Kuma Sequoia vs Blaze King King vs Quad Explorer 3

[Dougk30]

Hey y'all,
Newbie to the forum here love all of the info. I have been doing a tone of research for a new project that we are do. We are going to replace our crappy zero clearance, prefab with something that will actually produce heat. So I just wanted to get the thoughts of people who have much experience.
Our house is approx 3600 sq, with a very open floor plan. Living room where the stove will be has 18' high ceilings, with a balcony to the upstairs. I will post a few pics of living room.
We are hoping to get something to keep the whole house warm to minimize the amount of propane we have to pay for. The wood is free and great exercise for me.
We are considering the three choices above or up for any other suggestions.

 

[John B]

Are you looking for an insert or freestanding stove?

I have recently installed a Sequia and it is a great stove. It is super simple to operate and maintain, and puts out a ton of heat. One thing to note is that this stove requires an 8" chimney. I suggest installing as a freestanding stove so that you may add dampers because it sounds like you will have a tall chimney which will lead to overdraft issues. I had this issue with my installation.

You may also want to check out Woodstock Soapstone, the Ideal Steel is a big stove and very well made.

 

[Dougk30]

At this point I have not seen a insert that I feel will have enough umph to do what we would like for it to do. Also I am pretty sure I will have to replace my whole stack completely anyhow. We had considered the Quad 7100 which is a prefab replacement that has some pretty good specs, however I think we are leaning more toward freestanding for cost purposes and its seems to me that we will get more heat out of it. I have also investigated the woodstock stoves some but was concerned that they may not put off as much heat as some of these other large stoves. I do kinda like the looks of the progress hybrid, and the ideal, but was a little concerned with the heat output. Most due to their sqft ratings. I understand that can be subjective but just want to make sure we do not tear apart our house and install something that is not as good as it can be.

 

[heavy hammer]

I have a freestanding Kuma Sequoia in my basement it is a heat machine. Until the house gets below 30 it heats my whole house which is 2450 sq feet on the first floor and with the finished basement is over 4000 sq. It does have a 8 inch flue and as stated above it does have certain draft issues depending on your install. Overall I love the stove great burn times 12 plus hours, sometimes longer depending on wood and size.

 

[SpaceBus]

Are you married to the carpet? Is your house on a slab? I forsee a freestanding stove eating up quite a bit of living area square footage if that's an issue. We are talking about some huge stoves here.

 

[Dougk30]

Thanks for the help guys, as far as the carpet goes my wife hates it and I told her that if we redo the fireplace she can have new floor, she what hard floors.
I do understand that those stoves will take up considerable real estate, so we will have to make sure that I mock it up with card board or plywood first to get a better feel for flow. We also will be partially removed the chase so that will give us an extra 2 feet.

 

[SpaceBus]

Thanks for the help guys, as far as the carpet goes my wife hates it and I told her that if we redo the fireplace she can have new floor, she what hard floors.
I do understand that those stoves will take up considerable real estate, so we will have to make sure that I mock it up with card board or plywood first to get a better feel for flow. We also will be partially removed the chase so that will give us an extra 2 feet.

It might be expensive, but have you considered the tile that looks and is textured like wood planks? Tile is amazing with the stove. Sparks and embers come out when you least expect it. Our house is on a slab with tile placed directly on the slab and it's awesome for a freestanding stove.

 

[Dougk30]

Our house is not on a slab, and the wood plank tile is what my wife wanted.

 

[SpaceBus]

Our house is not on a slab, and the wood plank tile is what my wife wanted.

Even if not on a slab, tile will make life easier when dealing with the stove. If you have dogs, the benefit is multiplied.

 

[jetsam]

The BK and Kuma both have lots of fans here.

I vote you get the Explorer 3 so you can tell us how you like it!

A BK King and Kuma Sequoia both require an 8" flue, so make sure that is an option.

If you do end up needing to go down to a 6" flue, most 6" stoves will really struggle to heat that space.

 

[Woody Stover]

If you mainly hang out in the stove room, not too far from the stove, a more radiant design will keep you warm with radiation, even though the air temp may be cooler. A convective stove OTOH (one that heats air more than radiates) will have the warm air rising up near the ceiling. A ceiling fan blowing up will circulate the warm air down, along the cooler outer walls of the room. The Woodstock PH, and probably the IS, would radiate well, as would a large cast iron stove. The Sequoia or Buck 91, or jacketed stoves like the PEs, with their convective chambers and blowers, would heat air more than radiate.
I'd use the EPA numbers to estimate how much heat a stove would put out. I'm not convinced that all of their BTU ratings are totally accurate but of the stoves I've run, the numbers seem to agree with the output I've seen from those stoves. Click the link "List of EPA certified wood stoves."
Really, with 3600 sq.ft. and some cubic-feet challenges in the stove room, the best you can hope to do is supplement. You won't heat the entire house with one stove unless you have exceptional air-sealing and insulation.
(broken link removed to https://www.epa.gov/compliance/list-epa-certified-wood-stoves)

 

[Joyboy]

If you mainly hang out in the stove room, not too far from the stove, a more radiant design will keep you warm with radiation, even though the air temp may be cooler. A convective stove OTOH (one that heats air more than radiates) will have the warm air rising up near the ceiling. A ceiling fan blowing up will circulate the warm air down, along the cooler outer walls of the room. The Woodstock PH, and probably the IS, would radiate well, as would a large cast iron stove. The Sequoia or Buck 91, or jacketed stoves like the PEs, with their convective chambers and blowers, would heat air more than radiate.
I'd use the EPA numbers to estimate how much heat a stove would put out. I'm not convinced that all of their BTU ratings are totally accurate but of the stoves I've run, the numbers seem to agree with the output I've seen from those stoves. Click the link "List of EPA certified wood stoves."
Really, with 3600 sq.ft. and some cubic-feet challenges in the stove room, the best you can hope to do is supplement. You won't heat the entire house with one stove unless you have exceptional air-sealing and insulation.
(broken link removed to https://www.epa.gov/compliance/list-epa-certified-wood-stoves)

I still find it funny that the progress hybrid out heats everything on that list. By a large portion. According to the epa.

 

[SpaceBus]

I still find it funny that the progress hybrid out heats everything on that list. By a large portion. According to the epa.

If I had a large house, the Woodstock PH would be at the top of my list.

 

[Highbeam]

If I had a large house, the Woodstock PH would be at the top of my list.

It’s little though. Less than 3 cf right? Some pretty amazing magic to get a tiny stove to make so much heat without a blower.

 

[SpaceBus]

It’s little though. Less than 3 cf right? Some pretty amazing magic to get a tiny stove to make so much heat without a blower.

That's how I feel about the stove I currently have. The Morso 2B Classic has a tiny .84 CuFt firebox but heats our 1200 sqft two story Salt box just fine. Even when temps are below zero with high winds. Part of it has to do with well insulated 8" thick walls, but we also have four sliding glass doors on the south facing side of the house. Our mostly open floor plan helps, but the upstairs is always warmer than downstairs, regardless of temperature. The stairs face north pointed just off to the east side of the front door, totally opposite of the main living area where the stove is. This entry area is usually ten degrees colder than the rest of the house. I think there is some sort of magic at play.

 

[Woody Stover]

Some pretty amazing magic to get a tiny stove to make so much heat without a blower.

stove I currently have. The Morso 2B Classic has a tiny .84 CuFt firebox but heats our 1200 sqft two story Salt box just fine. Even when temps are below zero with high winds. Part of it has to do with well insulated 8" thick walls, but we also have four sliding glass doors on the south facing side of the house. Our mostly open floor plan helps, but the upstairs is always warmer than downstairs, regardless of temperature. The stairs face north pointed just off to the east side of the front door, totally opposite of the main living area where the stove is. This entry area is usually ten degrees colder than the rest of the house. I think there is some sort of magic at play.

Yeah, .84 or my 1.5 is "tiny," not 3 cu.ft. That's an issue with the Buck 91; They claim 4, but it's more like 3 cu.ft. and the box is trapezoidal. Nevertheless, you can get a solid 8 hrs. at pretty high output. I'm pretty sure it will stomp Highbeam's 3 cu.ft. stove into the ground.
What you have going for you with the Morso is that it's a radiant stove, warming you and all the stuff around where you are hanging out.

I still find it funny that the progress hybrid out heats everything on that list. By a large portion. According to the epa.

Yeah, it would be fun to have all these stoves lined up next to each other in a room, to stage the ultimate wood stove armageddon..

 

[SpaceBus]

Yeah, .84 or my 1.5 is "tiny," not 3 cu.ft. That's an issue with the Buck 91; They claim 4, but it's more like 3 cu.ft. and the box is trapezoidal. Nevertheless, you can get a solid 8 hrs. at pretty high output. I'm pretty sure it will stomp Highbeam's 3 cu.ft. stove into the ground.
What you have going for you with the Morso is that it's a radiant stove, warming you and all the stuff around where you are hanging out.
Yeah, it would be fun to have all these stoves lined up next to each other in a room, to stage the ultimate wood stove armageddon..

It keeps the whole house 70 or above no matter what the weather. When it's close to 0f or below I just have to feed it more often. I'm not going to lie, I can't get more than 6 hrs of meaningful heat out of it, but we knew that to be the case before we bought it. I can go eight hours between loads if I'm really good at packing the box and I have seasoned hard woods, but we just don't need to do that most of the time. I always have to get up during the night, so it's a non issue for us. I do recognize that for most people this would not work.

 

[Dougk30]

So if I am understanding correctly the Sequoia, Blaze king and Woodstock Ideal stove are convection heater, while Woodstock Progress Hybrid, and Explorer 3 are radiant???

 

[Dougk30]

Also with that being said I guess my double barrel stove that I have in my outbuilding would be both radiant and convection??

 

[SpaceBus]

Every stove is technically radiant to some extent. My stove is primarily a radiant stove as it's cast iron, but it also has rear heat shields to reduce clearances but it also creates a convective surface where you can't feel the radiant heat anyway. Stoves that are primarily convective also usually have a thermostatically controlled blower.

I have no idea which would be best for your situation.

 

[bholler]

Also with that being said I guess my double barrel stove that I have in my outbuilding would be both radiant and convection??

Nope radiant and dangerous

 

[moresnow]

Not trying to sway you either way but running the fans on my stove definitely circulates heat around the house better than when they are off. However. Running the fans shortens the burn time.

 

[Woody Stover]

So if I am understanding correctly the Sequoia, Blaze king and Woodstock Ideal stove are convection heater, while Woodstock Progress Hybrid, and Explorer 3 are radiant???

I agree except for the Ws IS, it is probably radiant except for where the leg assembly covers the sides of the box.

 

[Woody Stover]

That enamel Explorer III looks pretty sweet.. I wonder if the ash system is any good..I'm spoiled on the grated systems, no muss, no fuss.

 

[Highbeam]

Also with that being said I guess my double barrel stove that I have in my outbuilding would be both radiant and convection??

All stoves are both radiant and convective. Some make a bit more heat of one type than the other. I’ve had the most radiant stove available (stone) and now one of the most convective stove types available (double wall thin steel) and in my regular house the difference is hardly noticeable. We’re just as comfortable.