Deciding on my first wood stove, I have a few questions:

[Northof49th]

Good day. My house was built in 1969, and is quite drafty. (Approx. 1100 sq. ft., bungalow) Located in a more northern part of Canada, it makes the house quite chilly in the winter. I'm currently renovating my basement (wide open) and plan on having a wood stove installed down there as well. (I can run the stove pipe vertical, through the main floor and attic). In the winter when I'm at home, I will spend most of the time in the basement, and would like to have a stove with long burn times to at least add supplement heat. In my area, there's a lot of Birch and Tamarack, which is great. So here goes:

A local dealer recommended the Regency hybrid 2500, or a BK. I like the idea of a catalytic stove or hybrid and was leaning towards the Regency. However, looking at a Hearthstone, they do offer longer burn times. (20hours approx. compared to 12 with the Regency) Naturally, advertised times are under optimal conditions. That being said, - assuming it's the same sized firebox - does that mean I would need far less wood with a Hearthstone over the long term? Does anyone have any real-world burn times? If that's the case, then isn't it a better choice to go with the Hearthstone?

The upfront costs are greater, but would eventually pay off. Or does anyone have other stove suggestions? Also, is a cast iron stove much better than steel? (Was looking at Woodstock Soapstone as well, I believe they are steel). I have access to plenty of Spruce, pretty much free, is that ok to burn in a catalytic stove if seasoned? Bottom line, I don't mind paying more for a quality product if it's going to save me money in the end and perform well. I can harvest my own wood at times (but not this year), so occasionally will have to purchase some. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Buy your wood now. Firewood sellers rarely sell wood dry enough to burn immediately. It needs time to dry. They often will tell you it’s dry. Their interpretation of that work is often different than ours.

Any wood will burn if dry enough.

Any wood stove design is a compromise of sorts. There are positives and negatives to each. It comes down to personal preference.

The amount of wood you burn is related to how much energy your house needs to keep warm. If you need a lot, like in a drafty house in Alberta, you’re going to go through a lot of wood. A piece of wood only has so many btus in it that can be released by burning it. If you need more btus, you need to burn more wood.

The best way to decrease the amount of wood you need to burn is to seal and insulate your house better. That way you use less energy regardless of the fuel source.

 

[begreen]

Does the 1000 sq ft include the basement area too or is this additional? If heating the basement, are the walls insulated? If not, the heat loss through the walls will be large. Between the Regency 2500 and a BK Chinook or Sirocco 30, I'd choose the BK. Woodstock stoves are not sold in Canada to my knowledge unless something has changed. The burn times will be relative to the fuel used and how hard the stove is pushed for heat. If the stove will be pushed hard most of the time, the advantage of the catalyst diminishes considerably. In this case a non-cat would be my choice.

 

[Newbie78]

Buy a big stove. Check drolet out. They have a chart which is realistic for our northern alberta weather (err to the bigger size).

Don't overlook beetle-killed pine as firewood. It is pretty much ready to burn, or takes very little to be ready. Don't overlook aspen either, as some of that is very hard and dense, while some is not. The hard aspen is great firewood. Tamarack is excellent too.

buy a bigger stove than what you think you need. Our climate can be far more severe than most on here are accustomed to. Sideways loading is a pain if you need big fires. You will when it gets cold. A 2.5 cubic foot stove will be too small unless you want to load every 3-5 hours. Many 2.5 foot stoves are sideways loading, which is just fine for small loads, but a pita when you want to fill it to max.

your chimney plan is correct...straight up through the house. Mine is like that. A perforated metal enclosure lets heat escape into the house on the second floor.

check out myfireplaceproducts for drolet stoves. I have no affilliation whatsoever, but I have had superlative service from them on two separate stove purchases over the past couple of years.

if you are handy, installing a chimney and stove is not very hard to do.

good luck

 

[joop]

j.a roby nuff said,use it in a old stone house drafts everywhere lol.things a tank .mines the ultimate b can actually be used as a furnace has a spot on top to connect piping to run heat from basement through floors. simple to use, forgiving of crappy wood.joop proof

 

[Northof49th]

Buy your wood now. Firewood sellers rarely sell wood dry enough to burn immediately. It needs time to dry. They often will tell you it’s dry. Their interpretation of that work is often different than ours.

Any wood will burn if dry enough.

Any wood stove design is a compromise of sorts. There are positives and negatives to each. It comes down to personal preference.

The amount of wood you burn is related to how much energy your house needs to keep warm. If you need a lot, like in a drafty house in Alberta, you’re going to go through a lot of wood. A piece of wood only has so many btus in it that can be released by burning it. If you need more btus, you need to burn more wood.

The best way to decrease the amount of wood you need to burn is to seal and insulate your house better. That way you use less energy regardless of the fuel source.

The wood is bought, 4 cords of seasoned birch and tamarack, and as much spruce as I need for free.

 

[Northof49th]

Does the 1000 sq ft include the basement area too or is this additional? If heating the basement, are the walls insulated? If not, the heat loss through the walls will be large. Between the Regency 2500 and a BK Chinook or Sirocco 30, I'd choose the BK. Woodstock stoves are not sold in Canada to my knowledge unless something has changed. The burn times will be relative to the fuel used and how hard the stove is pushed for heat. If the stove will be pushed hard most of the time, the advantage of the catalyst diminishes considerably. In this case a non-cat would be my choice.

The basement area that needs heat and is exposed to the wood stove is around 800sq. ft, while the upstairs is the 1100 sq. ft. Basement is newly renovated, so has new insulation. I don't expect to push the stove hard most of the time.

 

[Northof49th]

Buy a big stove. Check drolet out. They have a chart which is realistic for our northern alberta weather (err to the bigger size).

Don't overlook beetle-killed pine as firewood. It is pretty much ready to burn, or takes very little to be ready. Don't overlook aspen either, as some of that is very hard and dense, while some is not. The hard aspen is great firewood. Tamarack is excellent too.

buy a bigger stove than what you think you need. Our climate can be far more severe than most on here are accustomed to. Sideways loading is a pain if you need big fires. You will when it gets cold. A 2.5 cubic foot stove will be too small unless you want to load every 3-5 hours. Many 2.5 foot stoves are sideways loading, which is just fine for small loads, but a pita when you want to fill it to max.

your chimney plan is correct...straight up through the house. Mine is like that. A perforated metal enclosure lets heat escape into the house on the second floor.

check out myfireplaceproducts for drolet stoves. I have no affilliation whatsoever, but I have had superlative service from them on two separate stove purchases over the past couple of years.

if you are handy, installing a chimney and stove is not very hard to do.

good luck

I actually did check out the drolet, super nice stoves. Would you be able to show a picture of the metal enclosure? I was told I have to build a bulk-head around the pipe on the main floor, leaving 2 inches space on each side. I am not handy enough to install the stove, but have friends that are

Thank you for your response,

 

[begreen]

The basement area that needs heat and is exposed to the wood stove is around 800sq. ft, while the upstairs is the 1100 sq. ft. Basement is newly renovated, so has new insulation. I don't expect to push the stove hard most of the time.

Great, insulation is good. The stove is an area heater. It will primarily just heat the basement unless there is an easy way for the heat to convect upstairs. If not, it could take getting the basement to 85-90º in order for the upstairs to be at 70º. Depending on the floorpans and stairwell, it sometimes it takes adding floor vents or a fan to assist this convection.

Sizing recommendations are based on the area heated so it's important to decide if one is heating 800 sq ft or 1,800 sq ft.

 

[Northof49th]

Great, insulation is good. The stove is an area heater. It will primarily just heat the basement unless there is an easy way for the heat to convect upstairs. If not, it could take getting the basement to 85-90º in order for the upstairs to be at 70º. Depending on the floorpans and stairwell, it sometimes it takes adding floor vents or a fan to assist this convection.

Sizing recommendations are based on the area heated so it's important to decide if one is heating 800 sq ft or 1,800 sq ft.

Ahhh, ok, I understand now. If I was to get a stove rated to around 1200sq. ft, that's not enough for a 1100 sq. ft. house, per se, since there are more than 1 floor...so in my case, I should opt for a stove that could heat approx. 2000q.ft...For my particular application, I do have a furnace fan that runs 24/7, all year around. There are vents in the basement that it draws air from, so this should assist in circulating warm air in the winter. Also my stairwell is open in the basement, which should also help.

 

[Northof49th]

Actually, just checked the drolet site, and I do have my calculations wrong...lol...but figured it out...

 

[begreen]

Yes, a stove like the Regency 3500 (better design than the 2500) or Blaze King Sirocco or Chinook 30 would be a better fit if the goal is to heat the whole house.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

No. Every house is different. We don’t know the details of the house they envision when they came up with that 1200 sq ft number.

For example, there are 2 identically built, brand new houses, 1 in Florida and 1 in Alberta. Both are 1200 square feet, same floor plan, insulation, etc. On January 23rd they both need heat to keep the inside comfortable. Which house will need a larger stove to overcome heat losses? What if they chose to base their square footage estimate on the Florida house? It may only need to raise the temperature inside 20 degrees over the outside temperature.

Now make the Alberta house a drafty 1920s farmhouse That started off around 800 square feet and then had a 400 sq foot addition added onto the back in an L. The stove is placed at the end of the L, as far away from the original house as you can get. It’s still the same square footage as the Florida house. Will that stove do the job?

So, certain things will make the amount of heat the house in Alberta needs lower, or closer to what that house in Florida needs. Number 1 is air sealing. Number 2 is insulation. Then you get into how air naturally moves around the structure. Open floor plans are best, followed by large doorways and a centrally placed stove.

Rarely are our houses ideal. We all have different layouts, chimney heights, species available to burn, etc. The more questions asked/answered the better guesses we can give, and then we’ll argue a bit because we all run our stoves a bit differently based on our individual experiences.

 

[joop]

pick whatever catches your fancy,but buy large.-45c is not the time to find out your stove is to small to heat the house.had a small cast iron good for 1400sqft did a perfect job heating well insulated bungalow,put it my stone house and not a word of a lie had to almost hug it to feel heat

 

[joop]

like limestone said insulation makes a helluva diff

 

[saberbass]

Something to consider, are you retired and home all day or are you working and need most of the heat in the evening? Living in Canada I know how cold it gets. I have a wood stove in the basement of my 1977 bungalow and we spend most of our evenings downstairs watching hockey all winter ' jets fan. Even though I'm retired because we have a south facing living room window with lots of solar heat coming through I usually start my stove up around 3 and let it die out around 11pm . I probably save 500- 800 dollars a year on my electric furnace with a much more comfortable house. I went with a P.E. 2.5 foot box. Very happy not too much work maybe run 3 loads a night.

 

[Bill S]

North of 49 - did you buy a stove? What did you get? And, if they are available and you haven't yet - Hearthstone all the way!