Well, I've read LOTS of reviews and articles, and poured over specs, and am now turning to this forum for additional advice! We are attempting to reduce our $6/gallon fuel oil prices, and provide some security against mid-winter power outages, by installing a wood stove. I can't attach the PDF of our house layout, but would be ahppy to e-mail it to you if you're interested.
Ours is a 1200 sq ft home only moderately well insulated. The house is long and narrow and built in two sections that don't exchange airflow readily. The stove would be near an outer wall toward the center of the house. We'd like to use the stove as supplemental heat mostly on evenings and weekends AND in the event of a power failure (all too common in our little Bering Sea town) to be able to keep our pipes from freezing, although I'd sure like to keep my houseplants from freezing on the non-plumbed end of the house. We currently heat the house with three Monitor oil stoves. Here's the catch - we live 70 miles from any timber, and that's only in summer when the road is open. Most folks with wood stoves burn wooden shipping pallets, although their availability is declining as the switch is made to plastic pallets. While we may be able to make a few trips for the distant spruce, and have limited access to leftover construction lumber, we will also likely need to burn driftwood - of which there is a relative abundance renewed with each year's fall storms. We have been STRONGLY warned by stove dealers not to use driftwood - and not to buy a catalytic stove (sorry, Woodstock!) - but I'm afraid burning driftwood is a reality in our remote tundra town.
I am trying to select the best stove for our size and circumstances, which also include regular winter periods of -20 F plus BIG wind, and rare dips to-35 F. Also, there are no roads to Nome, so we will be paying about $1.20 per pound to ship the stove here. I'm willing to spend money on a heavier stove, but I need it to be as reliable a stove as possible as there will be no return trips to the dealer, and shipping replacement parts is also expensive. And while I require function, it IS a piece of furniture and I'd like it to be attractive. I know - another hard to please woman!
I'm not sure how much to knock off from the estimated room coverage provided by stove manufacturers for our climate, and for our less-than-stellar wood, when estimating the size stove we need. I'm also wondering if a particular stove construction (cast iron, cast iron with metal stove box, soapstone, plain steel box, stainless steel baffles, ceramic parts, refractory or brick lining, etc.) would handle our conditions better than another. We also have tight clearance's to either side of the stove and need heat that is directed forwards, not sideways. So far I've been considering the Hearthstone Tribute or Craftsbury, the Quadra-fire Yosemite, the Morso 7110, and the small Dutchwest. Do these stoves seem big enough? Just when I get myself convinced of the one I want, some doubt or controversy creep in and I'm back to pondering. Are there anystoves anyone is willing to recommend??? These smaller stoves have not received many reviews in the review section so there hasn't been much to go on. Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you! Quyana!
Ours is a 1200 sq ft home only moderately well insulated. The house is long and narrow and built in two sections that don't exchange airflow readily. The stove would be near an outer wall toward the center of the house. We'd like to use the stove as supplemental heat mostly on evenings and weekends AND in the event of a power failure (all too common in our little Bering Sea town) to be able to keep our pipes from freezing, although I'd sure like to keep my houseplants from freezing on the non-plumbed end of the house. We currently heat the house with three Monitor oil stoves. Here's the catch - we live 70 miles from any timber, and that's only in summer when the road is open. Most folks with wood stoves burn wooden shipping pallets, although their availability is declining as the switch is made to plastic pallets. While we may be able to make a few trips for the distant spruce, and have limited access to leftover construction lumber, we will also likely need to burn driftwood - of which there is a relative abundance renewed with each year's fall storms. We have been STRONGLY warned by stove dealers not to use driftwood - and not to buy a catalytic stove (sorry, Woodstock!) - but I'm afraid burning driftwood is a reality in our remote tundra town.
I am trying to select the best stove for our size and circumstances, which also include regular winter periods of -20 F plus BIG wind, and rare dips to-35 F. Also, there are no roads to Nome, so we will be paying about $1.20 per pound to ship the stove here. I'm willing to spend money on a heavier stove, but I need it to be as reliable a stove as possible as there will be no return trips to the dealer, and shipping replacement parts is also expensive. And while I require function, it IS a piece of furniture and I'd like it to be attractive. I know - another hard to please woman!
I'm not sure how much to knock off from the estimated room coverage provided by stove manufacturers for our climate, and for our less-than-stellar wood, when estimating the size stove we need. I'm also wondering if a particular stove construction (cast iron, cast iron with metal stove box, soapstone, plain steel box, stainless steel baffles, ceramic parts, refractory or brick lining, etc.) would handle our conditions better than another. We also have tight clearance's to either side of the stove and need heat that is directed forwards, not sideways. So far I've been considering the Hearthstone Tribute or Craftsbury, the Quadra-fire Yosemite, the Morso 7110, and the small Dutchwest. Do these stoves seem big enough? Just when I get myself convinced of the one I want, some doubt or controversy creep in and I'm back to pondering. Are there anystoves anyone is willing to recommend??? These smaller stoves have not received many reviews in the review section so there hasn't been much to go on. Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you! Quyana!
Rick
