Dutchwest 1500 or ?

[BeardedJon]

Ok I am needing some help finding the right stove for my house. I live in a 1400 square foot manufactured home in east central Indiana. I currently have a gas furnace and a wood fireplace insert. The insert will heat the core of our house some, but is not enough to be a primary heat source. Our furnace really needs replaced as it is old and burns through propane at a ridiculous amount. Our high propane and electric bills as well as the furnace wanting to always run has us looking at wood stoves.

I went to a stove and fireplace dealer in Richmond yesterday and was recommended a Dutchwest 1500 steel stove that I was told would be great for a primary heat source for us. I have done some research though and it seems as if I may need a stove with a more firebox volume than the Dutchwest has. Here is a link to the stove in question. (broken link removed to http://www.mainstreetfireplace.com/webpages/DutchWest-WB-DW1500.html)

Basically I am looking for some input on whether the Dutchwest will be enough to heat our home, or if I need to go for a bigger stove. I am hoping to spend under $2000 for the stove itself and was quoted $1300 for the Dutchwest. I have information for 2 different contractors that install stoves and will have one of them put it in once I get it. I am leaning towards a non-catalytic stove and do not have a preference for steel or cast iron as I just want my house to be well heated.

Can anyone help? Thanks.

 

[BeardedJon]

I wanted to add that two other stoves I have looked into and seen very positive reviews on are the Englander 13 for 1,800 square feet and the Englander 30 for 2,200 square feet. I can find a good deal more information on both of these online and hardly any at all on the Dutchwest. Not to mention that even the Englander 30 is $400 cheaper than the Dutchwest. I am thinking that the 30 may be overkill though, but I do not have a well insulated house and I live out in the country with no wind blockage.

 

[begreen]

I would go for a ~2 cu ft stove. The 30NC is a bit of overkill, but would work if you keep it dialed down a bit and don't run full loads until it gets good and cold outside. The 13NC should also work, but it will need a robustly insulated hearth. A couple other stoves to consider are the Pacific Energy True North TN19 and the Lopi 1750. Or, if the budget will allow it go up to a Pacific Energy Super 27 or Lopi Endeavor.

BTW, you will want to have a good stash of fully seasoned wood on hand. Modern stoves burn much better with dry wood. Poorly seasoned wood may greatly disappoint.

 

[BeardedJon]

Thanks for the information begreen. I will look up those other stoves as well. The more I look at the Englanders and others, the more I do not want the Dutchwest.

I have the firewood covered, I just need something better to use it in.

 

[begreen]

In general if possible try to stick with a stove that has a squarish firebox. This gives you better loading options.

 

[Grisu]

If you like the Englander they are supposed to come out with a new medium-sized stove this summer. It has a 2.4 cu ft firebox which would probably be a good size for your home. It also requires only ember protection for a hearth while the NC13 and NC30 have pretty extensive hearth requirements. Here is a short thread about it: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/madison-in-my-burn-trailer.128150/ Price is rumored to be less than $1K. The original poster of the linked thread works for them and may be able to get you some more info through private message.

Maybe one completely different option for you to consider would be changing your fireplace. You say you have a fireplace insert but since it is not throwing much heat I assume you are just talking about a builder-grade zero clearance fireplace, correct? Potentially you could put a real insert in there that is approved for a zero clearance fireplace. That will heat your home almost as well as a wood stove and not take up additional space. Another option would be to put a rear-vented stove in front of it and run a liner up the existing chimney. The stove would be a bit more expensive but you would not need to install a completely new chimney which will save some money. Options to look at would be a Jotul F500 or F45, Quadrafire Explorer 2, Hearthstone Shelburne, maybe a Woodstock Progress Hybrid (could be a bit large and out of your budget). If you want to consider that route, pics of your fireplace will help to determine what's possible.

 

[BeardedJon]

I think we are set on installing a whole new setup and keeping our existing fireplace as is. What are the hearth requirements for the NC13 and NC30? The reason I am leaning towards one of those 2 is the price and also I can get them locally without too far of a drive. Thank you for the link and information on the new Englander as well.

 

[Grisu]

I think the NC13 needs a r-value of 2 and the NC30 of 1.5. That usually requires some special material like Micore unless you are ok with the hearth being pretty high. Here is a list of hearth materials:
(broken link removed)
The new Englander should be available in the same places as the other ones (Home Depot for example) and would be the right size while the NC13 will probably be a bit small (short burn times) while the NC30 is a tad too big. You will also save money by not having to build a well-insulated hearth.

 

[BeardedJon]

So besides the Englanders, what other stoves with similar prices have fairly easy hearth requirements? I do not want a hearth that is all that high.

Are there very many hearth pads that will have a r-rating of 1.5 to 2 that would satisfy the requirements for the Englanders? I found one that was at Home Depot that was just over 1.5.

 

[aansorge]

Here is a lightly used setup that comes with the piping as well....(broken link removed to http://limaohio.craigslist.org/hsh/4552016108.html)

A bit on the small side at 1.5 cu. ft though.

 

[begreen]

The stoves I mentioned earlier have simple hearth requirements, ember protection only. A sheet of metal would suffice.

 

[BeardedJon]

For the hearth requirement for the 30NC I found this, http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/imperial-type-2-stove-board-36-in-w-x-52-in-h-slate. This came from searching the forum, but there is a problem with it. The 30NC manual shows that the minimum floor covering should be 39X52.5, but the one from TSC is just a tad bit too small. I am not sure what other people have done with this stove board in order to meet the required dimensions.

 

[begreen]

Yes, that is a long hearth dimension. Many folks here build their own. It's a sandwich starting with 3/4" plywood, then 1/2" micore, then 1/2" Durock NexGen cement board. Screw this sandwich together using 1.5" cement board screws every 8". Then set the tile or slate top using latex-modified thinset and finally grout, wipe clean and enjoy.

 

[BeardedJon]

Thank you for the information begreen. So if I wanted to do a cheap and quick hearth at least for now, I can use 8" of stacked common brick correct? That should give me a r-value of 1.6 and I would just have to cover the total required area? I'm just trying to weigh my options and appreciate all of the help I can get.

 

[begreen]

Yes, that would work also though stacked brick would be too wobbly for me unless it had a perimeter frame. You could whip up a frame pretty quickly with some 2x8s. The brick layers should be at 90 degs to each other.

 

[BeardedJon]

I'm not sure what you mean about the layers being at least 90 degrees to each other. The bricks with a frame sounds like what I will try for the 30NC. The weight of the stove and bricks shouldn't be anything I need to worry about with my floor in a manufactured home should it?

 

[begreen]

Put down one layer east/west, then the next layer north/south.