Help me choose a woodstove, please.

[TomBombadil]

Hi there. I live in north/central Maine and we moved into our house last year. It came with an old woodstove that we used part time last year. We want to get a nice, safe, controllable, and long burning (probably non-cat though) stove to burn full time this winter and beyond.

We have a tall, 2 story gambrel house built in 1998. The house is about 1600 sqft but it has decently tall ceilings, and open floor plan downstairs, and a good amount of cubic feet to heat. The chimney is a block chimney that I just had swept and it will be getting lined next week as the flue tiled we’re decently offset and there was some creosote glazing on the tiles.

I’ve never had an issue with draft, my chimney must be at least 20ft + from where the thimble is, and if not, then certainly that much if you include to the stove itself. Last year, one of our struggles was actually not over firing the stove we have, as it’s so leaky and was hard to control. Overnight burns were impossible.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to these brands and stoves, but a big factor is price. I would prefer to be under 3k but it just doesn’t seem possible in todays market.

Jotul: Greenville ($3000 before tax) or Carrabassett ($3450 before tax) (According their map, I’m in the blue section, so probably Greenville would be too small?) I actually live close to Greenville, Maine. Not quite that far north though.

Lopi: Liberty (too big?), endeavor or evergreen. Depending on if I can get a 20% discount still on these stoves that the stove shop was offering. The Liberty would be like $4200 before tax if I can’t, or $3400 if I can. The evergreen and endeavor I think are about $3800 if I can’t and $3100 if I can before tax). Roughly.

PE: Alderlea T5 ( gonna cost well over $4200 before tax), Super LE ($3400 with tax)

Quadra-Fire: love the size and viewing area of the step tops. The 4300 I got priced out at $3300 with tax. But I don’t know the quality or controllability of these stoves, as I know the three above brands are all very good according to this forum.

Being able to cook on top is a big bonus id be looking for. Also, radiant heat is ideal, but the cast iron jacket stoves have big price tags attached as you can see.

What do you guys think? Anything helps the decision making process. Been trying to pull the trigger and narrow it down for a while now. I’ll attach a pic of my current setup and old stove.

 

[EbS-P]

I like spending other people’s money. Go big you can always burn a smaller fire or use a heat pump.
F55, summit LE , T6, or liberty. Thinking is even when is quite cold you can get a true 8 hour burn. Plan on replacing all the stove pipe. Double wall is recommended. Try to see if there is a way to use 2 45s instead of 2 90s. You will be running much cooler exhaust gas temps.

Are you insulating the liner. Would become it.

Last point not stove shopping should be complete without looking at what Drolet has to offer. They are not the prettiest but the savings is substantial some are tax credit eligible if that matters.

 

[stoveliker]

If you get one that qualifies for the tax credit (up to $2000), the liner can be included in the cost over which the credit is calculated.

 

[TomBombadil]

I like spending other people’s money. Go big you can always burn a smaller fire or use a heat pump.
F55, summit LE , T6, or liberty. Thinking is even when is quite cold you can get a true 8 hour burn. Plan on replacing all the stove pipe. Double wall is recommended. Try to see if there is a way to use 2 45s instead of 2 90s. You will be running much cooler exhaust gas temps.

Are you insulating the liner. Would become it.

Last point not stove shopping should be complete without looking at what Drolet has to offer. They are not the prettiest but the savings is substantial some are tax credit eligible if that matters.

Yeah, not a bad thought to oversize. My other concern is if the bigger stoves like the Liberty are too big for the hearth spot? I think my hearth is 49” deep to the cinderblock and like 45” wide. I measured it the other day, but I don’t quite remember exactly now, it’s something like that.

Are you saying that two 45 degree bends would produce cooler exhaust gas, or warmer? I think I’m not understanding your point fully. Sorry, I’m a bit of a newbie to this, with only one burning season under my belt.

The chimney sweep guy never mentioned anything about insulating the liner. All I know is that he has ordered the liner, and it came in, and we are getting it put in next week. I don’t think it’s insulated. If it’s any consolation, my chimney is fully within the center of my house, as you can see, so that helps keep the chimney relatively warm as opposed to being on the end of my house.

I’ve heard good things about the Drolets on this forum, but I can’t seem to find any dealer that has them anywhere. Is this a brand that you just shop online for?

Thanks for your helpful response!

 

[TomBombadil]

If you get one that qualifies for the tax credit (up to $2000), the liner can be included in the cost over which the credit is calculated.

This is good to know

 

[kborndale]

Drolets are sold in the big box stores like home Depot and are also sold online. In most applications, insulation on your liner is required by code.

 

[EbS-P]

Yeah, not a bad thought to oversize. My other concern is if the bigger stoves like the Liberty are too big for the hearth spot? I think my hearth is 49” deep to the cinderblock and like 45” wide. I measured it the other day, but I don’t quite remember exactly now, it’s something like that.

Are you saying that two 45 degree bends would produce cooler exhaust gas, or warmer? I think I’m not understanding your point fully. Sorry, I’m a bit of a newbie to this, with only one burning season under my belt.

The chimney sweep guy never mentioned anything about insulating the liner. All I know is that he has ordered the liner, and it came in, and we are getting it put in next week. I don’t think it’s insulated. If it’s any consolation, my chimney is fully within the center of my house, as you can see, so that helps keep the chimney relatively warm as opposed to being on the end of my house.

I’ve heard good things about the Drolets on this forum, but I can’t seem to find any dealer that has them anywhere. Is this a brand that you just shop online for?

Thanks for your helpful response!

Liners can be wrapped with insulation on site. Question is will it fit inside chimney. I bought my Drolet directly from them online.

 

[TomBombadil]

Liners can be wrapped with insulation on site. Question is will it fit inside chimney. I bought my Drolet directly from them online.

Tell me a bit about Drolets and how they burn, as I know nothing about them. How do they compare in built quality and burn quality to the other brands I listed? Thanks

 

[Todd]

The Jotul F45 V2 Greenville has been discontinued but some dealers may have a few in stock yet. Personally I would tend to lean on the bigger side like the F55 or Lopi Liberty.

The Drolets are decent best bang for your buck type stoves. I’ve never heard any complaints. They also have some true radiant stoves which are hard to come by for non cat stoves. You could save a lot of money going this route.

 

[sneefy]

I don't have a lot of experience with other stoves but I really like my Lopi Evergreen.

 

[EbS-P]

Tell me a bit about Drolets and how they burn, as I know nothing about them. How do they compare in built quality and burn quality to the other brands I listed? Thanks

They are value oriented. Plain looking. Solid construction. Air control knob movement was not as nice as my Jotul. Baffle is vermiculite which is more fragile but cheaper to replace than a castable refractory. Kia vs Honda vs Lexus. You pay extra for more features or looks you find appealing. I spent extra for an ivory enamel Jotul because I wanted it to look really good in the living room.

 

[kborndale]

For a higher end drolet check out osburn stoves, they are same company as drolet (SBI) but are upgraded stoves.

 

[panderson03]

We bought a Lopi Liberty for our 1250 sq ft plus 3/4 loft. it will easily fit on the hearth you describe above. this will be our first winter.
will let you know how it goes. I agree with the sentiment that it's easier to just have a smaller fire to avoid overheating the house, than it is to try and squeeze more heat out of an undersized stove.

 

[TomBombadil]

The Jotul F45 V2 Greenville has been discontinued but some dealers may have a few in stock yet. Personally I would tend to lean on the bigger side like the F55 or Lopi Liberty.

The Drolets are decent best bang for your buck type stoves. I’ve never heard any complaints. They also have some true radiant stoves which are hard to come by for non cat stoves. You could save a lot of money going this route.

Yeah, the dealer around me that sells Jotul has the Greenville in stock. I just thought maybe it didn’t have enough horsepower to heat my sqft.

It really shocks me that the Carrabassett is rated so much higher when the firebox is really not that much bigger and the stove doesn’t weigh all that much more (30lbs heavier I think)?

Meanwhile, Jotul rates it for 2600sqft compared to the 1800 of the Greenville. I wonder why this is. The stove shop guy told me it actually will heat more than the Liberty as I was looking at both in his store. And the Liberty is both heavier by a lot and has nearly a full cubic foot bigger firebox. I’m puzzled.

 

[EbS-P]

Meanwhile, Jotul rates it for 2600sqft compared to the 1800 of the Greenville. I wonder why this is.

Marketing mostly. But read the EPA test reports. It’s the best apples to apples comparison you can get

 

[stoveliker]

Yeah, the dealer around me that sells Jotul has the Greenville in stock. I just thought maybe it didn’t have enough horsepower to heat my sqft.

It really shocks me that the Carrabassett is rated so much higher when the firebox is really not that much bigger and the stove doesn’t weigh all that much more (30lbs heavier I think)?

Meanwhile, Jotul rates it for 2600sqft compared to the 1800 of the Greenville. I wonder why this is. The stove shop guy told me it actually will heat more than the Liberty as I was looking at both in his store. And the Liberty is both heavier by a lot and has nearly a full cubic foot bigger firebox. I’m puzzled.

Yes marketing.

On the other hand maybe it runs higher, more BTU per hour, so heating more. But then shorter burn times.

 

[Todd]

Yeah, the dealer around me that sells Jotul has the Greenville in stock. I just thought maybe it didn’t have enough horsepower to heat my sqft.

It really shocks me that the Carrabassett is rated so much higher when the firebox is really not that much bigger and the stove doesn’t weigh all that much more (30lbs heavier I think)?

Meanwhile, Jotul rates it for 2600sqft compared to the 1800 of the Greenville. I wonder why this is. The stove shop guy told me it actually will heat more than the Liberty as I was looking at both in his store. And the Liberty is both heavier by a lot and has nearly a full cubic foot bigger firebox. I’m puzzled.

Yeah it can be confusing with all those numbers. I think all the different testing methods are the cause of this. Best to just go by firebox size and remember that there’s only so many btus per pound of wood and the efficiency differences between different stoves is barely a factor.

 

[stovelark]

All the stoves you are looking at are nice heaters, looks are often the biggest difference. With good dry seasoned wood to burn, and having a properly drafting chimney, any stove will heat well. Don't shy away from Quadrafire, years ago (before HHT bought them Aladdin steel) was one of the cleanest, easy to use durable steel stoves from the Pacific Northwest. They still are a nice burning line of stoves. Lopi has gotten very expensive too, but the liberty has been around a long time, its a nice stove. Drolet and Osburn are good stoves too. The important thing for satisfaction is good dry wood and a good drafting chimney, makes every stove a winner. Stay warm.

 

[TomBombadil]

All the stoves you are looking at are nice heaters, looks are often the biggest difference. With good dry seasoned wood to burn, and having a properly drafting chimney, any stove will heat well. Don't shy away from Quadrafire, years ago (before HHT bought them Aladdin steel) was one of the cleanest, easy to use durable steel stoves from the Pacific Northwest. They still are a nice burning line of stoves. Lopi has gotten very expensive too, but the liberty has been around a long time, its a nice stove. Drolet and Osburn are good stoves too. The important thing for satisfaction is good dry wood and a good drafting chimney, makes every stove a winner. Stay warm.

Thanks for your wisdom. There is an empire gateway 2300 new and never used, being sold by someone on fb marketplace as well, for $1900. Are Empire good stoves? I’ve never heard of the brand before.

 

[begreen]

The Empire Gateway 2300 bears a very strong resemblance to the Osburn 2000 right down to some part numbers.

 

[marty319]

The Empire Gateway 2300 bears a very strong resemblance to the Osburn 2000 right down to some part numbers.

Empire is majority owner of sbi that's why.

 

[EbS-P]

Empire is majority owner of sbi that's why.

Probably utilizing manufacturing acquired from Englander deal.

 

[begreen]

Probably utilizing manufacturing acquired from Englander deal.

I think Empire is Canadian. Englander is in Virginia.
The EPA testing report by Intertek lists the Empire 2300 Gateway as part of the following group of SBI stoves:
2.3 Series (Archway 2300, FW2900, Gateway 2300, Green Mountain Insert 70, Escape 1800, Inspire 2000, Inspire 2000-I, Matrix, Escape 1800-I, Osburn 2000, Osburn 2000-I, Harmony 2.3, Solution 2.3, Solution 2.3-I, CW2900, Destination 2.3-I, Matrix-I, HES240, HEI240, Heritage, Deco Alto, Harmony 2.3-I, Blue Ridge 300P, Blue Ridge 300L, and Blue Ridge 300-I) Non-Catalytic Cord Wood Heater Models; Certificate of Compliance Number 101- 17

 

[stovelark]

Good info BG, was not aware of Empire myself, but being very familiar with Osburn, guessing they would be a good choice. Everybody stay warm, pray for the folks thats enduring Helene...

 

[begreen]

The SBI family is getting really large. Some of these models are not sold in the US.