When You Went From A Smaller To Larger Stove...

[leeave96]

Did it hurt seeing double the wood going in to the stove vs the older smaller one?

My Dad use to be really tight with his firewood and growing up, that bugged me a bit - of course, I wasn't keeping the stove or cutting/splitting the wood full time like was

This Englander 30-NCH has a firebox double the size of my Keystone and that stove can really hold a lot of splits - yikes!

I'm thinking this stove alone could eat some serious wood and put a mighty dent in a cord of wood in short order! The thing of it is - I still got the smaller Keystone too. We are going to be burning a LOT of wood this year!

I feel my Dad's pain!

What did you think the first few weeks of burning your larger stove vs the smaller one you had?

Did it take your breath when you saw the hole in your wood pile - LOL

Bill

 

[Danno77]

LoL. I was Loading the firebricks back into my 30 after I got it up on the hearth and all I could think about was how my wood rack by the stove probably holds about as much as the stove does. It used to be a days worth of wood! Not anymore

 

[mufwapo]

I switched to a 30 mainly for the bigger firebox, but mine seems to burn better when I don't stuff it full anyway. You should get the same heat out of the same amount of wood if it was in a smaller stove anyway right? With a big stove you just have the option of a hotter fire or longer burn time if you want it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Did it hurt seeing double the wood going in to the stove vs the older smaller one?

My Dad use to be really tight with his firewood and growing up, that bugged me a bit - of course, I wasn't keeping the stove or cutting/splitting the wood full time like was

This Englander 30-NCH has a firebox double the size of my Keystone and that stove can really hold a lot of splits - yikes!

I'm thinking this stove alone could eat some serious wood and put a mighty dent in a cord of wood in short order! The thing of it is - I still got the smaller Keystone too. We are going to be burning a LOT of wood this year!

I feel my Dad's pain!

What did you think the first few weeks of burning your larger stove vs the smaller one you had?

Did it take your breath when you saw the hole in your wood pile - LOL

Bill

I think the Keystone with it's small fire box and long burn times are the main issue. You should have started with a Vigilant that can hold as much wood as the ProgressHybrid and produces 5-ish hour burns during the dead of winter. That would have given you the perspective you need! :lol:

Seriously, though, plan on chewing through 4 cords with the 30 plus whatever you burn with the Keystone.

 

[project240]

I just finished installing my BK Princess and on my 3rd fire I loaded the same amount of wood I normally would load into my Osburn 1600 insert. I was pretty happy when I came back 5 hours later and wasn't even close to needing a reload. If you're going to a 30, I assume it's because you have a large space to heat. If that's the case, shouldn't you be thrilled it means less time tending to the stove?

 

[BrotherBart]

I replaced 650 pounds of 4.3 CF firebox stove with the 30-NC. And consumption went down from 5-6 cords a year to 3. And the house is warmer.

So I don't qualify to answer the question.

Use the lil cat when ya need the lil cat and use the big boy when ya need it.

PS: Load the 30 like the book says, just to the top of the firebricks, and ya get the same heat and burn times you do trying to stuff your whole woodpile in it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Actually, I can sort of relate to the size difference. Going from an Intrepid to the Encore, it makes me feel like I can almost crawl into the firebox in that thing and take a nap.

But, in my case, I think I will actually use less wood this year since the Vigilant will only be used on colder days. Previously I would be burning that stove from the beginning of shoulder season right on through to April. Which meant that I would have the room with the vigilant in sitting at 80°+ just to get some of the heat into the rest of the house, which was a real waste of fuel.

So, if I have any luck, I will burn less than 8 cords... which would be really nice since I was thinking worse case scenario was going to be about 10 cords.

If the Heritage was a cat stove on par with the Encore I would probably use even less wood in my situation.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I replaced 650 pounds of 4.3 CF firebox stove with the 30-NC. And consumption went down from 5-6 cords a year to 3. And the house is warmer.

So I don't qualify to answer the question.

Use the lil cat when ya need the lil cat and use the big boy when ya need it.

PS: Load the 30 like the book says, just to the top of the firebricks, and ya get the same heat and burn times you do trying to stuff your whole woodpile in it.

Ah, 3 cords. I though you used 4 per winter. Which is where I was getting my estimate.

 

[begreen]

I only went up about a half a cord with the T6. I'm pretty sure that is from dead of winter burning and a nasty cold spell that hit us right at Thanksgiving last year. That was the first time we saw steady low teens since we moved here. I was very happy to have the T6 during that spell. It did the job very well.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I doubled the size of the firebox and burned less wood. Go figure.

 

[pen]

I replaced 650 pounds of 4.3 CF firebox stove with the 30-NC. And consumption went down from 5-6 cords a year to 3. And the house is warmer.

So I don't qualify to answer the question.

Use the lil cat when ya need the lil cat and use the big boy when ya need it.

PS: Load the 30 like the book says, just to the top of the firebricks, and ya get the same heat and burn times you do trying to stuff your whole woodpile in it.

Ah, 3 cords. I though you used 4 per winter. Which is where I was getting my estimate.

I went from 5.5 to 6 cords down to 4.5 cords switching to the 30.

To the OP, just because the stove is big, doesn't mean it needs to be filled completely to burn well. 3 or 4 pieces will do when placed in the stove properly.

This is why I like the dog house air on the 30. 2 splits on the bottom position so that the doghouse air can get in between them, and 1 or two on top depending on the shape and as the dog house air rolls through them to the back of the stove it has to go over all the secondary air tubes to get back to the front and exit. Easy to have a small and hot fire that is clean burning. Perfect for this time of year.

 

[BrotherBart]

Clarification:

I was burning 5 to 6 cords of cut whenever wood and now burn 3 cords of cut a long time ago wood.

 

[lowroadacres]

And I was daydreaming today at a friend's lumber yard about a brand new Blaze King

Not gonna happen here for a while no matter how good a price he shows me.

 

[BrotherBart]

And I was daydreaming today at a friend's lumber yard about a brand new Blaze King

Not gonna happen here for a while no matter how good a price he shows me.

Methinks Jasper be doing a good job for ya.

 

[Redbear86]

Im not a fan of the cat stoves, the price of the cat really eats some of th reason i burn ($), i guess if you dont have as much availability to wood it may be worth it, Blaze kings are very popular around here and I have had a few oppurtunites to buy a used one for less the 200 bucks, its just that it has to sit in my living room and its so ugly....

 

[lowroadacres]

I actually looked more closely at the Briarwood II this afternoon as I love the large glass door.

If I could find the insert version at the right price I would be all over it. A 2 plus cubic foot firebox, EPA as compared to my little non-EPA Jasper and again, what a huge glass viewing area compared to most stoves and inserts of that size....

 

[BrowningBAR]

Im not a fan of the cat stoves, the price of the cat really eats some of th reason i burn ($), i guess if you dont have as much availability to wood it may be worth it, Blaze kings are very popular around here and I have had a few oppurtunites to buy a used one for less the 200 bucks, its just that it has to sit in my living room and its so ugly....

For me, cat stoves have nothing to do with saving wood. I am more interested in the long burn times and temperature control, and the cat stoves offer that.

 

[Todd]

I predict Bill will trade in the 30 for another Woodstock by next year. ;-)

 

[VCBurner]

I predict Bill will trade in the 30 for another Woodstock by next year. ;-)

I was thinking the same Todd. I had a tiny firebox and 5 hour burn stove in the basement and a box stove in the livingroom, burning 6 cords that year. That was my first year of full time wood heating. Chewed up loads of wood to heat about 1700 sq ft. The next year, I had the DW in the main living area. Saved a ton of labor and wood. Having a cat/epa wood saver had a lot to do with it but having the main heater in the main living area was also a big factor. I used up about 4 cords that year and stayed a whole lot warmer! I guess sometimes downsizing can be a good thing, especially if you're running multiple stoves.

 

[leeave96]

I predict Bill will trade in the 30 for another Woodstock by next year. ;-)

One never knows.....

I'd still like to try the DW XL Cat, maybe a VC Defiant 2in1, maybe the new Woodstock PH or maybe a Alderlea T6 or T5.

But I still got a ton of $$$'s I need to spend on fixing-up/remodeling the old part of the house and then in a few years, college expenses for my kids kick-in.

The Englander is burning mighty fine right now. But I gasp a bit when I load it vs. the Keystone. OTOH, the Englander pumps out a mighty amount of heat in very short order. One of the things I like about this steel stove is I can start the fire, open the damper, let the stove rip - knowing I can't crack a piece of soapstone or cast iron from the rapid heat-up and the steel plate immediately radiates heat into the room - nice. It makes me think - can you do the same with a steel plate Blaze King and then close it down hard for a long clean slow/lower heat burn since it's a cat stove.

I visited a relative of mine out of state from where I live this past summer and he had a Lopi Endeavor (sp?) in an otherwise very nice den about the same size as my basesment - soon to be den. A Woodstock or VC would have looked great in that den, but the Lopi looked pretty good too. Englander/Lopi - both big black steel plate stoves. For the $$$'s, I'll stick with the Englander for now.

Bill

 

[VCBurner]

I'm sure you'll be plenty happy with the 30. There are so many of you guys/girls here who are. I hope your wood consumption does not prove to be too much more than before. It was bound to increase with the addition of the 30. Must be nice to have plenty of room in the box and get quick heat out of it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

For the $$$'s, I'll stick with the Englander for now.

I agree and that's kind of my plan. If I don't find a good used Defiant this spring/summer, I will probably pick up an Englander to replace the Vigilant. If I do find a Defiant, it will replace the Heritage and the Heritage will move to the Vigilant's location.

In a perfect world I'll find two cheap, good condition Defiants and be done with the wood stove purchasing/moving.

Note: This is all based on the Encore continuing to perform well.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I am loving my 30....I love the size of the firebox and how quickly things heat up from it.
I can only compare it to the 12 and 13. I did love the 13....it is a lil workhorse but we desired more heat and less loading.
I started a fire when I got home today and now a half hour later the room is already 5 degrees warmer.....
On Monday, I started a fire because it was damp and cold. I knew we would let it go out the following morning because the daytime temps have been 58-60 degrees.
I put 3 splits on a coal bed Tuesday at 4 am before I went to work. When I came home that day at 1 pm, the stove top temp was about 225. I did not put anything else in since it was still warm in the house. At 6 pm I poked around in the fire box and there were enough coals to easily start another fire but I didn't. So from 3 splits, 14 hours later.....it woulda been an easy peasy start up.
So far, I am diggin it....
I still can't believe that one year ago I was afraid to even open the door of the stove and now I am starting fires by myself in the big ole 30.....thanks to all you guys for the knowledge and support...

Like they say "Go big or Go freakin home"..... :lol: