Choosing a simple new stove for a mobile home

[mama duck]

I'm returning to burning wood after a long hiatus. I'm most familiar with simple stoves and used the Jotul 602 in a converted camp for many years. I live in a singlewide mobile home now (~925 square feet).

I had exciting plans to get a rebuilt F602 CB installed, but just found out that it is not approved for mobile homes, even though it can be fitted with a fresh air intake. So now I'm looking at new stoves, and it's quite daunting. Non-catalytic stoves are what I'm used to, and anything new is going to feel really weird to me. Here's a list of what's currently available locally:

(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
Pacific Energy Vista
Hearthstone Green Mountain 40
Hearthstone Craftsbury
Lopi The Answer


Could you point me in the direction of which of these stoves may perform most similarly to the Jotul 602? I'm looking more for simplicity and user-friendliness than bells and whistles.

Thank you!

 

[begreen]

Add a smaller Drolet stove to your search. The Drolet Spark II is a bit like a larger F602CB with a better window.

 

[mama duck]

Add a smaller Drolet stove to your search. The Drolet Spark II is a bit like a larger F602CB with a better window.

Thanks for the recommendation, that looks like a great stove. Unfortunately, no one in the New England taiga carries Drolet, nor is there a used one available. I think the list of stoves I posted is what's available in my area.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Depending on where Northern New England is, and the insulation in your place, you may want to look at the Pacific Energy Super. You’ll get a longer burn time, and have extra capacity for when it drops real cold.

Get your wood put up ASAP! Newer stoves want dryer wood!

 

[mama duck]

Depending on where Northern New England is, and the insulation in your place, you may want to look at the Pacific Energy Super. You’ll get a longer burn time, and have extra capacity for when it drops real cold.

Get your wood put up ASAP! Newer stoves want dryer wood!

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll ask the Pacific Energy dealer about the Super. My place has new cellulose under the roof and foam sprayed underneath. So it should be pretty good for insulation above and below, but the windows are pretty thin. One concern I have is getting the heat to the extreme ends of the home since it's 72 feet long. I'm in the mountains a few hours away from you, and we see as low as 40 below zero during our cold snaps in late January.

Good call about having dryer wood for a new stove, I hadn't heard that one. What's the ideal moisture content? Seasoned wood here is about 20-30% and one place sells kiln-dried at under 20% for a lot more money, of course.

 

[begreen]

Check with your local big box store like Lowes and see if they carry Drolet.

 

[Draughts15]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll ask the Pacific Energy dealer about the Super. My place has new cellulose under the roof and foam sprayed underneath. So it should be pretty good for insulation above and below, but the windows are pretty thin. One concern I have is getting the heat to the extreme ends of the home since it's 72 feet long. I'm in the mountains a few hours away from you, and we see as low as 40 below zero during our cold snaps in late January.

Good call about having dryer wood for a new stove, I hadn't heard that one. What's the ideal moisture content? Seasoned wood here is about 20-30% and one place sells kiln-dried at under 20% for a lot more money, of course.

I have the Super Classic and experience similar temps as you. Heats my ~25x56 home easily. I have a small 5 inch fan in the far bedroom at the other end of the house blowing the cold air out towards the kitchen/dining area. Stove is at the opposite of the end of house and the room stays above 70.

 

[stovelark]

Get something that drafts easily, a mobile home always seems to be short. Pacific Energy is a great choice.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll ask the Pacific Energy dealer about the Super. My place has new cellulose under the roof and foam sprayed underneath. So it should be pretty good for insulation above and below, but the windows are pretty thin. One concern I have is getting the heat to the extreme ends of the home since it's 72 feet long. I'm in the mountains a few hours away from you, and we see as low as 40 below zero during our cold snaps in late January.

Good call about having dryer wood for a new stove, I hadn't heard that one. What's the ideal moisture content? Seasoned wood here is about 20-30% and one place sells kiln-dried at under 20% for a lot more money, of course.

You’ll want it 20 or below. Many store at least 2 years of wood so they don’t have to worry about moisture content. Woods like soft maple, poplar, pine and such will season in a year. Oaks and locust will take 2-3.

Some stoves are more forgiving than others with wetter wood.

 

[brenndatomu]

Unfortunately, no one in the New England taiga carries Drolet, nor is there a used one available. I think the list of stoves I posted is what's available in my area.

https://myfireplaceproducts.com/us_en/spark-ii-wood-stove-db03401?xlan=heaters
Free shipping...it says they are on backorder, but in the past, things that were backordered seem to be ready to ship well before the estimated release date. No affiliation to them, just a customer.

 

[Split]

I'm returning to burning wood after a long hiatus. I'm most familiar with simple stoves and used the Jotul 602 in a converted camp for many years. I live in a singlewide mobile home now (~925 square feet).

I had exciting plans to get a rebuilt F602 CB installed, but just found out that it is not approved for mobile homes, even though it can be fitted with a fresh air intake. So now I'm looking at new stoves, and it's quite daunting. Non-catalytic stoves are what I'm used to, and anything new is going to feel really weird to me. Here's a list of what's currently available locally:

(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
Pacific Energy Vista
Hearthstone Green Mountain 40
Hearthstone Craftsbury
Lopi The Answer


Could you point me in the direction of which of these stoves may perform most similarly to the Jotul 602? I'm looking more for simplicity and user-friendliness than bells and whistles.

Thank you!

I have a PE classic LE. It's gorgeous and runs great although a bit hot. Those Hearthstones look fantastic. The good thing about my PE is the clearances are very short. It tucked right into a corner in my small home.

 

[MacEntyre]

I have a new Hearthstone Green Mountain 40 in a 20 yr old 1400 square foot "on frame modular home" (doublewide). The house is very well insulated, and tight. I installed the Outside Air Kit through the floor. There is a vent in the plenum closet that would bring in air, but did not want to burn inside air or worry about the draft.

We keep the HVAC fan set to "On" all year. That way, the air is always mixing and filtering, so we usually don't get hot or cold areas. When the wood stove is burning, the open area (living room, dining room, kitchen) is warmest, normally 75 degF or higher. The rest of the house (2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms) shows 67 at the vents.

I had to experiment to learn how to get the Green Mountain 40 started and up to 300 degF, but I can do it easily now. I like the way the secondary air works to maintain efficiency once the stove is hot, even on the lowest air setting. The stove is sized well for our location. We generally have mild winters, here in Rockingham County, NC, with about 15 to 20 heat-pump-killer-days each winter. If we were just a little further north or west, I would want a larger stove. At the end of the burn time, when the stove is still on the catalyst, above 300 degF, and the fire is a hot bed of coals, the stove cools significantly, so I reload early, timing it to get the temperature back up when people wake up. The burn time is a function of the quality of the wood.