Decision to take...

[McPherson]

Hi there,

long-time reader, first-time poster here. So a little intro.

My name's Francis and i'm from beautiful Quebec city, Canada. If my english seems weird it's because first language here is french (for those who don't know).

I bought my first house on july 2017, it's a traditionnal bungalow, 26ft x 42ft on 2 stories (basement + first floor). The house is equipped with a wood stove (Osburn 1600, mfg 2001) with a 2100 prefab chimney and doubled exhaust pipe for the inside part.
In the basement, there's about 8ft all way along the 42ft which is used for a bedroom, mechanical room (water pump, water heater, central vacuum, etc), a bathroom and storage space. The rest is a 18ft x 42ft area which is open and where the stove sits.
On the first floor, the living room and kitchen is at the other side of the house (compared to the stove location). There's also the stairway.
The house is a 1979 with a so-so isolated basement and mostly drafty. No draft problem for the actual stove. I'm used to that type of heating.

The problem is that my osburn 1600 is too small to rise the temperature, even on the basement. At about 10ft of the stove i can't rise up to 21°C (70°F). Imagine the rest of the house!
We're right now experiencing 2 weeks in a row of -27°C/-17°F outside temps (before wind chill.. So around -40°C/F).

I want to upgrade the stove to be able to reach about 24-26°C in the house. I'm maintaining around 20°C with electric baseboard heater system, so just rise few degrees to get comfort.

I went to a dealer and they had a demo PE Summit for 2315$, add a fan for 300$, so around 3000$CAN (2400$US) with taxes. Tempting.

I went to another dealer and he got me a boxing-day deal plus other promos for a Osburn 2400, with a fan for about 1900$US with taxes. I talked to him about Iron Strike which he also sells, and he told me about the Grandview 230 or 300, which should have better heat output because of the baffle and the more powerful fan. But said the baffle is more fragile and cost around 250$CAN to replace. The 300 was about 2400$US before taxes and rebates.

Finally, i saw a demo Iron Strike Canyon in a shop which is 2 and a half hours trip with a fan for around 1400$US with taxes.

So, my question:
All the choices are for about the same house space (3000-3500sq.ft. for my 1600sq.ft house), so they should do the trick (i hope). The quality, reputation and warranty is about the same, and the end-user comments here for those seems right. The concern is more about the fans. For my setup, is it crucial to have the 700cfm-fan of the iron strike, or the will the 100-130cfm of the Osburn/PE do?

I'm tired of feeding the stove and not getting heat...

Thanks!

 

[jatoxico]

Is your basement insulated or bare concrete?

 

[kennyp2339]

I personally think the iron strike Grandview is the best for your application, you want to go with a convective heater (warms the air) vs the radiant (warms objects)
Although the other 3 are nice heaters, the Osborn being the cheapest, and the pe being known on here as unbreakable.

 

[McPherson]

Is your basement insulated or bare concrete?

There's a small part behind the chimney which is bare concrete. The basement is "finished" as how the former owners did it. I doubt it wasn't to today's specs, ie: 4in styrofoam.

 

[Rich L]

I personally think the iron strike Grandview is the best for your application, you want to go with a convective heater (warms the air) vs the radiant (warms objects)
Although the other 3 are nice heaters, the Osborn being the cheapest, and the pe being known on here as unbreakable.

Why don't you suggest he look into the stove you have a Blaze King ?

 

[Ashful]

Whatever stove you choose, make sure it is a highly convective design. Any exposed masonry is a direct heat sink for radiant heat. I learned this the hard way, trying to heat a masonry house with an enormous (but unfortunately radiant) stove, before I woke up and switched to a more convective stove.

You said the walls are (mostly) covered, which is good... but what about the floor? That’s a large area, sitting at a constant 55F’ish, which will be hard to overcome with radiant heating.

 

[kennyp2339]

Why don't you suggest he look into the stove you have a Blaze King ?

I don't push Bk's unless someone asks about them, there is so much info out there on them that they sell themselves basically, the guy asked for an opinion on 4 stoves and I respected his request on which one I thought would be the best for him.

 

[McPherson]

Whatever stove you choose, make sure it is a highly convective design. Any exposed masonry is a direct heat sink for radiant heat. I learned this the hard way, trying to heat a masonry house with an enormous (but unfortunately radiant) stove, before I woke up and switched to a more convective stove.

You said the walls are (mostly) covered, which is good... but what about the floor? That’s a large area, sitting at a constant 55F’ish, which will be hard to overcome with radiant heating.

Basement floor is on bare concrete (ceiling), when you look up there's no top it was some king of ceiling tiles which i removed because they were ugly. So I can see the first floor structure from the basement, could help with transferring heat to the floors

 

[kennyp2339]

Basement floor is on bare concrete (ceiling), when you look up there's no top it was some king of ceiling tiles which i removed because they were ugly. So I can see the first floor structure from the basement, could help with transferring heat to the floors

Yes on the heat transfer, I’m hearing from my basement, I can feel the big difference walking on the main floor above the basement vs above the garage

 

[kennyp2339]

Yes on the heat transfer, I’m hearing from my basement, I can feel the big difference walking on the main floor above the basement vs above the garage

Have you thought about doing a furnace? Running a main duct (low profile) then cutting in floor registers? The added benefit is a air filter on the return, the con is you need electric for the fan motor

 

[jatoxico]

There's a small part behind the chimney which is bare concrete. The basement is "finished" as how the former owners did it. I doubt it wasn't to today's specs, ie: 4in styrofoam.

I'm just wondering if it's not so much the stove but the basement walls and you'd be better off making sure everything was reasonably well insulated. You can overcome anything if you throw enough wood/heat at it but insulation is forever.

If it's too much to redo the entire basement over then I agree with the others that convective heating is the way to go. And go big.

 

[McPherson]

Have you thought about doing a furnace? Running a main duct (low profile) then cutting in floor registers? The added benefit is a air filter on the return, the con is you need electric for the fan motor

Yes, I thought about a PSG Caddy. The cost with the docks is a lot more than a stove, plus if there's a power outage I will be totally without heating. No problem cutting the floor to put registers, actually I was planning to do so, but my existing wood stove doesn't deliver enough heat to make any significant gains.

 

[McPherson]

I'm just wondering if it's not so much the stove but the basement walls and you'd be better off making sure everything was reasonably well insulated. You can overcome anything if you throw enough wood/heat at it but insulation is forever.

If it's too much to redo the entire basement over then I agree with the others that convective heating is the way to go. And go big.

I will eventually redo the insulation. According to budget i'm going few at a time, first months were to be confortable and fix some "annoyances". But im angry getting cold in my house! I want something that I will change once and for all, to clear my mind and spend money on something else after.

The other possibility would be a PSG Caddy, undocked, then I will add the docks after to keep the investment more reasonable. But again the power shortage (could) be an issue.

Am i wrong if I say that the osburn/PE are more radiant-type?

 

[kennyp2339]

Yes, I thought about a PSG Caddy. The cost with the docks is a lot more than a stove, plus if there's a power outage I will be totally without heating. No problem cutting the floor to put registers, actually I was planning to do so, but my existing wood stove doesn't deliver enough heat to make any significant gains.

Spare yourself the work of cutting in individual floor registers, those 4 x10" register holes don't do much, if you want anything viable cut a large cold air return as close to above the stove as possible, *check your local codes this will help establish your convective loop.

 

[McPherson]

Spare yourself the work of cutting in individual floor registers, those 4 x10" register holes don't do much, if you want anything viable cut a large cold air return as close to above the stove as possible, *check your local codes this will help establish your convective loop.

Oh, i forgot to say. I already have that kind of grille, it's a 12in x 14in, located nearly on top of my stove. It ends in a corridor where the bedrooms are and at the end the living room and kitchen. I putted a small pedestal fan that takes the heat under the grille and pushes it trough. Helps a little but again the stove lacks power..

 

[McPherson]

I will try to post pictures of my setup and how the house is, I really like you guys giving your opinions since most dealers only relies on the sq.ft. to be heated and not all the details that takes plus/minus heat requirement. Almost every dealers told me that a 2000sq ft stove should be correct, 2500 should be overkill.
A friend in my area is having the same house square with a +/- 2001 PE summit (but different inside room setup) and he can heat just correctly, so I really don't think 2500 is enough for my needs.

 

[kennyp2339]

When hearing from a basement there is no such things as over kill, espically for you northern folks

 

[Toomb]

Have you thought about doing a furnace? Running a main duct (low profile) then cutting in floor registers? The added benefit is a air filter on the return, the con is you need electric for the fan motor

This would me my suggestion, but would be expensive and somewhat difficult. You need to get the heat upstairs. I don't really understand woodstoves in a basement without some way to get the heat up to the living areas. How about a second woodstove upstairs?

 

[Ashful]

This would me my suggestion, but would be expensive and somewhat difficult. You need to get the heat upstairs. I don't really understand woodstoves in a basement without some way to get the heat up to the living areas. How about a second woodstove upstairs?

Lots of folks do this, and it can work quite well, but it does rely on having your basement well-insulated. Simply put, if you can keep that hot air from sinking to the earth thru your concrete floor and walls, then it only has one place to go... up.

It is usually not the most efficient way to go, though. You will lose a lot to the earth, so unless the basement is a living space (eg. Basement den, etc.), then it’s rarely the best way to go.

 

[McPherson]

Sorry for the mess, took quick pictures. They are taken both near the staircase, at the two different floors.


At the end of the corridor there is the fresh air grille on the floor.


The stove is at the end of the pic. Only a small part behind the chimney isn't covered (bare concrete). The rest is gyproc and ?? insulation.


So, regarding all those elements. Knowing that I like to get comfort with the stove, but it isn't our main heating system (like a furnace, for example). Should I stick with a wood stove or i'm better to switch to a wood furnace even if the cost is much higher?
If I stick to a stove, which of those I talked in my first post should be the best for my needs? I think more about the Iron Strike because of the powerful fan, but i'm worried about the fragile baffle...?
Is there another option I should consider? (other stove, other..?)

Thanks.

 

[McPherson]

I finally end up buying an Enerzone Solution 3.4. Had it with a 30% discount, should be installed early next week. So sad that the extreme cold is gone for few days (as the forecasts) as I will maybe have to wait until next winter to see hie true potential.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

I finally end up buying an Enerzone Solution 3.4. Had it with a 30% discount, should be installed early next week. So sad that the extreme cold is gone for few days (as the forecasts) as I will maybe have to wait until next winter to see hie true potential.

Oh I don't think you should worry too much, I'm sure we'll be gettng a bit more cold weather my friend! Welcome to the forums!

 

[Don.S]

I live in the Montreal area and my house is almost the exact same as yours. When I got my place in November I put a drolet ht2000 in my basement and cut a vent over the stove at the end of my hallway and placed a small fan in it. Kept us warm and my hydro bill for the last two months was 5.75$ per day 360$ total. Everything in the house is electric. Your stove looks to be about the same size so I would think you should be very happy with it.

 

[begreen]

The Enerzone 3.4 and the Drolet HT2000 are both made by SBI with virtually identical fireboxes.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I finally end up buying an Enerzone Solution 3.4. Had it with a 30% discount, should be installed early next week. So sad that the extreme cold is gone for few days (as the forecasts) as I will maybe have to wait until next winter to see hie true potential.

Congratulations! 3.7 ft firebox, you've definitely upped your horsepower. Please let us know how it works out. I like my SBI stove experience so far (season 3), so I'm very curious how it works for you.