Can't decide!!! Modern Free Standing Wood stove

[edouardp]

I have been researching modern free-standing stoves for a while now and keep going back and forth.

We live in the Hudson Valley in NY just north of NYC. I'm coming from a historic house that I heated with an outside wood boiler as well as 2 older vermont castings. House is a split ranch and location of the stove would be centered in the house on one of the exterior walls (vented up and through attic to roof). Main floor is just shy of 1400sqft. Basement is somewhat below-grade and not too worried about...not that I have a choice either .

Suggestions and research have pointed me towards the following: Stuv 16, Neo 2.5, Osburn Matrix or Inspire, MF Nova, Invicta Kazan.

My wife is stuck on modern looking so it is what it is. Curious what everyone thinks is the best match of modern and most efficient

THANK YOU!

 

[begreen]

Is the intent to heat with the stove 24/7 all winter or as supplemental heat on nights and weekends?
How well insulated is the house? How open is the floorplan? If there is an open kitchen/dining/LR, with attached hallway and BRs + bath off of the hallway, then most of the heat will be good in the open area. The far bedroom(s) will not see as much without assistance.

 

[EbS-P]

Neo 2,5 would be my choice of what you’ve listed. I might add the Blaze king boxer to the list. Osborns are decent too. I think the Stuv is a single burn rate so that would not ever make my list. Nova looks appealing not sure about its track record yet.

 

[begreen]

The Nova is also a fixed burn rate stove. That's why I ask how it will be used. The Rais Q-Tee II has an air control and is contemporary, but on the small side. It would be fine as a chill chaser if the actual heated area was smaller. I know nothing about the Invicta Kazan except that it's quite shallow which will restrict working load capacity.

 

[edouardp]

Thank you for your reply @begreen and @EbS-P !

I would want the stove to be used pretty much 24/7. I'm not confident the house is insulated very well but I am having a blower door test done in a couple weeks to see where my main issues are.

The house has open living and dining with the hall across from the stove with bath and 2 bedrooms off of it. Full finished basement should help lessen amount of heat loss in main upper floor I would imagine. Kitchen is somewhat open with a pass-through and opening for walking through. We have 1 ceiling fan in living room and totally fine using smaller plug in fans along with radiant fan on top of stove if that's what you mean by "assistance" to get to the bedrooms.

Thanks again!

 

[stoveliker]

The BK Chinook also looks modern (in my European opinion..). IF you go with a BK, and given "possibly not well insulated", I'd go for the larger one. The 30.2 fireboxes are larger than the one of the Boxer.

 

[edouardp]

Has anyone had experience or know of the MF Nova 2?

 

[begreen]

There are some past reviews of this stove available via search. The owners seem happy with them. As mentioned, it is a single burn rate stove, but clean burning and easy to use. One person had an issue with smoke rollout, if I recall.

MF Fire Nova - anyone else have one?

Hey there. Anyone else have an MF Fire Nova stove? I see lots of discussion about Jotul, Blaze King, etc on here. We got the Nova mid Fall, moved it up to our lake house, and have been pleased thus far. Anyway, several of the tips on here have been very helpful so thanks guys.

www.hearth.com

If 24/7 heating is the goal, I second the PE Neo 2.5 or Osburn Matrix. recommendation.

 

[European Burner]

Thank you for your reply @begreen and @EbS-P !

I would want the stove to be used pretty much 24/7. I'm not confident the house is insulated very well but I am having a blower door test done in a couple weeks to see where my main issues are.

The house has open living and dining with the hall across from the stove with bath and 2 bedrooms off of it. Full finished basement should help lessen amount of heat loss in main upper floor I would imagine. Kitchen is somewhat open with a pass-through and opening for walking through. We have 1 ceiling fan in living room and totally fine using smaller plug in fans along with radiant fan on top of stove if that's what you mean by "assistance" to get to the bedrooms.

Thanks again!

As a burner in Europe I am not aware of some of the options you mention. Apart from having a unique combustion speed, Stuv is a device with a lot of design and, in my opinion, intended more as a decorative element than as a heating element. The Neo 2.5 was probably my choice, my mother has an Alderlea T4 and it is a spectacular stove with a smaller but basically identical fire chamber. If you need heat, the output it provides is very high and if you want to burn slowly, it is incredible how well its air regulation works and in our case, when you need less heat, the consumption of wood is low. I hope it helps.

 

[edouardp]

I've been researching Blaze King Chinook. They look impressive. Given my brick and block home I'm moving into I'm unsure as to what size to go with. The larger 30.2 is quite large for our space but I don't want to undersize. We will be burning only well seasoned ash and maple if that makes any different in decision. House will have 1 to 2 ceiling fans to move air around and is quite an open concept. 1300-1400sqft

 

[stoveliker]

The turn down (low end of the output range) is very similar for the two models. So I'd go with the larger one.

 

[stoveliker]

As an example, I heat 1700 sqft (+ the 825 sqft finished basement that the stove is in) with the 30.2
I can (and did) heat with it when it was 48 F outside and sunny (and around 34 F or so at night, if I remember correctly). The need for BTUs is rather low in my home at that time. It could turn down enough to nicely keep it around 70 F on the 1200 sqft main floor. (And due to that large turn down, the stove ate thru the fuel rather slowly, reaching a 36-ish hour burn time (as measured by the cat falling out of the active range, and thus stopping to provide the heat).

This is the general advice here: given that the BTU rate running low is 11342 for the 20.2 and 11993 for the 30.2, that 650 BTU per hour is not going to make an observable difference in heat output imo. So go with the larger one if the space/geometry (clearances) allows.

 

[BKVP]

On the Chinook model you will want to order the optional blowers. During the shoulder seasons you may not need the blowers, but when it gets really cold, you will want them in order to move heat further into the home.

 

[stoveliker]

I agree. With an open concept, blowers help (lower temp gradient in the open room, moving away from the stove).
However, the ceiling fans may work sufficiently already (probably best if they "suck up" the air, rather than blow down the air, so you don't sit in a drafty place). Nevertheless, even if you may not necessarily need it for moving the heat, if it gets COLD cold, a fan will help extract more heat from the stove.

 

[BKVP]

I agree. With an open concept, blowers help (lower temp gradient in the open room, moving away from the stove).
However, the ceiling fans may work sufficiently already (probably best if they "suck up" the air, rather than blow down the air, so you don't sit in a drafty place). Nevertheless, even if you may not necessarily need it for moving the heat, if it gets COLD cold, a fan will help extract more heat from the stove.

The top surface jacketing can trap temp that a ceiling fan won't be able to move into the further reaches of the room; the blowers do.

 

[stoveliker]

That is one thing I have wondered about. I don't have the fan kit and am heating my home from the basement. It works well, down to the lowest temperature I have experienced here.

But, why are there no holes at the bottom of the side jacket (and then have that also open to the top jacketed space)?
There are holes at the top of the side jacket, but if you close them off, instead open up holes from the side jacket space to the top of the stove, and add holes at the bottom of the side jacket, you'll get waaay more convection?

 

[BKVP]

That is one thing I have wondered about. I don't have the fan kit and am heating my home from the basement. It works well, down to the lowest temperature I have experienced here.

But, why are there no holes at the bottom of the side jacket (and then have that also open to the top jacketed space)?
There are holes at the top of the side jacket, but if you close them off, instead open up holes from the side jacket space to the top of the stove, and add holes at the bottom of the side jacket, you'll get waaay more convection?

The side shields with holes help to reduce side clearances. The top deck reduces ceiling clearances for alcove installs.

The temperatures trapped between the stoves firebox top and top deck is very, very high. Blowers move that heat out in a convection fashion and further into the living space.

Chinook owners always remark how well the fans help.

 

[Hoytman]

@BKVP
Can the side shields be removed for more radiant heat on Sirocco, Princess, and King models?

 

[BKVP]

The clearances were established with them installed. We have no data with the shields not installed....
Sorry.

 

[stoveliker]

The side shields with holes help to reduce side clearances. The top deck reduces ceiling clearances for alcove installs.

The temperatures trapped between the stoves firebox top and top deck is very, very high. Blowers move that heat out in a convection fashion and further into the living space.

Chinook owners always remark how well the fans help.

I understand, of course it gets more heat output with a fan.

But that doesn't answer the question of why a few different holes were not designed to drastically improve convection without the fan. (Flow from bottom sides to the top, over the top and out to the front.)

Is this to sell more fan kits?

 

[BKVP]

I understand, of course it gets more heat output with a fan.

But that doesn't answer the question of why a few different holes were not designed to drastically improve convection without the fan. (Flow from bottom sides to the top, over the top and out to the front.)

Is this to sell more fan kits?

Yes...not really. But I'll look but I believe the top and sides do not have common air movement opportunities. I'll check next week.

 

[stoveliker]

Looking forward to that.

In my 30.2, there is a plate steel wall between the top of the side shield volume and the space between stove and top convection deck. In the side shield volume there is a thicker (seems like cast iron) T-bar, but above that, holes could be made.for air movement from side to top.