Help with stove decision please

[prestonmoler]

Hello to all. I am a new member to your sight, though I have been reading reviews on it for several weeks.

I am not knew to woodstoves, as I have been using one for 20 years. The stove I currently use heats a semi-finished basement and the level above (about 2200 sq ft total). The stove is tired, and I'm tired of it I have been researching many stoveslarge stoves, soapstone, cast iron, as well as plate steel. I prefer a large stove. The stove I have now is plate steel, but that does not mean my next stove has to be plate steel also.
I am open to new ideas if it feels right.

I have several dealers to choose from in a 50 mile radias. I prefer a local dealer to online for this kind of purchase.
So far in person I have seen Vermont Castings Defiant, Hearthstone Heritage, Hearth Stone Bennington, Lennox Spectra C1200HT, Lennox Legacy S260, Lennox Canton ST310, Regency F3100, Enerzone Solution 3.4, Pacific Energy Summit / Summit Classic, Quadra-Fire 5700 Step Top, and Quadra-Fire Isla Royal.

All of these stoves have pros and cons as I have read, be it cosmetics, btu rating, efficiiency, etc. I realize it is a long list to have to narrow down to a final decision. That is why I am here asking for your help.

So far I have on paper estimates for a few, they are: Enerzone Solution 3.4 $1327.00, Regency F3100 $2005.00, Lennox Legacy S260 $1960.90, Lennox Canyon ST310 $2199.40, Quadr-Fire Isle Royal black $2599.00, Quadr-Fire Isle Royal Mahogany Porcelain $3149.00, Quadra-Fire 5700 Step (newer one with the ACC 3.44 fire box, two piece baffle, 78,400 btu) $2440.00,
and the dealer with this for mentioned 5700 has the older 5700 step top (without the ACC, 3.0 fire box, one piece baffle, 70,300 btu) on sale for $1636.00 (regular $2640.00). He said the older 5700's are marked down $800.00 to get rid of them since they have the new design 5700's in.

I want a stove that I can fill up and burn hot when I want to, but will also work fine with only a few pieces in it. Something with a long burn time for overnight. Not butt ugly to look at. High reliability. Longevity. Low maintenance if possible.

I do have a few that stand out in my mind, but I rather not say yet. I respect your oppinions and do not want to cloud your responses with saying what I have in my mind so far. Be honest in your views as I am very open minded to suggestions.

Thank you very much
PJM

 

[savageactor7]

Holy Cow the older model 5700's are going for 800 I'm buying 2 ...the hell with the new design. Good luck with your decision pjm all those are good stoves.

 

[BrotherBart]

Holy Cow the older model 5700's are going for 800 I'm buying 2 ...the hell with the new design. Good luck with your decision pjm all those are good stoves.

He said marked down eight hundred. Not selling for eight hundred.

 

[BrotherBart]

I am an unabashed and unapologetic steel stove guy. And I think the ACC is marketing crap. I don't care what stove it is you don't just flip a lever and go to bed. The older design Quad sounds like a good deal.

If you can't get a .... Oh never mind. Get the Quad.

 

[precaud]

I agree with BB on all points. Not only is there nothing in the ACC version to warrant an $800 premium, its primary air system design was badly compromised to accommodate the ACC control. Buy the other one, it's a better design.

 

[ddddddden]

Where in Md are you? If your climate is like mine in Va, with plenty of 45 deg days in winter, you may want to consider a catalytic stove. I haven't burned one yet, but in theory cat stoves work better for low burn conditions. I have the impression that the secondary combustion on many non-cat stoves peters out if you try to burn low & slow, so I bought a cat stove. I'm not going to say,"Get what I got." It's not big, and it's not available through local dealers. Blaze King is a frequent recommendation here, but they are a bit pricey, and the ~ 30% discounts you hear about out west are apparently soaked up by the east coast distributor. There may not be a BK dealer near you anyhow. Got a Buck Stove dealer? Maybe look at a Buck model 91. It's huge, 4.4 cu ft, and lists for $2100(I think. . .should be some discount this time of year.) The only things I didn't like about it were the 8" flue and the relative lack of rabid fans here.

 

[prestonmoler]

For any of the stoves I have looked at, or you suggest, it has to be a 6" flue. That is what my chimney takes. Thanks to everyone so far.

 

[savageactor7]

Holy Cow the older model 5700's are going for 800 I'm buying 2 ...the hell with the new design. Good luck with your decision pjm all those are good stoves.

He said marked down eight hundred. Not selling for eight hundred.

DOH! Guess I'm guilty of reading what I wanted to see, but $1636.00 is an excellent deal. When I get back from my reunion I'll have to check on the prices up here.

 

[prestonmoler]

Something I am not familiar with is updraft and down draft on woodstoves. I have read it on this sight, but do not fully understand it.

What I am getting at is on the older model Quad 5700 the main air control is center bottom of the stove and on the new model Quad 5700 with ACC the main air control is top right on the stove. With the main air controls located in these positions, does that mean the older 5700 is an updraft stove since main air control is on the bottom, and the new model 5700 is a downdraft stove since the main air control is on the top, or does this have nothing to do with it?

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the Quad and Enerzone are the top contenders for price. Either should do you well. The Quad is a standard updraft stove. The physical location of the controls is not important relative to the burn pattern.

 

[prestonmoler]

what would you say are the main differences in the Enerzone and the Quad?

 

[begreen]

Made in US vs Canada. Left vs Right hand door.

 

[prestonmoler]

Price aside, which would you take, and why?

 

[begreen]

Well, that is not a fair question as each of us has our own criteria and stove setting. In your case, if clearances are an issue, the Quad has a slight advantage. However, the blower is optional on this unit so you might ask the dealer if his floor model 5700 includes the blower. It can be a pricey addition.

Personally I like PE stoves. Although I have not been a steel stove fan, it's been largely for aesthetic reasons. When they came out with the Alderlea series, my assumptions were challenged. After running the stove for a season, we have really grown to like this stove. I like the PE stoves mainly because they are simple, have an enclosed baffle system, good long burn times, tight clearances, easy hearth requirements, very low maintenance and have a good fit and finish.

I wanted a big stove for our house and the Isle Royale was on the very short list. But our installation is in the corner of the living room and the IR couldn't make the clearances. The Jotul F600 was also a contender and if that is what I ended up with, I suspect I would have been happy with it too. But clearances were an issue there also.

However, if I was going for a basement installation where the stove was not visually prominent 365 days a year, I would definitely go for a steel stove. For basic heating, IMHO they offer a better value. So go by the constraints of the space where the stove will be located and choose the one that fits your needs the best. Both are serious heaters.

 

[prestonmoler]

I have the PE Summit on my list as well. Maybe I should take a closer look at it. I to like the enclosed baffle idea. Clearance now with the stove I have is 26", so any new stove should fit fine.

 

[begreen]

Just keep in mind that my opinion is just that. All of the stoves you are looking at are good. From the prices mentioned, the Quad and the Enerzone offer the best values. But so does the Englander 30NC which is of very similar design and construction and at a better price yet.

PS: Welcome to Hearth.com!

 

[ddddddden]

I have not operated any stoves made after 1980, so I certainly offer nothing more than opinion. Since you mentioned air controls, I'd like to point out that any new stove will not allow you to close the draft below a certain point, per EPA regs. Yes, choking down the draft causes a dirty, inefficient burn, so they had a good reason for imposing a minimum burn rate. I just don't always need the heat in this mid-Atlantic climate, but I would like a lil' heat, say 5k btu/hr, and like to keep my stove warmed up and ready to go @ sundown.

 

[begreen]

It's totally possible to burn in an EPA stove in milder weather. I have a fire going right now, on the summer solstice! But it's a small, 3 split fire. Inside temp is about 73, outside is 54 and wet. If you don't want it too hot, just stop feeding the fire.

 

[ddddddden]

Point acknowledged, Mr. Green. I just have a dream of running a steady 'idler' fire on warmer days, rather than on/off, and I'm hoping that a cat stove will do this for me. Although, PJM is in a neighboring state, he might live in the mountains and not care about low output characteristics. I just wanted him to be aware of the 2 basic types of stove technology. After I figured this out(I think), this ended up being the first branch in the decision tree for me.

 

[begreen]

This is where a high mass stove is of benefit. Our 3 split fire has been steady state for 4+ hours now, there is still a nice coal bed. The mass of the cast iron will carry it for another 2-3 hrs. 7 hrs between reloads with a 3 split fire is something even I can handle, and I'm lazy.

 

[ddddddden]

Aha, *mass*. . .hopefully, I've got that covered too. We lazy guys have to put in a lot of hours planning in order to minimize work.

 

[SolarAndWood]

We lazy guys have to put in a lot of hours planning in order to minimize work.

I went with a big cat stove to minimize the number of reloads and maximize burn times through the course of the season. But, any way you look at it, you have to process/store/load roughly the same amount of wood to produce a given amount of heat over the course of a season no matter what modern stove you buy.

 

[BrotherBart]

I like a big heavy steel stove because it gives me a lot of working room in the firebox and options for configuring the load. And five hundred pounds of steel and brick gives off heat for a long time after the fire burns down.

And from dead cold that sucker does not get real hot real fast. It takes that stuff a while to heat up. Just like it does to cool down.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

We lazy guys have to put in a lot of hours planning in order to minimize work.

But, any way you look at it, you have to process/store/load roughly the same amount of wood to produce a given amount of heat over the course of a season no matter what modern stove you buy.

I don't know about that Solar? :long:

Backwoods Savage and I did Englander 30 Vs. Woodstock Fireview wood consumption over a 2 years period.

We have roughly the same size homes and live about an hour from each other. I used almost exactly double the wood he used per year.

That was the first reason to get the Blaze King :cheese: and then there are the other 2 dozen reasons.

(How much wood did you use this year?)

 

[prestonmoler]

With the PE Alderlea T6 on the coldest of days, where do you see your stove top temperature average at? Just how warm does it keep your size house?