Looking for a new stove

[avk210]

Hey all,
I am in need of a new wood stove. I live at 7700ft in the colorado mountains. Looking to heat aprox 1800 sqft of a raised ranch style house. The stove sits in the basement and has a stairwell a feww feet away to help with the heat getting upstairs. The stove pipe is 6" and goes straight up and out, no turns or bends and is probablly around 20ft or so. At first I was interested in a blaze king princess and a rep told me they had problems at my elevation, and didnt want to sell me a stove that wouldnt work for me. So I started looking around, the hearthstone green mountain 60 sounds like it hits all the marks but its fairly new with the new regulations and such and really dont want to buy a new set of expensive problems. This is my main source of heat so I just need something reliable and that will keep me warm over night. Any insight and recommendations are greatly apreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

High altitude reduces draft. Straight-up helps, but the basement location may not. It will depend on whether there is negative pressure at that location or not. If the house is sealed well then maybe not, but exhaust fans and competing appliances (gas or oil hw heater, boiler, clothes dryer) can tip the balance.
At that altitude, look at stoves that breathe easily. Generally, they will have a shorter chimney requirement. Enviros were good, but no longer sold in 2020. Look at stoves by Drolet, Osburn and Pacific Energy for starters. The Drolet HT3000 or PE Summit could be a good fit.

Is the basement fully insulated?

 

[avk210]

High altitude reduces draft. Straight-up helps, but the basement location may not. It will depend on whether there is negative pressure at that location or not. If the house is sealed well then maybe not, but exhaust fans and competing appliances (gas or oil hw heater, boiler, clothes dryer) can tip the balance.
At that altitude, look at stoves that breathe easily. Generally, they will have a shorter chimney requirement. Enviros were good, but no longer sold in 2020. Look at stoves by Drolet, Osburn and Pacific Energy for starters. The Drolet HT3000 or PE Summit could be a good fit.

Is the basement fully insulated?

View attachment 262316

Thanks Begreen,
Yes the basement is insulated, its a walk out basement and the backside of the building is only about 5ft under ground. I think the chimney is closer to 25ft or above after looking at it, will measure here as soon as I get a day off. There are no other appliance competing for draft, baseboard heat, electric dryer but it vents inside. I like the pacific energy, was going to buy an alderlea last year but the dealer quoted me a price and then I got an invoice to pay and it was $900 more then what he said, not sure if it was incompetance or just the good ole bait and switch. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

If your heart is set on a BK stove then it might be worth measuring static draft now. If it is decent in milder weather, then it may be sufficient as long as it meets BK's spec. If the goal is to save some money then it's hard to beat the HT3000 for value. It's a good heater and Drolet (SBI stove) is a good company.

 

[avk210]

Thanks for all your input. My heart is not set on a blaze king just want something effiecint with long burn times. I am now looking into the osburn 2000 and the ht3000. Might come down to which I can purchase locally.

 

[BKVP]

I would note that the Princess is not the model that is challenged at elevation. The King model, which has an 8" diameter flue can be tricky at over 5,000 when elbows are installed. If an install is in a basement and has no elbows, even the King is fine at 5,000+.

 

[Highbeam]

I have a princess on 12’ of chimney at 750’ ASL in relativity warm climate and it drafts and works like everybody else’s that is happy. There are always some oddball installations where the operator just isn’t happy but that’s the same with any stove.

25’ of all vertical internal pipe in a walkout basement. I expect that would overcome the thinner air at 7700. As Begreen’s chart shows, that elevation only adds 3.4 feet of needed height to mitigate it. Most princess installations use much less chimney than yours even after accounting for your elevation. I would be confident putting a princess under a 19’ chimney at your elevation.

No other stove comes close to the burn times AND efficiency offered by the time tested design of the princess except the other bk stoves and the Woodstocks. That said, if you double the burn time you halve the heat output so there’s no free lunch.

Good call on avoiding new design stoves. They might be great or they might not. I suspect your dealer that sells bk but didn’t want to sell you a bk did so for salesman reasons like trying to move some old stock or other stove with a higher profit margin.

 

[begreen]

Beside internal house pressure, chimney location and local terrain can have a strong influence on draft. That may have affected the installation that the dealer had problems with.

 

[avk210]

Beside internal house pressure, chimney location and local terrain can have a strong influence on draft. That may have affected the installation that the dealer had problems with.

He was never at my house, through email asked about pricing and delivery. I told him my address, elevation and that I wanted a efficient and long burning stove that was all. The first guy did not ask any questions, I told him my preference and immediately wanted to sell me a regency. I am new to this, been burning wood full time for two years. This forum has been a huge help, but chitty salesman always push their line. I really just need to replace my 1989 earthstove.

 

[begreen]

Keep doing diligence and asking questions.

Do you have a good supply of wood already split, stacked and seasoned? That's going to be equally important for good heating performance.

 

[avk210]

Keep doing diligence and asking questions.

Do you have a good supply of wood already split, stacked and seasoned? That's going to be equally important for good heating performance.

of course

 

[Highbeam]

Maybe take control and if you decide you want a PE T5, then call the closest PE dealer and ask for a price. Not advice.

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

I would not wait too long to make a decision. I have spoken to a couple of dealers and the information I got was the inventory was pretty tight right now.

 

[BKVP]

I spoke with the senior managers at top 7 companies on Thursday of last week. Sales of wood stoves and inserts are in significant demand.

 

[avk210]

I have been contacting a few dealers, out of three only one has contacted me back. Going to try and make the purchase this week, either a T5 or summit, still unsure.

 

[Highbeam]

I have been contacting a few dealers, out of three only one has contacted me back. Going to try and make the purchase this week, either a T5 or summit, still unsure.

Two very good stoves. The summit is available as a T6 and the T5 is available as a super. PE took their 3 welded steel plate stoves and simply attached different skins for different aesthetic and to a lesser extend different performance. I like cat stoves in a house but if it had to be a noncat I would be looking hard at the PE line. That stainless steel firebox ceiling is far more robust than the silly fiber board of nearly all other brands.

In CO, with your fuels, heating from the basement I would be inclined to go for the summit firebox.

 

[avk210]

Hey All,
Thanks for all the input, it is much appreciated. I just realized that where the 6" vent goes into the ceiling (about 5 ft) it goes up to an 8" pipe the rest of the way. Will this cause any issues with either of these stoves? I really don't want to have to replace the entire chimney. Had a salesman out here and he seems to think it will be fine but again I dont really trust sales guys.

 

[begreen]

It will probably work ok. For peace of mind I'd have a professional sweep inspect the setup and clean if necessary. PE stoves are easy breathing and less fussy about draft than some.

 

[avk210]

Thank you all! A pacific energy summit le was dropped off today. Got it installed and had our first fire. It seems to be a perfect fit!
Thanks for all the input, it was much appreciated!

 

[begreen]

Thank you all! A pacific energy summit le was dropped off today. Got it installed and had our first fire. It seems to be a perfect fit!
Thanks for all the input, it was much appreciated!

Congratulations. That bad boy will make a nice difference. Now, the rule is pics or it didn't happen.