budget woodstove recommendation (2,000 sq ft), non-catalytic

[oifla]

Hello all,

I'm looking for a non-catalytic woodstove to heat a 2,000 sq ft home with.

More details on the house: footpring is prob closer to 1,200 (second story not quite total overlap), first floor is slab on grade. Good insulation (6" walls) throughout, lots of south facing windows, and the house is located in Indiana.

In other words I could probably get away with a smaller stove but it is important for me to get as large a firebox as possible to extend the burn time.

I don't have too much experience with newer stoves: my only experience comes from having installed one of the larger Drolet stoves (big firebox, HT2000?, with secondary burn).

Would appreciate any recommendations for either new stoves or recent models that may be available on the used market. Thanks!

O.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

Although I don't own one I would highly recommend looking at the stoves from Englander. They have a model that heats 2,000 sq ft and more (used to be called the NC-30 but the model number is different now). They also sell their stoves through stores like Home Depot so that could be beneficial for things like getting the stove to you.

Drolets also are pretty good for one of the "big box store" models. The HT2000 was a nice model, I believe it was replaced by the HT3000 as that model seems to be the one advertised at stores.

If you prefer working with a stove shop/stove dealer, Lopi stoves have several very nice non catalytic models.

 

[begreen]

Tell us more about the house's 1st-floor plan, stove room, and stove location. The HT2000 has been replaced by the HT3000. If the first floor has an open floorplan and the heat has an easy way to get upstairs, then the HT3000 may be ok. Otherwise, a smaller stove may be a better choice.

 

[Woody Stover]

The problem with a large non-cat is that if you load it up for a long burn, it may roast out the space during the first several hours of the burn. My SIL has a 2 cu.ft. stove, and she just burns partial loads most of the time. When the load is in the coaling stage, this stove seems to produce heat for quite a few hours. She doesn't need a super-long burn most of the time, however. If by "long burn," you mean 10-12 hrs. of even heat, that is going to be hard to do with a non-cat. But with decent weatherizing, a partial load can keep the space warm for a long time. SIL's house is about 1500 sq.ft. IIRC. Stove is a PE T5 and has a cast iron jacket, not a "value stove," so it may heat a bit differently than a cheaper stove would, over the duration of a load.

 

[Caw]

I do well heating my 1800 sq ft 2 story cape with an Osburn 1600 non cat (newer 2020 model is the 1700). Osburn made by the same company as Drolet its just their higher level model. It has a 1.85 cu ft firebox. I can get a solid 4-6 hrs of good heat out of it at 500-650 cruising on a full load followed by some decent cooling time at 300-450 degrees. It will carry coals 8-10 hours for overnight/am reloading. Sometimes if it's closer to 10 hrs it might need some kindling jumpstart but it's not bad. If you want easy overnight burns I wouldn't go any smaller though. I really stuff the crap out of it to get those longer burns. I would recommend more of a 2 to 2.2 cu ft size and one you can preferably load N/S (mine is E/W only). I had to go slightly smaller due to fireplace size limitations.

The stove is on my first floor which is a very closed plan. However the staircase upstairs is in in stove room so the heat rises nicely and I use a single fan to generate some convection for downstairs. Stove room us usually 76-80, upstairs 68-72 and the far rooms (kitchen/dining room) 65-68 when I'm burning 24/7. A more open plan would make even temperatures easier but this works for us. No one is really ever in the stove room anyways unless you're cold or want to look at it.

I love my non cat stove. It's a simple tool that does the job very well once you get learn and used to the loading cycles. It's just second nature.

 

[ohlongarm]

Hello all,

I'm looking for a non-catalytic woodstove to heat a 2,000 sq ft home with.

More details on the house: footpring is prob closer to 1,200 (second story not quite total overlap), first floor is slab on grade. Good insulation (6" walls) throughout, lots of south facing windows, and the house is located in Indiana.

In other words I could probably get away with a smaller stove but it is important for me to get as large a firebox as possible to extend the burn time.

I don't have too much experience with newer stoves: my only experience comes from having installed one of the larger Drolet stoves (big firebox, HT2000?, with secondary burn).

Would appreciate any recommendations for either new stoves or recent models that may be available on the used market. Thanks!

O.

Drolet Escape will do it well built ,they make a decent stove.

 

[oifla]

I thought I'd already posted this but here it goes anyway (pls let me know if the following is somehow problematic):

I like the Drolets (had one a large HT2000 a few years ago) but they don't seem to be available anywhere near me. I even emailed them to ask and haven't heard back.

Are folks familiar with the Englander 15-W03 sold by HD? It's on the smaller side but seems decent. Also, and most importantly, it seems available!

O.

 

[begreen]

The problem with a large non-cat is that if you load it up for a long burn, it may roast out the space during the first several hours of the burn.

Then don't do it. Adjust the load size and frequency to the heating needs.

 

[begreen]

I thought I'd already posted this but here it goes anyway (pls let me know if the following is somehow problematic):

I like the Drolets (had one a large HT2000 a few years ago) but they don't seem to be available anywhere near me. I even emailed them to ask and haven't heard back.

Are folks familiar with the Englander 15-W03 sold by HD? It's on the smaller side but seems decent. Also, and most importantly, it seems available!

O.

The updated version of the Drolet HT2000 is the HT3000, same guts as the Enerzone 3.5. My preference is for the Englander NC-32. This is an update of a time proven design. The long term reliablity of the 15-W03 is unknown at this time. In its prior incarnation this stove had a lot of problems with ill fitting and warped doors.