Larger vs smaller stove and pipe efficiency?

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thunderhead

Burning Hunk
Oct 18, 2019
122
Seattle - Eastside Foothills
We are looking for freestanding wood stove supplemental/power outage heat for about 2500 sq feet 2 story, average to above average insulation, pretty open interior in an easy climate(Pac NW, very rarely below 25F). Double or triple wall chimney pipe will run vertically up the exterior wall of the house to a total height of some 22 feet above stove. The first floor juts out a couple feet to place the chimney pipe directly above the first floor stove so the whole column will be perfectly or nearly straight up.

We are corner clearence limited by the existing hearth, so big unjacketted stoves are clearly a no go.

We can fit about a ~60k btu unit with single wall connector or about a 90k btu unit with double wall connector. Which combination of stove and connector pipe would you go with?

Thanks!
 
I would be looking at a 2.5 to 3 cu ft steel, jacketed stove. There are many on the market, some are steel jacketed and others are cast-iron jacketed. What is the budget? Are there any aesthetic considerations?

Are the ceilings normal height or vaulted?
 
I would be looking at a 2.5 to 3 cu ft steel, jacketed stove. There are many on the market, some are steel jacketed and others are cast-iron jacketed. What is the budget? Are there any aesthetic considerations?

Budget and aesthetics are secondary concerns. Function and Safety is our main goal. There are a couple 3.0s that I think we can barely squeeze in(the summit is one)... 2.5 or 2.0s would be easier. Does single wall on a smaller stove result in significantly greater efficiency?

Thanks!
 
I'd look into jacketed stoves also. Checkout the Pacific Energy T5 and T6. I know Jotul makes them also.

While you decide on the stove, get you wood put up so it's as dry as possible when it's time to burn.
 
The stove heats the house, not the pipe. I would prefer double wall pipe even if single wall was allowed.
 
Single wall may extract a little more heat, depending on the length of the run, but in general you want the stove to be producing the heat, not the stove pipe. If the flue gases get too cool then creosote will accumulate.
Budget and aesthetics are secondary concerns. Function and Safety is our main goal. There are a couple 3.0s that I think we can barely squeeze in(the summit is one)... 2.5 or 2.0s would be easier. Does single wall on a smaller stove result in significantly greater efficiency?

Thanks!
In steel jacketed stoves the Enviro Kodiak 1700 is a good model if you can locate one. The Summit is a nice heater and works well with NW softwoods. Also check out the Quadrafire 4300. In cast-iron jacketed look at the Jotul F50 and F55, PE Alderlea T6, & Quad Explorer III.
 
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What do you folks think of the Lopi 1750? Got a good install quote from a local well-rated installer. Fits our clearances by a couple inches, decent sized... my concern is that it was "not rated for efficiency".

Edit that efficiency comment is in the manual I grabbed. Elsewhere its rated with a good high 70s efficiency. Based on the performance of the pellet stove it is replacing I think 2.2 square feet firebox is good enough for our space, our pellet stove was not trying very hard last night down to near freezing, and this stove is going to crank out more wattage. How do you folks like the operation of this stove?

Thanks!
 
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The 1750 is Lopi's value version of the Endeavor. It's a good stove, but medium-sized. I think you will find a larger firebox better for the size of home. If you are looking for a good quality, large firebox, cheap stove, checkout the Englander 30NC or a Drolet HT2000/3000 or Drolet Austral II.
 
It's a good stove. I like the step-to version but you don't see them around much.
 
Cant find any kodiaks around. Think we are gonna go with a PE T5 or T6. Might need a little hearth pad extension but it has good reviews and man that cast iron look just looks so nice.
 
What do you folks think of the Lopi 1750?
I have one. It's built well, it's very solid. It was the primary heat for a 1700 square foot house under renovation in a cold Central NY climate. If your house was well-insulated and your temps weren't much below 25 degrees F, it would probably do a good job. In my setup (tall chimney pipe), the burn time seemed to be a little shorter than I would have expected.

It's made fairly local to you, if that counts for anything.
 
Cant find any kodiaks around. Think we are gonna go with a PE T5 or T6. Might need a little hearth pad extension but it has good reviews and man that cast iron look just looks so nice.
Good stoves and nice heaters. I would go with the T6 for a large house. The Enviro Boston 1700 is also a great stove and super good looking, but without the swing-away trivet top and conventional tubes inside.
 
The house is large but the main floor is very open and it appears well insulated. The existing pellet stove has not tried very hard as of yet... and its not a particularly large model.. an Avalon Newport that peaks at some 28k BTU/hr according to its manual... which also claims 1600SF. I know I have yet to put it up against the coldest possible weather... but its taken a ~10 percentile cold night without trying. It's high setting is too hot to run for more than brief startups on cold mornings... on a cold clear night 60% seems to be the proper cruise setting for a low 70s house. So I am worried the T6 or Explorer 3 might be overkill. Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Sounds like both stoves will work, it will come down to how frequently you want to load the stove.

We are having an unusually mild start to winter. I burned a little in October, but have not burned for over 2 weeks due to every day being in the 50s. There is a big difference in heating now and when a cold north wind is coming down from the Frazer River canyon. Looks like we will start seeing some cooler nighttime temps later in the week, but still not serious winter weather.

If the Avalon keeps the house cozy at 30º then perhaps the T5 will be adequate. We were faced with the same question when we bought our stove. In our old 2000 sq ft farmhouse with too many windows we have the T6. I am glad we didn't get the T5. When it gets in the 20s I am pushing the T6 for serious heat. Time between reloads goes from once every 12 hrs to once every 8hrs. or even 6 if it's bitter cold and windy.

How much will you be burning? 24/7 or mostly nights and weekends? Do you have a good supply of fully seasoned firewood?
 
We will burn as much as we can but definitely not 24-7... bleh work. I figure we will get ~2/3rd of our heat from wood so its not critical to have a full overnight burn every night. During power outage nights I'll just wake up once. Going forward we will have a good supply of split wood but the stash I am building won't be ready for this winter, so no hurry on our stove choice at least...
 
Do you think the N-S loading ability of the PE T5/6 stove is a major advantage over say the the QF explorer or maybe the Lopi Cape Cod? Seems to me the latter stoves useful firebox volume is decreased, unless one uses very short splits?
 
Do you think the N-S loading ability of the PE T5/6 stove is a major advantage over say the the QF explorer or maybe the Lopi Cape Cod? Seems to me the latter stoves useful firebox volume is decreased, unless one uses very short splits?
Definitely. One has to be careful loading E/W so that the wood doesn't topple toward the glass. The advantage of the E/W loader is that it is a shallower stove, so it projects a few inches less into the room.
 
What should I use as the "effective" firebox size of an E-W loader? Like the Cape Cod claims 3.0 cu feet. Should I lop off a cubic foot for being an E-W loader? Figure you can fit in 67% of the volume without hitting the glass? Which would make it about the same as the PE T5 on overnight burns? But with a little tetris/small splits think I can still fill it up mostly?

Thanks!
 
Mine heats like a sonofagun. Is jacketed and has very low clearances. Supposedly has 80% efficiency. Easy floor protection requirements. Not high on aesthetics, just utilitarian. Burns great. The larger ws22 model might suit you for even more output. Good luck and research well!
 
What should I use as the "effective" firebox size of an E-W loader? Like the Cape Cod claims 3.0 cu feet. Should I lop off a cubic foot for being an E-W loader? Figure you can fit in 67% of the volume without hitting the glass? Which would make it about the same as the PE T5 on overnight burns? But with a little tetris/small splits think I can still fill it up mostly?

Thanks!
The Cape Cod capacity should be compared to the Alderlea T6.