I've been doing a lot of research and reading on new wood stoves. Can you help me with deciding on trying to narrow my options. The stoves that I've considered buying is Enviro Kodiak 2100, Quadrafire 5700, Enerzone 3.4, Drolet HT 2000, and Englander 30. The only ones I've seen in person are the Kodiak, Quadrafire, and enerzone. These all seem like quality built stoves. Are the cheaper stoves like Drolet and Englander just as good or will I need to replace it sooner. Also are they just as efficent and put out just as much heat? I currently have a prospector 1898 which is basically a box with fire brick on the sides half way up. Thank You for any and all advice. I hope to be able to buy a new stove by next season.
Difference in wood stoves?
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Yes, just as good at producing heat and yes, efficient. Most of the difference is in the fit and finish department. The less expensive brands are maybe a little more utilitarian, but function much like the more expensive stoves.
You have named some very well liked stoves and probably can't go wrong with any of them. what are you trying to heat?
Its about a 1,400 sq ft.drafty farm house. We plan on building in about 8 yrs is another reason I would like to buy a bigger stove. Currently our stove is in the basement and I feel like Im wasting a lot of heat, which in return is wasting time and money. I want to put a chimney pipe and hearth upstairs and move the stove, so it would heat all of our rooms and not just the ones close to the basement.
Leo
Leo
Sounds like you have a good plan. Stoves are space heaters, so it makes the most sense to get it in the space you are trying to heat.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
How drafty and how cold does it get in your place? A stove with a 3 cu ft firebox is quite big for 1400 sqft. A larger medium-size stove like the Enviro 1700 may be enough for your needs. Do you have any idea how much fuel you used in a winter month when not running the stove?
I live in NKY. It was really cold this winter and last winter was kind of mild. I dont think their is much insulation in it at all. I havent used oil in a couple years but we use the space heaters in the rooms that dont receive much heat from our current set up. In the coldest month my electric bill was $333. It is normally around $120 when we don't have to run any thing for heat or air, and around $190 when we use the space heaters. So basically you think the main difference is looks as far as the huge fluctuation in price. I've kind of been really interested in the englander if thats the case. The reason I want the big fire box is because when we build a house in about 8 yrs I want to be able to use the wood stove in it too and don't want to wish I bought a bigger stove.
The Englander is a proven and reliable stove (as well as is most of your list). It is a big dude at 3.5 cuft.
What is "really cold"?
What is "really cold"?
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Some quick calculations: You needed $200 more in electricity in one month. At 7 ct per kWh that translates to ~3000 kWh or 100 kWh per day. That are 340,000 BTU per day. 1 cu ft of average hardwood burned in a stove at ~60% efficiency gives you roughly 100,000 BTU. Thus, with ~3.5 cu ft burned over a day you should fulfill your heating needs. When loading the stove 3 times a day you would need a stove with less than a 2 cu ft firebox to get all the heat you need. All those calcs are rather conservative; the only item I cannot account for is the heat provided by the downstairs stove but it seems that got the basement barely warm, so I don't think it will change much.
If you are looking for a budget midsize stove: Englander may be coming out this summer with a stove having a 2.5 cu ft firebox at a price likely under 1K. Shoot the user stoveguy2esw a PM to ask for more info. The Drolet Escape 1800 may be another option or the Pacific Energy True North although that firebox is a bit smaller (2 cu ft).
And unless you are planning on buying a really nice one, I would not size your stove for something you may do 8 years from now. Sell the stove then and get something new that is appropriately sized.
My take from that list would be the Kodiak, Enerzone and the Englander. Of course I am kinda biased toward the Englander since one has heated this joint for eight winters now. And will be heating the joint when they haul me out of here feet first. But I would heat with the Enviro or Enerzone either one without any hesitation.
We had 0-5 degrees for about 3-4 wks that is cold for our area. How much more efficient would an englander be compared to my current wood stove prospector 1894 it seems like a steel box with a blower and fire brick around the sides. Wood consumption and heat. Wise.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Any modern EPA-approved stove is at least twice as efficient as an old "smoke dragon" like your prospector. Plus, the stoves you mentioned have a 3 cu ft firebox; not sure what the prospector has. Is your basement insulated or unfinished? Slabs and concrete walls can also eat a lot of heat. You may also need less since you want to install the stove upstairs.
How is your wood supply? Do you have several cords of split firewood stacked up in a sunny and windy spot in your yard to get that seasoned? Any EPA-approved stove will need wood with an internal moisture content of less than 20% to work properly. Most hardwoods need about 2 years of seasoning time to reach that.
How is your wood supply? Do you have several cords of split firewood stacked up in a sunny and windy spot in your yard to get that seasoned? Any EPA-approved stove will need wood with an internal moisture content of less than 20% to work properly. Most hardwoods need about 2 years of seasoning time to reach that.
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Every stove you listed is a steel box with firebricks up the side. 
I went from a 4.3 cubic foot pre-EPA stove to the the Englander 30 and get more heat from half the wood. Used to burn six cord a year and now burn three. The difference is baffle design and the secondary combustion of smoke that used to go up the chimney and now is burned and turned into heat in the stove. Same deal with all of the stoves you mentioned.
I went from a 4.3 cubic foot pre-EPA stove to the the Englander 30 and get more heat from half the wood. Used to burn six cord a year and now burn three. The difference is baffle design and the secondary combustion of smoke that used to go up the chimney and now is burned and turned into heat in the stove. Same deal with all of the stoves you mentioned.
Since we are talking about efficiency how efficient is a slammer install 1973 insert with no liner in an exterior wall?
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Grisu
Minister of Fire
I guess when I say a steal box with fire bricks on the side I should have clarified it a little more. The fire bricks are about 6" tall on the sides and the rest of it is just steal. The stoves I was able to look at had fire brick all the way up the sides and some up top also and I think the enviro had them on the floor. They also had the air tubes in them. Im going to look into englander and see if their coming out with a new one this season. My basement is mostly unfinished on a slab some of it is poured foundation some block and part of it is a crawl space. I have wood cut and split out in the open stacked also a lot of wood I cut is dead trees.
Leo
Leo
JA600L
Minister of Fire
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Don't focus so much on the firebricks; the secret for the efficient burn of a modern stove lies in the secondary burn tubes in the top. The wood is heated up in the bottom of the firebox, outgases its burnable components, which rise to the secondary burn zone in the top. There, those woodgases mix with hot air and ignite to give you the typical secondary burn. Instead of sending most of those unburnt gases up the flue as in an old-style stove, they actually heat your home. Efficiency-wise there will be little difference between any EPA-certified/EPA-approved non-catalytic stove. What matters most is the firebox size.
That unfinished basement probably ate around a third of the heat that your prospector was putting out. Another reason you may need less stove than you think. Maybe look also at the BlazeKing Princess/Ashford or Woodstock Progress Hybrid. Those are catalytic stoves meaning you can burn them on low without smoking up the neighborhood when it is not that cold. But they are big enough to certainly heat your house when the temps go down to 0 F again.
Dead wood can be dry but this is not a given. Especially the lower trunk can still hold a lot of moisture. Best to season it for at least 2 years like any other wood.
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smokedragon
Minister of Fire
Don't listen to Grisu.....
Go big or go home.
It is way easier to build a little fire in a big box than the other way around.
But seriously, for that situation, have you considered a catalytic stove? You could burn at a lower fire rate and have to feed it less often? The hybrid Ideal Steel from Woodstock would be in the price range of some of the nicer stoves you have listed.
I agree that any stove on your list should do.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Don't listen to Grisu.....
Can you hear me?
Sure, but if you only make small fires in that big box except for maybe for 2 or 3 weeks a year you don't burn very efficiently. And for those 2 to 3 weeks you can just feed your stove more often.
Now we are talking. If someone really want to be prepared for everything a cat stove will be the best choice.
smokedragon
Minister of Fire
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Totally agree: For a cat stove that size range would be appropriate. But since it is hard to burn a non-cat for a long time on low without smoldering up the neighborhood, I would do a bit less like 2.4 cu ft for a non-cat. That way you can fill it up and run it hot like it is supposed to be run. I heat 1300 sqft in Vermont with a 2 cu ft insert with outside temps in the single digits and my home is not that well insulated either.
We should also not forget that this was an extremely cold winter. Buying a stove for something that happens maybe once a decade?
Anyway, the OP should be able to come to an "informed decision" by now.
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