Kuma vs Osburn vs ?? - Analysis Paralysis

[32x20]

Hi folks. In the last few months I've spent an inordinate time here as a guest and thought it's time I jump in to ask for suggestions on my heating situation. I've done lots and lots of reading and analyzing and am having a hard time deciding on 1) stove size for our heating situation and 2) what stove to go with.

We live in central Colorado at 7300'. Weather is reasonably mild given the elevation. We heat for 7 months of the year, and the coldest months we can count on lows being ~10-15deg and highs in the 30-40s. Shoulder season can see swings of 30s to high 50s. Our house is two stories with a pellet stove (Quadrafire Bay 1200) in the walkout basement level (1100sq ft) and an open fireplace in the upper level (1800sq ft). The pellet stove heats the downstairs well, but most of the living happens on the upper level and the flow of heat isn't great to the upstairs. I'd like to put a wood insert in our large-ish upper fireplace (40"w, 28"t, plenty deep). Our heating needs seem to favor a non-cat stove, as solar gain keeps the house comfortable with minimal heating from ~9am-6pm, but the trade is more loss via the large windows at night. I'd like to heat the upper floor overnight, perhaps with a healthy 'kick' in the morning.

A local installer is pushing the Kuma Ashwood pretty hard. It seems well built, but it also seems small at 2.1cu-ft given our opening and square footage. He can also get Osburn stoves, which has me looking at the 2200 bay and 2400 options for a bit more capacity. We're in a small county, so options are somewhat limited. We have a couple other dealers, but they've not been as responsive. Other brand options, should those dealers get back to me, are Regency, Travis Ind, Quadrafire, Jotul, Hearthstone. Is there a stove better suited to our needs than the Kuma and Osburn offerings?

 

[32x20]

Additional info, if you weren't saturated already:
We use electric baseboard heat in addition to the pellet stove downstairs. We have no A/C, so using the summer electric consumption as a baseline we average around 125,000 btu/day during heating months. Given that our heating is heavily weighted to nights and mornings does this indicate a larger than 2.1-2.5cu-ft firebox?

We neighbor some national forest land and I've been stacking some wood for cheeeap. It's all softwood, however, which is all we have. Mostly beetle-kill lodgepole and ponderosa pine. I suspect that shortens projected burn times some.

 

[begreen]

With the pellet stove still running, the Ashwood will work as a chill chaser. If you want longer burntime then the additional capacity of the Osburn 2400 will help. I don't think you would regret having the extra capacity, especially on bitter cold nights.

If available, high altitude spruce is slow growing and quite dense. I've heard it burns much like a hardwood.

Have you considered insulated shades or curtains for the large glass areas? That can make a big difference.

 

[32x20]

Thanks for the advice.

Our intent is to burn the pellet stove less if we do an insert. The pellet stove is on a programmable thermostat, so it'd probably be run pretty cold except for a few hours in the evening. Even when I'd run it pretty hot downstairs it wouldn't be very comfortable upstairs without electric supplemental heat.

The 2400 looks like a nice stove with similar aesthetics to the Kumas. The consensus here seem to be to go bigger, given the option. I don't want to be in a situation were a low burn is too much, but the EPA reports show most wood stoves bottom out around the same BTU numbers. I don't know how much to trust those numbers, though.

We have certainly considered some treatment for the windows, mainly because of the gain during the summer, but given the shape and size it'd be difficult and expensive to pull off well.

With the pellet stove still running, the Ashwood will work as a chill chaser. If you want longer burntime then the additional capacity of the Osburn 2400 will help. I don't think you would regret having the extra capacity, especially on bitter cold nights.

If available, high altitude spruce is slow growing and quite dense. I've heard it burns much like a hardwood.

Have you considered insulated shades or curtains for the large glass areas? That can make a big difference.

 

[begreen]

For heating 1800 sq ft in your climate zone I don't think the 2400 will be too much. Are there high ceilings also? If so, more heat will be better along with a ceiling fan. You may only burn partial loads in milder weather but when it gets below freezing you will be burning full loads. For longer burns, load thicker splits.

 

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The family room/kitchen has vaulted ceilings (8'-15'). The are is the center of the house in the floorplan attached. The stove would be in the centrally located fireplace. The bed/bath/foyer wings either side of the center of the house have typical 8' ceilings. We've got fans in the vaulted area, so that should help circulate some.

The Travis/Regency dealer is coming to look & quote tomorrow. My wife likes the look of the Large Flush Hybrid, but I expect the quote to be too high to make economic sense.

For heating 1800 sq ft in your climate zone I don't think the 2400 will be too much. Are there high ceilings also? If so, more heat will be better along with a ceiling fan. You may only burn partial loads in milder weather but when it gets below freezing you will be burning full loads. For longer burns, load thicker splits.

 

[begreen]

A fireplace that projects out a bit onto the hearth is going to heat better, especially in a power outage. The Lopi Freedom is the rough equivalent to the Osburn 2400 in size. In Regency it would be their I3100.

 

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Update: we're getting a quote from the Kuma guy on a Sequoia insert rather than the Osburn. It seems like maybe a bit too much stove for us most of the time, but EPA reports show it has a lower low than the Ashwood and a (much) higher high burn. We have enough chimney for the big liner and enough space for the stove and the efficiency numbers and low emissions seem like big plusses. The Ashwood quote was reasonable, so I'm hoping the Sequoia number won't be too much higher.

 

[begreen]

Very good. The folks at Kuma offer good support and have great pride in their product.

 

[Greatscott01]

So what did you decide on?

 

[Highbeam]

We don’t see many people complaining that their stove is too big.

 

[32x20]

So what did you decide on?

I got the Sequoia. I've been pretty happy with it, and don't regret going bigger. I started a thread to document the learning process since there wasn't a whole lot about the Sequoia when I was searching. Link: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/kuma-sequoia-in-co.170073/#post-2303908