Hello to Hearth forum people!
Thank you for letting me join this forum to learn from the knowledge of you all! I have read many of the posts here in the past, and now am in need of some advice/suggestions/comments. I appreciate any and all comments or suggestions you may have to offer. I guess I am looking into seeing the experiences of others and what has/has not worked for them, or suggestions on what may work well.
Our situation: We have an older pre-1900s approx 1900 sq ft home in central PA that is moderately insulated. There is a fireplace hearth that currently has a old Kodiak Wood stove insert (with a fan) which we put in several years ago. We want to sell/remove the insert due to several reasons, one of which is that is seems to burn through a good bit of wood, a lot of the heat is stuck into the chimney/fireplace, and the fan HAS to be on in order to get really much heat out of it to heat the home. Also, it has only a very small lip for pan cooking or water boiling in the winter.
As a result, we are now looking for a free standing wood stove to sit out of the fireplace to provide better heating as well as a larger space for pan cooking.
Ideally, we would like a new unit (unless there is one locally that is in good condition and shape), with the following qualities:
Top list below is important considerations:
In consideration of all this, and in my limited online research, it seems that the Drolet 1800, or the Englander 300 free standing stoves (both built by SBI) may be good options. What do you all think? It seems that the Drolet 1800 has a raised/unflat top, which may be a downside for pan cooking, but maybe better construction overall.
I am certainly open to other brands/types by SBI, or other companies as long as they are solid built and USA/Canada built if possible.
Does anyone have any advice or experience with what they found works well? or what you may think would work well in this situation?
Thank you everyone!! We surely appreciate your help! As small scale farmers, we are not quite stove experts
Have a good day,
Russ J.
Central PA
Thank you for letting me join this forum to learn from the knowledge of you all! I have read many of the posts here in the past, and now am in need of some advice/suggestions/comments. I appreciate any and all comments or suggestions you may have to offer. I guess I am looking into seeing the experiences of others and what has/has not worked for them, or suggestions on what may work well.
Our situation: We have an older pre-1900s approx 1900 sq ft home in central PA that is moderately insulated. There is a fireplace hearth that currently has a old Kodiak Wood stove insert (with a fan) which we put in several years ago. We want to sell/remove the insert due to several reasons, one of which is that is seems to burn through a good bit of wood, a lot of the heat is stuck into the chimney/fireplace, and the fan HAS to be on in order to get really much heat out of it to heat the home. Also, it has only a very small lip for pan cooking or water boiling in the winter.
As a result, we are now looking for a free standing wood stove to sit out of the fireplace to provide better heating as well as a larger space for pan cooking.
Ideally, we would like a new unit (unless there is one locally that is in good condition and shape), with the following qualities:
Top list below is important considerations:
- Costs ~$1600 or less
- Rated and does a good job heating ~2000 sq ft. Our home is about 1800 sq ft, but moderately insulated since it is older, from the late 1800s.
- Solid, quality construction and materials. Heavy duty, USA/Canada made if possible.
- As large as a flat top as possible, in order to pan cook/kettle boil water/place a pop-up oven to bake bread occasionally. Maybe ~24x~20 inches ideal (this can be flexible). If the whole top is flat, that is great, but if there is enough room for pan cooking, then the rest does not have to be flat.
- Efficient, does not "guzzle down" wood, and heats well without any fan/electric needs. The less wood it used to burn hot and strong, the better
- Ideally with a nice glass door built well
- Rear vent pipe ideal (due to hearth setup), but not required
In consideration of all this, and in my limited online research, it seems that the Drolet 1800, or the Englander 300 free standing stoves (both built by SBI) may be good options. What do you all think? It seems that the Drolet 1800 has a raised/unflat top, which may be a downside for pan cooking, but maybe better construction overall.
I am certainly open to other brands/types by SBI, or other companies as long as they are solid built and USA/Canada built if possible.
Does anyone have any advice or experience with what they found works well? or what you may think would work well in this situation?
Thank you everyone!! We surely appreciate your help! As small scale farmers, we are not quite stove experts
Have a good day,
Russ J.
Central PA
