proddetail.php?prod=1950
Wouldn't doubt that Harman and others are "on the case" as well. My USSC 1600 burns fairly clean if I watch it closely. Like you said, dry wood is the key. My neighbors' house is really close and susceptible to smoke if I make alot, and they aren't afraid to complain and make trouble when it suits them. So far, no complaints, which either means I'm burning clean or they've seen me carrying the assault rifles to the car.
Eric Johnson
Mod Emeritus
Sweet! I like them both.
Is that the EPA woodstove spec. they're citing, or is there now one for central heating devices? I'm not sure if anyone makes a 140,000 btu/hr wood stove, but those furnaces would fall into the same category, I suspect.
Is that the EPA woodstove spec. they're citing, or is there now one for central heating devices? I'm not sure if anyone makes a 140,000 btu/hr wood stove, but those furnaces would fall into the same category, I suspect.
Not sure what EPA spec they are referring to. The Caddy furnace goes for ~$2,500, which I don't think is bad, comparable to the non-EPA Harman that I originally wanted. What I really like is the glass door, I miss being able to sit in the basement playing guitar and watching the fire. I have the upstairs stove, but music is verboten in there after Boy goes to bed. I don't think I'd even consider the USSC furnace, based on what I've seen of their quality. I'm sure my 1600 will last a few more years, but compared to some of the "name-brand" stoves, they don't last very long at all.
I guess I should just make a furnace thread, instead of hijacking this one...
EDIT: Just found this, don't see anything that jumps out and says that furnaces are tested differently, they still have to meet the 7.5g/hour standard as far as I can tell. I'm just not ready for a nap from reading all this:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...n=div6&view=text&node=40:6.0.1.1.1.63&idno=40
I guess I should just make a furnace thread, instead of hijacking this one...
EDIT: Just found this, don't see anything that jumps out and says that furnaces are tested differently, they still have to meet the 7.5g/hour standard as far as I can tell. I'm just not ready for a nap from reading all this:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...n=div6&view=text&node=40:6.0.1.1.1.63&idno=40
Gibbonboy said:So far, no complaints, which either means I'm burning clean or they've seen me carrying the assault rifles to the car.
For twenty years here I never had any neighbor problems. The pistol range in the gully behind the house was suspected to be the reason.
Todd
Minister of Fire
Gibbonboy said:Wow, I thought it was you that told me about these, Eric! Here's a link to the one I'll probably get:
http://www.psg-distribution.com/product.aspx?CategoId=16&Id=335
Also, US Stove has a model: http://www.usstove.com/proddetail.php?prod=1950
Wouldn't doubt that Harman and others are "on the case" as well. My USSC 1600 burns fairly clean if I watch it closely. Like you said, dry wood is the key. My neighbors' house is really close and susceptible to smoke if I make alot, and they aren't afraid to complain and make trouble when it suits them. So far, no complaints, which either means I'm burning clean or they've seen me carrying the assault rifles to the car.
I like the looks of that PSG mini caddy. You even get a nice view of the fire. Wonder what they cost? Funny there aren't more options for wood furnaces.
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