Need 12 hour plus burn times on mostly softwood... Stove suggestions anyone??

[Skidooer]

Looking to replace 30+ year old xlarge Selkirk wood stove in the basement. Has 6in pipe goin to the doubble insulated chimney(selkirk i think) portion extiting straight up 20 feet or so. Good draft, lots of heat from the unit but the fan puked, door an window seals done, and burns more wood than i can feed it.
Iv looked into Blaze King Princess ultra as they claim to work well on softwood with long burns. But the stoves in the basment of the 2300 sqft side splt bungalow, and i want it to do all the heating (propane is killing us $$). The house is pretty well insulated with a few leaks, and the basement is all finshed. My main concern is I dont want to put in an expensive stove like this if it wont keep the propane man away.
Iv also looked at the Osburn 2400 stove but there again its only rated 8-10 hrs, and thats probably on hardwood. I would really appreciate some real world imput/experience as im a new homeowner and i cant afford to waste any cash. Thanks alot.

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the forums. Heating from the basement is not ideal, regardless of the stove. That said, if the stove and staircase are centrally located and open, then it may work out. The Blaze King was designed to provide long burn times on softwood and is a good choice, particularly in milder climates where you want to have lower burns so that you are not wasting wood or overheating the basement. A medium sized Buck 80, catalytic stove would also fit this criteria and may be a more affordable alternative if on the east coast.

 

[Skidooer]

Hey thankyou for the quick response and the welcoming. The stove is certrally located and next to the stairway, and when the old stove was working properly it would for the most part heat the whole house down to -20deg C outside on Ash and Elm (im in southeast Ontario). BUT it was a hogg on fuel! And i dont have much harwood to burn.
I checked out the Buck 80, looks like id do the job but it uses an 8in flue... Any reason why the Blaze Kings are soo popular out west? Id never heard of them till lately. And whats with the cost difference for geographical location? thanks again

 

[jeff_t]

Assuming the 2300 sq ft includes the basement? Do you use the basement as a living space? How do you define a 12 hour burn? To some it means having enough coals to light off another load, to others it means a meaningful heat output.

The popularity of the Blaze King lies in it's big firebox and the ability to pretty precisely control the burn. It really shines in the spring and fall when you don't need a lot of heat. It has the ability to burn cleanly at a really low output. I can get 12 hours of good heat from my King when cold and windy, or I can reload after two days during shoulder seasons. This is with good, dry hardwood. Insulation and being able to move heat are key when heating from the basement.

You also need a dry wood supply to make a modern stove work. Split and stacked in the sun and wind for at least a year, two or three years for oak.

 

[Hardrockmaple]

Go to your local Home Hardware and check out the Consolidated Dutchwest X Large. I've had good luck with my 16 year old CDW small.

http://majesticproducts.com/family/Stoves/Catalytic/DutchWest/

 

[BrowningBAR]

Welcome to the forums. Heating from the basement is not ideal, regardless of the stove. That said, if the stove and staircase are centrally located and open, then it may work out. The Blaze King was designed to provide long burn times on softwood and is a good choice, particularly in milder climates where you want to have lower burns so that you are not wasting wood or overheating the basement. A medium sized Buck 80, catalytic stove would also fit this criteria and may be a more affordable alternative if on the east coast.

If the Buck 91 is only giving 12 hour burns I have to wonder if the Buck 80 can do that. I also don't see a 2.6 cu ft stove heating 2300 sq ft.

 

[begreen]

The 80 was given as a similarly sized alternative to the BK Princess, but did not know the Ontario location, so maybe not. Still, if the basement is insulated and the stove close to the stairway, then perhaps with a little assistance it could do the job. If the stove must have a 6" flue, a big SBI stove (Drolet HT-2000, Osburn 2400, Enerzone Solution 3.4) would probably be the most affordable in Canada or an Englander 30NC if available. Any of these heaters are going to be a nice improvement over the old stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey thankyou for the quick response and the welcoming. The stove is certrally located and next to the stairway, and when the old stove was working properly it would for the most part heat the whole house down to -20deg C outside on Ash and Elm (im in southeast Ontario). BUT it was a hogg on fuel! And i dont have much harwood to burn.
I checked out the Buck 80, looks like id do the job but it uses an 8in flue... Any reason why the Blaze Kings are soo popular out west? Id never heard of them till lately. And whats with the cost difference for geographical location? thanks again

Welcome to the forum, you who ride a Skidoo!

One word of warning. These new stoves are nothing like the old stoves. If you do your part to assure you have good dry wood, these stoves are tremendous. As an example, our Fireview cut our wood needs in half. Most will cut by a third or more. You just have to do your part to get your wood dry. Ash and elm are excellent woods and we burn those woods also here in Michigan.

As for the stove in the basement, it certainly is not my favorite way but it can work. Usually one will need to sit a very small fan at the top of the stairway and blow the cooler air DOWN towards the stove room. This cool air will force the warmer air upstairs.

I will also second the opinion on the Blaze King. Good luck.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Welcome to the forum, you who ride a Skidoo!

One word of warning. These new stoves are nothing like the old stoves. If you do your part to assure you have good dry wood, these stoves are tremendous. As an example, our Fireview cut our wood needs in half. Most will cut by a third or more. You just have to do your part to get your wood dry. Ash and elm are excellent woods and we burn those woods also here in Michigan.

As for the stove in the basement, it certainly is not my favorite way but it can work. Usually one will need to sit a very small fan at the top of the stairway and blow the cooler air DOWN towards the stove room. This cool air will force the warmer air upstairs.

I will also second the opinion on the Blaze King. Good luck.

I'm... I'm at a loss for words. Dennis might be ill. I am concerned and worried about Dennis' health.

 

[Jags]

I'm... I'm at a loss for words. Dennis might be ill. I am concerned and worried about Dennis' health.

Taking care of Judy might be making him light headed. He'll come around.

 

[PapaDave]

Obviously, some sort of space-time anomaly. Those are self correcting, aren't they? He'll be fine after another fireview fire.

 

[wkpoor]

One stove to heat 2300 sq/ft from any basement AND burn 12hrs in frigid temps is a mighty big undertaking. Even though the BK is well suited to very long burns I'm not sure even it can be pushed that hard and deliver. But if I were to guess at what options I would also say BK or 36" Elm. Elm will deliver more heat because of its size and should make 12hrs easy. I can do it with the 30" on hardwood and still have 400 degree top temps.

 

[Todd]

Instead of considering 1 large stove in the basement maybe think of 2 smaller stoves, one for each level. This way you have more even heat throughout the whole house instead of overheating the basement trying to get the heat upstairs? I'm heating 2000 sq ft soon to be 2200 with 2 Woodstock's and they work out beautifully.

Another option would be an EPA rated wood furnace like a Caddy.

I'm surprised like the others that Dennis didn't promote the new Woodstock Ph! It may do the trick as well but it will also be hotter in the basement. He seems to be slacking in his Woodstock duties. Lol

 

[rdust]

If I was going to do a BK from the basement it would have to be a KING. These stoves really shine on low burn and I have my doubts a Princess on low burn will heat your home from the basement. I'm sure the Princess could heat the place but I don't think it will do it with 12 hours between loads.

I have a Princess in my family room(1000-1100 sq' on main floor, 900 sq' or so on second floor) and the stove has been nothing short of amazing. Two loads a day when it was in the high single digits to low teens and 24 hour+ loads when 30's for lows and 40-50's for highs.(mostly hardwoods) The control over the heat output is near perfect for me.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah the "low and slow" for a Blaze King is out the window for this application. Nobody has yet testified that the sucker burns less wood with more heat when you have to keep that bad boy cranking to heat the joint. Having a big box of wood smoldering for a week is fine if it is warm outside. Looking to heat a house from the basement in a really cold climate ya need a bunch of heat. I know the stove sold at Canadian Tire that I would recommend for that application but would get grief for it. But it is commonly referred to around here as "the 30".

Edit: And wouldn't want to argue too much with the OP. But I really would like to see somebody show me a pic of a "Selkirk" stove. I must have missed that one.

 

[Jags]

I know the stove sold at Canadian Tire that I would recommend for that application but would get grief for it. But it is commonly referred to around here as "the 30".

I'll say it for ya Bro - I gotz big shoulders...

THE ELM

 

[dafattkidd]

You mentioned the Osburn 2400. I have the insert version of that stove and I love it. However my house is a bit smaller and climate warmer. My house is crazy drafty though. I don't really run it too hard because it's a bit oversized for my house. Anyway, sounds like you should be looking into changing your chimney to an 8" or finding the largest firebox you can that runs on a 6" chimney. Good luck!

 

[geoxman]

Go to your local Home Hardware and check out the Consolidated Dutchwest X Large. I've had good luck with my 16 year old CDW small.

I am in agreement with this poster. I have the older FA 288ccl and 15 hr burns are easily accomplished. I am also looking into the NC30 for the 3rd and 4th floor of my house but the 288 handles most of the first three floors in a 1904 house. I am redoing a 264ccl for the library on the NE side of the house which is quite drafty and that will help the other floors. I also burn what ever is dropped off by my tree guy, so everything is mixed. JMHO but I can't stand the looks of any BK--but I am sure others do not like the federal look of my stoves either. good luck

 

[Skidooer]

WOW! Thankyou to everyone for the quick replys!! My internet acessability is a bit limited right now as its been a few days since iv been on here. Iv had a quote to install a new Princess including moving the old stove out and doing some minor chimney clearance modifications to meet the new codes. At a wopping 5400$. (Canadain funds) Im going to sit on this one and do some more research before i make a decision. The guy did point out my cold air return for the propane furnace is hung down creating a hot air damn in the basemet, and i could put a big ol grate in there and use the furnace fan to suck out and circulate all that trapped heat. That alone would give a forced air effect and be more efficient. But as a few of you have said, the princess may not be big enough... I appreciate all the replys and il see if i can get a pic uploaded of the old beast!!

 

[nate379]

Blaze King is THE stove to have up here in Alaska. I don't think anyone will argue that it gets pretty cold up here....

 

[jeff_t]

BK is great for long, low burns. When it's cranking, it's just like any other stove. I'd be looking at that 30, in your case. Good, solid stove, and the value is hard to beat. Twelve hour burns with softwood might be a good goal, but unfortunately it will be tough with most stoves that will work with a 6" pipe.

As long as your ductwork is all in a conditioned space, as you said your basement is finished, it may have some benefit in moving warm air. Usually, duct losses give it an opposite effect, and you end up losing heat where you don't want it. Most folks have better luck moving warm air towards the stove, as in a small fan on the floor pointed down the stairs. This creates a convection loop, with the cool, dense air being replaced by warm air moving in the opposite direction at the ceiling.

 

[rdust]

Usually, duct losses give it an opposite effect, and you end up losing heat where you don't want it.

x2, If my stove room is 72* and I run the fan on my furnace the house will cool off. The air coming out of the vents is usually in the low 60's. When a forced air furnace is running the temps are well over 100*(if I recall correctly mine was 120* near the furnace last time I measured it). Unless you have insulated duct work you're going to lose heat in the duct work.

As Jeff mentioned most of us find blowing cold air towards the stove does a fine job moving the heat around.

 

[Skidooer]

That does make sense when look at it from a convection aspect. And I agree you loose alot of heat in the duct work before it reaches its intended location. More things to consider.... if i only had my own bush lot id just put in and outdoor stove and heat my garage and hot water at the same time!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That does make sense when look at it from a convection aspect. And I agree you loose alot of heat in the duct work before it reaches its intended location. More things to consider.... if i only had my own bush lot id just put in and outdoor stove and heat my garage and hot water at the same time!

And that would take a lot of wood! That is one of the problems with the OWB is the amount of wood they take to heat the place. Yes, the good part is you can also heat your water but at a price.

 

[Skidooer]

Yes they do burn alot. But you can burn anything.... i mean anything in it!! We installed one 8 years back at the homestead. We found we can burn green cedar, half rotten ash and elm, skids, etc. No your not getting much efficienty, but when you want clear out the junk wood in your bush and save the nice trees they are great. And the temp in the house is always constant thought the house, and itl stay going all weekend when you go snowmobiling if you load it to the top. But thats just my experiences/opinion, i havent got nearly enough wood or money to go that route for sure!!
Think il do more research and maybe in the mean time blaze K or osburns will go on sale....fat chance i know but heres hopin!