Tom,
On your website you have a statement “Pacific Energy Super Series wood stoves sustained the longest burn time on one load of fuel among 61 models tested” but no reference to the test. Are you able to link to or tell us more about the actual test?
Hi Carinya,
Our test was the real world kind, not the laboratory kind. Here's the story:
When we first opened our stove shop, the wood stove was the only source of heat in the building. We had a seemingly endless supply of White Birch, Maple and Doug Fir from our friends at Dean's Tree Service, so that's what we burned. The problem was, even though we crammed the firebox as full as we could, whatever stove we were burning was always burned out when we came back to open up the next morning. Since it is hard to sell heating appliances in a cold showroom, this was a big problem. In Winter months, one of us would have to come down 2 or 3 hours early to light the fire. So, we kept trying different models to get the longest possible burn (and we're still trying new models as they come along, over 30 years later).
The exact list of the earlier models we burned is stored away in pre-computer paperwork somewhere, but I can still conjure up memories of every one of them.
There were models from Nor'Wester, Sierra, Washington Stove Works, Consolidated Dutchwest, Sweet Home (Fir, Grand Fir), Fisher (Papa and Grandpa), Schrader (2 models), Morso (1125, 1BO), Jotul (#4, Combi-fire), Alaska Kodiak, Everest, Woodland, Frontier Large, Frontier Box, Vermont Castings Vigilant and Defiant, Geomid, Sphero-Stove (it was round), Glacier Bay, Timberline, Earth Stove (one cat and two non-cats), Orley, The Stack Vista, Arrow, Austroflamme, Osburne, The Kent Tile Fire and Sherwood models (these held the record until the PE's came along), the Schooner stove, four different Hearthstone models, Russo, Little Scott, Woodstock Soapstone (the original), Amity, Trolla, two Avalons (995 and 1190), Dovre, Efel, BIS 2100, Mendota Hearth, The Elmira Stoveworks Peanut, The Wild Oak, The Round Oak, Petit Godin (lg round, lg oval), Pacific Energy (Super 27, Summit, Alderlea T6), and Waterford (Emerald & Erin).
All of these models advertised they'd heat 1500+ sq.ft., and all advertised an all-night burn. Many date back to before-EPA days, and those had the advantage of draft controls that could be turned WAY down. A few had catalytic converters. Some had larger models available, so we tried those. A couple had fireboxes as large as 4 cu.ft! Some of the soapstone models were still warm to the touch, but, aside from an occasional lucky burn, we still had to start a fresh fire in a cold showroom every morning.
Until we burned our first Pacific Energy model, which is now known as the Super 27. Twelve hours after stoking the fire and locking up, we returned to find the chill off in the showroom, and live coals in the firebox. This was not a fluke, it happened every single day. So, I put one in my house, and have had the same experience for going on 17 years.
I should mention that we had a similar experience with the PE Summit and Alderlea T6 models, but these hold a lot more wood, so the Super retains the record.
