help choosing small stove

[lauriemazur]

Wise woodburners:
I've been lurking here for a while, fantasizing about wood heat. But two back-to-back blizzards has me (and everyone else in the mid-Atlantic) rethinking my relationship to the grid. I think we're going to take the plunge, and I'd value your advice.


We have an 1800 square foot home in a (usually) mild climate. We're looking for mostly supplemental heat and emergency backup, though we can imagine a future scenario where we would mostly heat with wood. The stove would be located in our living room, which is part of a mostly open LR/dining/kitchen area. The total square footage on that floor is about 1100 square feet.


Important features: high efficiency, so as to qualify for the federal tax credit; small footprint; relative ease of operation; rear-venting option and large fire-viewing window for aesthetic reasons. We've pretty much narrowed it down to the Jotul F100 Nordic QT, the Jotul F3 CB, the Hearthstone Craftsbury and the Hearthstone Shelburne. We're torn between getting a smaller unit that would heat the downstairs and a larger unit capable of heating the whole house -- mostly because we're afraid a larger unit would cook us out of the living room, where we do most of our hanging out. We don't spend much time upstairs except when we're asleep, so I keep the heat way down up there. I'm figuring enough heat would find its way up there to make it tolerable, even with a smaller unit.


Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[begreen]

My first suggestion would be to get a medium sized stove, not a small one. Something around 2 cu ft will be do a better all around job in the circumstances described. In this range, for a cast iron stove, that would be the Jotul F400 or F500 or the Hearthstone Shelburne. If a hybrid cast/steel will work, maybe look at the Quadrafire Cumberland Gap or the Pacific Energy Alderlea T5. I'd also look at a Woodstock stove. It works over a wide temperature range.

FWIW, I've had the smaller stoves. They can also cook you out of the room. You just need to feed them fuel much more frequently. The bigger stove won't cook you out of the room with an open floorplan, especially with a convective design like the Alderlea T5 or a soapstone/cat like the Woodstock.

 

[cycloxer]

I'll second the recommendation of a Jotul F 400 Castine, F 500 Oslo, or Hearthstone Shelburne. They are all excellent choices in the medium stove size and price range. They'll do what you want and are sized appropriately for 1,800 sq. ft.

 

[lauriemazur]

Thanks so much, BeGreen! One other thought--the floorplan isn't THAT open...the living room is about 300 sf, and there's a wide doorway into the dining room, which is about 175 sf, then another large opening into the 200 sf kitchen. An office and bedroom are also downstairs, but they are not part of the open area. So I'd say it's more like 600 sf of reasonably open space. Do you think the Shelburne or other stoves you mentioned would make that smaller area too hot? Can you burn a small fire efficiently in those large stoves? Or is it better to have a small stove with a large fire? Thanks again for your help...

 

[begreen]

I haven't run the Shelburne through it's paces. From what I saw on the showroom floor, it looks like a nicely made unit. However, I do have experience with the mid-sized PE (neighbor has a Spectrum) and the F400. Both of these stoves burn well with a partial load of fuel. The T5 is a convective stove. You can sit close by and not get a sunburn. The F400 is a bit more of a radiant heat stove, but it's well behaved even when running at 450.

In this range, I think you'll be fine. In order to not get baked out of the room when the the temps outside are milder, just burn a half-load of wood and then let the stove go out. It won't get hotter unless you add more fuel.

 

[lauriemazur]

Thanks for your advice, everyone!

 

[tcassavaugh]

i live on the western shore in northern calvert county md. i've been here sicne 85 and burned wood every year. i grew up with it, being from upstate n.y. and know the benifits and unsurpassed real warmpth you get from backing up to a woodstove after being out in the cold. I have a ranch with a basement with about 1400 sq ft on each floor. i've run one stove in the basement (vc large cat) until this year when i replaced it with a pe summit. the vc worked well at heating the house except i had to really run it to keep the whole house warm and the basement would be 85-90 and the upstairs would be 70 +-. the summit does a better job in distributing the heat, with the optional blower it keeps the downstairs at a more comfortable 75-80 and upstairs at 70-75. I have a jotul f 3 cb upstairs in the edge of the living room and dining room (its a semi open floor plan) for those days when its really cold, like this past couple of weeks when it was snowing and blowing and the early fall and spring seasons. its only problem is that if you run it low/shut it down for the night, the glass gets a bit dirty. while i love the f3cb its too small to heat the whole house. however, its suficient to heat the upstairs and keep it comfortable. i have a small, older jotul 602 that worked great as a parlor stove but the way its oriented it took up more floor space than the wanted so we purchased the f3cb last year.
anyway, just my thoughts being from the same neck of the woods as you and have experienced marylands winters.

cass.

 

[DBoon]

I have a one floor house a little larger than you. The stove is in the LR, with a large opening into the DR, and a smaller opening into the kitchen. Off the LR is a den. The small stove I have (Lopi Answer) will heat the entire house down to about 20 degrees (good insulation, storm windows). The warm air gets around.

Given that you have an upstairs also, it seems like a medium sized stove might be better for you. You'll get a lot of convective flow from upstairs to downstairs - a nice draft of cold air will come right down that stairway as heated air flows up it. With a smaller stove, it might be warm on a thermometer but uncomfortably drafty. Just something to think about.

Note: I'm usually the guy who says "you don't need a medium-sized stove".

 

[wendell]

I agree with not getting a small stove. They can heat well but loading them every 3-4 hours gets old. For what you described, I would look at the T5 first and then the Fireview.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I agree with not getting a small stove. They can heat well but loading them every 3-4 hours gets old. For what you described, I would look at the T5 first and then the Fireview.

Very old. Very, very, very old.

 

[firefighterjake]

+1 to BeGreen's advice . . . I think you would be happier with a medium sized stove for that spacing requirement.

And while there are many great brands out there . . . and I encourage you to look at them all to see what you like . . . I will say the Jotul Oslo would suit your needs perfectly.

I have one in my 1800 square foot Cape (1,200 square feet downstairs) and it's in the living room. It does get warm sometimes on those marginal days (i.e. 30 degrees or so outside), but once you learn how to run the stove you can "adjust" how hot it gets by knowing when to reload it (or not reload it), how much wood you put in the firebox, what size wood you put in the firebox and what species wood you put in the firebox.

The Oslo should be able to heat your entire home . . . the heat would naturally draft upwards to heat the bedrooms . . . which most folks want a tad cooler anyways . . . and you can use a floor fan to move the heat through the whole home.

As for your requirements . . . clean burn (check . . . Oslo uses secondary burn tech and qualifies for the tax credit), small footprint (check . . . with doublewall pipe and a rear heatshield you can get the Oslo pretty darn close to the wall), easy to use (check . . . there are a lot of happy Oslo owners . . . about the only "negative" is a sticky air lever which you can fix with graphite and a front door which tends to spill ash on to the front lip), rear vent (check . . . Oslo can go straight up or out and up) and good view (check . . . the Oslo offers a very large viewing area.)

As mentioned . . . don't limit yourself to the Jotul brand though . . . the Shelburne and Phoenix by Hearthstone were in my short list as well as the PE line up.

 

[lauriemazur]

Thanks so much, everyone. You've convinced me to go with the larger stove. The T-5 looks great, but it doesn't seem to have a rear-venting option (is that right?). I can't quite tell if the Fireview does or not, but it's a little more than we hoped to spend...we wanted to keep it around $2K. So that probably leaves the Shelburne and the Oslo on our short list. We may wait for the $1K rebate for woodstove installation in the new jobs bill under the "Cash for Caulkers" program. I'll keep you posted!

 

[madison]

t4 -> t6 are all top vented. all have very low clearances which help in a small room with tight clearances to walls etc.

post a picture of the anticipated location and you will get some more options regarding the venting considerations etc. is there an existing fireplace/hearth in the living room? two story house? what is above where the stove will reside?

a convection stove will allow you to be in close proximitry of the stove without getting sun burned as others have previously suggested.

 

[summit]

Go alittle bigger than any of the stoves mentioned in the original post, and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD do not buy the craftsbury.. it is total cheese, horrible handle, ashpan, baffle, and takes forever to get going, even with the best draft possible. we have a name for it at the shop: CRAPS-BURY.