Advice for buying and using a used Quadrafire Isle Royale

[DoubleTFarm]

Hi all,

I have learned so much already from browsing this site (thank you!) and now I'm hoping for a few more words of wisdom and advice. I am looking at purchasing a used Isle Royale. It looks to be in pretty good shape, but I'm no expert so I'm hoping to line up someone a little more qualified to inspect it for me. But I'd also like to hear from others about what to look for. And other things only an IR user might notice, that kind of thing.The dollar bill test was good, but what about the cement seams, etc? (I really don't know what they're supposed to look like after the stove has been in use). I attached a few photos. The stove is 10 years old, and apparently unused for the last 3 or so years. I understand they are discontinued but parts should be available for a while?

Also, I'm wondering about draft on this stove. We just bought our (first) house. We have an existing exterior masonry chimney, currently connected to an old beast of a stove in the basement (we're not using this- it has been overheated and there is warping and signs of cracking). For many reasons I won't get into here, we'd like to put our new stove on the main floor (not the basement), and instead of tapping into the chimney on the main floor and sealing it off below, we are thinking of running the double walled pipe up through the room. The house is A-frame and loft style so the pipe will be about 20 ft high. Do you foresee any trouble with this set-up?

Finally, IR users, can this stove be used to heat our house AND be comfortable enough to sit near? This is one of my main concerns. Our dream stove would be the Alderlea T6, but the price of that one new might be prohibitive at this point in time. We are heating about mainly 1700 sq ft (house is 3000 including basement), but the main open area has huge cathedral ceilings (21 ft at peak) and lots of windows. See picture. There is a ceiling fan. House has decent insulation in the ceiling but not everywhere. We are 4 hours northeast of Vancouver, BC and at ~2900 ft elevation with some pretty decent winters.

I'm not new to using a stove (but by no means an expert), but I'm definitely new to buying them and finding the right fit for the house. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Looks like a beautiful home and setting for the stove. Calling @Jags to the front desk for IR questions.

A cast iron clad stove like the T6, Jotul F55, Quad Explorer III would be my first recommendation for the buffering and heat storage capacity of the cast iron jacket. A friend put a T5 in his A frame and it was a good fit. The IR is a great heater and a beautiful looking stove. It is highly radiant and drafts easily, so a watchful eye and proper operation. There may be more temperature swing with the Isle Royale, but lots of people are very happy with this stove. It would look great in that location. I considered the IR strongly for our house before we got the T6. It's a beauty. The main reason it didn't happen is because of clearance requirements for our corner install and the T6 showed up slightly used at a good price.

When you say sit close by, how close?

 

[DoubleTFarm]

Looks like a beautiful home and setting for the stove. Calling @Jags to the front desk for IR questions.

A cast iron clad stove like the T6, Jotul F55, Quad Explorer III would be my first recommendation for the buffering and heat storage capacity of the cast iron jacket. A friend put a T5 in his A frame and it was a good fit. The IR is a great heater and a beautiful looking stove. It is highly radiant and drafts easily, so a watchful eye and proper operation. There may be more temperature swing with the Isle Royale, but lots of people are very happy with this stove. It would look great in that location. I considered the IR strongly for our house before we got the T6. It's a beauty. The main reason it didn't happen is because of clearance requirements for our corner install and the T6 showed up slightly used at a good price.

When you say sit close by, how close?

Thanks. Yes, the Jotul F55 is another one we are considering (but I'm not enjoying our local dealer). I would prefer cast iron clad, but the IR has come up for sale used in the meantime. Also, we might have an exchange program coming in the next year or two where we could trade in our beast for a T6 and save a bit of money (and use the IR in the meantime?? Too many decisions...)

We would be sitting on the couches in the picture and the stove would be where the scaffolding is. There is also a dining table to the right in the picture - you can just see the edge of it. That's as close as we'd be.

 

[begreen]

We would be sitting on the couches in the picture and the stove would be where the scaffolding is. There is also a dining table to the right in the picture - you can just see the edge of it. That's as close as we'd be.

That doesn't look like a problem, you would feel some nice radiant warmth, but at that distance it shouldn't be uncomfortable. Besides that, the two issues to consider are that the stove has been discontinued and parts eventually will be harder to come by. And the stove is more complex than the other stoves under consideration. That said, it is a very well-made, veteran stove that does not have a large track record of problems.

 

[DoubleTFarm]

Thanks for the feedback, begreen, I appreciate it.