Help with stove selection..Alderlea T5 vs ?

[yempack]

Hello All-

I have been reading the forums a lot lately while researching a new stove purchase. I was hoping that making a specific post about my situation would help me receive some more specific advise.

I have a 1660 sq ft ranch home in central NH. Winters are long and cold. The house is 10 years old and pretty well insulated. Ceilings are standard 8 ft high throughout the entire home. I live alone and am gone for work for approx 10 hours a day, so there is no one to tend the fire from about 6am til 4pm. The house will probably be set at approx 55 degrees F when I return from work each day. This will be controlled by my oil burning furnace's thermostat, which I set as back-up.

I have attached my home's floor plan. I have been looking at the Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 for my purchase. It is "medium" by PE's standards, however its rating of 2000 sq ft puts my home well within its size range. I like the idea of the cast jacket helping the stove hold heat longer. I also like the looks of the cast iron. That said, I am somewhat concerned about this stove's ability to heat the far side of my house, since my house is rather narrow and long. I am also unsure whether or not an all steel stove would be preferable to the cast-jacketed T5 due to the fact that my house will likely be in the 50's when I get home from work. I would be willing to consider other options from PE like the Super 27 or Spectrum or other MFGs as well.



Any help will be sincerely appreciated,
Thanks!

 

[jeff_t]

Welcome.

Why not in the living room?

If the house is reasonably tight and well insulated, and not out in a wide open space with lots of exposure to wind, the super series stoves will probably be okay. Do you close off the unused bedrooms?

Rooms on the other end of the house might need an occasional electric space heater, but you live alone... Remember, a wood stove is a space heater, so moving that warm air is key. A fan low on the floor, blowing cool air toward the stove, works amazingly well.

Do you have any dry wood?

 

[yempack]

Jeff-

There is actually a zero clearance wood-burning fireplace insert on the wall in the living room that is shared with the master bedroom/closet. This insert is pretty much all show, no go. It does not give off much heat and the manual even states it's more for aesthetics than anything. This fireplace insert is NOT rated for a wood burning insert to be installed in it, nor is the chimney flue for it. I would have to completely remove the fireplace/chimney/hearth and start over to put a stove there. I am not currently able to put that type of time and money into this project.

The house is on a fairly steep hill. The front of the house faces downslope and is open to wind. The back is heavily wooded. I have approximately 3.5 cords of fairly dry wood at the moment.

Thanks for the tip regarding a fan blowing air towards the stove. I would have likely attempted to do the opposite. I do often keep the other 2 bedroom doors closed. You are correct that I should just use a space heater for them..

 

[jeff_t]

I see. Totally understand the time/money concern. That dining room may not be the best place, but it would probably work. How big are the openings out of the dining room?

T5 is probably a really good choice, and the Spectrum/27 would be, too. They are very controllable stoves, and can crank out some heat, or easily be tamed down. Expect 6-8 hours of balls out heat, and an easy 10-12 hours at lower outputs. I also think a good choice for a ranch style, single story home, as they seem to be easy breathers that draft well on a chimney near the minimum height. Mine is on a 13'ish, straight up chimney, and works just fine, even when the outside temp is warmer than inside.

How long has that wood been split and stacked?

Hang on, there will be a bunch of folks along to tell you that you need a Blaze King or Woodstock.

 

[begreen]

My first thoughts were also to place the stove in the living room. Would you consider a free-standing rear vent stove in front of the ZC fireplace connected to a liner? This would require extending the hearth, but that could be done attractively. My first thoughts on the stove is to think larger. The T5 will do the job probably until temps get into the single digits or lower. Then you will likely need to supplement the heat with the primary system. For that reason the T6 is what I'd probably put in. It's heat is softened by the cast iron jacket so that you don't get the temp swings like a totally radiant stove. But I would want it in the largest room in the house.

 

[begreen]

If you are open to the idea of a stove in front of the ZC, consider the Quad Explorer II or Isle Royale, Woodstock Ideal Steel Hybrid or Progress Hybrid, Jotul Oslo or F600.

 

[jeff_t]

If he can't put an insert in it, what are the chances he can vent a stove thru it? Just asking, because I don't know.

I'd say some pics might help.

 

[begreen]

Chances are good as long as clearances can be honored.. It would require a 6" insulated liner. Agreed that a picture of the fireplace would help.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Any of the 2 CF PE will provide sufficient heat. There is a chance it won't keep up on the coldest days but I suspect it a well insulated place it will be fine then, too. I recommend against buying a big stove so as to avoid running your furnace a couple times per year.

 

[begreen]

My main concern is that you will have a pretty hot dining room in order to have the rest of the house comfortable. Is that ok? A properly located fan could help reduce this. The other issue is with the low house temp. The T5 will hold coals for 10 hrs, but there won't be a ton of heat by then. If the house is 55F and it is 0F outside, it's going to take a while to warm it up due to stove location and the fact that this is a cast iron jacketed stove. If the final decision is to put it in the dining room then I would look at the Blaze King Ashford as an alternative. It will definitely hold a steady heating fire for a longer time. 10-12 hrs of steady heat is what this stove is about.

 

[yempack]

Attached is a photograph of my zero-clearance/pre-fab fireplace. This photo is taken from the dining room, near where I have proposed to put the stove. My goal is to someday totally remove the fireplace and re-locate the wood stove to this location. This would likely not happen for a couple years though. I have heard pretty mixed things about rear-vented wood stoves and so I had sort of discounted the possibility of using one of them from the very start of my search.

Having the stove in the living room also causes concern for me with regard to the possiblity of heating the room to the point that it is too warm to comfortably be in there with it. Having the stove on the hearth or even out in front of it would put it very close to my couch.

I don't currently have a photo of the dining room, but there are two openings from the dining room to other rooms; both are about 6' wide and very nearly the full height of the room. One goes to the living room and one goes to the kitchen/dinette. I had figured that the dining room would very quickly heat up and that the excess heat would readily spill into the living room and kitchen areas. I could put a ceiling fan in the dining room if that might help.

I will look at Blaze Kings but I seem to recall them being a little out of my price range.

Also, I could certainly attempt to load the stove up when I leave for work and damper it down in an attempt to provide some heat while I'm not home. It is my understanding that a long burn in this manner would hopefully enable me to return to a home that is warmer than 55F .

 

[begreen]

Thanks, that helps. Nice floors and a good looking fireplace. The hearth would need to be modified/extended for sure. What is the make and model of the ZC?

The picture shows the opening to the living room is large which will help with heat circulation. The T5 will do the job for most of the time. If it's ok on those below zero days to turn on the furnace when you get home for a quick warm up, then set it back, it should work out fine. The T5 will heat pretty steadily for 8 hrs and the cast iron will still slowly release heat for hours. Otherwise, if the preference is to not touch the thermostat, I'd take a good look at the BK Ashford 30.

 

[yempack]

Thanks for the input and compliment, begreen. Just got the place a few months ago and am slowly trying to improve it. The doorway to the kitchen from the dining room is equally as large as the one to the living room. I don't mind if that room is very warm if it means that the rooms adjacent to it are comfortable.

The ZC is a Intertherm BM36HCD-BL. The manual states it is for looks and not for heat. It was in the home already when I purchased it. It might allow for a liner, thoughI am unsure. I know for certain than an insert is not allowed. My goal would be to remove the fireplace, current flue for the fireplace, un-frame that box that the insert is in and make a hearth on the same wall that the 2 doorways you see behind the fireplace are on.

While it is rather cold here, it is usually not near or lower than 0F, though it does happen. If I need to supplement occasionally, I would probably be okay with that. I do have a question, however. Will the same size fire ( as in, the exact same amount of wood ) produce the same heat in different size stoves? Or do you have to burn more wood to achieve the same heat in a stove with a larger firebox? It seems that a bigger stove=more steel to heat up and a larger firebox to warm up, which would then equate to a need to burn more wood to produce the same net heat increase inside the home. Is there some truth to this or am I off base?

 

[begreen]

While it is rather cold here, it is usually not near or lower than 0F, though it does happen. If I need to supplement occasionally, I would probably be okay with that. I do have a question, however. Will the same size fire ( as in, the exact same amount of wood ) produce the same heat in different size stoves? Or do you have to burn more wood to achieve the same heat in a stove with a larger firebox? It seems that a bigger stove=more steel to heat up and a larger firebox to warm up, which would then equate to a need to burn more wood to produce the same net heat increase inside the home. Is there some truth to this or am I off base?

That is a loaded question. The answer is yes and no. The same amount of wood in a T5 vs a T6 will put out the same amount of heat, but the heat will be release a little slower from the T6 due to its greater mass. But, take the same load in a good cat stove like the BK and it will be released more evenly and for much longer. So you can load up the BK full of wood and the thermostat will meter out heat according to the thermostat setting. Another variable is efficiency. Some designs are more efficient than others.

 

[rijim]

You live in NH, go check out the Woodstock and talk to them.