As clean yes they are required to but they usually aren't as efficient at transferring heat to the house so more heat is wasted up the chimney. They also generally use cheaper baffles attachments for the tubes latches etc. You can still get a decent life out of them but they usually don't hold up as well as the more expensive models
Choosing a durable, economical wood stove
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Does that meet the clearance requirements? Does your hearth meat the required r value?
I have a Madison model by Englander bought at Lowes for under 1K. It heats my 700 ish sq ft cabin extremely well. I must note I have half your square footage and while not a open layout, a much more compat , less linear layout than what you have.
Yes, that is a good point too. On top of the original particle board flooring, we've laid 1/2 inch plywood throughout the house. My husband will also eventually reinforce the floor from underneath, where there are heavy objects like the wood stove.
Yes, it meets the clearance requirements, and there is no required r-value, just spark & ember protection. However, we do have 3-inch rockwool inside the wood frame to protect the laminate floor, and over the wood frame (and 3/4" plywood), there is 3/4" of cement board with 1.7" patio brick on top.
One hallway with two bedrooms, then it makes an L shape bend where there is a bathroom and another bedroom at the end. I use two fans to move the air
Yes. Those are the issues I found. The baffles were thin and not very sturdy. The tubes were thin, and the overall metal used in the stove appeared thin. Especially when compared to the Regency. Aside from that, it burned clean and put out decent heat.
To be clear me saying that the mid level stoves are better is not meant to indicate that I think the better budget options are not good stoves. For the money they are a very good value and serve many people well.
And efficiencies are all posted on the epa list so you can see what you are (or are not) losing with a cheaper stove.
Yes efficency based upon a load of wood that is only packed to a certain density based upon the listed firebox volume. Not powered by a chimney but instead powered by a fan pulling exactly the right ammout of draft on the stove. And run by people who know exactly what they need to do to maximise efficency and minimize emissions.
The data is far better than we had in the past but still far from real world results.
You also have to take into account the degradation of the cheaper and less durable materials used. How long will the cheaper stove operate as designed compared to higher end stoves?
OK, thank you. I'm still kind of wondering if it would be worth it in the long run to go with a little higher option, such as a Regency Classic F2450 (2.3 cu ft firebox; dealer lists base price as $2310) or the Quadra-Fire 3100 Millenium (has 2.0 cu ft firebox, heats 1000-2600 sq ft.; brochure from local dealer says base price is $1889). I mean, twice the price...but IF its useful life is twice as long and it runs better during that time? Are they better and more pleasant to work with? Better draft? Less smoke in the house? Easier to fire up?
They will be more durable but probably not double. In my experience yes they work better but again not double. I would not be at all scared to get a drolet or Englander.
As far as ease of startup smoke in the house etc that depends upon draft. How tall is your chimney?
Yes, that's just it. Some claim that the cheaper ones are just as durable and well made. But, I want to know if they really will perform the way I expect. I'm already tired of being frustrated by a stove that won't get up & running because of draft issues. I do not want to spend $1000 on a stove that's going to have the same issues.
Draft is created by the chimney not the stove. Actually newer stoves are generally going to require more draft than old ones like yours. How tall is your chimney
One more issue I'm concerned about: The Englander I'm looking at, its manual says that it REQUIRES (in bold print) a 15-foot pipe/chimney to get the draft to run correctly. But, there is only 4 feet between the top of the stove and my ceiling, one foot through the ceiling & roof, and then there is 3 feet of chimney above the roof. That's only 8 feet. Not much more than HALF what it needs. How could I add 7 feet to the top of my chimney?! A chimney that towers 10 feet above my little trailer house??? That would look ridiculous! What do I do?
You will need at least 12'. Your short chimney is causing your draft problems
Your *current* draft problems.
Given that you will need a taller chimney for any (well, let's not say never, but for all intents and purposes, all) other stove, I'd first tackle that. Then see if your current stove may be working out for you.
And if not you can think about another stove...
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I think the money would be better spent on your chimney system. That old stove should have no problem getting up and running, especially with actually dry firewood. You will need 15' of flue from the collar of the stove to the top of the chimney at a minimum for a modern stove. Part of the cost on the expensive stove is that they come from a store that is supposed to be staffed by experts. Those experts are supposed to be able to look at your house and determine which stove would be best. If you don't need that help then go with a "box store" or a Woodstock stove.
No B.S.! Some guys here call the chimney the "engine" of the stove... Cars no good without a good engine, same with the stove.
When I did my "break in" burns out in the driveway to cure the paint without stinking up the house I was freaking out because I couldn't keep it burning with the door shut and air wide open with 4' of stovepipe on it. Once installed with all the pipe and chimney liner no problem...
A new stove will be better than the old one, but without a proper chimney you will be very unhappy.
When I did my "break in" burns out in the driveway to cure the paint without stinking up the house I was freaking out because I couldn't keep it burning with the door shut and air wide open with 4' of stovepipe on it. Once installed with all the pipe and chimney liner no problem...
A new stove will be better than the old one, but without a proper chimney you will be very unhappy.
From top of our old stove to top of chimney is between 7 1/2 and 8 feet. Not near enough from what I'm learning, but how do we fix that?
I mean, wouldn't it look ridiculous to have another 5 to 8 feet added to the top of our 3-ft (atop the house) prefab chimney?
If you want it to work that is what you will need for a modern stove. You may get away with just adding 4' for your existing stove
The stove we have will absolutely not work. It's very thin; even the door is 1/16" thick! When it does fire up nice and hot, the door bends out. Warps really bad. And smoke comes out of several places on the stove because it's not properly welded together. We tried to seal it with high-temp stove cement, but it just crumbled off. Also, we tried to afix one of those rope-type door gaskets to the door to seal it, but we couldn't even shut the door, and again, the stove cement didn't hold for long. The gasket just fell off! Then there is the position of the damper control; it's right on the stove pipe collar, only 1/2" above the top surface of the stove. My dad says that is not nearly high enough.
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