Buying first wood stove and looking for help/opinions

[PAcountryboy]

I am a complete newbie, and I’ve been reading this site as much as I can to find answers to my questions. I’m becoming overwhelmed at the amount of info here, and hope some comments and opinions from others can shorten my research time.

Some quick background info: I’m looking to purchase a new woodstove to replace oil as the main heat source in an old farmhouse I recently purchased. The house is 2020 square feet. The stove will be placed near the staircase that goes upstairs, which has a door on it. I hope this will allow me to control the heat by opening/closing the door going upstairs if need be. It’s just my wife and I and we live mainly on the first floor, with the second floor being mostly for guests when they come to visit.

The stove I was considering was the Lopi Leyden, due to it’s top loading feature. However, after reading that this stove is a downdraft style stove and researching all the plusses and minuses that go along with it, I’ve decided that downdraft probably isn’t for me. I’m looking for ease of use, as we both work and will not be home to play around with the fire. We need as close to a “set it and forget it” stove as possible, with as long of a burn time as possible. I’ve come across the Quadrafire Isle Royale, but my concern is that it may be too big (2500+ sq. ft. heating capacity) for our home. Is this a justified concern, or would this stove be O.K. for our situation? I also have an attic, to which I can open a door to allow more heat to escape, but I don’t want to burn inefficiently. I’m doing this to save money, not waste it!

Seems as though my only other option in a top loader would be a catalytic stove. Are they really more costly to maintain? Would the top loading feature be worth buying a catalytic stove, or would it be better to just forget the top loading feature and go with a front/side loading stove? I’m open to any suggestions. My wife really thinks the top loading feature is nice, but again, ease of use, efficiency, and getting the right stove for my house are top priorities. We do want to stick to the cast iron stoves for the looks.

Any and all suggestions/opinions regarding the stove I’ve mentioned, or other stoves would be GREATLY appreciated. I will probably ask a lot more questions, and I thank everyone in advance for taking time to respond.

 

[webbie]

The Quad is a good stove - lots of people happy with that one.

The Leyden also has a number of happy owners here - keep in mind that although this is a similar design to the Vermont Castings NC models, Lopi and the other maker of that design (Harman) did their own tune-ups on it.

Catalytics are good for set and forget - many here are happy with the Woodstock Soapstone, which is a cat. At the current time, I have a harder time suggesting Vermont Castings as they are currently in-between owners...having gone bankrupt a few months ago.

I think you will be happy with the Quad if you want top loading and proven performance.....and the cast look. Jotul makes the Oslo, which is a nice cast stove with side and front (mostly side) local. Also, Pacific Energy makes the Alderlea, which is highly regarded and has a cast look - front loading.

 

[PAcountryboy]

Thanks for the info!

So do you think the Quadrafire would be too much stove for my application? I'm just really concerned about cooking ourselves out of the house. We generally like our house on the cool side anyway, so I don't want to be inefficient. Also concerned about keeping the stove hot enough to keep the chimney clean.


You mentioned soapstone. I wanted to ask about the pros/cons with soapstone stoves as well, but forgot. Do they really rediate heat much longer than just a regular cast iron stove? Maybe that would be something to look into in our situation in which we may not be home for extended periods of time. (9 hours +) Any input regarding them would be appreciated as well.

 

[webbie]

I don't think the Quad would be too much - you said Farmhouse, and that brings to mind something not up to current energy codes!

I think a 9 hour burn, honestly, is pushing it with just about any stove on the market. The exception might be the cat blaze king and a few others. Running a stove for that type of burn time on a constant level is not something to rely on....IMHO. As long as you don't mind restarting the fire or just having a couple coals left, you should be OK.

Soapstone tends to moderate the heat - a high mass stove will not quickly go up and down in heat as a thinner stove may. That means the stove may still be warm, although the fire may be out. The same applies if you build a back wall out of masonry - mass within the home will tend to hold the heat.
A non-cat stove will have an even harder time at 9+ hours. If I really wanted that length of burn, I would look at central heating or cat stoves.....

 

[PAcountryboy]

So if I don't mind having to re-start the fire, a soapstone may be advantageous in that the house may be warmer when I come home after work vs. a non-soap stone?

Dumb question: Are there other brands of catalytic stoves other than V.C.? I have not been searching for them, so V.C. are the only one's I've come across. (In a cast iron stove)


Thanks again!

 

[northwinds]

I've got the Isle Royale in a house that's 2100 square feet. The Isle Royale is an excellent heater, but I don't think
you need to worry about the stove being too much for your house. A wood stove isn't like turning the thermostat
to a set temperature; there are temperature fluctuations, but you should be able to regulate your heat with wood
selection, air control, smaller fires. I've never heated anyone out of the house. The other thing to remember is
that wood stove manufacturers tend to be overly optimistic about the size of house that can be heated, along with
extended burn time estimates.

 

[Todd]

So if I don't mind having to re-start the fire, a soapstone may be advantageous in that the house may be warmer when I come home after work vs. a non-soap stone?

Dumb question: Are there other brands of catalytic stoves other than V.C.? I have not been searching for them, so V.C. are the only one's I've come across. (In a cast iron stove)


Thanks again!

Here are some cats www.woodstove.com, Blaze King, Energy King, Buck, and I'm sure there are a few others I can't think of.

 

[PAcountryboy]

Thanks Northwinds. I kinda thought they may be overly-optimistic about heating capacity, but want to make sure. I stopped by a local dealer to check things out and he is the reason I'm so concerned about over-heating. He says you want it to burn hot to keep the chimney clean, and that I shouldn't get too big of a stove. Also, the way the house is laid out, I will probably need blowers on doorways to get the heat into other rooms. I was concerned that the kitchen/dining room area where the stove will be installed may become too hot.

Part of our square footage is two newer (10 yrs. old) additions that are built to modern standards. One is a living room that is very large and has a propane fireplace. This will be my first winter in the house, so I have no idea how much heat it will produce, but the previous owners said it would only heat that room. Seems that it may be more for looks rather than actual heating use, but it is there for any additional heating I may need.

 

[northwinds]

Thanks Northwinds. I kinda thought they may be overly-optimistic about heating capacity, but want to make sure. I stopped by a local dealer to check things out and he is the reason I'm so concerned about over-heating. He says you want it to burn hot to keep the chimney clean, and that I shouldn't get too big of a stove. Also, the way the house is laid out, I will probably need blowers on doorways to get the heat into other rooms. I was concerned that the kitchen/dining room area where the stove will be installed may become too hot.

Part of our square footage is two newer (10 yrs. old) additions that are built to modern standards. One is a living room that is very large and has a propane fireplace. This will be my first winter in the house, so I have no idea how much heat it will produce, but the previous owners said it would only heat that room. Seems that it may be more for looks rather than actual heating use, but it is there for any additional heating I may need.

He's correct that you want to burn hot. Short, hot fires will produce less heat than long, hot fires. In the late fall when it starts cooling down, I'll be burning one or two short hot fires to keep the house from overheating. During February, when temps stayed below zero for extended periods of time, the stove could stay on 24/7, but I would let the stove go through the natural cycles of burning down to a few coals if I needed to moderate the temps. You'll get the hang of it. I only had the chance to use my Isle Royale a few months before winter ended. There will be other Isle Royale users putting in their two cents before long.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Always beware when someone tells you to burn hot fires to keep the chimney clean. WRONG!!

The key to keeping the chimney clean is burning only well seasoned wood. Yes, it is better to keep the fire a little hot rather than dampering it way down to a smoldering fire, but just saying burning a hot fire to keep the chimney clean is dead wrong. That is one cause of chimney fires. If you burn good wood and burn it right you won't have a problem. You still need to keep checking the chimney though, especially at the very top and the cap.

You also asked about cat stoves. Woodstock makes probably the best one on the market with their soapstone stoves. When we were in the market for a new stove we wanted to stay away from the cat. stoves because of some things we had heard and read. Long story short, we bought a soapstone cat. stove.

We installed that last summer along with a new chimney. That is our only source of heat and we used much less wood to get more heat than we used to (less than 3 cord vs. over 5). Also, we used to clean our chimney several times each year. We have yet to clean our chimney after installing the Fireview.

Good luck to you.

 

[Jags]

I have a 1740 sqft farm house and heat with an Isle Royal. It can be controlled for most any weather conditions that heat is required. The hard part of ANY new stove is gonna be the learning curve. Small fires, big fires, long fires, short fires.....you get the picture.

 

[PAcountryboy]

The key to keeping the chimney clean is burning only well seasoned wood. Yes, it is better to keep the fire a little hot rather than dampering it way down to a smoldering fire, but just saying burning a hot fire to keep the chimney clean is dead wrong. That is one cause of chimney fires. If you burn good wood and burn it right you won't have a problem. You still need to keep checking the chimney though, especially at the very top and the cap.

You also asked about cat stoves. Woodstock makes probably the best one on the market with their soapstone stoves. When we were in the market for a new stove we wanted to stay away from the cat. stoves because of some things we had heard and read. Long story short, we bought a soapstone cat. stove.

Thanks for the info. So what's the deal with burning pine? Can you burn it safely if it's seasoned? If so, how long must it be seasoned? Certain types O.K., and others not? Everyone is telling me I can't burn it due to creosote build-up. I realize I won't get as much heat out of it, but I have TONS of downed pines on my property and I'd hate to see them go to waste. My thinking is that if I can burn it, I could use it on milder days????


Also, about the soapstone stoves.......do they really work as advertised? Anybody have any experience with Hearthstone stoves?
I looked into the Woodstock fireview, but it seems like it may be a little small for application.

 

[Jags]

The coldest parts of North America have nothing BUT pine (or cousins). Season well, and smoke'em if ya got'em.

 

[Jags]

Oh, and about soap stone stoves. Its all about mass. Got lots of heated mass, you have a lot of stored heat to get dispersed, even if the fire is out. Got lots of cold mass, its gonna take longer to heat up. Hot/cold cycles are also minimized because of the mass.

 

[Geepop]

You can burn almost any variety of wood you want but different woods have different coaling and holding properties and of course BTU's. For me it's 99% hardwood as I have to store my wood for the winter in my basement. It would take a lot higher volumn of softwood to our house and softwood would not warm the house through the night. I want to have as much room left as possible in the basement after the winter's wood is laid up.

 

[Todd]

The key to keeping the chimney clean is burning only well seasoned wood. Yes, it is better to keep the fire a little hot rather than dampering it way down to a smoldering fire, but just saying burning a hot fire to keep the chimney clean is dead wrong. That is one cause of chimney fires. If you burn good wood and burn it right you won't have a problem. You still need to keep checking the chimney though, especially at the very top and the cap.

You also asked about cat stoves. Woodstock makes probably the best one on the market with their soapstone stoves. When we were in the market for a new stove we wanted to stay away from the cat. stoves because of some things we had heard and read. Long story short, we bought a soapstone cat. stove.

Thanks for the info. So what's the deal with burning pine? Can you burn it safely if it's seasoned? If so, how long must it be seasoned? Certain types O.K., and others not? Everyone is telling me I can't burn it due to creosote build-up. I realize I won't get as much heat out of it, but I have TONS of downed pines on my property and I'd hate to see them go to waste. My thinking is that if I can burn it, I could use it on milder days????


Also, about the soapstone stoves.......do they really work as advertised? Anybody have any experience with Hearthstone stoves?
I looked into the Woodstock fireview, but it seems like it may be a little small for application.

Hearthstone makes a great product. Lots of happy Hearthstone owners here. The Mansfield would probably be a good fit for your 2000 sq ft. I bet the Fireview would be ok also as long as it were centrally located in an open floor plan house. I don't know why Woodstock is so conservative on their sq ft heating capacity. The Fireview has a 2.1cu ft firebox that can hold 40lbs of wood. Many people claim heating 2000 sq ft or more with this stove. I heat over 1800 sq ft no problem.

 

[RedRanger]

[quote author="Backwoods Savage" date="1217013994"]Always beware when someone tells you to burn hot fires to keep the chimney clean. WRONG!

You also asked about cat stoves. Woodstock makes probably the best one on the market with their soapstone stoves. When we were in the market for a new stove we wanted to stay away from the cat. stoves because of some things we had heard and read. Long story short, we bought a soapstone cat. stove.

Hmmm, don`t think so, me thinks that the Blaze King Princess is about the best that money can buy for a cat-stove. (wish I could have afforded it). Hopefully North of 60 will chime in here soon, he has one and calls the Napoleon 1401 just a toy :cheese: I think if you have the loot to spend you should really look at this little puppy,. And this man lives in a very,very cold climate. Apparently, the blaze king gets up to 20 hour burn times. so if you dismiss the hype, it still likely means 14 hours or so?

 

[sapratt]

Do you plan on burning this winter? If so do you have any wood that is split and seasoning?

 

[wellbuilt home]

Ive heated a 3000+ sf house with a duch west 55000 btu stove it has a cat. I burned 24/7 for 15 years .My stove is getting old and needs a rebuild and afew parts so i sprng for a harthstone exqinox i hope i will be as happy with the new stove. the CDW was great .

 

[begreen]

Do you plan on burning this winter? If so do you have any wood that is split and seasoning?

Anyone planning on burning this year should have the wood split and seasoning now. That is unless they have an exceptional wood supplier that always delivers perfectly seasoned wood or they are intending on burning compressed wood products this winter.

 

[sapratt]

I know that may have sounded like a silly question. I saw some people around here burning
last winter. One house there are just rounds stacked up stuff that should be split. The rounds
he picked up this spring. The other house I saw burning wood had there wood stacks in front of there
house last winter. They don't have any wood yet I figure it will show up in a few months.

 

[begreen]

Do you remember the story about the ant and the grasshopper? Your neighbor might be on this forum next winter asking why his stove doesn't heat very well and why his chimney cap keeps clogging. (answer - wet wood)

 

[PAcountryboy]

Do you plan on burning this winter? If so do you have any wood that is split and seasoning?

Yes, I do plan on burning this winter. I have cleared about an acre of land and have cut up the wood. Almost all small trees that do not need to be split. I plan on probably buying wood to burn this winter, and use the stuff I'm not cutting for the following winter.

 

[mtcox]

We have an Isle Royale for our 2,500 square foot home built in 1943. It's not quite enough on the days it's below 15 degrees. However, it's not that often that we see temperatures like that. We find ourselves opening doors and windows during the early and late season because I've cranked it up too much. During the primary heating season when it's 20 - 40 degrees outside the stove is a pleasure to work with. I'm sure a few of the folks have mentioned that stoves are area heaters. Our kitchen is 80' from the stove therefore making coffee in the morning after a long burn overnight is a cold adventure. My wife and I argue about who has to get out of the warm bed and venture into the kitchen at 50 degrees.

The Isle Royale is also a pleasure to look at when not in use. We considered that important because it is a prominent piece in a reading room.

 

[North of 60]

Well here is my 2 pennies worth. People have to remember that stoves are not magic. The whole deal with the concept of a CAT is that you can safely run
your stove and chimney at lower temps as long as your cat is lit off and your wood is dry. Therefore your burn time can be extended over a longer time
with a more controlled lower heat output. Remember you cant get something from nothing. The lower settings that are available on the BK or other cat stoves may not be suitable to heat a home that is not insulated properly. Turning up the heat settings will obviously reduce your burn times. Still my old stove could not even come close to compare at either end of the scale. My home is very well insulated and my shoulder seasons are long which makes this ideal for me. 6hrs has been my shortest on a high burn #3 as the stoves internal stat will throttle it back when it reaches its factory max setting witch is a peace of mind for me. This setting would be
required @ -36 C and colder to keep my oil furnace from cycling. As for pine a CAT stove is great as the sap/pitch is a great fuel to feed the cat com-buster. You can
watch the stove throttle itself down on a fresh load and the cat begin to glow as it sips the fine wine of pine at a lower controlled temp output. I have many posts
on burning pine as thats all I have which you are welcome to read. There will always be a deference of opinion and this is my experience and angles.
Hope this helps. N of 60
I think it is time to bump the Humble pine tree thread. So I will. Check it out.
Its worth the chuckle and so true.



o