High Mountain Stove options

[TheJohnse]

Hello all,

First off thank you all for the wealth of information and candid opinions on the site. Been researching stoves for a couple months. Loosely narrowed search based upon available stoves and installers.

We live near Cripple Creek, CO, west of Pikes Peak, at 9300' elevation. We have essentially a 3 floor home, where lowest level is finished basement on one side and garage/mechanical room on the other. Not concerned with heating there. Main floor ~685 sq ft and upper level ~ 350 sq ft. House built in 1998, solid log main floor and stick built upper level, with high cathedral ceilings. No attic, tongue and groove pine or cedar ceilings. Unsure of R values in ceiling and upper level walls, but certainly not air tight like new construction. All windows have been replaced within the last 5 years by prior owner or us.

We have a south-southwest view in great room - kitchen with many windows and two sliders to deck. This is where stove would be located. We do get decent solar gain on sunny Colorado days. Other heat in house is boiler fed baseboard fueled by propane. Currently have a pellet stove we are looking to replace. Wood stove would be primary heat. Weather obviously can get decently cold in winter. Last couple months saw many days in 20s to 30s with lows single digits to teens.

Great room cathedral peak is 24' above main level floor. We would center the stove on the S-SW wall between sliders, where pellet stove resides. Would run flue vertical and then need an offset away from the peak. Metal roof with steep pitch - darn near A frame pitch as room is almost 30' wide. Pitch starts about 8-9' from side exterior walls. So likely flue length would be at least 25' in my estimation.

Now to the good stuff - stoves. Liked the idea of Woodstock soapstone, but only local installer not tied to a store is overpriced. So wife and I decided to check stores in Colorado Springs, about an hour away. Of the available options, and wanting tax credit eligibility, here's our short list:

Kuma Aspen LE
Blaze King Ashford 20.2 (unless 30.2 is better sized - seems big to me)
Lopi Endeavor (Evergreen second choice in that lineup)
Regency Cascades F2500

Others available but either pricing, lack of tax credit, or mixed feedback garnered from the site include:

PE Alderlea T4 or T5
Hearthstone Craftsbury/GM40/Hipster 14
Jotul stoves

Thank you in advance for your insights, suggestions. etc! I understand the importance of dry seasoned wood. Being in our location, we primarily have access to Aspen, Pine, and the like. Talking to neighbors, some hardwood is available but will pay a premium. We do have access to wood on our property and surrounding areas.

 

[TheJohnse]

Oh forgot to mention we do have a ceiling fan in the great room for circulation.

 

[stoveliker]

The PEs are good stoves too(they're in your mwah list).

Be aware that at elevation one has to add half a foot to the minimum required chimney height for each 1000 ft of elevation. BK recommended height goes up from 15 ft to 19 ft for 8000-9000 ft elevation.

With solar gain you may want a smaller stove so you don't have one providing heat because the firebox is not yet empty when the sun is helping. (Or you need to plan smaller fires in a larger stove based on the weather forecast.)

If you're going for a BK, note that the minimum heat output of the 20 and 30 models is about the same, but the max heat output is not. If you're going with one of these, I'd buy the bigger one - unless space constraints dictate otherwise.

These are just some remarks.
I'm not sure what's best for you.

 

[moresnow]

Post several pics of your place. Indoors/outdoors. Proposed stove location etc.
Not sure I would place my stove against heat sucking sliding glass doors? Makes far more sense to centrally position any heating appliance.
I know your area. Beauty!!

 

[TheJohnse]

Thanks for the replies.

Like the PEs but lack of tax credit is a bummer there.

Location is central and about our only option. Small place. Here’s the area where the pellet stove is now. Open room, kitchen to left and living to right. Back is master and bath and stairs to basement. Stairs up to second floor with shallower pitch roof as well.

We sit on a ridge in a bit of a valley with higher hills around us. Realized I mixed up a measurement before. Main floor is about 24’ wide and 30’ deep, thus steep pitch up front.

 

[stoveliker]

The trick is, I think, to balance the leaky (higher BTU need) home suggesting a larger stove, and the solar exposure that might result in needing the stove for shorter times. (And one can't switch a wood stove off as a pellet stove; once the fuel is loaded, you gotta burn it.)

So either a stove with a large range of outputs (leading to a persistent low output even when the sun is heating the home) or a larger stove with many smaller fires started in the evenings - or a smaller stove and accepting you may need some additional BTUs from a conventional heating system to help when it's too cold.

 

[EbS-P]

The trick is, I think, to balance the leaky (higher BTU need) home suggesting a larger stove, and the solar exposure that might result in needing the stove for shorter times. (And one can't switch a wood stove off as a pellet stove; once the fuel is loaded, you gotta burn it.)

So either a stove with a large range of outputs (leading to a persistent low output even when the sun is heating the home) or a larger stove with many smaller fires started in the evenings - or a smaller stove and accepting you may need some additional BTUs from a conventional heating system to help when it's too cold.

Heatpump and a secondary combustion stove. Look at Drolet and Osborn. Best combination for something with high solar gain and extended cold weather. Probably will be burning pine. Shorter hotter fires in he mornings heatpump In the PM another fire before bed.

 

[stoveliker]

The point is that then you still need to make small fires in the evening/early morning while also needing a large output stove for cold (elevation!) winters in a leaky home.

 

[TheJohnse]

Heatpump and a secondary combustion stove. Look at Drolet and Osborn. Best combination for something with high solar gain and extended cold weather. Probably will be burning pine. Shorter hotter fires in he mornings heatpump In the PM another fire before bed.

Thanks. Though neither of those brands are available. Pretty limited in my location.

 

[TheJohnse]

The point is that then you still need to make small fires in the evening/early morning while also needing a large output stove for cold (elevation!) winters in a leaky home.

Agreed. Just get the morning chill out on Sunny day. Most burning in PM

 

[TheJohnse]

Heatpump and a secondary combustion stove. Look at Drolet and Osborn. Best combination for something with high solar gain and extended cold weather. Probably will be burning pine. Shorter hotter fires in he mornings heatpump In the PM another fire before bed.

Honestly our boiler fed baseboard heat is set for freeze prevention (55-60 range). And it’s a weak and pricy option at that lol. So yeah other than solar gain stove will get us to the comfort range.

 

[kborndale]

Thanks. Though neither of those brands are available. Pretty limited in my location.

Drolets are sold in the big box stores like home Depot and Lowe's. They are very good stoves for the price

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

I like my Kuma Aspen LE a lot it's an easy breather simple to run and can kick out a good amount of heat especially when used with a blower. I also appreciated the tight wall clearances in my house. However, if you are worried it isn't big enough Kuma does have larger models.

 

[stoveliker]

Agreed. Just get the morning chill out on Sunny day. Most burning in PM

Some folks use stoves also for short-term chill chasing. I don't like that; too much of a hassle.
(As in today I let the stove go cold as it's 49 F with sun exposure. Tonight will be 34, but as it'll be 54 tomorrow, I'm not starting the stove tonight for one night. I'll use my minisplit.)

If you do want chill chasing fires (and if you don't have to leave the home for work), go get a small (to medium) stove that gets hot quickly. You'll need to feed it often when it's cold though, so overnight you'll have cool downs. Do get a blower too, for when it's cold and you're pushing the stove - it extracts more heat.

I still think that a pellet stove, that you can switch on and off at will, and that can burn quite a time on one hopper filling, would be useful in your situation (and I agree a combo with a minisplit is nice, especially if your electric rates are not crazy or you have solar).

 

[bigealta]

I'm in about the same environment as stoveliker. I disagree with his 1st sentence. If you like start fires and are at home often, then having a couple fires a day is no problem. I do it all winter, i like it. If that's not your situation then maybe a cat stove would be for u? But the solar gain i bet can completely heat your house during the day. AND then the cold night air moves in very quickly. A nice heat blast at night and early morning would be great. This would steer me to a medium size tube stove. I bet my Jotul f400 would do the job for you. That said maybe a jotul f45 or 55 could be a good option. I don't know about the other stoves you listed but i'm sure you will get feed back on them.

My point is a tube stove can work well in your situation.

 

[TheJohnse]

We have a pellet stove now. It’s obnoxiously loud and expensive to run. $10-12/bag for decent pellets and we burn a bag a day when it’s cold.

Normal operation wouldn’t be to chase cold. Afternoons through night/early morning would be pretty standard. 24/7 when cloudy or cold.

Important to be able to burn through the evening and have a chance for a warm start in AM.

 

[stoveliker]

At that point, I think a medium stove is needed. Small ones running hard (leaky home) won't make it through the night.
I would not take a cat stove; getting the cat up to temperature every time you start from cold (once a day, I think) is - well, let me say it the other way: it's best for a cat to stay warm. I.e. true 24/7 burning.

That's my view based on my own experience with a cat stove (BK). Great stove, but if you want to be able to start/ stop heating depending on when the sun comes out, I think you're better off with a tube stove as bigealta suggests. Not too big (or be disciplined to not load a big one too full...) but not too small so you can get overnight fires.

I think a 2 cu ft firebox is a happy medium there. You can crank it but it's not overly big.

 

[TheJohnse]

Right on thanks for the input. Kind of figured a maximum size as best. Definitely don’t want too small of one.

At that point, I think a medium stove is needed. Small ones running hard (leaky home) won't make it through the night.
I would not take a cat stove; getting the cat up to temperature every time you start from cold (once a day, I think) is - well, let me say it the other way: it's best for a cat to stay warm. I.e. true 24/7 burning.

That's my view based on my own experience with a cat stove (BK). Great stove, but if you want to be able to start/ stop heating depending on when the sun comes out, I think you're better off with a tube stove as bigealta suggests. Not too big (or be disciplined to not load a big one too full...) but not too small so you can get overnight fires.

I think a 2 cu ft firebox is a happy medium there. You can crank it but it's not overly big.

I like the idea & simplicity of the tube stoves, but the lack of efficiency and tax credit is pushing me away. $2k is nothing to sneeze at. Looks like the Jotul 500 qualifies but it’s about $1k more than a couple others I’m considering. And maybe too big?

 

[stoveliker]

@begreen is a good stove size connoisseur

 

[TheJohnse]

Meant medium size not maximum. My bad

Right on thanks for the input. Kind of figured a maximum size as best. Definitely don’t want too small of one.

I like the idea & simplicity of the tube stoves, but the lack of efficiency and tax credit is pushing me away. $2k is nothing to sneeze at. Looks like the Jotul 500 qualifies but it’s about $1k more than a couple others I’m considering. And maybe too big?

 

[EbS-P]

I don’t find a cold start once a day too much work.

Look at Osborn, Drolet, True North. These are more value oriented.

 

[stoveliker]

Lol. My initial response was: I thought so too, until I was able to burn 24/7 with one hot reload per day...

But a morning chill chaser and an evening fire may be two restarts.
All I'm saying is, if you like playing with fire, it might be okay. I like playing with fire. Yet repeatedly starting a fire in a cold stove got pretty old pretty soon for me.

To each their own, but just be aware that "it can get old" (even if not for everybody).

 

[TheJohnse]

Lol. My initial response was: I thought so too, until I was able to burn 24/7 with one hot reload per day...

But a morning chill chaser and an evening fire may be two restarts.
All I'm saying is, if you like playing with fire, it might be okay. I like playing with fire. Yet repeatedly starting a fire in a cold stove got pretty old pretty soon for me.

To each their own, but just be aware that "it can get old" (even if not for everybody).

I hear you. Hopefully it would be one restart in the afternoon once I dial in but I’m aware of the potential hassle.

When it’s good and cold it’ll be reloads only.

 

[Grinnell]

We have a log home near Estes Park at 7100 feet ( see profile pic ). We went with a PE Alderlea T5 as it was discounted by a local hardware store and they delivered for free. Its in the basement of a 1800 sf house with the first floor partially open to the ceiling. We use a box fan at the top of the basement stairs to pull hot air up.

If i was to do it again i think i would have gone with the T6, can always have a smaller fire but when it's around 10F outside it takes some time to heat the place up. We are weekenders.

Love the stove, easy to use, maintain, etc

 

[TheJohnse]

We have a log home near Estes Park at 7100 feet ( see profile pic ). We went with a PE Alderlea T5 as it was discounted by a local hardware store and they delivered for free. Its in the basement of a 1800 sf house with the first floor partially open to the ceiling. We use a box fan at the top of the basement stairs to pull hot air up.

If i was to do it again i think i would have gone with the T6, can always have a smaller fire but when it's around 10F outside it takes some time to heat the place up. We are weekenders.

Love the stove, easy to use, maintain, etc

Cool thanks for the info. Beautiful out there