Here is the dilemma. I have in position a Cawley le May 500 series stove. It has been pulling it's full weight for a good number of years. I think they are beautiful and very special stoves. Last year I came upon a Elmira Fireview Jr. [model 900] . I restored it to fine working condition, with paint ,all new fire brick [about 20] , polished the gold plated door. It has a good sized ceramic glass door panel hence the name fireview,. It has stand off panels on both sides and the back to achieve convection air flow. It has 199 square inches of floor area to conduct fire. The trusty Cawley has approx. 158 square inches of floor area and has no standoff panels to create convection flow. It is simply a beautiful cast iron piece. Neither stove has a catalytic combustor and neither stove has secondary burn system. Both stoves have 6 inch flue outlets. Does anyone think it is worth the changeout ,up and down the steps etc,etc? Would I notice any difference in heating ability as I would loose the beauty of the old school piece. Thanks for your thoughts since I have never had a convection paneled stove before.
Is it worth it ?
- Thread starter stovepipemike2
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Cawleys 400 and 600 were great performers for their day the 500 while a great piece of sculpture was not all that special as a stove.
So do you think that the Elmira stove would be enough of a difference in performance to make the changeout worth the effort?
I would truly like to go the modern and most efficient route but unfortunately a couple grand seperates me from going that way right now and weather change is tapping on my window.
I could not expect a relatively small stove to heat this entire house but I would hope to heat 1200 square feet of it and hope the heat would slowly migrate upstairs to some extent.
There are large 3 cu ft stoves for under $1000. The Englander 30NC is popular and for about $1100 there is the very nice Drolet HT3000. Both will heat a reasonably well insulated 2000 sq ft home assuming one has good dry firewood.
The Englander is also sold under the Summer's Heat label at Lowes and as Timber Ridge elsewhere (all the same stove). There is also the Englander Madison (50SSW01) which is slightly smaller at 2.4cu ft but still ok. I can't recommend the larger 50SSW02. There have been reports of warped doors with that stove. You can also buy direct from their factory seconds store:
(broken link removed to https://www.amfmenergy.com/collections/timber-ridge-brand-new-factory-seconds-or-manufacturer-refurbished-stoves)
(broken link removed to https://www.amfmenergy.com/collections/timber-ridge-brand-new-factory-seconds-or-manufacturer-refurbished-stoves)
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