Howdy all, want to start by saying that this is an awesome forum that I have found invaluable over the past few months.
I just purchased a new home this past early spring and it has a Hampton H300 in the main floor living room. I have burned maybe 1/2 cord through it since we first moved in, and have found that it operates superbly but is lacking a bit in the heating the house side of the equation. So thus I am considering replacing it with a larger stove. I posted background info and more detailed information below for those that wish to read it.
My question/criteria is:
I am looking for a larger stove. I want to be able to heat the main floor of my house, and the bedroom level solely with wood stove heat. I want to be able to heat the main floor fairly quickly (within reason, say 2-3 hours) after coming home from work after 12 hours. I would like to have a stove that will put out adequate heat for at least 8-10 hours, and have enough coals left for an easy restart after 12-14hrs. The wife really likes the look of the H300, and wants a stove that is comprable in appearances. She really likes the look of the Progress Hybrid. I did some basic research of this stove and am leaning in this direction currently. It is rated on the epa charts of putting out i think it was 76kbtu/hr max(compared to my h300 25k btu/hr). and also rated as 14+hr burn time adequate for they say eaily 2200sqft.
I am leaning towards the PH because i like the high heat output and think this will be nice to quickly heat up the house after us both returning after a long 12-14 hour period away from home where the house has cooled off a bit. The H300 has a 1.7cuft firebox and i think the PH is 2.8, so a bit bigger. I am by no means looking for a miracle, but would like to have a stove that can heat my house rather quickly when needed, and also maintain a nice burn for at least 8 hours, and maintain a good coal bed for a restart for at least 12-14hrs. I would be expecting the PH to heat somewhere near its advertised BTU, be able to put out that amount of heat for at least 3-4 hours, put out adequate heat for an additional 4-5 hours, and enough coals left for restart for another 3-4ish hours.
I am looking for any input on other stoves to look at, and if anyone has a PH how it works for you, and if you think it would fit my needs or if I am wanting to get too much out of the PH. Thank you very much in advance!
If any other info is needed please let me know.
Background info:
House is 2100sqft, with probably another 800sqft in the basement, which about 600 of it is fully finished and the remainder is a utility room.
House has decent insulation, and good windows. House is not draftly/no known air leaks. House is a custom design built by Frank Loyd Wright, but is best described as a split level. The main floor has a very open floorplan, as does the basement. There are 5 steps going up to the bedroom level off of the living room where the stove is, and a 8 step L shaped stairway going down to the basement. Neither stairway has a door. The main floor has a kitchen , entryway, and dining room on the north side , and a large living/family room on the south side, withe the stairs leading up and down on the west side. Between the kitchen/dining and living room is a massive masonry fireplace that is about 20ft wide with a fireplace in the kitchen, dining room, and the living room. The stove is connected in the living room, to a SS flex liner that is single wall and has roxul insulation around it, chimney is probably 25ft+ and is a good 3ft above the roof peaf. I have no current issues with draft to my knowledge. In the living room, entryway, and stairs going up as well as the bathrooms upstairs there are cathedral style ceilings that around probably 18ft+ tall. I will try to post some pictures later if that would help.
Airflow as is with the stove is good and I can get heat throughout the house to an acceptable level. Not concerned with basement as I have a pellet stove down there, With much effort on the part and the wife and I we can get the main floor to about 72-73 and the upstairs to 68-70. The lowest outside temp we have burned at thus far is around mid to high 20s, and highs in the low 50s to 40s. So typical shoulder season weather here in CT.
I understand the H300 is a rather small stove even though Hampton calls it a large stove. Burning this stove cranked down all the way on the primary air does almost nothing to heat or maintain heat in the house. I have to burn the stove very hot and almost continuously to raise the temp in the house. We started burning this season about three weeks ago off and on on the cool days, and have been burning more frequently over the course of the last week. Over this 3 week period we have probably gone through about a 1/3 of a cord. Wood is a mix of different hardwoods, mostly black cherry, and oak. Measuring anywhere from 17-24%, the average being about 19-20%.
So while I am fairly happy with the stove's performance, it just simply doesnt through out enough heat for us. I am almost certain as real winter weather sets in we will find it unable to keep up with the outside temps. The wife and I both work 12hr shifts typically, so by the time we get home the house has cooled substantially and we have to run the stove full out for quite a while to get the house back up to temp. The stove manufacturer advertises 8 hour burn times, and 45,000 btu, and good to heat 900-2000sqft. I saw on the epa charg though that the max btu was actually tested at about 25k. I am getting what I would call average burn times of 2-4hours on a load running full tilt, and usually have good coals left after 8 hours to fire it back up easily.
I just purchased a new home this past early spring and it has a Hampton H300 in the main floor living room. I have burned maybe 1/2 cord through it since we first moved in, and have found that it operates superbly but is lacking a bit in the heating the house side of the equation. So thus I am considering replacing it with a larger stove. I posted background info and more detailed information below for those that wish to read it.
My question/criteria is:
I am looking for a larger stove. I want to be able to heat the main floor of my house, and the bedroom level solely with wood stove heat. I want to be able to heat the main floor fairly quickly (within reason, say 2-3 hours) after coming home from work after 12 hours. I would like to have a stove that will put out adequate heat for at least 8-10 hours, and have enough coals left for an easy restart after 12-14hrs. The wife really likes the look of the H300, and wants a stove that is comprable in appearances. She really likes the look of the Progress Hybrid. I did some basic research of this stove and am leaning in this direction currently. It is rated on the epa charts of putting out i think it was 76kbtu/hr max(compared to my h300 25k btu/hr). and also rated as 14+hr burn time adequate for they say eaily 2200sqft.
I am leaning towards the PH because i like the high heat output and think this will be nice to quickly heat up the house after us both returning after a long 12-14 hour period away from home where the house has cooled off a bit. The H300 has a 1.7cuft firebox and i think the PH is 2.8, so a bit bigger. I am by no means looking for a miracle, but would like to have a stove that can heat my house rather quickly when needed, and also maintain a nice burn for at least 8 hours, and maintain a good coal bed for a restart for at least 12-14hrs. I would be expecting the PH to heat somewhere near its advertised BTU, be able to put out that amount of heat for at least 3-4 hours, put out adequate heat for an additional 4-5 hours, and enough coals left for restart for another 3-4ish hours.
I am looking for any input on other stoves to look at, and if anyone has a PH how it works for you, and if you think it would fit my needs or if I am wanting to get too much out of the PH. Thank you very much in advance!
If any other info is needed please let me know.
Background info:
House is 2100sqft, with probably another 800sqft in the basement, which about 600 of it is fully finished and the remainder is a utility room.
House has decent insulation, and good windows. House is not draftly/no known air leaks. House is a custom design built by Frank Loyd Wright, but is best described as a split level. The main floor has a very open floorplan, as does the basement. There are 5 steps going up to the bedroom level off of the living room where the stove is, and a 8 step L shaped stairway going down to the basement. Neither stairway has a door. The main floor has a kitchen , entryway, and dining room on the north side , and a large living/family room on the south side, withe the stairs leading up and down on the west side. Between the kitchen/dining and living room is a massive masonry fireplace that is about 20ft wide with a fireplace in the kitchen, dining room, and the living room. The stove is connected in the living room, to a SS flex liner that is single wall and has roxul insulation around it, chimney is probably 25ft+ and is a good 3ft above the roof peaf. I have no current issues with draft to my knowledge. In the living room, entryway, and stairs going up as well as the bathrooms upstairs there are cathedral style ceilings that around probably 18ft+ tall. I will try to post some pictures later if that would help.
Airflow as is with the stove is good and I can get heat throughout the house to an acceptable level. Not concerned with basement as I have a pellet stove down there, With much effort on the part and the wife and I we can get the main floor to about 72-73 and the upstairs to 68-70. The lowest outside temp we have burned at thus far is around mid to high 20s, and highs in the low 50s to 40s. So typical shoulder season weather here in CT.
I understand the H300 is a rather small stove even though Hampton calls it a large stove. Burning this stove cranked down all the way on the primary air does almost nothing to heat or maintain heat in the house. I have to burn the stove very hot and almost continuously to raise the temp in the house. We started burning this season about three weeks ago off and on on the cool days, and have been burning more frequently over the course of the last week. Over this 3 week period we have probably gone through about a 1/3 of a cord. Wood is a mix of different hardwoods, mostly black cherry, and oak. Measuring anywhere from 17-24%, the average being about 19-20%.
So while I am fairly happy with the stove's performance, it just simply doesnt through out enough heat for us. I am almost certain as real winter weather sets in we will find it unable to keep up with the outside temps. The wife and I both work 12hr shifts typically, so by the time we get home the house has cooled substantially and we have to run the stove full out for quite a while to get the house back up to temp. The stove manufacturer advertises 8 hour burn times, and 45,000 btu, and good to heat 900-2000sqft. I saw on the epa charg though that the max btu was actually tested at about 25k. I am getting what I would call average burn times of 2-4hours on a load running full tilt, and usually have good coals left after 8 hours to fire it back up easily.
