Down to Enviro 1700 FS, Explorer 3, T6 or F600 Firelight (For my space)

[AppleRock]

Since the rest are CI clad steel stoves, I realize the F600 is kinda the "odd man out" here, but I like the side load, size and dbl doors.

Been doing a lot of shopping around and posting here, looks like it's down to these 4.

House Specs. (see pics below)
1. ~1620 sq ft Floorplan (plus loft) Pretty open design.
2. VERY well insulated and tight. (6" {R 40 total} Solid Polyiso sheets on main roof (over Great Room & Loft area), and R49 Fiberglass on L & R "Wings)
6" Walls, 1/2 log sided, ~3" Closed cell spray foam + ~3" fiberglass (R28-R31 total)
3. Large Windows, but good quality, new dbl pane. Face West.
4. NO Windows facing North.

Concerns:
1. Heating large cathedral ceiling great room (312 sq ft, 20 ft ceiling at peak). Large ceiling fan (60")
2. Getting heat into "wings" (considering small fans)
3. Easy removal of baffles and tubes to allow easy chimney sweeps from inside the house. (Can't see how anyone would "easily" be able to clean from the top - down). Inside sweep would seem to be much quicker and less costly.

As per location of wood stove, wondering if I'm better off with a radiant stove, such as the F600, or a convection stove, like the others.
In another way, deciding between the soft, even heat of the others vs the "in your face, wood stove heat" of the F600 for such a large area. (Volume-wise, not necessarily sq ft wise)......Plus windows.

-Like the N/S loading on the 1700 & T6 (seems like I can get more wood in, more safely that way)
-Like the firebox size (3 cu ft) of the Explorer 3, T6 & F600 for long burns.
-Like the easy removal of baffles on the T6. Unsure of the others. (any input on this concerning the others?)

First Pic is top view of great room only
2nd is "glass" view of great room with West windows and wood stove, showing volume.
3rd pic is rough floor plan of entire house. (with "wings")

These stoves are all around the same price, give of take a few hundred.
Want to make sure we get the one that'll do the job.

Thanks in advance.....

 

[AppleRock]

I had several qualifications for the stoves to get to this point.
Some were:
1. Swing on door (or R/L option). Obviously not a big deal with the F600.
2. Fresh air intake availability. (Requirement due to the tight house)
3. Aesthetics of stove. Is enamel finish avail? Does S.O. like the looks?
4. Ease of use. Wife will be running during the day.
5. Large view of fire. Firescreen option.
6. Ease of maintenance. Annual, and long term.
7. Future parts availability......long term. (gotta sorta guess on this one. But company longevity/dealer local helps)
8. Reviews I read here.
9. Durability/fragility of stove firebox. (I can be a little rough at times.....not nearly as much finesse as S.O.)
10. Warranty coverage.
11. Hearth requirement size. (the F600 has the largest required size in the group, mostly due to side door loading)
12. My personal general feel of the operation of stove, as well as it's quality.


.....and I'm officially rambling........

 

[AppleRock]

I may drop the Explorer 3 from the list due to it being a little difficult to access the stove pipe from within stove. (For cleanings) I think the top load feature on the stove helps complicate this. (The Explorer 2 looked simpler, albeit a smaller stove@ 2.4 cf) The Boston 1700 is 2.54 cf, but NS/EW loading. (also rated 13,000 BTU's higher)
The PE T6 and Enviro Boston 1700 FS look simpler to disassemble baffle/tubes to access stove pipe for chimney/stovepipe cleaning. Unsure on F600?

Any PE T6/Summit, Boston 1700 FS or F600 owners like to chime in on this?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is that the only place you could put the stove?

 

[AppleRock]

Is that the only place you could put the stove?

Yes. It's more open than the floorplan indicates.

 

[skinanbones]

As somebody who sells both the Enviro and Pacific line ups. There is some ups and downs to both brands baised on what you are saying you want. For ease of daily use both are great, when it comes to cleaning. Pacific wins the baffle can be out in 30 seconds, Enviro will take about 2 minutes if pulling a tube.
As for heat output, i think you would be happy with either. I would strongly suggest that you put a fan system on both of them. One reason is due to where you have the stove located. Second is just due to the nature of how cast clad steel stoves heat. Having a fan system effects how the fresh air is installed on the T6 and will be hard to retro fit late on. (basicly the fan kit hangs low enough to block access to the rear knock-out).
As for parts, as long as the dealer you buy from is decent. It should be easy enough for you to get what ever would go wrong on these stove.

 

[AppleRock]

Thank you skin..... excellent info there. It's a little closer to the loft.

To both replies,
I plan on installing some fans, built into the walls (installed above the door openings. No doors there, just doorways, each 42" wide) on both wings.
This should help with moving the heat into the wings. (See pic below) (Art school, here I come!)
Also the stove isn't quite as far in the corner as I have drawn there.

Also, good tip on the fan, skin&bones. I was planning on one or two heat-operated fans on the stove top anyway. Do you think I'd be better off with the factory electric fan instead?
The T6 is rated at 125-150 cfm (depending on where I read)
And the Enviro 1700 FS is rated at 150 cfm.
The F600 is 125 cfm, but is pretty pricey at close to $400. AND requires a rear heat shield purchase. (which I'd get anyway)

A heat-operated fans run about 150-250 cfm. But I can direct these more towards the kitchen area (under the loft)
Thoughts?

 

[Gpsfool]

I owned (well still have it - in storage) a Enviro Boston 1200 free standing stove. Smaller and different look - but very similar (Steel clad). The Boston has a bolt-on cast shell. 1.8 cubic foot firebox. This was my first wood stove.

I heated a 2200 sq foot cape in western New York with it for two seasons. Looked nice, lots of heat. Quality wise, no issues. The top baffel boards would probably last one more season. I had to continually feed it wood - 3-4 times a day, more on real cold days (below 20). It would not heat through the night. It is a quality built product and in my case the stove was undersized for what I needed. With a smaller house it would probably have been fine. Enviro makes a quality product.

Having said that, I upgraded" to a Woodstock Ideal Steel for this heating season. Not really a fair comparison... 12-18 hours between loads, more even heat, less fuss (set and almost forget) and comparing ash-pan and clean-out; the Woodstock is SO MUCH nicer (read: less mess).

Go visit the factory - they are in your neck of the woods.

 

[skinanbones]

For the money of the heat activated fans, your better off just buying the factory fans. On the Enviro and Pacfic stoves, because they are cast clad steel stoves the heat activate fans wont work that well due to the air space.
Even though i sell the Eco fans in our store i am not sold on them. I have had both in the same house and the electric fan wins hands down every single time. The Eco fans are great conversation starters and that about it.