Absolute Steel Hybrid
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Yes, we needed a tight corner fitting stove and had to forgo side-loaders and strongly radiant stoves. Although I wanted to put in an Oslo, the T6 ended up being a good fit and heater for our house. It heats more evenly with much less temperature swing. The only thing we miss is the beautiful blue-black enamel finish. At the time the F50 and F55 were not made yet, so they were not an option. Now there are several large, good looking, close-clearance, cast iron jacketed stoves to choose from.
Sq footage by itself means nothing. That rep was assuming you had a well-sealed & insulated house... tell that rep your house consumes 40k BTUs/ hr on the cold days.
Which he apparently does according to post #78, and he's further south than I am. I bet I could heat that place with my Keystone most of the time. With his central stove location, the AS should easily handle the load.
You'd think so... and so did I, up until he said his current heat pump struggles.. which puts out close to 40k BTU.
Welp, didn't know this.. a heat pump's output depends on outdoor temps? I've never had one, so don't know much about them.. thought the heating part was kinda just like a space heater attached to ducts. Guess not?
An air to air heatpump extracts heat from the outside air. If it is a two or three stage unit it may kick in a backup heat source like electric resistance strips at a set temp.
My heat pump has aux heat which is heat strips. That works surprisingly well, all be it an expensive way to heat.
I found this on their blog (broken link removed to http://woodstove.com/custom-color-stove-gallery/38-stoves) (scroll to the bottom) and asked the company about it. I guess it's supposed to come out in the spring/summer. The text that was with this pic (from memory) said this lady is 5'2" and this was a beta long legged shaker. I assume it would come with or without the wings like the rest of the ASH. Another link
![[Hearth.com] Absolute Steel Hybrid](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/176/176630-7481f9a4361613a51ca2a6c96c7e460c.jpg?hash=Rp4kOTcUyx "[Hearth.com] Absolute Steel Hybrid")
http://blog.woodstove.com/2015/12/new-design-preview-modified-designs.html#more
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OK so I'm gonna revive an old thread here with some new info. I put everything on hold because our old heat pump crapped out this summer and after no AC and fried wires everywhere, we had to get a new system. SO, I have a new Rheem heat pump, 2.5 ton thats a 30,000 BTU unit with an air handler that has Aux heat. With that financial hit I'm not sure if a new wood burning stove will happen before the end of the year, but I'm still in the research phase.
My house isn't large, approx. 1500 sq ft, 1000 up and 500 down stairs in a partial basement so I don't need a massive stove. That said, the century stove I've had for a few years now just doesn't throw the heat for long enough and I'm chewing thru more wood than I should be. So my list of "wants" is as follows.
1) Affordable - I'm not able, nor would I even if I could, spend 3-4 grand on a stove.
2) Efficient - I would like to reduce wood usage.
3) REAL WORLD burn times of 7-8 hours. I would really like to have a stove that would burn overnight and I mean heat overnight, not just smolder while the house gets colder and colder.
You guys know more than I do about the cat vs non cat debate, the various brands and all the ins and outs. I still hope to make this work but with my sons kidney transplant medical bills and now a new heat pump, maybe I need to have someone weld in some new parts on the old century stove and ride that train a few more years?
If I could get any stove right now from the little research I've done, It would be the woodstock soapstone ASH with the tall shaker legs they plan too/hopefully will release this year. Would be easy on my back. lol Thanks in advance for everyones feedback!
What is your location? Have you looked into the mid to larger sized Englander stoves? The Madison sounds like it might work out well for this application.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/summers-heat-50-shssw01.146043/
http://www.lowes.com/pd/Summers-Heat-2-000-sq-ft-Wood-Stove/999918844
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/summers-heat-50-shssw01.146043/
http://www.lowes.com/pd/Summers-Heat-2-000-sq-ft-Wood-Stove/999918844
I'm very northern Arkansas, a stones throw from the MO line. While we don't get brutal winters like you fellas up north, we have cold snaps and ice storms where power will be out for days, single digit temps during the day and near or below zero with the wind chill at night. I'm outside the city so I'm usually low on the totem pole to get service back so the stove becomes a heater, cook stove, clothes dryer, etc. That exact scenario above was what caused me to tear out my old worthless fireplace and put in a wood stove in the first place a few years back. This site was really help fun to get it installed right and it's been awesome to have. I've run out of wood on my property that I want to cut down so now I'm having to buy firewood or get trees from people that they cut down and I process it. It's a bit of a hassle so the less wood I have to mess with, the better, thus my desire for efficiency.
Thank you for your reply.
Check out the Madison. It's affordable and sized right for house size and heating goals. I think it's also sold at Rural King and Farm Fleet stores if they are closer. It's sold under the Summer's Heat brand which is just a different labeled Englander.
I always that those were low end stoves for shops and what not? ( no offense intended to anyone using one as I've been using a low end century stove for a few years now)
Aside from the name, what are you paying for when you buy a more expensive stove, like say, a blaze king?
No, not at all. There are many happy owners of Englander stoves in homes here. They make basic, affordable stoves that work well.
Blaze King stoves have a completely different burn technology. Blaze King's best feature is their fine tuned catalytic technology that provides some of the longest burn times. They are also thermostatically regulated which adds to the cost. It's a comparatively small company. Volume sales help bring down the price of the Englander. Both are great American stoves.
Blaze King stoves have a completely different burn technology. Blaze King's best feature is their fine tuned catalytic technology that provides some of the longest burn times. They are also thermostatically regulated which adds to the cost. It's a comparatively small company. Volume sales help bring down the price of the Englander. Both are great American stoves.
BG is definitely leading you down a good path with recommending Englander stoves, They are built very well and will last for many years.
Go to homedepot website and print out the stove specs, look at the dimensions then look at the weight of the unit, then try to find another stove in the same price range that meets those specs, you will be shocked.
Go to homedepot website and print out the stove specs, look at the dimensions then look at the weight of the unit, then try to find another stove in the same price range that meets those specs, you will be shocked.
Split red and white oak is what I burn, I try and get it at least 1 year to season but I'm guilty of throwing some green splits on a hot fire in the past tho thats not the norm. I make all my splits small but save some big thick ones for the dead of our short winter and power outages. I have burned pine, cedar, hickory, walnut and some random ash in there when I obtained some free wood, but the lions share is by far good old oak. I like the use cedar because my neighbor does cedar furniture and I can get all kinds of cut offs and whatnot. Makes it nice to start fires that way. My other neighbor does construction so I could get cut off of pine 2X4,6,8,10,12, etc all day long if I wanted. I do get some but that mostly to start a fire, then the oak gets on there. I've always wanted to try Aspen but not sure how that burns.
Would the englander madison be a noticeable upgrade from my 8 year old century stove (FW240007)? I notice the madison has an outside air kit so I assume that would be a pretty nice improvement in and of itself, correct?
The Madison should provide a bit longer burn time and more loading flexibility. However, it may not reduce wood consumption greatly, especially if that is a matter of the heat losses of the house.
Well, that reply was optimistic but not very enthusiastic. I actually like the look of the stove, the price is good, the larger opening and firebox are nice, OAK is a nice option for my set up here, just wish I could get longer burns. even an hour or two more to keep that heat pump and subsequent aux heat from kicking on as much. I've added a lot of blown insulation into the attic this past year, but aside from something drastic like tearing out all the drywall and putting in spray foam insulation, my house is kinda done with that regard. I am looking at sealing up my crawlspace so that may help in keeping the hardwood floors a bit warmer but thats about all I would guess.
The increased capacity of the Englander Madison will provide longer burn times. With the increased insulation and sealing there could be a notable improvement of a couple hours. 8 hrs is not unrealistic. How long were your average Century burn times in winter?
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