Anyone planning on buying a pre-2020 wood stove in 2020?

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My aunt and uncle have an Osburn stove they put in their house when they built it 28 years ago, it probably goes through 3 cords of wood a winter. It still looks like it's less than 10 years old. Of course it was built before the stringent emissions standards came into effect.
EPA emission regs were in place in 1992. They started in 1988 I think. It would be an early model of what is sold today probably.
 
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Only think I don't like is how easy it is to damage the C-Cast baffle, but that's probably the same for most tube stoves
I thought c-cast was supposed to be more durable than some of the other baffles they had before, but I guess it's not bulletproof, huh? What happened to it?
 
I thought c-cast was supposed to be more durable than some of the other baffles they had before, but I guess it's not bulletproof, huh? What happened to it?

Maybe it is more durable. It's still in once piece and usable, but it doesn't take much of a scrape from a piece of wood to dent it or remove tiny pieces. I think I'll get another few years out of it, ran a PE Super 27 as a kid that stainless baffle was bulletproof. Not used to having to watch out for it. The next one will last a lot longer now that I know to be careful with it.
 
The Enerzone I saw at a shop here, a couple years back, looked like a decent build for a semi- "value stove." I think both those brands are SBI products..
Yes, I ran an Osburn for 20 years and now my SIL and daughter run it. Still going strong. I am now running an EPA 2020 Drolet, another SBI product. It is well built and heats great.
 
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I've been pondering the Drolet ht2000 before the deadline. Idk I might want the 3000 insteasd.
I read the spec's on both stoves and I think the 2000 might be a better heater, looks as though you can turn the air down a little further judging by the btu ratings, the high end output doesn't look any different between the 2 stoves but if you have a high draft to begin with you'll want that ability to control the low end of air settings.
 
A person might not notice the difference. The EPA figures are just those done with a fixed load of wood, One can always turn down the heat by burning less wood in a loading. Like with cars, your mileage may vary depending on how you drive it.
 
A person might not notice the difference. The EPA figures are just those done with a fixed load of wood, One can always turn down the heat by burning less wood in a loading. Like with cars, your mileage may vary depending on how you drive it.
I dont know about that, I think on the high end of things it would not be noticeable, but low end of burning it would be more noticeable, I get what your saying about burning less wood per load, but for me personally that's not a good enough function and I certainly don't think many would want to settle for that. I think I'm more sensitive to thinking about what to do with high draft issues since I have a high draft chimney, if i had to return to a epa reburn style stove I would certainly want to know that I can control my burn with the air adjuster, but that's me.
 
Not an issue really. Folks figured this out a long time ago.
 
if i had to return to a epa reburn style stove I would certainly want to know that I can control my burn with the air adjuster, but that's me.
Not an issue really. Folks figured this out a long time ago.
You can only run a non-cat so low, and still burn clean. Sure, you can load less wood and if it's warm out, your house won't lose heat fast and room temps remain relatively stable as the load burns down. OTOH, it's nice to have the option of loading more wood, yet still burning low and clean with a cat.
 
Once the firebox has is fully heated, just 2-3 splits can be added and still burn reasonably cleanly. Lots of people burn this way.
 
Once the firebox has is fully heated, just 2-3 splits can be added and still burn reasonably cleanly. Lots of people burn this way.
Makes sense. I haven't been burning the stove, but I know she adds a few splits sometimes..she's in and out all day. I'm not sure how closely she watches stack emissions, though.
 
Makes sense. I haven't been burning the stove, but I know she adds a few splits sometimes..she's in and out all day. I'm not sure how closely she watches stack emissions, though.
How closely do you monitor actual stack emissions on your stove? How closely does anyone?
 
How closely do you monitor actual stack emissions on your stove? How closely does anyone?
True. I don't go out and look a lot, but conditions are often right that if I go outside I can smell the exhaust and I'll notice if it's smoky.
If I had an new non-cat stove like she does, I'd be out there more often until I had a handle on what was happening. With a cat, once it's lit you don't generally have to worry about it. Unless it's a BK. ;lol
 
True. I don't go out and look a lot, but conditions are often right that if I go outside I can smell the exhaust and I'll notice if it's smoky.
If I had an new non-cat stove like she does, I'd be out there more often until I had a handle on what was happening. With a cat, once it's lit you don't generally have to worry about it. Unless it's a BK. ;lol
I don't worry and after over a decade I certainly don't go outside with each reload.
 
I don't worry and after over a decade I certainly don't go outside with each reload.
I believe you have the luxury a lot of times of being around to toss in a few splits here and there, and you know it's gonna burn clean with your procedure.
If I was running her stove, I'd be experimenting with full loads to see how low I could cut the air and still have a clean burn throughout the load, even on the stuff that's in the lower corners of the load. For example, I'd want to know if White Oak or BL in the corners would smolder, or would I have to put a couple medium-density splits there, like Red Elm, Cherry or soft Maple to keep it burning clean. That way, if I had to load up and leave, I could be reasonably sure of what would happen.
She's been burning small loads centered in the box, and with the mild weather, room temp still doesn't drop a lot by the time she returns to toss in a few more splits. It would be a different story with a real winter, those times when she's gone for longer; She'd have to load 'er up.
 
With your stove's main diet of Doug Fir, I guess the loads are gonna burn somewhat lively throughout, unless you got into some Madrone, maybe?
 
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Once the firebox has is fully heated, just 2-3 splits can be added and still burn reasonably cleanly. Lots of people burn this way.
Yea I think we just have 2 different styles of burning, that's all, amazing though what thoughts transpire when you have some flames inside a metal box.
 
Yea I think we just have 2 different styles of burning, that's all, amazing though what thoughts transpire when you have some flames inside a metal box.
Different loading techniques fit different needs, houses and stove designs. I tend to load full at the start of the day, then a small reload in the evening and a topper at night before heading to bed during our current weather. (40s day, 30s night). If it was in the 20s I would be doing full loads each time.
FWIW, in Europe where stoves tend to be more area heaters than whole house, they usually do smaller loads on refills.
 
I read the spec's on both stoves and I think the 2000 might be a better heater, looks as though you can turn the air down a little further judging by the btu ratings, the high end output doesn't look any different between the 2 stoves but if you have a high draft to begin with you'll want that ability to control the low end of air settings.
Good advice for a stove noob!
Just when I was leaning toward the 3000 lol
 
Covid-19 is messing with my plans to buy a 2019 stove! stove shops are closed, and inventory can only be sold until May 15, 2020 (unless an extension is given)
 
Covid-19 is messing with my plans to buy a 2019 stove! stove shops are closed, and inventory can only be sold until May 15, 2020 (unless an extension is given)
Some online sales may still happen. Check out Lehmans on Facebook (there is another thread on this).
 
i would only be shopping locations i could visit.
Well that isn't going to happen anywhere but box stores. You gambled trying to save a few bucks by waiting until the last minute. That didn't work out.