help choosing new stove

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oxman

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Sep 12, 2006
11
i am new to these boards and wonder if you guys could help me i live in the pine barrens of nj i heat with wood and have for a little over ten years i dont have heat just a pinebarrens woodstove and it has done a good job but we just had a baby and i need a stove that will hold a fire longer than the stove i am using i burn slow and clean my chimney often because the old stoves create alot of creosote i was thinking of the new lopi leyden or a big jotul could you give me some suggestions i am not real big on the cat stoves years ago i bought a consolidated dutchwest and didnt like it keep in mind my stove is on 24\7 thanks keith
 
oxman said:
i am new to these boards and wonder if you guys could help me

Sure, how about commas and periods? J/K-ing. :) I don't know too much, I'm sure one of these guys will help you out. NJ get's pretty darn cold. Do you have a backup heat source like oil or something?
 
Ok keith. We need a touch more information from ya.

We need to know the size of the area you're trying to heat most importantly, as well as if the space is well insulated or poorly insulated. You already mentioned you'd prefer a non-cat stove, so that narrows are options a touch.

Let us know the size of the area, as well as the size of the current chimney you have, and we can go from there.

Also, price range, if a limiting factor, is something we should know.
 
oxman said:
not to educated no back up heat keith

Just joking. No offense meant. Hell, my spelling sucks. Keep that baby warm. Maybe hang on to the old stove for a few months (in garage or something) until you know if the new one works out.
 
my house is 1000 sq ft not well insulated i have a 6" flue now but could change it if necessary i dont have much experience with cat stoves not totally against them just old fashioned i guess i would like to stay under 2000 thanks keith
 
no offense taken i will keep the old stove until i try the new one i learned that lesson the hard way thanks
 
Now, prepare yourself for a plethora of suggestions similar to a coke vs pepsi argument. I for one, am partial to the look of cast iron stoves, but I am going to give you a list of the stoves I would consider based on the price and area you need to heat, as WELL as the fact that you are looking for long burn times.


Here goes:

Quadrafire 3100 - I know the 2100 is probably sufficient, but I think the bigger firebox and longer burn times are what you need. It's a plate steel stove, but I like the simple look of the quadrafire stoves and they are build quite well imo. I've looked at their construction pretty extensively at a local dealer and I like what I've seen. Price should be between $1300 and $1600. The manufacturer rates this stove at 54,000 Btu.

As far as cast iron goes, I'd recommend the

Jotul F400 Castine - You get great looks, good burn times and and ash pan for about $1599. Go looking unit and you'd probably be quite happy with the asthetics. Rated at 55,000 Btu.

In the neighborhood of Harman I would say the Exception is a good place to look. Nicer looking steel stove imo, good heat output and their afterburner system, which is a pretty neat and extremely well crafted piece of technology many years in the making. This stove should set you back somewhere in the $1800 range. Plus you get top loading, which is something the other two don't have and is a nice feature.

Here are the links to the webpages:

Quadrafire 3100
http://www.quadrafire.com/products/stoves/woodStoveDetail.asp?f=3100act-ST

Jotul F400 Castine
http://www.jotul.us/content/products/ProductArticle____3107.aspx

Harman Exception
http://www.harmanstoves.com/specifications.asp?id=9
 
Welcome to the Forum Keith. Our only heat is wood also. What kind of chimney set up do you have and what kind of hearth is the stove on?

Unless you can fling a cat through the air leaks in the place something like the big Jotuls is going to be too much stove for ya and spending money ya don't need to be spending with that new baby.

A lot of the smaller stoves (smaller being compared to the old stoves) these days can hold a burn a good long time.
 
hey thanks for the welcome i am glad i found this place i have a double wall insulated stainless chimney i have a brick on cement board hearth and brick up the walls set out about an inch the brick only goes up just over the stove height i appreciate the fast responses i dont need a huge stove but want one for the longer burn times and i definately dont want to spend more than i have too but i need to keep this baby boy warm keith
 
BB,

The reason I listed the larger stoves is, I feel the longer burn times and larger firebox are more suited for what he needs. His house is still within the low end of the stoves, for the most part.

Also, from what I've read the 3CB doesn't give the long burn times jotul suggests, is that true BB? I'm just wondering.....

Yeah keith you could probably get away with the smaller Quad 2100, but the firebox is def. on the small side imo. I don't think you'll see the burn times you want and still have a warm house.
 
you have to be careful though keith, if you go too big, you'll be beyond the point of control when you don't need all that heat.

i.e. you choose a stove that's way oversized and don't need all that heat. With the new stoves you'll be limited on the amount you can turn down the air control and still maintain secondary combustion, which is obviously very important.
 
corie this is where i get confused do all of the stoves you listed have secondary combustion and if they dont can you turn down the stoves real low
 
Keith,

Every stove sold on the market today, with the exception of Epa exempt stoves (which you don't want), will have either a secondary combustion system or a catalytic combustor. EPA Phase II mandates stoves meet certain clean burning requirements.

You still have the ability to turn the stove down quite low, but you can't make it a smoking, smouldering mess. You don't want to do that anyway, because you'll end up back where you started with a gunked up chimney. The stoves listed are extremely easy to use, clean burning and very efficient.
 
I didnt know they existed until I stumbled on them by chance.

I cant wait to fire that thing off , it is a BEAR
 
Morso should have this as a slogan ...................Plain and fancy

Least thats how the wife and I describe it ;)
Since our house is sort of shaker inspired, the stoves just seems to fit

Oh christ now I am sounding like Christopher Lowell FABULOUS
 
the clean lines of the stove and those drapes just look [lisp] faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulousssssssssssss[/lisp]
 
The F3CB is three to four hours worth in the burn department. Definitely not what Keith is looking for. But we are talking 1000 sq. feet. He is going to have a tough time here. Go big and choke it too hard to keep from running them out of the house and he will actually crap up the chimney worse than any pre-EPA stove I ever owned. He is going to have to find a happy medium.
 
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