NC13 VS NC30

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

whomhead

New Member
Dec 17, 2008
3
NE Indiana
Hey guys, need some advice here. Here's the scoop. We live in an old house, probably 120 years old. The house has been nearly completely renovated, all new windows, doors, insulation, new high efficiency gas furnace, ETC. However, it's still leaky as hell. It was -18 last night, and the furnace tstat this morning was showing somewhere under 60 degrees downstairs. Upstairs is pretty cozy, when I woke up this morning I had all the covers kicked off. Downstairs is a whole other animal.

the house is ~1600 square feet. The only thing upstairs is our bedroom and our daughters bedroom. The cold air return for the forced air system is upstairs at the top of the stairs. downstairs we have our living room, the not-so-great room, the kitchen, our single bath, and a utility room/pantry. It's COLD down there.

One more bit of info...the wife and I don't plan to be in that house much more than five years, which is making the pitch for a wood stove difficult for me. I need to keep the cost down, but at the same time last month our gas bill was 360, and I'm anticipating close to 500 this month.

Right now I'm trying to decide between a NC13 and a NC30. My primary concern is heat output and as low maintenance as possible, with cost being a close runner up. I would like to burn 24/7 to reduce my gas bill as much as possible to offset the cost of the stove, pipe, and installation of pipe. I want to have the pipe installed because I'm not 100% comfortable hacking a large hole in my 2 year old roof.

What do you say? Will a 13 be too small in my VERY loose house, or will a 30 be way too much and cook us out of there?
 
I'm running a 30 in a 1600 sqft. house. We're pretty well insulated, so the 30 is a bit oversized.

The 30 is a monster heater. It has been my primary heat this winter, and has had absolutely no problem keeping the house toasty. In fact... some times it can get a little too toasty. On the other hand, as cold as it has gotten in the last few days (the nearest airport weather station about 15 miles away was reporting -20 this morning when we got up), I've been able to let the 30 stretch its legs a little bit. Even at -20 last night, the furnace never had to kick on once. It was pretty windy too.

If your house is leaky, go with the 30. You'll be glad you did. It's better to learn how to control an oversized stove than it is to run an undersized stove at full tilt all the time.

Englander stoves are a value thats hard to beat.

-SF
 
Yeah, i'm over in Indiana getting the same weather you are.

I figured going with the 30 would be the way to go. I'm tellin ya, my place is LEAKY.

Thanks for the reply. Anyone else have any input?
 
I have a Lopi Endeavor which has a 2.2 cubic foot fire box. It does fine in milder weather, but when we're in the teens, it gives up the ghost around 2am if you don't get up to feed it. If I had the room, I'd have gotten the Liberty, which has a larger fire box. If your house is indeed leaky, you'll be satisfied with the larger fire box. I've read more "my stove is too small" comments than "my stove is too large" comments.
 
For a leaky 1600' burning 24/7 I'd go with the bigger stove so you have room for longer overnight burns. You can always build a smaller fire in a bigger stove when it gets too warm.
 
I'm estimating i'll need 16 feet of pipe for my flue. it will go through the ceiling up into a second floor closet and then through a cathedral ceiling. from what i've seen it's going to cost me around 700 bucks for the pipe and necessary connectors. is that about right? what should i be paying to have a flue like this installed?
 
My entire install was $4900: $2,000 for the stove, $400 for a hearth pad, $900 for labor ($190 of which was just drive time, I live in the damn woods), and 5.5' of double wall Selkirk and then about 13 or 14' of double wall Class A from Hart & Cooley. So you do the math on the rest, assuming our 9.75% sales tax rate.
 
~1600 feet and leaky. Go with the 30. I run a 3.0 cu ft stove and sometimes wish I had and extra .5 cu ft as a reserve. (and I wouldn't call my place leaky, under insulated---yes, but not leaky)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.