First post. Purchasing wood stove, some advice needed....

[parthy]

Hi everyone! I am retiring in a few weeks and will be purchasing a wood stove for the first time (for February delivery and installation). Wood is ordered and have 1 cord on hand -seasoned 2 years with moisture under 20 (ash and poplar).

936 sq ft house in Manitoba with temp as I speak at -25C. Am planning to buy the osburn 1500. (non-cat) I know it's a 1.5 c.f firebox but have backup baseboard and excellent insulation (R52 in ceiling, walls R20 and insulated crawl space with heaters to keep water from freezing that keeps the floor from freezing). The plan is to use the wood stove as much as possible but can go with limited baseboard heat to bridge me if I am away from home during the day or at night.

I decided to go with the osburn pretty much because of the dealer and budget. Any advice as to the stove I am buying may be undersized or how to maximize it's use? Thanks!

 

[lml999]

Parthy, welcome aboard!

A brief description of the house layout and stove location would be helpful.

You should also start banking wood for the next several seasons. Buy some green wood and stack it for proper seasoning...

 

[BrowningBAR]

My concern when going with a small firebox is overnight burns.

One of the Alaska members will have to chime in with you cold temps, insulation, and recommended firebox size. But, my gut is to shoot for a 2-2.5 cu ft stove for longer burns and to counter your extreme cold temps.

 

[begreen]

I would have probably suggested the Osburn 1600 for longer burntimes and its squarer firebox, but any stove is going to help heat the place. It really depends on whether you want less frequent feeding of the stove in very cold weather. If yes, and the house floorplan is fairly open to allow good heat convection, then I would go with the 1600 or 2000. If the stove area is not that open and there is no intent to burn 24/7, then the 1500 should do the job.

PS: The square firebox on the 1600 will provide more flexible wood loading options. The 1500 is strictly an E/W stove. If flexible loading is important, even better would be the Osburn 2000's square firebox.

 

[Sealcove]

I had a similarly sized Lopi Answer in my place before I enlarged it. Back then we had about 900 sq. ft. and that stove had zero issues heating our very open floor plan. That said, it's not nearly as cold here on the coast of Maine (we do get to -25C in the dead of winter, but -15C or warmer are more typical). Also the Lopi's 1.6 cf firebox was nowhere near enough for overnight burns. With both of those thoughts in mind, I would concur with the suggestion above of considering a larger capacity stove.

 

[Grisu]

How are your windows and doors? Your wall and ceiling insulation sounds good but when you have windows with a R of 2 or doors that let draft through you will lose a substantial amount of heat there. Do you have any idea how much energy was used to heat your home before?

The way you described it the stove will probably be ok for you. However, it will not be ideal. At the beginning of the burn cycle it will get really warm in your house while in the morning the stove will be cold and with it your house. The insulation will somewhat help in that but given your climate it can only do so much. Small non-cat stoves have burn times of only 5 to 6 hours; after that it will get cold.

In my opinion, the ideal solution for your would be a small catalytic stove like the Blazeking Sirocco 20 or Chinook 20 or the Woodstock Keystone. They may be more expensive than the Osburn but if you plan on spending the rest of your retirement up there I would consider getting a stove that gives you enough heat and good burn times. In the long run you will be happier for it. Another option may the Pacific Energy Super who has one of the longest burn times for a non-cat stove. I get up to 10 hours out of it but it may get pretty warm in the first hours of a burn.

 

[tahoostas]

Hello fellow Manitoban!
Only our second year so take this advice with a grain of salt.
We have the pacific energy alderlea T5 for our bi-level(1000 sq ft each floor). We love the look of it and the beauty flames. However, it can get real warm in the shoulder seasons and long burn times can be challenging using softwood, burning ash it's doable.
After researching more, I think I would be inclined to try a blaze king for the long burns and more steady temps. I would miss the flame shows though.
When it's real cold out, like today at -20C, I'm loading the stove about every 4 hours.

 

[Rickb]

How are your windows and doors? Your wall and ceiling insulation sounds good but when you have windows with a R of 2 or doors that let draft through you will lose a substantial amount of heat there. Do you have any idea how much energy was used to heat your home before?

The way you described it the stove will probably be ok for you. However, it will not be ideal. At the beginning of the burn cycle it will get really warm in your house while in the morning the stove will be cold and with it your house. The insulation will somewhat help in that but given your climate it can only do so much. Small non-cat stoves have burn times of only 5 to 6 hours; after that it will get cold.

In my opinion, the ideal solution for your would be a small catalytic stove like the Blazeking Sirocco 20 or Chinook 20 or the Woodstock Keystone. They may be more expensive than the Osburn but if you plan on spending the rest of your retirement up there I would consider getting a stove that gives you enough heat and good burn times. In the long run you will be happier for it. Another option may the Pacific Energy Super who has one of the longest burn times for a non-cat stove. I get up to 10 hours out of it but it may get pretty warm in the first hours of a burn.

Agree!

With out a cat stove your going to be either hot or cold with that small sqft. With a small cat stove you will be able to burn it very low so less heat at the beginning of your burn and more even heat the rest of the way through it. Also 5 splits of pine in a small cat stove will get you 8-10 hours of burn time.

 

[Holiday]

I'd also say it depends if you want overnight heating or not. Are you looking for strictly heat or atmosphere as well? I run a 1.6 cu foot stove and my house stays at a quite consistent temp with open floorplan but you are limited to maybe a 3.5 to 5 hour burn cycle in general. Depends on the wood and how you can fill the stove.

 

[begreen]

Do remember they have a good heating system already that the OP is willing to use at night in the wee hours.

 

[tahoostas]

True Begreen. We just worry about heating our upper floor with the stove and let some programmable baseboard heaters heat the lower floor (and electric furnace is here as well).

 

[stoveguy13]

Its a good little stove but if you are sure you will be ok with 4-5 hr burn time shouldn't be a problem if you want an over night burn you may need to go bigger the 2000 will get you threw the night for sure and the 1600 will most likely do the job for you as well.

 

[KodiakII]

Go bigger, you won't regret it...I did.

 

[parthy]

Thanks everybody for replying. I apologize for not getting back to anyone sooner (not minding me threads -bad) but we had to put our mom into a nursing home and move my dad in the last 3 weeks.

I am definately rethinking this stove. The burn times are just too short and I don't want to either freeze or stifle. My windows are standard ones (not tripe e) but considered fine for Manitoba. However, I do have a lot of them. I do get a lot of passive solar though, for example it is about -33 out and my baseboard heaters aren't coming on because of the sun. Windchill is in the -40's.

I definately want to run this 24/7 but as I say, i do have good backup. Back to the drawing board as I will have to order this in the next 3 or 4 weeks. I did get a chord and a half split of stuff for 2 years from now with my new 25 Fiskar. Stacked as well. My tamarack came it is moisture 17 from newly split piece, and it will do me for what's left of this year and will run electric at the end of the season if I have to.

p.s. House is open plan. L-shaped LR/DR/kitchen on front (south and east side). 2 bedrooms on west side, bathroom and laundry/mud room in the middle on the back (north side) The house was designed to be used with a gas fireplace and ceiling fans, I just changed my mind to wood. I have a gas range.

 

[oconnor]

Sounds like you are on your way to getting a good set up. I spent 4 years in Winterpeg and really missed having a wood stove. One winter we set the record for consecutive daytime highs below -20*c. Love Manitoba even in the cold.

 

[begreen]

Have you looked at the Pacific Energy Spectrum or Super 27? That stove will provide an easy 10-12 hr burn time, even with a partial load of fuel. To get longer burn times I think you will need to consider getting a catalytic stove like a Woodstock Keystone or Fireview.

 

[parthy]

oconnor - Seems everybody has been in Winnipeg at one time or another. I am 65 km's north and waiting for my road to get cleared from the storm we had Friday night. Stuck here until then. lol

begreen - thanks! I am now looking into a cat. I will see if they sell what you suggested up here. I can get a Sorocco from a dealer close by.

 

[begreen]

Great to hear that you have a BK dealer nearby. The Sirocco or a Princess would to the job.

 

[Hardrockmaple]

oconnor - Seems everybody has been in Winnipeg at one time or another. I am 65 km's north and waiting for my road to get cleared from the storm we had Friday night. Stuck here until then. lol

begreen - thanks! I am now looking into a cat. I will see if they sell what you suggested up here. I can get a Sorocco from a dealer close by.

Re: the Woodstock stoves, keep in mind they are not ULC certified. Your insurance company mat be sticky about that.

 

[parthy]

No go on Woodstock, no dealers here. I will head out this week to look at the Sirocco, the Chinook and the Pacific energy ones. My budget isn't that tight and I do want to do this right.

 

[Rickb]

the sirocco is a very nice stove that will run for a long time on a load of wood.

See the sig.

 

[Huntindog1]

Welcome , Keep us posted.

 

[Hogwildz]

Keep in mind whether the stove you decide on is set up for east/west loading, or north/south.
I am partial to n/s myself. fuller, tighter, packed loads when desired, no issues with anything rolling against the glass, or out the door if opening is needed for any reason.
Whichever you desire, may also dictate the length of your splits.

 

[parthy]

Thanks, writing this down. My tamarack is 16", as I didn't know what stove I was buying. The stuff I cut down is about 18". I had injured myself at work and a neighbour cut that stuff into lengths and they are all over the place size wize.


rickb - what size house do you heat with the 20?

 

[Rickb]

I am heating the finished portion of my basement(750sqft) and the main floor of my house(1100sqft). We also have a second floor for the kids. The second floro has its own heat. The main floor heat runs very very rarely when i have the stove running. I keep the stove room at around 75 and the main floor stays around 70-71.