Help selecting a wood stove

[McyMac]

Greetings! There are so many choices, I need some advice from folks who know what they are doing!

Here's the context:
-1700 sf double wide manufactured home (1998)
-Western North Carolina (temperate)
-House also has a heat pump which we would like to use less
-Stove will be centrally located in house

I would like:
N-S loading stove
Flat top + Top exit chimney

Looking at
Pacific Energy Super
Englander/Summer Heat 2000 (can't find firebox size info??)
US Stove/Ashley Heat 2500

Why does the Pacific Energy stove cost so much more? Is it worth it? What are the downsides of the cheaper stoves? Any other N-S stoves in the right size range?

Are these stoves in the right ballpark for this size house in this climate? Also, how much bigger would TOO big of a stove be? Or in other words, is there a downside to getting a stove with a 3+ cft fire box and building smaller fires (in the Drolet Austral III for example)

Thank you! I've read and and searched (and learned so much) this site quite a bit, but still haven't been able to completely answer my questions.

Merry Christmas!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm biased on the PE stoves. Yes, I think they are worth the extra cost. I run the T5, which is the same firebox as the Super. They will handle 1700 feet just fine depending on the floor plan. Stoves are space heaters, so they heat the room they are in best, and it can get trickier to get heat into rooms farther from the stove. Centrally locating the stove will help a lot with this.

On the topic of firebox, I have a bit different opinion than most. You will see many offer the advice that you can always build a small fire in a large firebox. While this is true, too large a firebox and the fire doesn't get hot enough to return the smoke. This can enable creosote formation. I much prefer to have a slightly smaller firebox that I can run at the right temperature and if I need to, turn on a bit of backup heat.

 

[Indianawood]

Blaze king. Try to find an unhappy Blaze King owner. Amazing stoves with wonderful support from @BKVP right on this forum.
Saving $ initially always cost me more later

 

[AndrewU]

Second vote for Blaze King. Customer service is amazing. Got a PM from @BKVP after posting up my install with a generous offer and some friendly chatting. I mean, what companies VP does that, on a regular basis, with a customer? I’ve read many threads where he has helped troubleshoot stoves and get them working for the owner too.

My climate is also pretty temperate. I got an Ashford 30 for our house (bigger, but not trying to heat much more space than you). I’m currently on 13.5 hours of a full load of alder and cedar and still don’t need to reload. Where you are oak should be readily available, so you could do even better. Outside it’s been mid-40s and fairly windy, house has been kept 70-74 on that load.

 

[saberbass]

Second vote for the P.E. I am new to wood burning and bought my first stove this fall P.E. neo 2.5. Each application is different and the quality of stoves vary a lot. Since its an investment of 10 years or longer factor that into your decision. All that said I looked at Drolet's and Century stoves at the big box stores and they were cheaply made compared to the P.E.

 

[wishlist]

I can tell you what not to buy ! I’ve had a Hearthstone Heritage that I bought new . Although I really like the soapstone and it puts out the heat just fine , it’s the engineering and customer service that is absolutely terrible .
Short story is we use the side door all the time , never the front . Latch on door wears out and to replace it it’s a major overhaul .
Hearthstone is aware of the issues so the now have a “ latch “ that’s replaceable for just the front door ! Ugh ! They did nothing to repair the side door latch . I’ve rebuilt it once and it’s getting close to needing another major tear down . Not gonna happen , I’ll seriously look at the Woodstock’s stoves first . I have heard great reports on Blaze King as well .

 

[begreen]

Which model Englander? The 50SSW01 or SSW03? Both have a 2.45 cu ft firebox. They are a decent value stove.

The metal components in the PE firebox are all stainless steel. It also has a barometric damper on the secondary air supply and side shields. All of this adds up in cost. It's a good stove, easy to service and with a good long burn time. PE also makes a value stove sold as the True North TN20.

I can't really recommend the US Stove. The others are better.

 

[logfarmer]

2.5 cu ft firebox will fit well, stove depends on your budget, you can go cheap($1k) or you can go nice($3k+)!