Help choosing the RIGHT woodstove for my new home.

[michiganwinters]

Hi there! I am excited about burning wood in my house. In my last house I has the vista flame pellet stove in the basement and it was alright. Never heated the upstairs very well.........but we know how difficult that can be from the basement. And there is nothing like burning wood. So Im building a new house and wanting to choose the correct size, btu out put and burntime. It is going to be a 1500sqft ranch, 2x4 construction with Nuwool R-15 insulation in the walls and Nuwool R40 in the celings. All outlets, windows, doors and cracks will be foamed so this house will be pretty darn tight. Ok now for the layout. As you walk in the kitchen, diningroom, and living room are all open with a vaulted 4/12 pitch (with celing fan). then there is an open stairway to the basement and on the other side of it is the hallway which leads to the bedrooms and baths. The best location for the stove is in the outside corner of the livingroom (which backs up to the masterbedroom). From what Ive heard stright up is the best and most cost effiecient way to vent. I was thinking of doing cultured stone in along the back and sides of the stove (Ive heard it holds heat?) And of course it looks great. Anyway heres where I really need some help. A local dealer said in the vaulted area I really need to use that sqft and another half of the sqft to account for the vaulted ceiling. Ok, so if I do that the total of my main floor including ceilings should be around 1900sqft. The local dealer was trying to talk me into the Lopi Liberty which heats UPTO 2500sqft. Another dealer said that he would go with a model that heats UPTO 2000sqft. He said that if I go with a bigger stove that I will have to run it cooler (so I dont heat myself right out the house) thus having the possibility of forming more creosilt (SP?). But I want a longer burntime like 8-12hrs. So I guess I need some education. Ive been reading but would like your input on my setup. Ive also been looking at the Nepoleon 1400. Id like to use it as much as possible so I dont have to use too much LP at $2/gal. How many cords do YOU guys typically use. Thanks for your insight!! Oh I wanted to add that our only experience so far with woodstove was an old Timberline from the 80's. Ive heard that stoves are quite a bit different (better) now so Im excited to see the difference.
Audrey

 

[carpniels]

HI audrey,

There are plenty of good options out here. To name a few:
- Jotul Oslo
- PE Summit
- PE Alderlea
- Quadrafire Isle Royale

Stick to the famous brands and you cannot go wrong. First, make up your mind as to what you want: front, side or top loading? Steel, cast iron or soapstone? Cat or non-cat? The answers to these questions depend on what burning you want to do: evenings or 24/7.

Carpniels

PS. I use 5 full cords a winter for central NY winters, which I guess are comparable to MI winters.

 

[derbygreg]

Being that you are in Michigan the stove named after the National Park makes sense! lol

Quadrafire Isle Royale - it has some serious output and burn time.

 

[DiscoInferno]

PS. I use 5 full cords a winter for central NY winters, which I guess are comparable to MI winters.

Of course, "MI winters" covers a wide range of conditions: Detroit generally doesn't even have permanent snow cover or terribly cold temperatures, while much of the UP gets hundreds of inches of snow and can stay below 0 for stretches.

My experience with a smallish (2cf) firebox says get the bigger stove if you want good overnight burns.

 

[begreen]

Word, build the house with 2x6 walls, and R19 insulation. Don't scrimp on the windows either. This is an investment that will pay back continually. If the house is well insulated, heating it may work out with the next size down stove. Once you have your heat loss calculations done for the heating system, you will have a much better idea for stove size.

What dealers are near you? Take a look at the stoves suggested by Carpneils for starters. They are all good, proven stoves. The other type of stove you might want to consider is a soapstone stove like a Woodstock (catalytic) or Hearthstone (non-cat).

 

[michiganwinters]

Yes, Michigan winters is pretty vague. I live in Newaygo County on Croton Dam (Muskegon River). Typically we get alot more snow than the motor city because of lake effect. I would say temps are usually 10-20 degrees dipping into the neg. maybe a half to a dozen times per winter. I am really torn between steel and soap. Ive read as many posts pertaining as I can. I know there is a brandnew hearthstone pheonix I can get for about $1600 nearby. I dont know if those are catalyst or non...I should probably look up. As for appearences, most of the soap stone stoves tend to look a little more victorian to me...........do they make any that are more boxy like steel stoves? Then it would be the best of both worlds. Also the even radiant heat of the soapstone is appealing to me although you have to wait a bit for it to warm up.

 

[BrotherBart]

As for appearences, most of the soap stone stoves tend to look a little more victorian to me...........do they make any that are more boxy like steel stoves?

You, my friend, are my hero.

 

[Gooserider]

Yes, Michigan winters is pretty vague. I live in Newaygo County on Croton Dam (Muskegon River). Typically we get alot more snow than the motor city because of lake effect. I would say temps are usually 10-20 degrees dipping into the neg. maybe a half to a dozen times per winter. I am really torn between steel and soap. Ive read as many posts pertaining as I can. I know there is a brandnew hearthstone pheonix I can get for about $1600 nearby. I dont know if those are catalyst or non...I should probably look up. As for appearences, most of the soap stone stoves tend to look a little more victorian to me...........do they make any that are more boxy like steel stoves? Then it would be the best of both worlds. Also the even radiant heat of the soapstone is appealing to me although you have to wait a bit for it to warm up.

There are two main soapstone stove brands, Hearthstone and Woodstock. Hearthstone makes non-cats, Woodstock makes cats. Otherwise there isn't a huge difference between them, both are excellent quality stoves. However I tend to be of the opinion that you should only go for soapstone if planning on doing serious 24/7 burning. If you are going to go for only night / weekend, or occasional fires, look at a cast or steel plate stove.

If you want to get overnight burns, you should consider a stove with at least a 2-2.5 cu ft firebox. Other than firebox size, take any manufacturere claims about square footage heated, BTU output and burn times with a large (Siberian salt mine sized) grain of salt...

I would second the earlier comments about building with thicker walls and more insulation all around.

Also, given that you are planning a new house, I make my usual "new house plan" suggestion that you MIGHT want to take a look at a Masonry Heater and see if that would work for you as a design. If you can design to work within the capabilities of an MH, it can be a very efficient way to heat a house.

Gooserider

 

[Burn-1]

As for appearences, most of the soap stone stoves tend to look a little more victorian to me...........do they make any that are more boxy like steel stoves?

There are a number of European stoves which have a boxy appearance and feature some soapstone but most of them aren't either sold in the USA or if they are are really expensive. Rais-Wittus, Krog-Iversen, Scan, Max Blank and Nestor Martin are all brands that share some of these features and are available in the US.

Here's a link for Evolution Trade Group which is the US importer for Max Blank and Nestor Martin.

 

[elkimmeg]

My suggestion is with Be green get your home built as effecient as possoble 2/6 walls nd special attertion to windows and your heating eguipment.

Too many homes have lower grade builder's specials installed.

Not so much the stove but chimney placement could be your best option In my case I have 2/6 walls but also have a masize granite fieldstone fireplace.

All this money and talk about masonry heaters my stove does the same thing It runs 24/7 heating up the surounding masonry mass. It is so effecctive the even when I le

t it burn down one can walk by and feel the heat radiating from the stones many hours after the stove has gone out. This will not occure with an exterior location chimney. I planned mine ahead and knew a wood stove was part of my heating solution day one I wanted that masonry mass to get heated up No soapstone stove will ever duplicate that storage medium.

I also want to address your cat combustor concerns all stoves using them today are designed to optpmise their usage many are the cleanest burning stoves today.

it takes the same damper action to initiate secondary burn as to engage cat combustor. The combustor can be engaged in one half the firebox temps to begin the secondary burn.

If so concerned about a cat combustor I bet you drive a car with one. These stove are not the add on combustors of the 8 80's but intergrated designed cat combustion chambers.

Perhaps you can address your concerns about Cat combustors what is you problem purchasing one? One of the finest stove made, best customer satisfaction rating, money back garrantee Cat combustor stove Woodstock

BTW I run two cat combustor stoves by choice I think I have a handle on how the opperate