Which wood stove

[Fireoak]

Hello. Im new to the forum and pretty new to burning wood period. Moved up from city life 4 years ago when I retired and never looked back.

I started burning wood 4 years ago in a old hand me down 70’s stove. I forgot the brand but I've seen them around old skating rinks as a kid. It was a big brown box with no viewing window and it burned wood so fast. I got away with it the first winter and then bought a new Napoleon S- series S4. I learned the following 3 years and really enjoy it. As long as i had good seasoned wood it never gave me a problem. So now i sold that house and bought a newer larger house in the same town. Of course i took my stove with me but now the new house has a beautiful Fire view classic Palladium soap stone stove. Its about 25 years old and dirty as hell. The Napoleon says has a maximum output of 70,000 BTU’s the Fireview says up to 55,000 BTU’s... the old house was very small. I only burned a cord and a half of wood one mild winter and my house stayed very comfortable ( with and oil furnace that is) The new house is much bigger and has high ceilings in every room. I’m actually afraid of what my oil bill will be in the this house. I dont burn all day. Just from dinner time til lights out but the stove burns the night.

So which do i keep? The soapstone stove is beautiful and i can see it was used at some point. My Napoleon is also good looking. I have no clear favorite in looks so it comes down to which is a better unit that will make my home comfortable, put out the most usable heat and efficiency

BTW. There are three kids a wife and a mother in law that are always cold and complaining. A big dog too

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The right answer is to keep the one your wife chooses.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

So, you dont appear to be burning 24/7. This would sway me towards the S4. It has lower thermal mass so itll start throwing heat faster. It'll take time to warm up that soap stone. It'll be cleaner burning too, which means less wood to gather and load.

 

[xman23]

If you can, I'd keep both. You know stoves, so. Clean up the soap stone, confirm its in A1 shape. Is it a cat, it may need to be changed. Run it this winter and see how it does. And then swap it mid winter, and compare. If the house is bigger, I'm guessing the stove you know needs to be run hotter with shorter burn times. Although it's all about insulation, windows, etc. And that BTU rating, I don't know but I think there exaggerated.

 

[Fireoak]

Thanks for the replies. Good advice although i hate to keep both stoves. I decided to stay with my S4 since i’m very accustomed to its use and performance. Also I'm not exactly sure how i would determine if the Soap stone stove is in A1 shape besides trying it out for a while.
Cheers!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Sounds great! Let us know how the stove runs in the new house!

 

[kennyp2339]

depending on chimney height, tightness of the new house and insulation the S4 might act a little differently then your use to, also get the chimney inspected, make sure its safe and the right size for your stove.