Help - Choosing a first stove

[Andropolis]

Greetings all,

I am looking for a wood burning stove. I don't know enough about what stoves are available currently so I need help and advice.

I just purchased a Bungalo... it's approximately 1600 Square Feet. I would like to put a stove in the basement to supplement my gas heating. Mainly to use from November to February. The SOLE purpose for the stove would be to save on heating costs and to use in emergency situations. I don't care what the stove looks like... I'm only concerned with performance and function. I don't heat the attic/upstairs... I keep the door closed as well as the ducts and just let the heat rise because no one utilizes that space, so it just stays warm enough to prevent the walls from cracking... I live in Northern Ohio and it gets fairly cold during the winter.

In my search for a stove and in trying to educate myself, I'm somewhat suprised that I can't find a handful of trusted stove manufacturers... What is the equivilent to the Ford, Chevy, or even Toyota... of woodburning stove manufacturers.. When I go to the review page... there seems to be so many different kinds of stoves that I don't know where to start. I need some sound advice on a brand and/or model that is popular and can be purchased locally.

I would also like to know approximately how much I might be spending on the stove.. chimney setup.. delivery.. & professional installation. I don't have alot of money but I'm also not looking for a good looking stove... only a well functioning one. If the stove only heats a 800 square foot area than that would be a good supplement to the gas heat... but more would be nice.

Where can I find a good stove without purchasing a piece of junk and or paying an arm and a leg from a specialty store?

I appreciate any advice!

Andrew

 

[laynes69]

I would look into a good used stove. As far as putting it in your basement, getting heat to transfer could be a problem. I would put it in the main living space of the home. I would get an EPA Stove, for it will burn less wood. Plus I would get one that doesnt require electricity so if the power went out, you would have nothing to worry about. As far as price it could vary quite a bit. The sky is the limit for everything you are looking at and what you need. Good luck! Maybe someone else can get you closer to prices.

 

[wahoowad]

Are you going to run the stove a lot and overnight? Or just when you come home from work? The more you expect to rely on the stove the longer you want your burn cycle for each load of wood.

My Jotul 3CB would do you - it is a medium size stove. But I only get maybe 3 to 4 hour burn cycles out of it because it only takes a few splits at a time. That's Ok with me, I'm mostly a recreational burner. A larger firebox would burn longer (assuming you operated it correctly).

Jotul, Vermont Castings and Hearthstone are but 3 very good names in line with your Chevy, Ford analogy. There certainly are others. Just keep reading. It takes awhile to come up to speed. Coming here was the best thing you could do.

 

[elkimmeg]

Value EPA Stoves are Englanders or Century stoves

 

[dave behrens]

1. BEFORE YOU BUY......Do you have a supply of wood you can scrounge? A high quality, reliable (Stihl) chainsaw to cut it, a pickup to haul it, a maul and wedges to split it, and a place to store it? And the energy to do all the above? If not, what is the price for cord wood in your area? Consider coal if you like or need a small stove, and don't like to work hard. Coal puts out an absolutely amazing amount of heat, occupies one-third the storage area, never rots, doesn't require protection from rain, and may be cheaper than wood if you must buy cord wood. I strongly suggest the Fuel Cost Calculator on Hearth.com before you decide on a fuel to use.

2. Buy a black, non-electric stove. No enamel. A heat exchange blower is helpful, but do not buy a stove that requires a blower or feeder to operate. Pellet and corn stoves always require electricity, and you cannot scrounge either fuel. You could freeze to death in a power failure right next to your expensive stove. If you are clueless when it comes to construction and/or machinery, do not buy a used stove. Depend on a well paid professional. If you install it yourself, read all the literature BEFORE you install it, have it inspected and notify your home owner's insurance company

3. Make the flue as straight up as possible. Ideally, it should rise from the top of your stove and straight up to the roof. Why? All the creosote formed will have a strong tendency to fall back into the stove, where it will burn and you have a better chance to control it. A flue with 90 degree tees or elbows invariably collect creosote in the horizontal runs and cause chimney fires. Also, it is a hell of a lot easier to wire brush clean a straight flue. Remember, coal doesn't create creosote, chimney fires, or smoke. Just lots of clean heat.

4. Put it in the basement IF you can easily feed it wood down there. It will keep the first level floor warm. If you cut small (14" x 6") holes in strategic places, covered with decorative metal grates, you may see natural convection occur whereby hot air rises from the stove, through a grate above the stove, to the first floor and 'pushes' cold air down a stairway or through a grate on the other end of the house and back to the stove. This is ideal, but attainable with proper stove and grate placement.

5. I owned a Federal Dutchwest XL and before that a Vermont Castings Vigilant. The Dutchwest was a lot better because it had an ashpan and handled longer wood. The Vigilant had an ingenious bimetallic air inlet, but no ashpan. The catalytic converter on the Dutchwest was a pain in the ass...I suggest trying to buy a stove without one. I have a Harman Mark II coal stove now, and like it more than the wood stoves I had for 25 years. If I ever bought a woodstove again, it would be a Dutchwest. (broken link removed to http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=314)

 

[Roospike]

2. Buy a black, non-electric stove. No enamel.

Why ?

 

[BurningIsLove]

the non-electric part is obvious. And if you dont care about looks, then an enamled stove seems superfluous. And black is the new black? Got me there if its going in the basement

 

[elkimmeg]

4. Put it in the basement IF you can easily feed it wood down there. It will keep the first level floor warm. If you cut small (14” x 6") holes in strategic places, covered with decorative metal grates, you may see natural convection occur whereby hot air rises from the stove, through a grate above the stove, to the first floor and ‘pushes’ cold air down a stairway or through a grate on the other end of the house and back to the stove. This is ideal, but attainable with proper stove and grate placement.

Let me You had me agreeing the first 3 parts good advice except you forgot to note cleaning attention required using coal. the sulfuric acid eats clay and metal liners more so than any wood stove bi product of burning

The worst place one can put a stove is in the basebent the foundation wall will absorb most of the productive heat. Most bacements also contain other fuel burning equipment. Meaning there is competition of the available ma combustion air. the basement location is below the netural b pressure zone. Negavive pressues exist in the basement that will also hinder stove preformance Sum it all up place the stove in the living area. Even worse that that is recomending cutting holes in your floors
Did you know your floor acts as a natural containment barrier? Are you suggesting to throw all fire safety containment to the wind? The more or larger holes you cut you are also cutting safe exit time. In this month this issue was debated to death. Untill you realize the effects these holes have to excellerate fire spreadiing do not recomend others take this risk.

I have seen the film from the fire academy I have attended the seminars. Believe me seconds or minutes are prescious few for safe exit It happens l alot quicker when you have just reduced your natural containment barrier

The catalytic converter on the Dutchwest was a pain in the ass...I suggest trying to buy a stove without one.

I guess its been a while since you owned a wood stove? Today the Encore the replacement to the Viligant now has the best ash disposal in the industry. all one hast to do is swing out the door and ash pan slide on the handle cover and take it outside About as ash and dust free as it gets.
I happen to own a cat Encore plus a cat Intrepid II I find then to be about the finest stoves made in USA The cat technology and opperation is no different that any stove dampered down to initiate secondary burn. There is no extra controls same proceedure Cat replacement cost used to be costly. Now there are aftermarket suppliers, that cost 50% less plus the aftermarket combustors have a larger working range and produce longer secondary burn times. Yes there is required cleqaning each yeray and the replacements are warranteed up to 7 years. The time factor is what every stove owner should vac out the fly ash deposits the extra step is to vac out the combustor. I do this at the start of the season and at mid point most of the time I burn so clean it is usually just and inspection no big deal 5 minutes work. Things have changed since the old Dutchwest days R&D has also gone into improving the Combustors and also the secondary burn chambers and technology. I purposely sold my not cat Resolute Acclaim to get a cat Encore. It has exceeded my expectations

 

[begreen]

Andrew, why in the basement? Please explain why and what this stove is to get connected to. What is your budget?

My guess is that the best bet may be a quality used stove. You are doing the right thing by getting educated about choices, but to help you we need more info about the existing setup for the stove.

 

[dave behrens]

I agree with the fireman that says that holes cut in the first floor aid any fire to get out of the basement and spread quickly. I too served as a volunteer fireman a long time ago. That said, the system can and does work very well, primarily in bi-level style homes with a stairway in front of the house which leads to the first floor and basement and can serve as a 'return' for colder air. Another comment noted that uninsulated basement walls will absorb the heat from the stove. Sorry, my imagination said that the basement was finished, with insulated walls. You're right, uninsulated walls will absorb most of the heat.

I still feel that putting the stove in the basement is a good idea. Reasons:

1. Concrete floor, strong, non-combustible. Positioning the stove where a massive heat absorbing non-combustible filled masonry wall can be placed behind the stove (Trombe wall) to moderate heat output. This is almost impossible on the first floor.

2. Saves valuable room on the first floor, keeps the inevitable mess in the basement in a family room instead of the home's living room. May have ground level door to the outside of the house, to facilitate fuel and ash movement.

3. Can exactly place stove for floor joist clearance. This allows straight up placement of triple wall solid fuel vent through a first floor closet. Limited placement possibilities on a crowded first floor make this difficult.

If you MUST put it on the first floor, choose a small coal stove. Reasons:

1. Fuel occupies one-third the volume per BTU of heat content, lessening first floor storage problems and trips to the outside when refueling. Coal contains no insects, no poison ivy vines. Coal piled outside can get wet, doesn't attract snakes.

2. A very small coal stove can output more heat for a longer period of time than a large wood stove. It will blow you out of your house! Conversely, at low fire, coal stoves have much longer burn times. I admit it takes a little finesse to burn anthracite.

3. No creosote. That doesn't mean you NEVER clean the flue. I clean my triple walled SS flue only once per year, to remove kindling creosote and the fly ash from coal. No creosote means you really have to try very hard to have a chimney fire. This is a lot better than my former monthly trips to the roof to clean the flue when I burned wood. (Yes, I'm fanatical about lessening the possibility of a chimney fire, and I did burn some soft woods if they were available) I would never vent a coal stove into a masonry flue. This is a recipe for disaster, in that the acid formed by the coal gas and humidity would ruin the mortar joints in a masonry flue and require more maintenance than I'm willing to provide.

4. Coal is cheaper and less work. I pay $180/ton of bagged anthracite coal which equates to 28 Million BTU and occupies 40 cubic feet. If I wanted to work harder, I could buy it in bulk for $125/ton. Split hardwood costs $150 to $200/cord, and depending on moisture content equates to 20 to 25 million BTU, occupies 128 cubic feet, must be kept dry, easily catches fire, will rot, weighs up to five thousand pounds which I must hump into my house for a similar heating quantity.


Oh, and I don't like enamel stoves because they chip (they cannot be repaired to an invisible repair) and are very expensive. Black stoves can be easily repainted with barbeque grill paint that makes them look new. There are even other high heat colors if you wish to pay a little more for the paint.

Long comment. I still like the idea of scrounging wood. It's ALMOST free heat, IF you discount your time and energy, the cost of a pick up truck, good chain saw, and splitting tools. I did it for more than twenty years, and my kids tell 'war stories' about how they grew up with a wood stove as the heat source. However, I got a little old to do this, too bad.

 

[jtcedinburgh]

Let me You had me agreeing the first 3 parts good advice except you forgot to note cleaning attention required using coal. the sulfuric acid eats clay and metal liners more so than any wood stove bi product of burning

Is this true even of smokeless coal briquettes?