Country stove question

[trucklet]

I'm a newbie to hearth.com and apologize in advance if this is an inappropriate thread for this post. I've heated with wood all of my life until building a well-insulated house in 1992 which has all natural gas heat--I sorely miss having a real wood fire! This thread is the closest I can find for my query--I'm just beginning my search for a non-cat EPA certified freestanding wood stove. I live near Seattle; my house was built to exceed all insulation specs at the time--I rarely use my natural gas furnace and rely mostly on gas log fireplaces, but have space in my great room (approx 1000 sq ft with 15' vaulted ceiling at the center) for whatever free-standing stove I choose. If it's too large for this space, I can open French doors and/or turn on the furnace fan to circulate excess heat to the rest of the house (which usually stays very cool in the winter; we wear layers of clothing and do just fine). I have unlimited access to firewood, as I live on wooded acreage and have a chainsaw and a hydraulic splitter. I found a Lennox Country S16 for sale locally--new-in-box, never used. I have been unable to find ANY specs (will, of course check all mfgr labeling etc when I check it out). This forum seems to be the place to learn if this is a good stove in general and one that would match my needs in particular. If so, what is a fair price for this unit (unsure what its age might be and whether Ironstrike would be providing a warranty). Thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

Welcome. I moved this post to its own thread for better coverage. Did you mean the Country S160 - Striker stove? If yes, it is a small stove, great for chill chasing and it would heat the space ok as long as there is a method to recover or mix hot air that will stratify near the high ceiling peak. Is a ceiling fan normally running in this room? The downside of the S160 would be shorter burn times, but if the stove is mostly for weekend and evening burning then perhaps that is not a big deal.

 

[DougA]

If your home is well insulated and fairly air tight, I would want to get a stove where you can add an outside air kit (OAK). If not, you may run into smoke problems if the draft is anything less than fabulous. All wood stoves need a good air supply to retain good combustion.

Second, I would re-examine why you are avoiding EPA stoves. In most cases, non EPA are better for people who are burning less than dry wood. Since you have your own wood supply and splitter, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, to go that route. My great room sounds like it's the same size and as begreen says, you will want a ceiling fan to avoid stratified air. I don't use mine all the time but it's great to turn it on low and it;s silent and I can't even feel the air moving but it gets the job done.

 

[begreen]

I think the OP doesn't want a cat stove. The S160 is an EPA non-cat.

 

[jatoxico]

Second, I would re-examine why you are avoiding EPA stoves. In most cases, non EPA are better for people who are burning less than dry wood.

Way I read it the OP just wants to avoid Cat stoves not EPA altogether. In that climate with "unlimited" wood I might strongly reconsider a Cat stove though. Get the wood drying and have a supply going forward and a Cat stove would be the ticket IMO.

 

[begreen]

This depends on how he wants to run the stove. If the place is tight the stove may not be lit until it gets winter cold. We are not burning now and may not for several weeks as we are in an el Nino cycle and daytime temps are still in the 50s. The heat pump does the job very well during shoulder season so I save the wood for later. Also, some folks prefer a KISS stove over one with a bypass, cat, etc. to maintain. Come winter both get the job done.

 

[DougA]

Way I read it the OP just wants to avoid Cat stoves not EPA altogether

There is nothing I HATE more than some idiot who doesn't read the OP correctly
OK, send me to the Red Room for 10 lashes. There is a Red Room on this forum, right? If not, we need one. 50 shades of burning.

 

[begreen]

As I get older I seem to do it more often. The old eyes get tired easily.

You get the Emily Litella award of the day.

 

[trucklet]

Wow. I've been a member for seven hours and already have had a b***load, er, uh, armload (trying to honor the civil language guidelines?) of responses to my posting. I love this site! Lest I be misunderstood, air pollution is a very big deal to me--I technically could own an EPA exempt stove in my rural area, but ain't goin' there. I'm thinking non-cat EPA certified simply because I have the (possibly misguided) notion that a non-cat is going to involve a bit less maintenance, inconvenience, and expense, and hope that over its lifetime a non-cat will not emit appreciably greater pollutants. I think the Country S160 may be on the small side, but in days of yore, it seemed the woodburner's mantra was to never have a stove too large for one's application, and I was reasoning that the aforementioned Lennox Country S160 would be burning hot (and more efficiently?). I would indeed be using it mostly for evening fires, and kinda like participating in the pyromaniacal process of rekindling, or building anew, a fire that has withered while I was sleeping or away--hoping the fadeaway of flames would not generate inordinate pollution. I appreciate all the comments to date, however, nobody has said much about the overall specs, quality and durability of the open-box unused FSBO Lennox Country S160 I mentioned (don't know if it's a Striker)--except that it's EPA non-cat. I can't even find the dimensions of the woodbox online and would like to be armed with some research data before taking a look in person. I'm presuming this is a discontinued model. Comments on fair price to pay if I decide it would work for me? TIA

 

[begreen]

The Striker was Country's name for the stove. It's a nice little workhorse and a very clean burning stove. It's well-made, locally in Auburn. Nothing flashy about the stove, just the basics. With its 1.5 cu ft capacity it will struggle to achieve longer than a 6 hr burn with our softwoods. For nights and weekends it should do the job ok.

If it were me I'd go a bit larger for at least a 2 cu ft stove unless you get a stellar deal on the S160 and want to get your feet wet for a couple years. The S160 firebox is shallow. I prefer a squarish firebox for more loading choices and N/S loading. Some NW stoves that fit this order are the Lopi Endeavor, the Ironstrike (Country) Performer 210, Quadrafire 3100 Millennium and the Pacific Energy Super 27 (or Spectrum or T5) stoves.

 

[trucklet]

The Striker was Country's name for the stove. It's a nice little workhorse and a very clean burning stove. It's well-made, locally in Auburn. Nothing flashy about the stove, just the basics. With its 1.5 cu ft capacity it will struggle to achieve longer than a 6 hr burn with our softwoods. For nights and weekends it should do the job ok.

If it were me I'd go a bit larger for at least a 2 cu ft stove unless you get a stellar deal on the S160 and want to get your feet wet for a couple years. The S160 firebox is shallow. I prefer a squarish firebox for more loading choices and N/S loading. Some NW stoves that fit this order are the Lopi Endeavor, the Ironstrike (Country) Performer 210, Quadrafire 3100 Millennium and the Pacific Energy Super 27 (or Spectrum or T5) stoves.

Thanks, begreen. Sounds like sage advice. This is a new installation, so it would seem to make sense to get it right the first time. I might save a few bucks on the stove, but from where I stand, it would likely be a PITA to swap for a better fit after only a few years.

 

[begreen]

I like a bit of overkill on the hearth size and insulation for this reason. It allows for an easier change if desired. That really helped us when we went from the Castine to the Alderlea.