Anybody using the NC-30 in a 1400 sq ft space?

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JC88

New Member
Dec 31, 2017
17
South Indiana
Just wondering if anybody is using the Englander NC-30 in a 1500 or less sq foot house? The big firebox and awesome reviews has me chomping at the bits to buy one for next winter. I use a smaller stove right now and although it puts out some awesome heat I only get a GOOD big heat producing burn for about 4 hrs. And although I still have some coals left in the morning usually to get a fire going it’s not producing much heat at that point. I think with the firebox size of the NC-30 I could get a much longer burn time through the cold midwestern nights. My only worry is that it will be to much stove for the slightly milder days through out the winter. My house is right at 1400 sq ft and insulated fairly well. And I usually keep the house anywhere from 72-75 degrees in the winter. Any input would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance
 
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I heat my 8300 cubic foot garage with a 30. You didn't mention your ceiling height. 1400sq ft isn't a lot unless your ceilings are really high. I've insulated my garage roof, not ceiling so that is why I go with the cubic feet. Its 660 square ft otherwise.

Yesterday when it was -4°F out it was 82 inside. I can use smaller fires to not make it that warm but at the time I was headed to bed and like to really warm it up. Slightly warmer days, I build slightly smaller fires.

I've had burn times from start up til STT was under 350 of 9 hours. Another 2-3 hours from 350 til 150. Was burning seasoned cherry big chunks to get those times.
 
I have a big stove heating my 1600 sq ft house and i love it. During the week when im at work i can load it full and come home 8 hrs later to a still warm house. On the weekends when im home i just toss a few logs in throughout the day to keep them temp at a comfortable level, once in awhile i'll have to leave the door open for a bit if it gets to hot. Big stove you have more options.
 
Yes. You don’t have to pack it full. I burn a couple half size loads a day usually. One in the morning around 8am and one in the evening around 9:30-10pm. As it starts getting colder out, I’ll add a small warm up load at around 5pm so that I can load some bigger stuff easier for the overnight. Can’t really let the stove stretch its legs until it gets down around zero.

It will run us out if we get carried away, but if we load it appropriately, we can keep the house comfortable. I try not to warm the stove room above 80 if I can help it.

The trick is to build enough fire for it to burn correctly, but not burn too long.

-SF


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Keep a 2" bed of ash and its easy to lower the heat output. The ash will keep the coals hot for a long time. Just pull the coals to the front and add one or two splits to the ashbed to keep it going when needed. The trick for my stove is to keep the bed of ashes around 2". This will also keep coals hot over night. I should mention I am burning softwood only.
Mine is my only heat source on the middle floor of a 3 story old leaky cabin. Cabin has a non insulated roof with 12 foot ceilings. Approximately 1000 sq ft on the middle floor. Two 6' ceiling fans keep it comfy.
 
Last edited:
Another thread where I'm worthless.....

30-NC in a +2000 sq ft home, fork me living, can't win.


JYNXe1r.jpg


Got it cooling down now so I can jettison the ash by tomorrow AM. High 40's now, low 20's tomorrow with 20's-30's through Monday. Which, by the by, meets the definition of "colder than shoot" by TN standards. Cranking it up tomorrow AM and staying cranked up until it's +50 or so.

Installed Nov. 2014 and it's the only way we heat our home.

There might be better wood stoves than the 30-, but there's no better value.
 
Another thread where I'm worthless.....

30-NC in a +2000 sq ft home, fork me living, can't win.


View attachment 238990

Got it cooling down now so I can jettison the ash by tomorrow AM. High 40's now, low 20's tomorrow with 20's-30's through Monday. Which, by the by, meets the definition of "colder than shoot" by TN standards. Cranking it up tomorrow AM and staying cranked up until it's +50 or so.

Installed Nov. 2014 and it's the only way we heat our home.

There might be better wood stoves than the 30-, but there's no better value.

I’m no help either. 1800 sf shop with 14’ ceilings.
 

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Love that install FTG. Get jealous everytime I see it.
 
I heat my 8300 cubic foot garage with a 30. You didn't mention your ceiling height. 1400sq ft isn't a lot unless your ceilings are really high. I've insulated my garage roof, not ceiling so that is why I go with the cubic feet. Its 660 square ft otherwise.

Yesterday when it was -4°F out it was 82 inside. I can use smaller fires to not make it that warm but at the time I was headed to bed and like to really warm it up. Slightly warmer days, I build slightly smaller fires.

I've had burn times from start up til STT was under 350 of 9 hours. Another 2-3 hours from 350 til 150. Was burning seasoned cherry big chunks to get those times.
My bad ceilings are just standard 8 foot. Those are some good burn times which is what I’m hoping to get out of a stove. I burn a lot of cherry myself. One of my favorites
 
I to have one on order and waiting for homedepot to send me the instore arrival email, hopefully by Friday or Saturday I'll have her online and running.
I'll be heating approx. 1200sq ft from the basement.
 
I have a big stove heating my 1600 sq ft house and i love it. During the week when im at work i can load it full and come home 8 hrs later to a still warm house. On the weekends when im home i just toss a few logs in throughout the day to keep them temp at a comfortable level, once in awhile i'll have to leave the door open for a bit if it gets to hot. Big stove you have more options.
I struggle with the problem of coming home from work to a cold house. Fortunately I’m able to come home on my lunch break a lot and fill mine back up. but on the days I don’t its not very fun warming the house back up. So getting good heat for 8 hrs would be awesome! What kind of weather are you dealing with? 20’s or below??
 
I to have one on order and waiting for homedepot to send me the instore arrival email, hopefully by Friday or Saturday I'll have her online and running.
I'll be heating approx. 1200sq ft from the basement.
Please keep me posted on how it does for you! Is your house insulated pretty good?
 
Keep a 2" bed of ash and its easy to lower the heat output. The ash will keep the coals hot for a long time. Just pull the coals to the front and add one or two splits to the ashbed to keep it going when needed. The trick for my stove is to keep the bed of ashes around 2". This will also keep coals hot over night. I should mention I am burning softwood only.
Mine is my only heat source on the middle floor of a 3 story old leaky cabin. Cabin has a non insulated roof with 12 foot ceilings. Approximately 1000 sq ft on the middle floor. Two 6' ceiling fans keep it comfy.
Good advice! Iv learned to keep a pretty good amount of ash in my little stove for that reason. I obviously lose some more space with a ton of ash in there but it sure does hold coals for much much longer
 
Another thread where I'm worthless.....

30-NC in a +2000 sq ft home, fork me living, can't win.


View attachment 238990

Got it cooling down now so I can jettison the ash by tomorrow AM. High 40's now, low 20's tomorrow with 20's-30's through Monday. Which, by the by, meets the definition of "colder than shoot" by TN standards. Cranking it up tomorrow AM and staying cranked up until it's +50 or so.

Installed Nov. 2014 and it's the only way we heat our home.

There might be better wood stoves than the 30-, but there's no better value.
That looks awesome! Iv heard many many people say you simply cannot beat the stove for the price
 
1200 up and 1200 down? That’s a pretty large space. If it’s open at all in the basement you should be able to really crank it up!
1200, maybe 1300 total from the basement, I'm going to see how well the bk convection deck fits on the top of the nc30, I have a friend that is a very good welder that is willing to make a boot from the back of the air shield on the stove to the convection deck.
 
1200, maybe 1300 total from the basement, I'm going to see how well the bk convection deck fits on the top of the nc30, I have a friend that is a very good welder that is willing to make a boot from the back of the air shield on the stove to the convection deck.

In an effort to make my nc30 a furnace I managed to fabricate an effective convection deck and a much larger than oem blower with thermostatic on/off. It makes a big difference in output.
 
Just wondering if anybody is using the Englander NC-30 in a 1500 or less sq foot house? The big firebox and awesome reviews has me chomping at the bits to buy one for next winter. I use a smaller stove right now and although it puts out some awesome heat I only get a GOOD big heat producing burn for about 4 hrs. And although I still have some coals left in the morning usually to get a fire going it’s not producing much heat at that point. I think with the firebox size of the NC-30 I could get a much longer burn time through the cold midwestern nights. My only worry is that it will be to much stove for the slightly milder days through out the winter. My house is right at 1400 sq ft and insulated fairly well. And I usually keep the house anywhere from 72-75 degrees in the winter. Any input would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance
I just picked up the NC30 last week and replaced the Us Stove 2000 with it. My Cape built in the 20’s stone foundation. Basement is just under 800sqft and the main level and 2nd level combined is 1300. Insulated attic to R-38 and rim joists in basement. New windows and doors all around. So with that I’ll tell you that with my set up(20ft Class A) I can have the stove loaded SST around 700 for a solid three hours and will slowly taper down to 350 over the next 3-4 depending on wood. Only thing heating the house is the stove in the basement and keeps main level at 70 and upstairs at 65/66 with temps around 20-25 degrees here in CT. Hope this helps.
 
In an effort to make my nc30 a furnace I managed to fabricate an effective convection deck and a much larger than oem blower with thermostatic on/off. It makes a big difference in output.
i know, i'm pirating the idea from you
 
i know, i'm pirating the idea from you

Please do. I have been happy with it and would be happy to provide measurements or whatever. This forum used to have more nc30 fans and many of them migrated to that other site with the woodstock guys. It's still a great stove.

I've been burning hardwoods recently and spending large stretches of time in the shop with the nc30 so have been able to expore the lower output settings. This stove is actually pretty decent at medium output, window stays clean and respectable burn times for a noncat. With the ashier hardwoods I can honestly relight from coals the next morning.

I moved my gaming console out to the barn so I can play slasher games out there all day long without interruption! Winters are long, dark, wet, and clammy up here in WA.
 
I'll be heating approx. 1200sq ft from the basement.
It'll be interesting to hear how it works for you, in comparison to the cat. I've never had a non-cat but I'm thinking about getting one to replace my Dutchwest cat backup stove.
In your case you probably won't be "chasing the heat curve" as you say, since the stove is in the basement and won't be roasting you upstairs. If you hang out downstairs, convection to the upstairs should keep it comfortable down there as well.
 
It'll be interesting to hear how it works for you, in comparison to the cat. I've never had a non-cat but I'm thinking about getting one to replace my Dutchwest cat backup stove.
In your case you probably won't be "chasing the heat curve" as you say, since the stove is in the basement and won't be roasting you upstairs. If you hang out downstairs, convection to the upstairs should keep it comfortable down there as well.
Yea, I’m getting pretty excited to install the nc30, I’m not new to the tube stoves, I had a us stove 2500 for 3 seasons and installed 2 nc30’s for friends, I am confident this is the route I want to go, hopefully HB’s convection deck idea pans out, don’t see a reason why it should not, can’t wait to play with the new stove
 
It'll make lots of heat even without the convection deck. It's a big stove.
 
Comparing the NC-30 and its newer design cousin, Summers heat SHSS-50 The 50 seems to put out more heat and definitely burns cleaner. I have both stoves in the same house. Now i have to say that my 50 has a warped door and stove body and is going back soon. But for the first season it just seemed to put out more heat and allow for loading more wood at a time. I run the 50 at about 550 (before the door started warping)and the 30 at about 650 Stove top temp. Possibly its the huge door on the 50 that really sends radiant heat out the front. Even with wood in the coaling stage the 50 still puts out a ton of heat. Ill reevaluate when i get the new 50 replacement stove.

20181130_173517.jpg
 
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