We're just beginning use of our Pacific Energy Alderlea T6, as installed last summer. If you're considering this stove, or installing it, these notes may be of interest.
This T6 replaced a small QuadraFire which had served us well, but was too small for our expanding home and (perhaps due to high heat) had a problem with a sagging steel upper heat shield which reduced the usable fire box size.
In selecting a new stove, one concern was avoiding overheating, since our home is long in shape. After waffling between the smaller T5 and the larger T6, we trusted reports that the T6 could be run at reduced levels for lower heat, and ordered the larger stove. (In use, we are very pleased with the ability to run the T6 at low level heats, when desired.)
We had planned to buy the T6 from ChimneySweepOnline.com, because of their very helpful web pages with extensive information. However, our county's air quality people opened a buy back program to encourage replacement of older wood stoves, and we had to order through a local dealer to participate.
The T6 as delivered to the local dealer, on a wooden pallet, is roughly 600 pounds. Their forklift placed it in our truck, and at home our tractor's hydraulic front loader lifted it out. Without hydraulics, it would take several people to handle the stove.
One question was what lift points to use for the stove. I called Pacific Energy and got quick help from a tech, who explained that in-house they lift stoves from the chimney collar on the stove top. Cut a flat steel bar longer than the chimney collar, drill a hole for your cable/hook/rope to attach, then slip the steel bar thru & under the collar, then lift.
Our existing hearth was too small for the clearances required by the large T6. Rather than trying to relocate the existing chimney going through our roof, I expanded the old hearth in the front & sides, then overlaid the entire area with new hard board and floor tile. The new tile is trimmed out with 3/4" oak. When designing the new hearth size, note that floor protection is measured from the T6 door opening, not from the T6 outer sides.
The steel legs under the T6 look good, but their bottom footprint is extremely narrow. To avoid potential tile cracking from high psi loads, I cut steel plate 1/4' thick, 3" x 4", to slip under each foot. Each plate has a bolt braised to it, going up to secure to the hole in the steel leg, and a hole for later securing the plate to the floor. Bolting the plate to the floor required a special hole drilling saw with a diamond coating; an ordinary carbide tipped tile saw would just not penetrate the hard floor tile that we used. Once the tile was drilled, each steel plate was secured to the floor with a lag screw.
Getting the heavy T6 uncrated and off the pallet, and then through a doorway, and across our living room floor, and up on to the raised hearth, theoretically could be done with 4 to 6 strong people. For me, it was a solo job, so I built a wooden crane for this one use, from 2x6 wood. The crane has 4 casters underneath, and a 12 volt winch (from Costco, intended for ATVs or small trucks) up top to lift the T6. Moving the T6 with the crane took care, but was doable, including the fine tuning necessary to locate the T6 in just the right position. A hydraulic car jack also came in hand at the end.
Fresh air comes into the T6 through a vent hole in the bottom, which is opened easily by removing a knockout. The resulting hole did not line up with my existing floor vent hole, so I fabricated a steel box (similar in shape to a Kleenex box) just big enough connect the two holes. It, and the steel plates for the legs, are all spray painted flat black, and fit in well visually. I intend to caulk the box into place with silicone, later; so far the temps in that location have been low enough for silicone caulk.
The fire bricks that came with the T6 fit well, with one exception. I used an electric tile saw to trim the one tile. As noted elsewhere, the fire bricks are not designed to cover every square inch of the fire box bottom or sides, just most of them.
The only T6 drawback I found was that there is no supplied information to tell the user which damper position is "on" or "off". You can figure it out in use (left is "on"), and I later used whiteout to mark the information on one of the leg plates.
Our county requires inspection, and electrical grounding of the T6. I ran the copper grounding wire through the air vent, under the house, so it is not visible. The inspector uses an electric meter to verify that grounding is in place.
Lighting the T6 requires a little more care than with our much smaller Quadrafire, since the T6 fire box is so spacious. Use your starting wood to create a small fire-starting space, and leave the T6 door slightly cracked open until it catches. We find it easy now.
The capacity of the T6 still amazes me. Early in the spring, I committed us to buying the contemplated T6 by cutting 8 cords of firewood at 20" length (instead of our former 13" standard), and after splitting the rounds the final pieces are much larger in diameter. The new T6 easily digests these large chunks. So, there's less work for the chain saw, and for the hydraulic splitter.
Between the newer technology of this T6, and it's capacity, we find that it requires less frequent refilling, and holds a burn much longer (easily overnight on low). The heat does seem "softer", presumably due to the larger surface areas which present heat to the living room. The thermometer on our chimney tells us that we're typically burning with lower chimney temps (no longer bordering on "too hot"). Warm up time from cold is a bit longer.
Bottom line: The T6's cast iron looks great to our eyes, it burns well both low and high, it accepts large wood and burns long and soft. If you install it yourself, be prepared for the weight. We're very happy with the T6. No regrets.
This T6 replaced a small QuadraFire which had served us well, but was too small for our expanding home and (perhaps due to high heat) had a problem with a sagging steel upper heat shield which reduced the usable fire box size.
In selecting a new stove, one concern was avoiding overheating, since our home is long in shape. After waffling between the smaller T5 and the larger T6, we trusted reports that the T6 could be run at reduced levels for lower heat, and ordered the larger stove. (In use, we are very pleased with the ability to run the T6 at low level heats, when desired.)
We had planned to buy the T6 from ChimneySweepOnline.com, because of their very helpful web pages with extensive information. However, our county's air quality people opened a buy back program to encourage replacement of older wood stoves, and we had to order through a local dealer to participate.
The T6 as delivered to the local dealer, on a wooden pallet, is roughly 600 pounds. Their forklift placed it in our truck, and at home our tractor's hydraulic front loader lifted it out. Without hydraulics, it would take several people to handle the stove.
One question was what lift points to use for the stove. I called Pacific Energy and got quick help from a tech, who explained that in-house they lift stoves from the chimney collar on the stove top. Cut a flat steel bar longer than the chimney collar, drill a hole for your cable/hook/rope to attach, then slip the steel bar thru & under the collar, then lift.
Our existing hearth was too small for the clearances required by the large T6. Rather than trying to relocate the existing chimney going through our roof, I expanded the old hearth in the front & sides, then overlaid the entire area with new hard board and floor tile. The new tile is trimmed out with 3/4" oak. When designing the new hearth size, note that floor protection is measured from the T6 door opening, not from the T6 outer sides.
The steel legs under the T6 look good, but their bottom footprint is extremely narrow. To avoid potential tile cracking from high psi loads, I cut steel plate 1/4' thick, 3" x 4", to slip under each foot. Each plate has a bolt braised to it, going up to secure to the hole in the steel leg, and a hole for later securing the plate to the floor. Bolting the plate to the floor required a special hole drilling saw with a diamond coating; an ordinary carbide tipped tile saw would just not penetrate the hard floor tile that we used. Once the tile was drilled, each steel plate was secured to the floor with a lag screw.
Getting the heavy T6 uncrated and off the pallet, and then through a doorway, and across our living room floor, and up on to the raised hearth, theoretically could be done with 4 to 6 strong people. For me, it was a solo job, so I built a wooden crane for this one use, from 2x6 wood. The crane has 4 casters underneath, and a 12 volt winch (from Costco, intended for ATVs or small trucks) up top to lift the T6. Moving the T6 with the crane took care, but was doable, including the fine tuning necessary to locate the T6 in just the right position. A hydraulic car jack also came in hand at the end.
Fresh air comes into the T6 through a vent hole in the bottom, which is opened easily by removing a knockout. The resulting hole did not line up with my existing floor vent hole, so I fabricated a steel box (similar in shape to a Kleenex box) just big enough connect the two holes. It, and the steel plates for the legs, are all spray painted flat black, and fit in well visually. I intend to caulk the box into place with silicone, later; so far the temps in that location have been low enough for silicone caulk.
The fire bricks that came with the T6 fit well, with one exception. I used an electric tile saw to trim the one tile. As noted elsewhere, the fire bricks are not designed to cover every square inch of the fire box bottom or sides, just most of them.
The only T6 drawback I found was that there is no supplied information to tell the user which damper position is "on" or "off". You can figure it out in use (left is "on"), and I later used whiteout to mark the information on one of the leg plates.
Our county requires inspection, and electrical grounding of the T6. I ran the copper grounding wire through the air vent, under the house, so it is not visible. The inspector uses an electric meter to verify that grounding is in place.
Lighting the T6 requires a little more care than with our much smaller Quadrafire, since the T6 fire box is so spacious. Use your starting wood to create a small fire-starting space, and leave the T6 door slightly cracked open until it catches. We find it easy now.
The capacity of the T6 still amazes me. Early in the spring, I committed us to buying the contemplated T6 by cutting 8 cords of firewood at 20" length (instead of our former 13" standard), and after splitting the rounds the final pieces are much larger in diameter. The new T6 easily digests these large chunks. So, there's less work for the chain saw, and for the hydraulic splitter.
Between the newer technology of this T6, and it's capacity, we find that it requires less frequent refilling, and holds a burn much longer (easily overnight on low). The heat does seem "softer", presumably due to the larger surface areas which present heat to the living room. The thermometer on our chimney tells us that we're typically burning with lower chimney temps (no longer bordering on "too hot"). Warm up time from cold is a bit longer.
Bottom line: The T6's cast iron looks great to our eyes, it burns well both low and high, it accepts large wood and burns long and soft. If you install it yourself, be prepared for the weight. We're very happy with the T6. No regrets.
