I am currently researching for a wood stove for next years heating season. We live in a 1050 square foot ranch in Eastern PA. 1050 square foot basement and 1050 square foot living level. The house is built in 1982 and has original windows and insulation. I do not find our house to be drafty though and it does hold heat well. Ceilings are standard 8 feet and the chimney would be strait up through the attic and out nearly at the peak of the roof. The stove will be going into the living room on an interior wall. The location is centrally located in the house as the living room, dining room and kitchen are basically one giant room in a "U" shape. From the dining room is the hallway which leads to three bedrooms and a bathroom. I currently have a pellet stove, Enviro M55, in the basement but want a stove on our living floor as I am tired of burning that hot just to have moderate heat upstairs. We definitely want a cast iron stove in brown (wifes demands) and love the look and reviews of the alderleas. I initially thought the T4 would be adequate but do desire the ability of an overnight burn. I would primarily be heating evenings and weekends, but if the stove allows 24/7 would be great. My initial question is would the T5 be too much stove for 1050 square feet? I have creeped on this site for years but this is finally my first post. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Alderlea T4 or T5?
- Thread starter quietstorm
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
Welcome. Both will do the job. You will be running them similarly in milder weather above say 20F. I would lean toward the smaller T4 considering you already have the Enviro. That can be your supplemental heat in very cold weather. The T4 will be great for nights and weekends and with some finessing and the right wood it will provide coals for a morning restart. If you really like the larger firebox, the T5 will also work. Just run smaller loads until it gets very cold outside. 4-5 medium splits will burn a long time in that firebox.
Thanks begreen. I am really torn on this one. I first thought the T4 would be fine as well but I have the fear of buying too small of a stove and I don't want to have that regret. We spend nearly all of our time on the upper level, so if I don't have to use pellets I wouldn't. Anyone running a T4 or Vista in a similar sized home?
You would probably do fine with the T5 but if want to make sure you get long burn times without heating you out of the house I would try a catalytic stove. Those can be burnt on low with steady heat output for much longer than a secondary burn stove like the T5. In cast-iron the BlazeKing Ashford 20 would be the obvious choice. If you want to entertain the idea of a soapstone stove the Woodstock Keystone/Palladian or maybe the Fireview would be an option.
Do you have dry wood already?
Do you have dry wood already?
I have about a half cord of softwood split and stacked for about 2 years. I also have access through family to well seasoned wood from a farm. Always looking for more. I had my mind made up for a secondary burn stove but am willing to discuss others, do blaze kings have tight clearances as this is a priority for us?
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Especially considering the fact that you are running a pellet stove downstairs in addition to the new upstairs stove, I would think the T4 or any other similarly sized stove would be plenty. Some of the downstairs heat will come up. If you load up the T5 for an overnight burn, I think it would be too hot.
Or as Grisu suggested, you may want to look into a suitably sized catalytic.
Or as Grisu suggested, you may want to look into a suitably sized catalytic.
They are pretty reasonable. Here is the website with the manual: (broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/EN/wood-ashford20.html) Check them out for yourself.
A soapstone stove may not be that good of an idea then as they usually give off more radiant heat and require larger clearances.
Btw. I think the T4 has the same firebox as the PE Vista. You can try a forum search to see what burn times people are reporting for either stove. I remember reading 4 to 5 hours with maybe 7 hours max. With softwood that will also be quite a bit lower.
Thanks for the replies guys. I am trying to not use the pellet stove unless we would be downstairs. I think I read every thread possible on the T4/vista and am worried about short burn times. That's why I initially considered the T5. Just downloaded the blaze king manual and will research that for a bit.
If the stove is not just for supplementing the pellet stove but actually to heat the entire upstairs I would go for either the T5 or the Ashford. It is not that the T4 may not be able to heat 1000 sqft but for that you will need to reload it approx. every 4 hours to keep it hot enough.
Yeah this is not to supplement the pellet stove, I want to burn wood exclusively for my upper level. I would only burn pellets if we would be down there for awhile. I am not happy with a basement stove and would like to get away from that set up. Should have done better research 5 years ago. I also thought I would like pellet heat more than I do. I hate worrying about power outages and we can't enjoy aesthetics because we aren't downstairs
I guess I should have been more clear too, our house is all electric baseboard heat which is very expensive. So if I can get overnight burns it would be awesome. I would rather have the footprint of a smaller stove but I am afraid I'll regret it for burn times and reloads.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
The T5 will give you an overnight burn, but I'm still a little concerned about loading up a 2 cf stove for an overnighter in that space. It may be uncomfortably warm, but I'll defer to others' experience on that.
What is the area size of the room the stove will be in and will the layout allow most of the heated air to migrate into adjacent rooms?
What is the area size of the room the stove will be in and will the layout allow most of the heated air to migrate into adjacent rooms?
The stove room is 18 x 12.5. it is directly adjacent to the dining room and kitchen. It is basically in the center of the house. The kitchen and dining room will be easily heated. Bedrooms will be tougher.
For a small space that you want to heat 24/7 with wood you may need to look at cat stoves, particularly for heating when temps are milder. A Woodstock Keystone or BlazeKing Ashford20 or Sirocco20 would be good stoves to consider.
The 20 series stoves from bk are tricky. They actually burn hotter on low than the normal 30 series stoves and the 30 series stoves will burn on low for 50% longer. The only reason I would consider the little 20 is if you just have to have the smaller physical size, it's only a few inches though. I really don't know why bk bothered.
Woodstock makes some great small cat stoves too. The clearance requirements are very large but if you can make it work they are nice stoves.
Woodstock makes some great small cat stoves too. The clearance requirements are very large but if you can make it work they are nice stoves.
I have a super 27 (same firebox as t5) in a 900 sq ft house in coastal bc - we have long shoulder seasons. The house has minimal insulation. The stove works fine for us. For overnight burns when it's mild, we close the door to the bedroom and that keeps it pretty cool for sleeping. Every once in a while I need to open the doors/windows to cool the house down, but not very often. I'm pretty sure we use more wood than if we had a cat stove though.
We have been running a T5 for the past 4 years as our only source of heat. Our house is a pre-1900 1,800+sf farm house. The stove sits on an exterior wall in what would be the dinning room. The stairs are in the center of the house with the dr/kit/lr on either side. The dr gets warm and the kit and lr are comfortable. My oldest daughter (teenager) would lay on top of the stove if she could, she can never get to warm. My wife starts opening doors in the kit if the temps in the kit get higher than 68*. We have been very happy with this stove. Depending on the outside temps we've packed the stove to only putting a few splits in. I did replace the door gasket after 2 years and made it that much easier to control. We've found that you can also control the feel of the heat by swinging the tops of the stove out. If you rotate the top cast iron pieces out you expose the steel fire box which seem to release more heat into the room quicker. Leaving the cast iron pieces in the closed position seems to temper the heat.
Not sure if that helped but we've been happy with our T5.
Not sure if that helped but we've been happy with our T5.
Agree with T Man, we have a T5 and I am pleased with its performance. I can get a good overnight burn with lots of coals in the bed to start the process over in the morning. We have 1500 square feet with cathedral ceilings in half the building including the area where the stove is located.
It is a good looking stove with the enamel finish, ours is black, and a dependable performer. I have no knowledge of the other stoves mentioned but I think the T5 is a good one. Only problem we had with ours was an improperly installed baffle, many think that was my fault and thats ok, just make sure the baffle and the locking pin are installed properly. With the seasoned maple and beech we use it burns very cleanly.
Good idea of swinging the top pieces out T Man, I had not thought of that but it makes sense.
It is a good looking stove with the enamel finish, ours is black, and a dependable performer. I have no knowledge of the other stoves mentioned but I think the T5 is a good one. Only problem we had with ours was an improperly installed baffle, many think that was my fault and thats ok, just make sure the baffle and the locking pin are installed properly. With the seasoned maple and beech we use it burns very cleanly.
Good idea of swinging the top pieces out T Man, I had not thought of that but it makes sense.
I made the switch from a non-cat stove to a Blaze King and couldn't be happier. But if part of your idea of aesthetics is a pretty fire burning in the stove your going to want the tube stove.
That being said, nobody here misses watching those secondaries more than my wife but even she admits she likes the long burn time, even heat and waking to a warm house without going straight to the stove better.
We also heat exclusively with wood. In fact the sequencers went out on our electric furnace three years ago. I just replaced them in Oct. of this year.
7acres
Minister of Fire
Reading your post reminded me of the situation and thought process I went through last year. My house is larger than yours so I was trying to decide between the T5 and T6 size stoves. I decided to go for the larger size. And that was the right choice!
You can always put less wood in. But you can't put in more wood (BTUs) than the stove has space for. No feeling like reading the outdoor thermometer and seeing 26F then walking around to read the inside temperature at 72F first thing in the morning off one load of wood.
A couple nights this shoulder season I under estimated how much wood we'd need. Stinks to wake up to a 65F house. It would stink even more if I had put a full load in and my stove just wasn't big enough.
If you need tight clearances don't leave out the new Jotuls in your research. The new F45 has a 2.2 cu/ft firebox. Very close to the T5's 2.1 cu/ft. The F45 doesn't come in brown however.
I read up on cat stoves and I just don't like all the moving parts. Reminds me of my pellet stove, too much mechanics. I also don't know about seasoning wood for 2 years. I would prefer the ease of tube stoves. All the replies are much appreciated, I love this site. I plan on making a trek to my nearest PE dealer and see what they think. Thanks guys.
The requirement for dry wood is the same for secondary burn and cat stoves. Neither stove will do well with wood above 20% internal moisture.
The only other "moving part" that the cat stove has is the bypass which will help during start-up also in a secondary burn stove. FWIW, the secondary burn Lopi Endeavor has a bypass for improving draft and getting less smoke into the room during startup. The PE stoves, however, draft really well and don't need a bypass.
The only other "moving part" that the cat stove has is the bypass which will help during start-up also in a secondary burn stove. FWIW, the secondary burn Lopi Endeavor has a bypass for improving draft and getting less smoke into the room during startup. The PE stoves, however, draft really well and don't need a bypass.
Cat stoves are not quite as bad as pellet stoves. No electronics. No hopper. No electricity required.
Catalyst does require periodic cleaning of ash, and replacement every x years, but don't assume that any type of secondary combustion system will be maintenance free. . .plumbing can clog with ash. Tubes and baffles may need replacing eventually.
That said, the T5 doesn't have tubes, just a stainless baffle with holes in it, and would be on my short list of non-cat stoves.(T4 is too small for 24/7 duty. You will tire of trying to cram wood into a tiny firebox.)
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pacific-energy-spectrum-classic-baffle-removal.134338/
Tales of wood woe abound, involving both types of secondary combustion. Neither type of stove is like a pre-EPA stove that could burn anything.
Consensus is that dry wood gives a better heating experience with any type of secondary burn stove. Get lots of wood stacked ASAP = standard advice.
Last edited:
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Absolutely. You can get away with up to 25% but above that you have to take some extra steps like supplementing with biobricks or something. Be sure to buy a moisture meter to be sure of the wood. The amount of time it takes to dry wood depends on lots of factors like initial moisture content, species, drying conditions, stacking, size of splits, etc. The absolute minimum time I've heard of would be about 7 or 8 months but that would be soft wood in a dry climate and is unusual. Oak can easily take three years, so plan ahead.
It's good that you're only planning for next year's burning season so you have a good chance.
- Status
Similar threads
