dazed and confused!

[spiff]

Folks after a recent decision by my better half to bring a wood stove back into the house it seems as though there is more to it than just ordering up a "good" stove. First off, my only experience with wood stoves was an early '80's Lopi that was in my house when I bought it. Pre EPA. Now as I go look at the stove stores there is so much to consider: Cat vs non cat, steel vs cast vs enamel, small, medium or large house....the questions keep coming.

What I have figured out so far is that I want a non cat stove. I really need help on finding a "best Value" stove not a fancy nameplate. I am struggling with going steel vs cast, because of the looks. It must be a stove that is not fussy, easy to use and that I don't have to worry if it will "take off" in the middle of the night. The house is @ 2000', single story with ceiling fans in every room.

Is there a stove make and model that has a very good or great secondary burn system, visually and functionally? Ash pans are not important to me. I shoveled out ashes with the old lopi I have a file now on over 20 mfg's and all claim to be the best stove. I thought I was leaning toward a cast look, but the maintenance may be more that a steel stove???

Any real insight on what has worked for you would be much appreciated. It won't be used 24/7 but would get a lot of use Nov-April. I am trying to get away from paying for electricity as mush as possible.

 

[begreen]

Englander 30NC will provide the best value as long as the hearth requirements can be met. The Drolet Legend is another alternative in value stoves.

 

[fossil]

Englander 30. Welcome to the forums! Rick

 

[BobUrban]

Do a search here and you will find there is a strong following for the Englander NC30 of which I am a member. For a solid, well constructed, nearly bomb proof steel stove it is just tough to beat even at full retail around $1100.00 and can often be found for significantly less(although not likely this time of year)

Another stove value seems to be the ones sold through TSC - they have a big one that seems to be of the caliber of the NC30 and there are members here who like them very much and they have an attractive price.

Also, make sure you have the right chimney set up and that the current chimney is safe for burning. Many existing chimneys(depending on age and design) do not work well with modern stoves or may just be unsafe. Also, modern stoves like DRY wood so that may be an issue for the current winter as it takes time to get it there.

The NC30 can be found at Home Depot and another version(Summers heat) I think is available through Lowes. They are big heat machines with a lot of glass offering a great fire view.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Sounds like an Englander NC30 would fit the bill as others said.

When you say "best value" what kind of budget are you looking at?

Any particular reason you want a tube stove instead of a cat? I've only ever had one wood stove, my Republic 1750, so whatever I "know" about cat stoves I've read here. But...I can say that usually when I read someone posting about a runaway/going nuclear, it's been a tube stove, not a cat. Someone with more personal knowledge of them can probably say more about that, but since it was one thing you were concerned about, I figured I'd point it out.

 

[dmmoss51]

I noticed online that the Englander at Home Depot is about $150 less than the same summers heat version at Lowes. At least in my zip code. The lowes one looks like it has some decorative gold color trim that is not on the HOD verson.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Lowes is more than HD here too, when I was looking at the price on the 17-vl Lowes was about $200 more! I am guessing the differences will be very slight and the most probable reason is so they aren't the same thing so they won't have to price match each other. I've noticed this in other products too, probably not so much so that they can say "we're the only place to get this" but more to say "we can't price match to store x because it's not the exact same model number".

 

[dmmoss51]

Yep... some stores price match based on UPC code. Because of that Walmart often requires their suppliers to use a differnt UPC code on their products that ship to Walmart than elsewhere.

 

[blades]

You can go to Overstockstoves.com 1099 shipped to closest freight terminal. I do not know what current prices at Lowes and HD are. I believe the blower is included. So that needs to be checked at all 3 sources. Blower is about 200 on Englanders site.
Been happy with mine, ain't much for looks, but I do not have to deal with human females.

 

[firefighterjake]

Englander or Drolet.

A bit fancier, but not a lot more in price: Regency or Napoleon.

 

[spiff]

I am not familiar with Englander or drolet...are they American made? I have seen some regency2400 classic's and napoleon 1400 stoves. Are new cast iron stoves requiring more maintenance than the steel stoves? Or are the older cast stoves more of a maintenance problem?

 

[Dix]

Englander is made in the USA.

A good, solid, no nonsense stove.

Welcome to the forums !!

 

[spiff]

So, if the Englander stoves are no frills stoves, what would the Napoleon or Regency have or "do better" than the lower priced Englander? I see Lowes has the Summer Heat series stove...is this the same stove as home depot Englander stove?

 

[eclecticcottage]

Summers heat is pretty much the same-maybe a different trim, but same company. Lowes seems more expensive.

Really, after looking at an Englander and my Lopi, I don't really see much different. The Lopi has more heat shielding for closer clearances (we have a 4 1/2" rear clearance and ember only hearth pad requirement for instance-I know the Englander needs more rear clearance and an r-value rating on the hearthpad). BIG difference in price though, like $1000.

I guess I should follow that with WHY we spent more, lol. First, I hadn't found Hearth.com yet and knew nothing of stoves outside of what I saw at hearth shops. I just assumed the HD/Lowes stoves were cheap junk that would have no customer service, which they ARE NOT. Second, I have wanted an Endeavor since we were shopping for a gas stove for our other house some 13 or so years ago. I did switch to the Republic after we got the price for the stove, piping and install though. holy moly. Third, I didn't know you could get a sweep to install a stove and while we are serious DIYers I don't play with things that might burn my house down so we wanted a professional installer. We probably still would have gone with the Lopi anyway, because we need the close clearances for sapce reasons.

 

[Woody Stover]

Any particular reason you want a tube stove instead of a cat?...I can say that usually when I read someone posting about a runaway/going nuclear, it's been a tube stove, not a cat. Someone with more personal knowledge of them can probably say more about that, but since it was one thing you were concerned about, I figured I'd point it out.

Yep, they are easy to operate; You can fly 'em to the moon without having to do much of anything at all.
Kidding aside, once you familiarize yourself with how the stove runs, and understand how different inputs affect the burn, you should be able to operate the stove without worry. Many, many folks do just that. I have only run cat stoves, where there is more control over the amount of combustion air entering the stove, but I think the occasional problems with tube stoves getting hot are mainly due to getting too much of the load burning and off-gassing when starting a new load. Once the load is established and the air is cut, I believe they burn in a controlled fashion. And there are ways to deal with the situation if the stove starts to go high. You have to know your fuel, too, since different species or the amount of moisture in the wood will also affect the burn. Don't be intimidated, but go in knowing that there is a learning curve involved no matter what stove you get. Start out burning a new stove when you can be around for the entire burn, and start off burning small loads. You'll have a handle on it pretty quickly.
But yeah, the plate-steel tube stoves are going to be the least expensive....

 

[eclecticcottage]

I think the occasional problems with tube stoves getting hot are mainly due to getting too much of the load burning and off-gassing when starting a new load. Once the load is established and the air is cut, I believe they burn in a controlled fashion.

Well...sort of. If you let it get going too much, even shutting the air control all the way down won't stop it from going nuclear. You'll find a number of tube stove owners are quite familiar with where the air intake is so they can shove aluminum foil or pop a magnet over it to help slow it down. It's not to say every stove will run away with every load, but it's easy to have it happen if you aren't paying attention (and sometimes even if you are, lol). You really need to be on top of air control, especially if you're burning good dry wood. Plenty of folks heat with them (we do, and I'm happy with my stove), use them and are happy with them. but I disagree with the view that they are easier for some reason. They just have their own learning curves. I think the only possible reason it would be better to start with a tube stove is I think they are a bit more forgiving of unseasoned wood (not that they run well with it, just better than a cat stove).

 

[Woody Stover]

Are new cast iron stoves requiring more maintenance than the steel stoves? Or are the older cast stoves more of a maintenance problem?

Plate-steel stoves have welded seams and don't require the eventual maintenance of the cemented or gasketed seams found in cast iron or soapstone stoves.

with a tube stove is I think they are a bit more forgiving of unseasoned wood (not that they run well with it, just better than a cat stove).

I would think that this could be a problem, too. If you get a load of some semi-dry wood burning, and then it dries out, will it start burning faster and the load potentially take off on you, having set the air open enough to burn the wet wood?

 

[eclecticcottage]

I would think that this could be a problem, too. If you get a load of some semi-dry wood burning, and then it dries out, will it start burning faster and the load potentially take off on you, having set the air open enough to burn the wet wood?

We only had one (there was a slight glow by the thermo on the stove top and that was it) overfire and it was packed with too much dry driftwood. The first two years while we had less than seasoned wood, we never had an issue of it drying then getting out of control. Not to say it can't or won't, we just didn't experiance it. This year with seasoned wood we have to shut down the air sooner and much further (sometimes even all the way) than ever before.

 

[spiff]

So I went to the big box stores and saw the Englander nc30 and the Summer's Heat version as well. I guess I wasn't all that excited about the stoves...seemed a little less impressive than some of the other models in stores. With that said, I'm sure they are great burners for the price.

I saw a 2006 quadrafire 3100 millennium in the paper today. Description says beautiful stove in excellent condition. Has the ACC burn system??? Price is posted at $600. The picture I saw looks very good condition.

If I go see it, what should I be looking for? Other than obvious appearances, are these stoves considered with much repsect?

The hunt goes on...