Hi from central PA.
I've been reading the forums here for awhile now and decided to ask some questions!
For the setting, I have a 1400 sq. ft. doublewide trailer that I built a basement under last summer. The basement is not yet insulated other than the band boards, although it is mostly underground. Right now I have an old Alaska single-door wood stove in the basement. It sets approx. in the center of one of the long walls. Also, because of the beams, the floor joists are just over 8 ft. which is higher than most basements I've been in around here.
I guess my first question is whether its even reasonable for me to heat with wood. I have a thermometer on the stove pipe about a foot above the stove. If I keep it at 600* all day long, (pipe turns orange at 700-750*) the oil furnace still runs to maintain 70* upstairs.(30 - 35* outside) Also, running the stove like that means that I go through about 2 heaping wheelbarrow loads of wood a day.(8 cu. ft. wheelbarrow) So not only am I chewing up my wood pile long before warm weather comes, I still spent over $1000 on fuel this year!?
My first thought is that a newer stove would be more efficient, and I had my heart set on someday getting a PE Summit. However the fuel truck just took the last of my savings toward that goal. As an alternative, I've been considering an NC-30. That brings up my next question. I see the NC-30 as only rated for 75,000 btu and the PE Summit for 99,000 btu, but the 30 has a bigger firebox(3.0 vs 3.5)? What gives?? Is the 30 going to be big enough for me??. . .
Or am I setting myself up for disappointment by considering either of these???
I've been reading the forums here for awhile now and decided to ask some questions!
For the setting, I have a 1400 sq. ft. doublewide trailer that I built a basement under last summer. The basement is not yet insulated other than the band boards, although it is mostly underground. Right now I have an old Alaska single-door wood stove in the basement. It sets approx. in the center of one of the long walls. Also, because of the beams, the floor joists are just over 8 ft. which is higher than most basements I've been in around here.
I guess my first question is whether its even reasonable for me to heat with wood. I have a thermometer on the stove pipe about a foot above the stove. If I keep it at 600* all day long, (pipe turns orange at 700-750*) the oil furnace still runs to maintain 70* upstairs.(30 - 35* outside) Also, running the stove like that means that I go through about 2 heaping wheelbarrow loads of wood a day.(8 cu. ft. wheelbarrow) So not only am I chewing up my wood pile long before warm weather comes, I still spent over $1000 on fuel this year!?
My first thought is that a newer stove would be more efficient, and I had my heart set on someday getting a PE Summit. However the fuel truck just took the last of my savings toward that goal. As an alternative, I've been considering an NC-30. That brings up my next question. I see the NC-30 as only rated for 75,000 btu and the PE Summit for 99,000 btu, but the 30 has a bigger firebox(3.0 vs 3.5)? What gives?? Is the 30 going to be big enough for me??. . .
Or am I setting myself up for disappointment by considering either of these???