I have 3 stoves. All "smoke dragons". The big old Huntsman thats in the garage isnt going anywhere. Its my "heat-up-the-garage-with-junkwood" stove. The 2 Fishers I have in the basement (Mama and Baby) do well at heating the house but the burn times are horrible. I added baffles and burn tubes so they burn hot and clean but not as clean and/or as long as EPA stuff. I have been reading my eyes dry about epa stuff and it looks like the NC13 might be the right stove for a couple reasons....it gets the air for both the secondaries and primary through the outside combustion port unlike the NC30 which I have read the secondaries get air from the house. The little baby bear does very well at heating the area around and above (upstairs) so I definetly dont need a stove bigger than that in its place. The area around and above the mama bear is bigger but it does fine. I think the NC13 would keep up fine, especially since the longer burn times would even out the heat spikes. So I guess my question is: Does any other manufacturer make a stove similar in size and price that is a better stove that also has outside air capability in which it gets both primary and secondary air from the outside air port?
NC13(ish)
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If you run that mama anywhere above idle, I will be surprised if a nc13 could fit the bill.
I have a lot of experience with a Mama and also have a nc30. The mama can out-heat the nc30.
The 30 is a great stove and will do well with a partial load as well. Long story short, if I understand your situation correctly, I would recommend shopping for a 30.
Is this space very tight and that is the concern for primary and secondary air being tied to the outside air kit? If so, the 30 does have that separate. I'm not an expert on the 13 but surprised it has them tied together since the 30 does not.
pen
I have a lot of experience with a Mama and also have a nc30. The mama can out-heat the nc30.
The 30 is a great stove and will do well with a partial load as well. Long story short, if I understand your situation correctly, I would recommend shopping for a 30.
Is this space very tight and that is the concern for primary and secondary air being tied to the outside air kit? If so, the 30 does have that separate. I'm not an expert on the 13 but surprised it has them tied together since the 30 does not.
pen
I'm working on getting the house tighter so the future plan of having outside air is the goal. I do run the Mama hard sometimes but it really doesnt need to be run that way. I would be fine with a 2nd baby in its place as far as heat output goes.
Rectangle house footprint. Single story ranch. Stoves at each end of the basement. I couldnt put one single stove in the middle because of the layout upstairs and a room in the middle of the basement. Basement door open. Cold air returns down the steps. Works out good. I just need more burn TIME. Not really more BTU's. The biggest issue with two 30's over two 13's is the price. I could save $500 with two 13's over two 30's
Basement finished/insulated, or bare block walls? With two 30s, it's possible that you'd be able to heat with one stove in milder weather whereas with two 13s you might have to run two stoves most of the time. And with the 30s you wouldn't have to load as often.
The basement is not finished. The 2 Fishers do well at heating though. It doesn't really seem like the block robs very much heat. Two little Baby Bears would be enough. The only reason I jave the Mama is because I couldn't find a Baby Bear at the time. However, the baby firebox is extremely small, especially after I added the baffle and the secondary burn tubes.
Probably once you have the walls warm, then you can get more heat upstairs. If you're running 24/7 it may not hurt output as badly as starting up cold stoves and having to heat up the walls every time.
Yea cold startups suck. It takes hours. But if I'm here all day doin stuff and keeping the stoves stirred up its all good. Thats why I need longer burning stoves. That and I have quite a bit of really good firewood and I'm just wasting it.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
The 13nc's while good stoves are hard pressed to get more than 6hrs per load when temps take a dive, also if you run a epa hard you will have coaling issues so with the limited fire box size I would lean more towards the 30, just my 2 cents.
Several issues I have with the 30:
1) It's going in the basement. I got my Mama Bear down there but it was no fun. Will I be able to get the 30 down there?
2) Price difference. If I can find one on spring clearance I would be seriously tempted. Do they go on clearance every spring?
3) The 13 (from what I have read) has the primary/secondary air fed from the outside air vent. The 30 just has prumary & the secondary air comes from the room. That sounds dumb to me. Why would you bother puting an outside air input on the stove but only feed the primary from it and not the secondary also?
1) It's going in the basement. I got my Mama Bear down there but it was no fun. Will I be able to get the 30 down there?
2) Price difference. If I can find one on spring clearance I would be seriously tempted. Do they go on clearance every spring?
3) The 13 (from what I have read) has the primary/secondary air fed from the outside air vent. The 30 just has prumary & the secondary air comes from the room. That sounds dumb to me. Why would you bother puting an outside air input on the stove but only feed the primary from it and not the secondary also?
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
The stove is not that bad to move, the door comes off, the bricks come out dropping almost 75lbs of weight. While I'm not the strongest guy around I've moved 3 of them with a friend from the back of a pickup into houses with stairs being in the mixed, it def can be done, even with not killing yourself.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Sorry about the multiple lines..to much coffee, the clearance price at home depot is usually 599.99 out the door come spring time, couple that with the tax rebate this year and you selling the baby bear you can almost have a free stove, if not make a little scratch to buy beer for the guys helping move it into the basement.
The primary sucks more air than the secondary, so really the secondary isn't that bad with using inside air, how long of a chimney system is this going to be hooked up to? Some members with 30ft chimney's actually had to block off some of the secondary inlet to slow it down, not saying that's in your case but keep that in mind.
Overall both stoves are great stoves, and you will be making a good choice anyway with going with Englander.
I have 8ft on the main floor, four(ish) feet from the stove to the main floor then two 3ft pieces of stainless in the attic. So like 18ft.
It isn't as bad as it may seem. The inlets for the secondary are two small half inch holes under the front corners of the stove. We aren't talking a lot of air.
![[Hearth.com] NC13(ish)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/194/194251-3ef6aa4cbe8c46259d039f02aef09eee.jpg?hash=OojOohmtM_ "[Hearth.com] NC13(ish)")
I don't have an OAK on mine, so all air comes from inside the house. It hasn't been a problem. We consistently burn about 3 cords a year here in central Ohio. House is pretty easy to heat. Decent insulation. House is about 2000 sqft. Stove is primary heat. We have some electric radiators in bedrooms so that we can close doors at night, but those rooms remain open any time we aren't sleeping.
-SF
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Cool! I'm up a little north of Delaware.
I'm not sure if Webbie enforces a post limit before PMs are allowed. I think you just need to click a person's handle to bring up their profile. You can send a PM from there I think. I don't remember for sure in the web interface. I'm almost always on Tapatalk on my Android tablet instead of my PC. I get enough of the PC while working every day.
-SF
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