Stove advice

[Dill]

So I finally bought my "new" old house. Trying to figure out heat etc, its 3k+ sq ft of 1780s construction with some but not much insulation.
I was hoping to do an OWB right off but its 1 pipe steam heat so that's going to require a lot of work that over my currently depleted budget.
There are 3 woodstoves currently. There is a small avalon in the attached inlaw apartment, however its a top discharge that previous owner's used stove pipe to make a complete curly Q to exit through a blocked off fireplace. The apartment is 650 sq ft, actually insulated, the living room with the stove butts up to my dining room so I'll probably get heat off this stove as well. I'm thinking a smaller stove that I can hook a rear outlet or insert would work well. I'm looking at a VC Resolute and a Jotul F3CB right now, used stove prices are good.
The living room has an early VC defiant Encore cat, from what I've read these are maintenance nightmares and probably won't hold up to my level of heating.I've had an Oakwood for the last 6 years in my old house, and before that a vigilant. I would prefer a top load, are there any new ones out there? I will probably need more output than I had with the oakwood.
The 3rd stove is in the ell, is an very old glenwood parlor stove in pretty good shape run through a heatilator fireplace, I don't think we'll be using this too often, maybe on the occasional weekend so I'll probably leave this in place for this year.

 

[Jags]

A couple of things...Be aware that the FC3B (and most other little stoves) will have an effective burn time of 3 or 4 hours. They should be considered temporary spot heaters. If you don't need heat 24x7 in that room, you might be fine.

I do know that the Quad Isle Royal is a fairly large top loader (3.0 cuft), but I personally do NOT use the top load feature.

Sounds like you are gonna need some BTU's in that place. Ever consider a gassifier with storage? ($$$) If you haven't, you might want to sneak over to the boiler room and have a look at the vast amount of info that those hot water guys have out there.

 

[Dill]

I should have named this thread better.

I swung by a couple dealers yesterday to get some info. I was interested in the Mansfield or the Eclispe, but the mansfield is too tall to fit in the fireplace. And the Eclispe is just too big, too heavy and too expensive for me.
So the main house, I need a short stove, the existing chimney has a poured liner in good shape but it comes down into a shallow fireplace. The current VC is sitting directly on the hearth without legs and fits nicely. I started looking at Jotul's especially the F500 and 600. I like the 600 but the side door is on the wrong side. So will the 500 put out enough heat for me? I have never run a non-toploading stove. But I don't think the Oakwood would be big enough and I'm not impressed by the look or design of iron stoves, they just don't "fit" in this house.
Also there are lot of F500s used in the 1k range right now.

 

[Jags]

The F500 is a pretty good sized stove, but you are looking at 3000+ sq ft to heat. As I think you alluded to above, that is probably not going to happen with just one stove considering your level of home efficiency.

Maybe a little more info would help. What arrangement of stoves are you ultimately wanting. 1-2-3 stoves?? House layout? How well will the air move? Etc. Pics or drawings are welcome.

 

[Dill]

I see the main house stove being run 24/7 for the heating season, probably the same for the apartment stove, depending on the tenants willingness to run a stove. They pay for heat, so I would be running it as much as I could.
Airflow will be door fans blowing out of the living room, there are 2 grates to be opened to the upstairs to let heat up but that's about it. I'll try and get pics tonight of the stoves.

 

[Jags]

An FC3 ain't gonna be a 24/7 stove, plain and simple. Unless the tenants don't like sleep. Maybe look at a small cat stove or soap stone??

A diagram of the house with the stove positions (currently) would really help.

It is pretty well accepted that you will need around 2 cuft of stove to get anything close to an overnight burn. The problem is that 2 cu ft of stove is gonna roast out 650 sqft unless you have absolute control over the burn. Maybe a small blaze king or Woodstock??

 

[begreen]

Take a look at the Woodstock Progress Hybrid stove. You can order it left or right door and with short legs.

http://www.woodstove.com/progress-hybrid

 

[firecracker_77]

The F500 is a pretty good sized stove, but you are looking at 3000+ sq ft to heat. As I think you alluded to above, that is probably not going to happen with just one stove considering your level of home efficiency.

Maybe a little more info would help. What arrangement of stoves are you ultimately wanting. 1-2-3 stoves?? House layout? How well will the air move? Etc. Pics or drawings are welcome.

Even my 2.0 cubic foot firebox doesn't give me as many coals as I'd like by morning. Keep that in mind when choosing. The more you have to relight one of the smaller stoves, the more you will dislike them. I'm not sure about the apartment. It's a niche market for people that want to fiddle with a stove. I would love it, most would not.