Looking for new stove

[larkinG]

For the past couple of months I ve been researching new stoves. I will have around 900 ft. in the basement (where the stove will be) and 1600 upstairs. I plan on leaving door to down stairs open , as well as pulling heat through duct work with the fan only from hvac sys.. I've pretty musch narrowed it down to the lopi liberty or quadrafire 4300 ST. I may even go to the QF 5700 step top (3500sq ft rated)
Dealers all say buy this or that. Also I dont want to burn wide open all the time to conserve wood.
Any suggestions or expierences would be greatly appriciated Thanks

 

[savageactor7]

Hi scout and welcome. Just say'en we have the 4300st but burn wide open cause I think it may be a tad small for our 3k house. So I think you'd be OK with the 4300 burning seasoned wood. For clarity purposes... wide open to us is having about 3 logs in the fire, 1 in coals, 1 half or so burned and the 3rd would be a recent throw in. Those 3 will get us to 550-600 and that's usually what it takes.

The 4300 should give you a more even heat in your house...our place has uneven heat, but that's the way I like it cause I appreciate having a cooler room to retreat to.

Of coarse when we leave the house we don't burn that way.

 

[Todd]

You will be disappointed trying to pull heat through your hvac ducting. Many have tried here with poor results. If your stove is close to the stairwell you may have good results naturally, but it will still be hotter in basement compared to upper level. Sometimes it works to have some sort of cold air return pushing air from a cold room upstairs to the basement which helps pressurize the lower level and push the heat up the stairwell. Getting heat from the basement can be a tricky option and doesn't always work the same for every house. If the basement isn't finished or used much I would recommend installing the stove upstairs.

 

[CrappieKeith]

You'd be better off getting a wood furnace to tie into the ducting.