What questions should I ask when shopping for a wood stove?

[krex1010]

I recently bought a new wood insert, I spent alot of time doing research I checked out every stove shop within an hour of my home( which is about a dozen) I read brochures until I had them memorized. The one thing I noticed in when going into most of these shops was that I knew more about their products than most of the salesmen. So please do not assume they know what they are talking about! Do your own research, I got a TON of great advice from people here regarding stove sizing and proper installation.

My tips for you are to buy from a brand with a food reputation for quality and honoring their warranty. Get a properly sized stove. Which for you I would think something around 2 cu ft will give you good burn times without being way oversized. Make sure your installation is done properly, and start working on your woodpile now.

 

[firefighterjake]

Jaytee . . . sounds as though you would be happy to be able to make a significant dent in your heating bill vs. wanting to heat 24/7 (which is generally easier to do if you're home at some point within a 24 hour time period.) For this reason I would say go with either a cat or non-cat . . . BeGreen gave you some good choices that would fit into the size you would want to look at . . . I would take a look at the stoves in the list and see what you like or don't like . . . and ask questions . . . folks who own these stoves would be happy to give you their opinions . . . or you can check out the stove reviews at the rating section here at hearth.com.

As for the mess . . . yes . . . woodstoves can be a bit messy . . . as you have surmised . . . there is the bark, dirt and sawdust that will fall off the wood when loading it into the stove or bringing it into the house . . . and there may be some ash around the hearth . . . but to me a mess can be easily cleaned up and the cost of a whisk broom and dustpan is much, much cheaper than the cost and convenience of paying for oil or gas.

 

[bogydave]

Here is a great link to compare EPA stoves:

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/publications/monitoring/caa/woodstoves/certifiedwood.pdf