My first Wood stove

[Tectop]

I strongly considering buying my first wood stove. I am looking at a stove called the Little John make by Buck Stove. I am going to place this in my basement for supplemental heat for power outages and just to help keep the heat pump from running as much , I was curious if anyone else has had any experience with this stove and what there thoughts was.

Thanks in advance.

 

[begreen]

It's EPA exempt. I would suggest getting a more modern design. Do you have dry wood already? That is almost a bigger priority than the stove.

 

[Tectop]

Yes I have dried wood from an oak tree I cut down this spring. My house is aprox 1700 sq ft house , 2 level. L evel one is an unfinshed basement and where the heater will be located. 2nd level is the living level with bed rooms , kitchen, bathes living room. Floor is insulated underside, ( basement side } with carpet on the top side of the floor. I know this is not the ideal scenario but I am wondering if this will be ok for supplement heat, i was also thinking of leaving the basement door open when heater was in use.Thanks for your fast reply and plz keep them coming, Thanks again

It's EPA exempt. I would suggest getting a more modern design. Do you have dry wood already? That is almost a bigger priority than the stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Tectop.

I hate to break your bubble, but that oak you cut last spring will not be good wood to burn even next fall! Oak is indeed one of the best firewoods but its drawback is that it takes a long, long time for oak to dry. Remember too that it won't dry until it is split and then stacked out in the wind. Okay to top cover it but that is all. btw, here we give oak 3 years after it is split before we burn it. You should be good in 2 down there though.

 

[Tectop]

Welcome to the forum Tectop.

I hate to break your bubble, but that oak you cut last spring will not be good wood to burn even next fall! Oak is indeed one of the best firewoods but its drawback is that it takes a long, long time for oak to dry. Remember too that it won't dry until it is split and then stacked out in the wind. Okay to top cover it but that is all. btw, here we give oak 3 years after it is split before we burn it. You should be good in 2 down there though.

Thanks for the info, didnt know that it took that long , it is split and stacked tho. Also the other stove I am looking at is a stove called Pleasant Hearth sold at Lowes,anybody have any feedback on this stove? Thanks again

 

[Michael Golden]

Brother in law has a pleasant hearth stove, he heats about 1500 sq ft. He has it in the basement and heats his house with it. He complains that he has to reload every 4 hrs when it is real cold out. But, once again his wood is only seasoned 10 months tops, I'm sure he fights to get it going. Overall though not a bad stove, I guessing better than the old buck!

 

[CenterTree]

You say "unfinished" basement. You mean uninsulated too? If so, you will have a challenge getting a lot of heat on the second floor. > > Mostly because you mentioned that you have INSULATED basement ceilings.

You will be producing heat that can't rise and is most likely to permeate out the basement walls. Are the walls concrete block? Above ground?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I like Buck Stoves and have nothing against non-EPA cert stoves.

 

[begreen]

If the basement is uninsulated a third of the heat will be heading through the walls. Add to this the insulated ceiling and unseasoned wood and this sounds like a great disappointment in the works.

 

[velvetfoot]

Do you have a chimney to vent this into?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

If the basement is uninsulated a third of the heat will be heading through the walls. Add to this the insulated ceiling and unseasoned wood and this sounds like a great disappointment in the works.

This is also true

 

[BrotherBart]

Real life example. For several years I had my office in my unfinished basement that is 50 to 54 degrees year around. I would fire the wood stove down there at six in the morning and it was noon before it was close to seventy degrees down there and the basement door was open and zip got up to the first floor. With half of the basement blocked off with insulation blankets.

I now have a pellet stove down there for just when I need to be down there doing stuff. Like today. I fired the pellet stove at nine this morning and when I knocked off down there at eight tonight the temp down there was sixty two degrees. Fine for me since I was moving junk all day.

Those walls and floor eat every btu you put into an unfinished basement.

 

[Tectop]

Real life example. For several years I had my office in my unfinished basement that is 50 to 54 degrees year around. I would fire the wood stove down there at six in the morning and it was noon before it was close to seventy degrees down there and the basement door was open and zip got up to the first floor. With half of the basement blocked off with insulation blankets.

I now have a pellet stove down there for just when I need to be down there doing stuff. Like today. I fired the pellet stove at nine this morning and when I knocked off down there at eight tonight the temp down there was sixty two degrees. Fine for me since I was moving junk all day.

Those walls and floor eat every btu you put into an unfinished basement.

Wow ,Thanks for all the information and insight.Yes the walls are block but underground level for 80% of it. The stove I was originally looking at was a Buck stove called Little John, the stove is new and is a free standing unit. Also I have had my Chimney inspected for the install of a stove, I wanted to make sure it was good to go before I spent money for a stove.

 

[tarzan]

I think you should do a little more research before settling on the Little John.

This may get me ran out of town but since purchasing my first EPA certified stove I can't see a situation where I would ever heat my home with a smoke dragon again.

 

[mark cline]

About now, you will be seeing wood stoves going on clearance to make room for the spring sales. You can get a good EPA approve stove for hundreds off at Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply to name a few . The pricing will be close to the little john for a much better stove.

 

[Woody Stover]

the walls are block but underground level for 80% of it.

They are still going to suck out a ton of heat. You'll be much better off if you can address that issue....

 

[begreen]

You will burn one extra cord for every two in order to heat the earth around the basement walls until they are insulated. Get several cords of split maple or ash for next season stacked now. Save the oak for 2016. For stoves, see if you can get a clearance sale price on an Englander (aka Summer's Heat) 30NC or a Drolet Austral or Myriad.