Comparing stoves for a new install.

[EvertonPete]

Hello all. I've been browsing this forum while trying to do research on a new stove. There has been a LOT of great information, but I've also gotten a bit overwhelmed by new variables I should take into account in my decision. I was hoping someone here might have time to point me in the right direction.

Last year, my wife and I purchased a small farm with a 3600 sq/ft two story log home (2k downstairs, 1600 up). The house has an older geothermal unit downstairs and conventional electric HVAC setup upstairs. The house is very open downstairs, with a large opening at the stairwell for air to rise up to the 2nd level. We want to install a wood stove for a few reasons: 1. supplemental heating to take stress off our geo unit and lower our winter electric bill, 2. heating for when we lose power ( we are off a wooded gravel road and power has been cut a few times) 3. Who builds a big log cabin with no fireplace??

The stove wouldn't see 24/7 usage here in Central Ky, plus I work full-time and wouldn't be able to tend the fire throughout the day. My wife works from home. I am looking for a stove large enough to heat most of the house, but efficient enough and with long burn times that I don't have to get up to add wood in middle of the night. I'm limited on my install locations to an outside wall. House is NOT air tight, I have a lot of windows and caulking to replace over the next 6-12 months. Thought would be that I can start a new fire as I get home in the afternoon, refill before bed and when I get up for work.

What is on my list:

PE Summit Classic LE- The T6 sized one.
Hearthstone Mansfield or Manchester

I like the idea of the soapstone for longer lasting, radiant heat, but I've read some bad reviews about Hearthstone and components breaking. I wonder if the soapstone will take too long to get hot after i start the fire when home from work?

I've seen some good things said here about PE, which is why i looked at them in the first place. I like the size, aesthetic, and price seems good.

I've also looked at the Jotul F500 Oslo, BK King seemed too expensive.

 

[EbS-P]

Couple things to think about will you be buying firewood or getting it yourself. I did some payback calculations for our 16 Seer heat pump and even burning 2 cords a year I’m looking at 10-15 year break even point when even if I keep keeping wood for free. Power is 0.12$ per kWh here. That said it didn’t stop me from dropping over 5000$ on a new stove. That said the last three winter we have been much warmer.
If I had any aspirations of heating 3600 sq ft with a layout that opens up I would not even consider a stove less than 3 cu ft. I don’t think F500 wouldn’t be big enough. T6 looks nice. If you are wanting serious heat and long burns the BK King is where I would start. Yeah it’s expensive. Yes 8” pipe costs more. But when the power goes out every other stove will have you up in the middle of the night reloading if it’s cold outside. That’s a lot of beautiful windows. That at best are what R6-8? That said the King is no looker and would be immediately vetoed.
I would have no reservations about the T6. There are other options other might suggest.
Why do you say you are limited to an outside wall?
Evan

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Regency F5200

 

[marty319]

Osburn 3500

 

[EvertonPete]

Couple things to think about will you be buying firewood or getting it yourself. I did some payback calculations for our 16 Seer heat pump and even burning 2 cords a year I’m looking at 10-15 year break even point when even if I keep keeping wood for free. Power is 0.12$ per kWh here. That said it didn’t stop me from dropping over 5000$ on a new stove. That said the last three winter we have been much warmer.
If I had any aspirations of heating 3600 sq ft with a layout that opens up I would not even consider a stove less than 3 cu ft. I don’t think F500 wouldn’t be big enough. T6 looks nice. If you are wanting serious heat and long burns the BK King is where I would start. Yeah it’s expensive. Yes 8” pipe costs more. But when the power goes out every other stove will have you up in the middle of the night reloading if it’s cold outside. That’s a lot of beautiful windows. That at best are what R6-8? That said the King is no looker and would be immediately vetoed.
I would have no reservations about the T6. There are other options other might suggest.
Why do you say you are limited to an outside wall?
Evan

I mainly say limited to outside wall due to what I expect would be a substantial install cost of having to vent through a 2nd floor and concealing the pipe running through a bedroom. We also have a lot of open space in one corner of downstairs where a stove would fit nicely.
I’m not sure of the window ratings, but we’ve lost the seals between the panes on many of them, so a rebuild or replacement is in order.
We have a number of standing dead trees on the farm, but probably not a sustainable supply. I do have access to more for free from friends and family.
The goal is to supplement the current systems we have, not primary heating. Even with those larger stoves, I’d guess it would be tough to hear this sq footage.

 

[xman23]

I would put the stove somewhere in the great room with the cathedral ceilings. Stoves produce intense concerted heat. Make sure it can be viewed from the space you live in. There's nothing better than watching the northern lights in the stove. I won't make a huge difference being on one side or the other side of the room. The heat will move. We have ceiling fans that move the heat. Take a look at the Jotul enamel finish stoves.

 

[EvertonPete]

In terms of heating larger spaces, does soapstone help or hinder vs cast iron or steel?

 

[Nealm66]

I recommend the blaze king. I disagree about the looks. Everything about it is intentional and becomes evident while you’re using it. The incredible burn times may not seem important but it’s really nice for your wife to be able to simply turn the thermostat up or down while you’re gone.

 

[ABMax24]

You need a big fire box. That's a lot of space to heat with a lot of windows and heat loss.

I'd be looking at:
Osburn 3300 or 3500 for a non-cat
BK King for a cat stove

Given your description I think a BK would be a great fit.

I'm also curious why you are limited to an outside wall? I'd install the stove in the middle of the main floor and run double wall straight up to the roof.

 

[begreen]

The T6 will get the job done. It a very flexible burner and nice to cook on in a power outage or just for fun.

 

[EvertonPete]

My wife isn’t keen on running the vent up to the cathedral ceiling, plus it really wouldn’t fit well in that area. If we kept it toward the interior of the house I would have to run the vent through a bedroom, floor to ceiling.

exterior wall just seems to be an easier install, and keeps the wife happier for location.
honestly, downstairs is like one giant room, so exterior wall or not is about 20 ft difference. There are 3 ceiling fans downstairs as well, so I could keep the air moving.

That BK king 40 looks like a beast. 80lbs of wood in a full load seems huge. Have to say I’m not a fan of the looks though. That thermostat seems like a great feature for my wife.

I showed her a few stoves, and she really liked the PE Summit classic LE more than the T6 cast iron.

 

[EvertonPete]

Just to give a better idea of interior. X marks possible locations. One with sofa is most central

 

[logfarmer]

I would try to park a big stove right there around the stairs!! Straight up out the roof and the heat will travel up a lot easier than putting underneath the upstairs floor where you have it marked out.

 

[BKVP]

The cost for stove, pipe and installation are ALL subject to the Federal 25D tax credit of 26%....so long as the stove meets the 75% HHV requirements.

 

[EvertonPete]

The cost for stove, pipe and installation are ALL subject to the Federal 25D tax credit of 26%....so long as the stove meets the 75% HHV requirements.

After a recommendation from the local BK dealer, and browsing through the 60+ pages of BK thread, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on a BK Princess. I still need to have the installer out to look at pipe install, and I'll probably have him give me a quote for a King + 8" pipe just to see how much more.

Looks like a $1700 tax credit on the project, as it stands now.

 

[bholler]

After a recommendation from the local BK dealer, and browsing through the 60+ pages of BK thread, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on a BK Princess. I still need to have the installer out to look at pipe install, and I'll probably have him give me a quote for a King + 8" pipe just to see how much more.

Looks like a $1700 tax credit on the project, as it stands now.

Just so you realize if you are trying to heat 3600 sqft of poorly insulated and sealed house with a big great room using a stove you are not going to be getting long burn times blaze king or not. That is going to take allot of btus.

 

[EvertonPete]

Yes, I understand. This is going to be an ongoing project for me, long after the stove is installed.

We will be resealing or replacing almost every window as quickly as funds allow. Not to mean a swimming pool worth of caulk and wood sealant. The previous owners neglected to stay on top of the maintence a home like this really needs. I'm no Bob Villa, but I'll get it done.

 

[BKVP]

Just so you realize if you are trying to heat 3600 sqft of poorly insulated and sealed house with a big great room using a stove you are not going to be getting long burn times blaze king or not. That is going to take allot of btus.

bholler is correct, however, it will still be metered out evenly over the shortened burn time.

 

[Nealm66]

I wonder why they recommended the princess? Definitely go with the king even if it costs a lot more if space allows. It’s a long term investment that pays for itself in a short amount of time. You could be straddling the ability to run with no other heat source. Not to mention the time savings, the ability to have some random longer lengths which is inedible when you’re wood scrounging. The tax credit will offset quite a bit I would think. Buy once cry once . I’m jealous you have the option

 

[bholler]

I wonder why they recommended the princess? Definitely go with the king even if it costs a lot more if space allows. It’s a long term investment that pays for itself in a short amount of time. You could be straddling the ability to run with no other heat source. Not to mention the time savings, the ability to have some random longer lengths which is inedible when you’re wood scrounging. The tax credit will offset quite a bit I would think. Buy once cry once . I’m jealous you have the option

8" chimney and components cost allot more than 6" as well. You will have a couple thousand more in a whole system. And then you are stuck with only being able to use one of the couple 8" stoves available. Not that they shouldn't do it just there are lots of issues to consider other than the stove cost.

 

[Nealm66]

To me,I guess it would depend upon how long a person plans on living in the house. The stove is going to last a lot longer than say buying a car. Which a couple thousand dollars isn’t much of an upgrade. I would think there’s also a longer plateau of heat output which means if you’re burning consistent wood, after a couple months you can mark your swoosh and come back a day later and repeat

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

"Which a couple thousand dollars isn’t much of an upgrade"

If you have it available.

 

[bholler]

To me,I guess it would depend upon how long a person plans on living in the house. The stove is going to last a lot longer than say buying a car. Which a couple thousand dollars isn’t much of an upgrade. I would think there’s also a longer plateau of heat output which means if you’re burning consistent wood, after a couple months you can mark your swoosh and come back a day later and repeat

The length of time a stove will be in use in a house depends upon many things. I personally keep my cars much longer than my stoves in most cases. But I am also not your typical stove user either. I swap them out often to get as much experience with as many stoves as I can.

 

[Nealm66]

"Which a couple thousand dollars isn’t much of an upgrade"

If you have it available.

Yes,I should have said that . Apologies

 

[EvertonPete]

To be honest, the additional cost is a big factor. We bought this farm last July. 60 acre horse operation that my wife runs as her business. It’s been our dream, and so far it’s been great, but we’ve had to invest heavily to get things going, and really need to budget our projects for a while. I wouldn’t say it was a tough sell with the wife, but even the princess quote gave her some sticker shock.
Rightly or wrongly, I worry about my ability to feed the King box on top of everything else.

my guess on why the dealer is pushing the Princess is I told him I didn’t expect this stove to be my sole source of heating. Plus, I haven’t had them out to see the place in person yet. I’ve just been dealing with them over the phone and email. They’ve seen the pics but maybe it didn’t compute