As new as it gets

[Leap]

Hi all, long time listener, first time caller!

In a nut shell, I'd love some suggestions on what stove(s) to look into for a new install. For more details, read on...(to skip to the basics, jump to the ***)

The husband and I have debated a wood stove since we moved into this home 8 years ago and we're finally ready to get started on everything...literally from scratch. We are on 9 acres with plenty of wood and feel a wood stove only makes sense for self-reliance as well as money saving. The problem is, this home has absolutely no set up for a stove whatsoever. We will need to install everything, including the hearth.

With our background skills I have no doubts install will go OK, the problem/debate we have is which stove to get. We will be doing a corner install and it looks like, with our space, we can get away with something roughly 28"ish by 18" ish max with at most a 17" clearance to combustibles. That would be also with the consideration of a heat shield and an 18" extension of hearth in front of the stove.

The house is a ranch with an unfinished basement, 1600sf on the upper level where we intend to put the stove. The stove will be central in the home (our main living area which is open to the kitchen). The 3 bedrooms branch off the main living space on either side.

First, is it a silly idea to have this stove upstairs rather than down? Upstairs we will be able to put the stove pipe straight up through the attic and roof nearing the roof peak. In the basement it would need to bend it 90 degrees to exit through the side of the house, not to mention drill through foundation (basement is partially finished, walk out, mostly storage with an exercise room). My thought is with it being in the main space we actually get to enjoy watching it, have an easier time tending to it, use it for basic things like heating a kettle, etc.

Assuming upstairs, the question is, what stove to look into and what square footage should we look into heating? We were looking at a VC rated to heat "up to 1600" but hubby fears that won't be enough.

***
To sum up what I've said and some things I'd personally like...

-Something to heat up 1600sf main living space
-ideally cast iron, possibly enamel coated or stone (not a deal breaker but a wish)
-traditional look would be nice but not necessary (i.e. I enjoy the traditional/classic look of VC's and jotuls)
-absolutely must have a viewing window
-max 28x18" in size with 17" clearance at worst

Any suggestions on what to look into are greatly appreciated! Older model stoves are fine suggestions especially as we are likely needing to buy used to stick to our budget (considering we are building a hearth and getting stove pipe as well)

Sorry for such a long and wordy post -- your time is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

edited to add: Our house is decently insulated, built in 2002. Windows have dodgey seals on them but the house holds heat decently.
Also forgot to mention we have no preference on cat vs. non-cat stoves

we're in central VA

 

[EbS-P]

Blaze king Ashford, Jotul F45, or Pacific Energy T5. All are much better designed stoves than the VCs. The PE T5 would be my personal choice.

Get wood cut and split and stacked now. Pine dries fast (in one summer for me). Build a wood shed to hold a 3 year rotation of wood. Just my advice.

 

[Leap]

Thank you very much @EbS-P , appreciate the advice! We do have well seasoned wood but it's been stacked out in the elements, will make it a priority to move them to shelter this weekend. Thank you!

 

[begreen]

All good suggestions. The stove will primarily heat the open area of the main floor. The rooms down off the hallway will be cooler without some assistance. This means that the stove will mostly be heating more like 1000 sq ft unless a blower system is setup to help circulate the heat. There are several threads on that topic.

For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

Another option would be to cut a 6x10 intake grille in the floor of the 2 far bedrooms and run an insulated duct from them into a Y and then to a quiet inline 150-200 cfm fan with the output duct going to the stove room. This can be controlled by an air conditioning thermostat in the stove room so that it turns on the fan when the stove room temps exceed a certain temp, say 74º. For best operation, the bedroom doors should be left ajar or the bottom cut up a little (or a grille on the door, etc.) to allow airflow from the room with the doors closed.

 

[Leap]

Thank you @begreen . I should mention the rooms are all directly attached to the main living space. How might that change the distribution of heat? Can I expect heat to be OK in the bedrooms? With this information, what square footage stove should I be aiming for?

Also -- any feedback/knowledge of the Green Mountain 60 "hybrid"? One just popped up on my local classifieds, looks like it might fit the bill...maybe....?

 

[begreen]

The bedrooms will get some heat, but will may be about 10º cooler than the open area during cold weather in the 20s without some sort of fan assistance.

The GM 60 is fairly new. So far it seems like a decent stove, but it likes good draft. If the installation will have 16' or more of flue on the stove it should be ok. The main issue right now is finding anything in stock. The second issue is having dry firewood. Modern stoves need fully seasoned wood to burn well.

 

[stoveliker]

I would not hesitate to put it on the main floor. Evidently you want the view; of a beautiful stove and the flames.

Do you have a ceiling fan to avoid heat pooling at the ceiling? (Being in VA, I presume you do, with nice summers and all...)

I second, and emphasize the wood: put wood up *now*, and then you *may* (!) have it suitable for burning next winter.
Modern stoves want dry wood. Most dead standing wood is not dry enough.
If you get a stove this season, consider buying a pallet of sawdust bricks (sawdust only, no additions) and see that as an investment part of buying the stove.

For budgeting purposes, note that the piping can be as expensive as the stove.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Im in a large ranch and have a vc..I couldn't be happier with my choice. I have the encore 2040 and my stove has been my primary heat for years. They are great heaters and heat extremely well. This stove will require some maintenance, but if you know this going in your good.

 

[whatyousmokin]

We are in a 1500 sq ft ranch, with 1500 sq ft partially finished basement and I chose the Hearthstone Heritage 8024 (soapstone/cast iron EPA hybrid cat stove) for a corner install in our living room 2 years ago. The stove's dimensions/specs are right in line with your desired requirements. We started from scratch as well. So far, I could not be more thrilled with this stove. Soapstone isn't for everyone, but I like the slower climb in temp and the slow cooldown after embers no longer glow. Here's photos of our start to finish. We constructed a true size model out of wood initially, then played around with the layout in various locations in the living room. I loved the corner layout. We could have gone with a thin manufactured hearthpad for under this stove, but I decided on actual stone. The wall behind the stove is manufactured stone. We could have chosen to not put that in too.

 

[Leap]

Thank you so much everyone!
@stoveliker haha yes, ceiling fans galore, one in every room! Even in the basement (in fact there were 4 in the main living space, but we suspect that moved cigarette/cigar smoke around as the previous owner evidently used to hold illegal high stakes poker games in the basement -- a story for another day perhaps).

@whatyousmokin wow nice set up! That looks beautiful! I've seen a few of the hearthstone heritages pop up on classifieds but they've been the larger models that I am afraid are too much for our space. I'm definitely not opposed to the look of them though and will keep my eyes peeled for the more modestly sized models. Thank you for sharing!

 

[sewerrat]

I don't have anything to add other than make sure the stove qualifies for the tax credits being offered as part of the IRA.
A nice 30% discount from Uncle Sam if you can wait until 2023 to buy it

 

[moresnow]

How about posting a sketch of the floor plan. Show where you intend to put the stove. Post a few pics as well. This will help with recommendations.

 

[Leap]

Here's a rough drawing of our layout, hope this helps!

I don't have any pics of the place to put the stove, but the plan is a corner install between our bar top area and an interior wall (the red bit being where I envision a hearth). The overhang is granite and will essentially become a warming shelf.

 

[stoveliker]

That is a rather ideal position for a stove!

 

[Leap]

Im in a large ranch and have a vc..I couldn't be happier with my choice. I have the encore 2040 and my stove has been my primary heat for years. They are great heaters and heat extremely well. This stove will require some maintenance, but if you know this going in your good.

What kind of maintenance? more than any other stove? There's an encore locally I'm eyeballing but it's older and they want 2000 for it :/ Feels a bit high for the age and condition...(it's the version with 1986 stamped in the interior rear plate, not sure on actual date though; serial number is 7521 which I haven't been able to find info on)

 

[moresnow]

One of the best stove locations proposed here in a long time. Should work well.

 

[stoveliker]

I would not get a 1986 stove at this point in time. Better designs are available.

 

[kborndale]

I would not get a 1986 stove at this point in time. Better designs are available.

Especially not for 2 grand!

 

[Leap]

haha, that was my thought. They actually just lowered it from 2500...eep!

Also looking at a Jotul Oslo if anyone has an opinion there or what is reasonable to pay for such a unit.

Thank you all so much, I passed on the compliments of the placement to the hubby as it was his suggestion.

 

[begreen]

Here's a rough drawing of our layout, hope this helps!

I don't have any pics of the place to put the stove, but the plan is a corner install between our bar top area and an interior wall (the red bit being where I envision a hearth). The overhang is granite and will essentially become a warming shelf.

View attachment 303114

Looks good. This is not a typical ranch with all the bedrooms and bath down a hallway wing. The open layout will make heating more even and comfortable. The master bath might be cooler. If so, try the fan trick.

 

[Leap]

Thank you, hoping also that having the ceiling fans everywhere will help circulate the heat well.

Sorry to keep talking about the VC encore....but I found another locally, this time only $500, and possibly negotiable to less. Would it be worth trying at under $500 if everything looks to be in order? Or should I hold out for something else?

As a first time stove owner, any red flags to look for when checking out stoves (other than the obvious like cracked firebrick or loose seals)--for the encore or otherwise...?

 

[stoveliker]

Regarding the ceiling fans, have them set so they blow "up" to spread the heat, because you don't want to sit in the draft blowing down on you like you want in summer.

 

[begreen]

Sorry to keep talking about the VC encore....but I found another locally, this time only $500, and possibly negotiable to less. Would it be worth trying at under $500 if everything looks to be in order? Or should I hold out for something else?

A used VC stove often needs a rebuild of the combustion package and a cat. They are more complex stove. If there are other issues you'll need to be prepared to deal with them. Depending on what is wrong, it could get expensive. That's the con. The pro is that parts are still available, and we have some good folks here that can help. And the stove has some nice features and is very good looking. It's your call, but I would not advise it as a first stove experience and not if one does not have pretty good mechanical problem solving skills.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

What kind of maintenance? more than any other stove? There's an encore locally I'm eyeballing but it's older and they want 2000 for it :/ Feels a bit high for the age and condition...(it's the version with 1986 stamped in the interior rear plate, not sure on actual date though; serial number is 7521 which I haven't been able to find info on)

Mine is a 2040.. its a newer stove.. that stove is like 30 yrs old.. I wouldn't do that for 2k.. Your stove will even need gaskets.. Eventually it will need a refractory, a total rebuild... I have not had to do this yet.. but eventually I will. The overall cost of maintenance to this stove is higher in the long run then some, but this did not sway me from the purchase. I haven't had to do much to this stove since my purchas. I dropped and broke my cat while cleaning.. I did door, glass, and griddle gaskets.. myself.. I sweep my own stove pipe.. Its a clean burning stove and with good wood in it ill get anywhere from 12 to 16 hours of overnightn burn time. I like the cat stove as it has even heat and when not cold out the stove can get turned down low and not over heat the house.

 

[Leap]

Thank you all! Hubby is extremely mechanically inclined (20+ years in automotive industry), so not worried about troubleshooting issues, but not sure we want to deal with them or the expense. VC’s sound like some of the eurpoean vehicles the hubs works on — beautiful to look at, fun to drive, high dollar to repair!

After reading even more last night, I’m shifting gears and honing in on the Jotuls, specifically the Oslo as I see a few somewhat locally available (albeit a bit of a drive). Any thoughts on that appreciated but you all have helped so much, I appreciate it tremendously! The hunt continues for now, and hopefully I’ll soon be putting up a thread on our new set up (or maybe the construction of it).

Coffee time — have a lovely weekend all!