Help choosing stove for Cape cod

[Ohiofarmhouse]

Hi! We are wanting to use wood as our primary heat this winter (keep oil as back up) and so we need to find a more efficient stove. We currently have a Franklin that couldn't heat the house properly when the furnace had problems last winter.
I am overwhelmed already with all the options. A bit about our house: 1090 Sq ft Cape Cod with the bedroooms upstairs. Not the best airflow or insulation, just new insulation in the roof. So tips on creating airflow?

I think the firewood available is mostly hardwood.
I want efficiency, not having to feed it every 2 hrs like the Franklin but I'm also on a budget. Need to keep it under $3k. Also want a glass door.

Also, I have the opportunity to get a good deal on a Hearthstone Green Mountain 80, but it's rated for up to 2,500 SQ ft, is that too much stove?
Any tips welcome 🙂

 

[begreen]

What is the floorplan like? Is it open or is the stove room separate with a doorway?

For that budget look at Drolet, Osburn, True North, and Pacific energy stoves in the 2 cu ft size range. The Drolet SparkII or Escape 1500 and the True North TN20 are below $2000 and good heaters. In the $2-3000 range look at the PE Super, Quadrafire 3100 Millenium, & Osburn 1700.

 

[Ohiofarmhouse]

The floorplan is: main is just kitchen, living room and bathroom, each separated by a doorway
the stove would be in the living room, about 6ft from the bottom of the stairs. Upstairs is a tight hallway with four tiny bedrooms (we'd for sure keep doors open).

I will have to look into those brands, thanks. Any advice on if it should be a catalytic stove or not?

 

[begreen]

The doorways will restrict most of the heat to the living room and some will convect up the stairs to the bedrooms. The kitchen may need a small fan to assist in heating that area.

A catalytic stove is good for low and slow heat, but price increases this year have pushed most models above the $3,000 budget range. They also may be more particular about the current chimney. Does the current chimney have an insulated liner? Is it an interior or exterior chimney?

The main thing for good heating is to have dry, fully seasoned firewood. That is a key part of good heating with a modern stove. For most hardwood, this means 2 yrs of seasoning after the wood has been split and stacked.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Before looking at stoves, get your wood put up. You can’t buy it dry enough to properly burn in a new stove. You should get at least 2 years ahead on wood in order to give some of the more dense species enough time to dry.

Next look at your flue. Make sure it’s in good shape and find out if it needs a liner. Height is very important, as well as diameter.

Finally start looking at stoves. Non cat is more forgiving of wet wood.

You may want to get the wood up, then insulate the house while you decide the other details and wait for work to get done/finished. Regardless of the heat source, keeping it in the house is important. It’s way more visible that it’s escaping when you’re physically loading each bit of heat in log form into the stove.

 

[Ashful]

Chimney? Specifically, if the chimney requires a new liner, does this have to fit within the $3k total budget? Many here like to use the rule of thumb that the stove itself uses half the total budget.

Non cat is more forgiving of wet wood.

Not really true, or at least requires some more explanation.

If a cat stove is run at a burn rate similar to the bottom range of most non-cats, then you will not have any more trouble with a cat stove, than you do with a non-cat. The trouble comes only when you try to take advantage of the very low burn rates which only cat stoves can do, as the exhaust temp drops too low to carry the water to the top of the flue before it condenses. When run equally, namely keeping the reburn above the 1100F threshold required for non-cat secondary action, both technologies will perform similarly.

I burned sub-prime wood for my first several years, in cat stoves. Burn in bypass until wood is baked out, close bypass, and just don't turn it down to super-low rates. Avoid loading cold wet wood on an active cat, as you can thermally shock it more easily with wet wood than dry, but I really never even had issues with that.

 

[Caw]

I think my situation is fairly similar to yours. We live in a 1600 sq ft two story cape and use hardwood for our primary heat with heat pump backup. We have an Osburn 1600 insert from 2019 which has a 1.85 cu ft firebox. It's pre EPA 2020 so it's a mega polluter at 4 gm/hr (lol) and it's been replaced by the Osburn 1700 which I believe is around 1.5 gm/hr but is largely the same stove. Our house is fairly well insulated and we burn around 4 cords a year +/- 0.5 cords depending on the weather. We are very happy with it, we only flip on the backup heat for help a couple times a year if the overnight temps get below 0.

I've attached our floor plan and a pic of the insert. We have the huge benefit of the stairwell upstairs being in the stove room so the heat naturally gets upstairs. We use one tower fan to circulate air to the kitchen and get some convection going and it works well. When it's humming along our den/upstairs is usually around 69-72, kitchen/dining room around 65-68, and the stove room 75-80.

I personally prefer non-cat stoves. I just enjoy the simple-ness and I'm around to reload/adjust as needed as I work at night. I think the only thing I'd change is I wish I had a bigger N/S loading capable firebox for a little longer burn time/easier reloading but that wasn't possible at the time due to the shape of my firebox. We get around 6-8 hour burn times and I have no problem having coals in the AM with a 10pm overnight reload.

Good luck!

 

[marty319]

We all know who rules the roost in your house

 

[Ashful]

That dog’s nose is bigger than my dog.

 

[Caw]

We all know who rules the roost in your house

1. Wife
2. Gordon
3. Kids
.
.
.
.
.
.
DFL. Me

 

[EbS-P]

GM 80 is an 8” stove. Adding cost vs 6”. And yes its probably much to large.

Is the Tax credit important? Is the current venting in good shape? or is the 3000$ including new 6” venting?

 

[Ohiofarmhouse]

Next look at your flue. Make sure it’s in good shape and find out if it needs a liner. Height is very important, as well as diameter.

We have an eight in stove pipe single wall. Converts to 6in insulated to pass through the wall, the 6in single wall pipe up the exterior of the house. Originally we went 2 feet above the roof, but that was not getting a good draw, so we added 6 or 8 feet. Now it draws really well. All of that is less than a year old. How do I know if we need a liner?

 

[bholler]

We have an eight in stove pipe single wall. Converts to 6in insulated to pass through the wall, the 6in single wall pipe up the exterior of the house. Originally we went 2 feet above the roof, but that was not getting a good draw, so we added 6 or 8 feet. Now it draws really well. All of that is less than a year old. How do I know if we need a liner?

You don't need a liner you need a chimney. Single wall pipe as a chimney is not code compliant, insurable, or safe.

 

[begreen]

We have an eight in stove pipe single wall. Converts to 6in insulated to pass through the wall, the 6in single wall pipe up the exterior of the house. Originally we went 2 feet above the roof, but that was not getting a good draw, so we added 6 or 8 feet. Now it draws really well. All of that is less than a year old. How do I know if we need a liner?

Pics would help here, including the interior and exterior components of the flue system.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

A single wall is bad outside. As BG requested above, pics could help us determine if the chimney is safe or not.

You might need a new chimney, or might have misidentified the components.

 

[Markolc81]

Look into Eversource (or your energy supplier) for an energy audit. I had one done and got quoted by an insulation company to pack my house from basement to attic with modern insulation, and it was cheaper than a wood stove (after rebates) and it made a MUCH bigger difference than (at the the time) pellet stove I had installed a year prior. I lived in a 1400 sq foot cape from the 1940s in CT. It reduced my oil consumption by one full tank in the winter (250 gallons), it made the house much less drafty and comfortable especially upstairs, and it kept the house COOLER in the summer, especially upstairs. My return on investment for insulation was 3 years from energy savings.

Moral of the story is, seal up your house first, get a wood stove second if you really want to save some money and make your house comfortable.

Also, I'd like to reiterate what was mentioned above, get your wood now, let it dry for two years. It'll give you plenty of time too look for a stove, and get your house sealed up.

 

[mikey]

Hi! We are wanting to use wood as our primary heat this winter (keep oil as back up) and so we need to find a more efficient stove. We currently have a Franklin that couldn't heat the house properly when the furnace had problems last winter.
I am overwhelmed already with all the options. A bit about our house: 1090 Sq ft Cape Cod with the bedroooms upstairs. Not the best airflow or insulation, just new insulation in the roof. So tips on creating airflow?

I think the firewood available is mostly hardwood.
I want efficiency, not having to feed it every 2 hrs like the Franklin but I'm also on a budget. Need to keep it under $3k. Also want a glass door.

Also, I have the opportunity to get a good deal on a Hearthstone Green Mountain 80, but it's rated for up to 2,500 SQ ft, is that too much stove?
Any tips welcome 🙂

We live in a 1765 year old house roof insulation only, the problems with stairs near the stove room is that all the heat goes right upstairs and will not move through the rest of the house, we had to put a door at the bottom of our stairs to prevent that. Our house beside being old has small rooms with narrow door openings we have learned to live with one warm room.

Before looking at stoves, get your wood put up. You can’t buy it dry enough to properly burn in a new stove. You should get at least 2 years ahead on wood in order to give some of the more dense species enough time to dry.

Next look at your flue. Make sure it’s in good shape and find out if it needs a liner. Height is very important, as well as diameter.

Finally start looking at stoves. Non cat is more forgiving of wet wood.

You may want to get the wood up, then insulate the house while you decide the other details and wait for work to get done/finished. Regardless of the heat source, keeping it in the house is important. It’s way more visible that it’s escaping when you’re physically loading each bit of heat in log form into the stove.

 

[begreen]

We live in a 1765 year old house roof insulation only

That sounds biblical.

 

[Ashful]

We live in a 1765 year old house roof insulation only, the problems with stairs near the stove room is that all the heat goes right upstairs and will not move through the rest of the house, we had to put a door at the bottom of our stairs to prevent that. Our house beside being old has small rooms with narrow door openings we have learned to live with one warm room.

Given you're in Rhode Island, and not Rome, I'm assuming you meant it was built in 1765, not 257 AD. Interesting that you have narrow doors, though. Around here, late 1700's is still the period of insanely wide doors, some of ours are large enough to fit a bed thru, laying down! Other houses we've owned of similar age are all the same, 40" wide doors are downright common. The visual effect is exaggerated by the thin (1-1/16" to 1-1/8") door rails and stiles, on these old doors. Our later houses (1800's) do have the tall narrow doors you mention, my last house was in a town of Victorians (all built 1870 - 1890), which were full of narrow doors.

Just interesting how things vary locally, with stylistic and manufacturing trends sometimes taking awhile to travel from one part of the country to another, or being separated by local needs or abundances.

 

[mikey]

Given you're in Rhode Island, and not Rome, I'm assuming you meant it was built in 1765, not 257 AD. Interesting that you have narrow doors, though. Around here, late 1700's is still the period of insanely wide doors, some of ours are large enough to fit a bed thru, laying down! Other houses we've owned of similar age are all the same, 40" wide doors are downright common. The visual effect is exaggerated by the thin (1-1/16" to 1-1/8") door rails and stiles, on these old doors. Our later houses (1800's) do have the tall narrow doors you mention, my last house was in a town of Victorians (all built 1870 - 1890), which were full of narrow doors.

Just interesting how things vary locally, with stylistic and manufacturing trends sometimes taking awhile to travel from one part of the country to another, or being separated by local needs or abundances.

Interesting, I live in Newport in the neighborhood said to have the largest concentration of colonial era homes in America, around here those that have wide doors seem to be the ones that have been modified. That being said our house has small rooms and heat does not travel well, also what with 257 AD I don’t get it.

 

[bholler]

Interesting, I live in Newport in the neighborhood said to have the largest concentration of colonial era homes in America, around here those that have wide doors seem to be the ones that have been modified. That being said our house has small rooms and heat does not travel well, also what with 257 AD I don’t get it.

Around here houses that old it really depends upon the wealth of those who built it. Many of that era were small log or stove houses and generally had narrow doors and small windows.

 

[TradEddie]

I've got a cape similar to what Caw posted above, but mine is larger and more open than his, but getting enough heat upstairs is still almost impossible. A tower fan blowing at lowest speed into the stove room from the next room was effective at evening temperature downstairs, but more powerful fans, or higher speeds were counterproductive because they just disrupted the natural convection. Expect to have cold bedrooms, maybe high-50s, even when downstairs is mid-70s. Worse still, even 60F will feel very cold when you've been lounging around downstairs in shorts and t-shirt!
More importantly, as others have said, make sure your planned install is safe, and then get your wood. You will almost certainly not be able to buy wood now that's dry enough to burn satisfactorily this winter. If you have any wood split already, separate the faster drying species and get those splits stacked out in the sun and wind asap.

TE

 

[begreen]

Around here houses that old it really depends upon the wealth of those who built it. Many of that era were small log or stove houses and generally had narrow doors and small windows.

That is typical of what I remember living in New England, but not always. Some of the wealthy sea captain's homes in Salem Mass have smaller doorways, more like 30" in some cases.

Sea captain’s home overlooking Salem Common - The Boston Globe

A 200 year old brick Federalist home, full renovated, that overlooks the Salem Common is Home of The Week.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Interesting, I live in Newport in the neighborhood said to have the largest concentration of colonial era homes in America, around here those that have wide doors seem to be the ones that have been modified. That being said our house has small rooms and heat does not travel well, also what with 257 AD I don’t get it.

“We live in a 1765 year old house…”

 

[Ashful]

Around here houses that old it really depends upon the wealth of those who built it. Many of that era were small log or stove houses and generally had narrow doors and small windows.

You may have nailed it there, bholler. Around here, the only houses that old still standing are the few that were built very well, didn't burn down, and were actually worth keeping. Those may have been the few with wider doors, leaving behind an un-balanced perception of what existed at the time.

Even around here, there does seem to be more of a propensity for keeping smaller houses intact when they exist within a village, than those built in rural farmland. New England being dotted with more of these historic villages than most places, I could see them having a more balanced representation of older houses. Although we know there was a sizeable pre-Revolutionary population here in southeastern PA, the houses of that age surviving here today are nearly all large (for the time) stone houses.