Need some input for a new stove

[pcc2826]

Hey all,

my home is undergoing some massive renovations right now. The past several winters I have used an old smoke dragon in our living room. While it did a good job heating most of the old draft house in the dead of winter, the amount of wood it burned and ash it created was astonishing. I could load the whole box up and maybe get a 4 hour burn time if I was lucky, and it had a big firebox.

I figured now would be a good time to replace the stove. I am looking for anything that should provide a burn time longer than 4 hours if possible. the house is about 2200 square feet with propane back up. What are the good stoves out now?

 

[DougA]

There are many good stoves that will fit your needs. The forum has been full of threads with draft problems lately so while it's great to look for stoves, don't forget that stove location, stove pipe/chimney configuration and location of the chimney in relation to the roof line and other high objects is just as or even more important. Too many people have good stoves that are performing poorly due to these issues. This is the time to design the best location for the stove.

To answer your question, I would always go larger than dealers/mfgs suggest. The last 2 winters have been especially cold and many people have found their stoves can't keep up on bitterly cold nights. That's when you need it most. It's always better to burn less fuel in a slightly larger stove than to overheat an undersized one when you don't need all the power available.

I just put in a soapstone stove this winter and I am thrilled with it. Soapstone is more expensive but if you are burning 24/7, it provides a much more even, gentle heat. Woodstock and Hearthstone make great soapstone stoves.

Take a good look at your wood supply. You will need plenty of dry (20% moisture or less) wood. Most softwoods will dry if cut, split and set out where it can dry properly within the same year. Hardwoods will take 2 or 3 years. Burning wood that is not dry enough is always going to cause problems with smoke, draft and creosote.

 

[begreen]

In addition to dry wood a modern stove will prefer decent draft. Can you describe the flue system that the current stove is hooked up to? Is the current stove 6" or 8" pipe? How is it hooked up to the chimney? What is the chimney liner size?

There are many good stoves on the market. You will want a 3 cu ft stove or larger. In the budget area look at the Englander 30NC and the Drolet HT2000. Going up from there Osburn, Regency, Pacific Energy, Quadrafire, Avalon/Lopi, Country, Kuma all make respectable large, non-cat stoves. Buck and Blaze King make both cat and non-cats.

 

[rideau]

The Woodstock Progress Hybrid and Ideal Steel should be added to that list. They will both heat a 2200 square foot home quite nicely in the cold NE. I would expect the larger Hearthstone's would as well, as well as the Lopi Cape Cod.

 

[begreen]

There are many more stoves that could be added including Jotul, etc.. The best choice may depend on what dealers the OP has nearby.

 

[pcc2826]

They are completely tearing down the existing chimney system, so I am really starting from new.

Should I look for a cat or non-cat model?

The contractor I have hired is supposedly knowledgeable in all aspects but I just want to make sure. What kind/size of chimney/flue should I be looking at constructing to go best with modern stoves?

 

[begreen]

The flue size should match the stove flue requirement. Most 3 cu ft stoves use a 6" flue these days. If you go larger than 3 cu ft then an 8" flue could be required. Ideally you want this chimney to go straight up through the interior of the house for best performance. Often contractors are not fully knowledgeable in flue installation requirements and code. You might want to have an independent, certified installer do the job to get the best installation. There are 3 nationally recognized certification groups. Type your zip code into these links to locate certified installers.

www.csia.org
www.ncsg.org
(broken link removed to http://www.nficertified.org/pages_consumers/consumers-1.cfm)