looking to buy our first wood stove

[kversch]

hello, im going to apologize for what is going to turn in to a long post ahead of time. im new to heating with wood, but have been around it for a long time. My parents had a Lopi stove in their first house when I was a kid and used it to supplement heating. My grandparents also headed with wood for a long time till it become to much for the to handle.

My wife and I have purchased our first home this fall. Its a Ranch house aprox, 1000sqft. It has an unfinished basement that we plan to finish off in to a family room making around 2000Sqft. We would like to put a wood stove in to the basement area as we finish it off. We hope to use the wood stove as the primary heat for the house. The current heat is baseboard electric heat and a wall mount propane heater in the kitchen that heats both kitchen and living room.

Our lifestyle: I work in the tree trimming field so getting wood isnt hard. I am up for work around 545 and out of the house from 630am to 5-530pm. my wife is and accountant and is at her office for much longer periods of time. We live in upstate NY so winter temps are not to crazy cold but they can be.

so far from what we have looked at I think we want a steel stove. We both didnt like the idea of all the gaskets that could fail and need replacing on the cast stoves. We also kind of like the look of the steel stoves better.

we have looked at The grandview, Blazking and Lopi stoves so far and all are very impressive. The blazking was the only cat stove we looked at so far. My wife really like the long burn times advertised.

One thing Im not sure about with the cat stoves is we would like to be able to enjoy the ambiance of the "flickering" fire when we are stilling in the family room, you wont get this at all with a cat stove will you?

I know that of the stove's we have looked at I will end up with 2 90 degree elbows in the stove pipe one inside the basement area and one directly outside the basement wall.


I am looking for any and all input from anyone to help make a good choice. Thank you in advance.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. If you have been lurking here for a while you know that heating from the basement is inefficient and much worse with an uninsulated basement. The stove is an area heater. It is going to be challenging to get heat upstairs evenly. The only passageway is the stairs which should be central, open and nearby the stove location. Insulating the basement walls will help a lot and should be done right away before a lot of stuff is in the way.

You'll want a big stove, 3 cu ft would be my recommendation. There are several good models. It depends on your budget preferences and features to determine a good fit.

 

[newyorker]

put in a wood furnace in the basement then you can heat both floors evenly

 

[jatoxico]

Since you are planning on using wood to heat full time you should research cat stoves given their ability to run low and slow. That's an advantage when the weather is cool but not cold. Another option might be soapstone like Woodstock. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of a basement setup. Can be done in the right circumstances but others have found it an exercise in futility.

 

[prezes13]

+1 to a cat stove. Depends on your style I would look into a blaze king Ashford or sirocco. Like other have mentioned it might be tough to heat from basement but it can be done. Depends where and how wide is your staircase to the basement.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Go straight for the BK king. It would heat that with no problem. Same setup as me but my basement is unfinished. I'm heating witjh a princess

 

[rijim]

While figuring it out, find a reputable wood supplier. I understand you can get your hands on wood but you need some 2yr old to get you started. No matter what stove, all EPA stoves need dry wood.
What is the price point you are working with?

 

[begreen]

For a first time heater, I think I would keep the stove as simple as possible. If heat convection is poor the stove is going to have to run hot in order for the main floor to be comfortable. That will reduce the advantage of the cat. For a simple 3 cu ft stove at a low budget price look at the Englander 30NC or the Drolet HT2000.These stoves will be in the $9-1000 range. In more expensive 3 cu ft stoves there are many choices from Pacific Energy, Regency, Osburn, Enerzone, Napoleon, Quadrafire, Lopi/Avalon, etc. Features vary between these stoves but their basic operation is the same. They will be in the $2000-$2500 range.

Having adequate draft with a tall enough chimney and having dry wood are the secrets to successful burning with these stoves.

 

[jatoxico]

For a first time heater, I think I would keep the stove as simple as possible. If heat convection is poor the stove is going to have to run hot in order for the main floor to be comfortable. That will reduce the advantage of the cat. For a simple 3 cu ft stove at a low budget price look at the Englander 30NC or the Drolet HT2000.These stoves will be in the $9-1000 range. In more expensive 3 cu ft stoves there are many choices from Pacific Energy, Regency, Osburn, Enerzone, Napoleon, Quadrafire, Lopi/Avalon, etc. Features vary between these stoves but their basic operation is the same. They will be in the $2000-$2500 range.

Having adequate draft with a tall enough chimney and having dry wood are the secrets to successful burning with these stoves.

The OP intends to convert the basement into living space (family room) so I don't see it as a matter of just cranking a stove in the basement in hope of heating the first floor.

A cool family room in the basement during the spring/fall would benefit from a stove that can run low w/o overheating the joint.

 

[kversch]

I have been lurking so I am aware that heating from the basement can be a difficult challenge. I plan to use a minimum of R19 on the walls and cover them with drywall. The stairs are centered in the basement/house and will be open to the room on both sides in the basement and then opened to the upstairs on one of the two sides hopefully aiding in the movement of warm air. I also plan on installing vents in the ceiling of the basement up in to the floor of the rooms upstairs to also further help in aiding warm air movement.


I am unsure what way to get between cat and noncat. if I am understanding what i am reading and hearing form the different dealers: Cat stoves seem to have longer burn times, some well over 12 hours. but they can be harder to use?

The longest burn times I have seen so far on noncat stoves is 12 hours. What makes these stoves easier to operate? Is is problematic to fill a noncat stove, cut it back and leave them running more or less unattended during the day well at work?

One other question, is is possible to get the "flame" show you have with noncat stoves in a cat stove? We would like to be abel to enjoy the warm flicker of the flames in the stove from time to time when enjoying the family room.

those of you who are running Blaze king stoves what are realistic burn times between reloads?

Thanks for all the reply's everyone.

 

[Rossco]

The BK glass will be black IF you allow that. Also you WILL get flame etc as long as you turn it up.

ATM it's between 0 and 5F and Iam burning 12hrs with a mixture of 'softwood'. Stat is on the cold line of Norm.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a cat/hybird may be to your liking. Woodstock's Ideal Steel has good long burn times and a nice fire view. It's only been out for a year now, but getting good reviews for its performance and price.

 

[Rossco]

Sounds like a cat/hybird may be to your liking. Woodstock's Ideal Steel has good long burn times and a nice fire view. It's only been out for a year now, but getting good reviews for its performance and price.

Yeah I forgot about the IS.

"Good luck getting one" is the talk.

The most important factor regardless is 'Dry Wood'

Burn times on my BK: That's 12hrs of 'Rock n Roll' Burning. She will snuff down and burn 24hrs if required.

 

[jatoxico]

Not a CAT owner myself but since you said you had some experience I doubt you would have major issues. A number of people have posted that the CAT stoves are very particular about dry wood. All modern stoves are, but the CAT stoves maybe more so. Can't get started on that wood supply soon enough either way.

There's a bunch of threads about BK stoves, one long running one that prob ans many of your questions including some you didn't even know you have. You also mentioned you want this to be your primary source of heat so there's a certain amount of utility associated with that. As others just alluded to, if you burn low so as not to overheat the space or go for extended burn times, then not much to look at, if you're cranking out some heat then visually the fire will be prettier but you'll be hauling more wood.

Hybrid could be the ticket and Woodstock is highly regarded 'round here.

 

[SKIN052]

I use my stove as my only source of heat. Pacific Energy Summit to be exact. Located in the basement heating roughly 2600sq/f. I can easily be done. 12-14 hour burn times are achievable but dry wood is the major factor for either cat or non cat. Split level home and the stove is located at the bottom of the stairs as soon as you walk in the door. I get allot of compliments about the placement of the stove, makes the place feel cozy at first site.

 

[Tenn Dave]

There are a lot of good EPA stoves to choose from. I have read many great reviews of both cat and non cat stoves here. I own a Woodstock Progress Hybrid which is a cat stove. This was my first wood burner, and I had no problem whatsoever learning how to use it. It is very simple and predictable. It offers controllability, long burn times, tons of heat when needed, beautiful fire view (glass stays very clean), burns very clean, and doubles as an attractive piece of furniture (if you like natural stone). This stove does work best with good dry wood as is true with most cat stoves. And last but not least is Woodstock's wonderful customer service. Whatever you finally choose, best of luck. Enjoy a nice warm winter.

 

[kversch]

Sounds like a cat/hybird may be to your liking. Woodstock's Ideal Steel has good long burn times and a nice fire view. It's only been out for a year now, but getting good reviews for its performance and price.

How do the cat/hybird stoves work? None of the dealers I have talked to so far even mentioned this. This closest sounding stove one dealer told us about was Vermont castings where we could have the cat in the stove or take it out depending on what we wanted to do. I kind of questioned this myself.

 

[begreen]

VC's 2 in 1 is a user controlled either or set up, not a hybrid. Lopi, Regency and Woodstock have true cat hybrids where the cat handles the the normal load of wood gas, but the stove also has secondary burn injected in order to burn off large blooms of wood gas or at high burn rates.
http://woodstove.com/progress-hybrid#hybrid explanation