Hello all,
Been lurking here since the summer learning new information all the time. I grew up with stoves when my parents put in a Franklin Wood Stove in our family room and a coal stove in our living room in the 70’s. Helped my dad make a coal bin back then.
Fast forward. My wife has been wanting a stove for a few years and was not sure how it could be done since we don’t have a chimney with our cape. She wanted more off grid capability for safety especially with the way the world is now. Started research and learned about the class A chimney system. Looked at stoves back in March and settled on the non cat Vista LE. We went all black with the leg option and steel corner pad. It’s in my game room so wanted a traditional look and we both liked the large glass door for viewing. Only one dealer had one in stock but took 3 months for the class A chimney to come from Canada. Install done in June and the professionals we used were excellent. Flue comes off back corner of house about 20’ high. Upgraded to stainless roof brace. Stove cost about $2,300.
We knew about 1.6 firebox which many on this forum say is too small. We find it a perfect size. Close set back to corner wall facing our open floor plan kitchen. House is 36 x 26 with 3 bedrooms upstairs. Natural gas forced hot water is the main source of heat. Also have a 24K BTU Fujitsu Halcyon mini split system on the main floor where the stove is and 15K upstairs in the master bedroom. We use this for heat in the shoulder seasons and AC in the summer. We love this system and how efficient it is.
Started getting wood in spring with 3/4 cord of 5 year old split cherry. Got another 3.5 cords from 3 different sellers all about 1 to 1.5 years split mixed hardwood. Price of cord ranged from $260 to $325. Got all my stacks top covered and off the ground with Patio bricks and 8 and 10 ft PT 2x4’s. Used T post on ends. Re-split some in the summer smaller to have a mix of sizes. Some stacks are along my driveways cement retaining wall with excellent sunlight and wind. Have used about a 1/3 to half cord so far.
After watching a guy on the net from Alberta with a Vista we knew this was for us. Our main floor has no problem getting to 77 when it’s in the teens or 20’s outside. Upstairs temp 70-73. Bigger is not better in our case. Stack it before I go to bed and it’s still 68 downstairs in the AM. Granted our house is 21 years old and insulated well with a new slider and some new windows. The $38 eco fan is awesome and does move the warm air.
We used 50% less gas in Nov and 46.4 less in Dec and that’s with gas appliances so very happy with the stoves performance and how it does not eat wood fast.
Glad I found this forum!
Been lurking here since the summer learning new information all the time. I grew up with stoves when my parents put in a Franklin Wood Stove in our family room and a coal stove in our living room in the 70’s. Helped my dad make a coal bin back then.
Fast forward. My wife has been wanting a stove for a few years and was not sure how it could be done since we don’t have a chimney with our cape. She wanted more off grid capability for safety especially with the way the world is now. Started research and learned about the class A chimney system. Looked at stoves back in March and settled on the non cat Vista LE. We went all black with the leg option and steel corner pad. It’s in my game room so wanted a traditional look and we both liked the large glass door for viewing. Only one dealer had one in stock but took 3 months for the class A chimney to come from Canada. Install done in June and the professionals we used were excellent. Flue comes off back corner of house about 20’ high. Upgraded to stainless roof brace. Stove cost about $2,300.
We knew about 1.6 firebox which many on this forum say is too small. We find it a perfect size. Close set back to corner wall facing our open floor plan kitchen. House is 36 x 26 with 3 bedrooms upstairs. Natural gas forced hot water is the main source of heat. Also have a 24K BTU Fujitsu Halcyon mini split system on the main floor where the stove is and 15K upstairs in the master bedroom. We use this for heat in the shoulder seasons and AC in the summer. We love this system and how efficient it is.
Started getting wood in spring with 3/4 cord of 5 year old split cherry. Got another 3.5 cords from 3 different sellers all about 1 to 1.5 years split mixed hardwood. Price of cord ranged from $260 to $325. Got all my stacks top covered and off the ground with Patio bricks and 8 and 10 ft PT 2x4’s. Used T post on ends. Re-split some in the summer smaller to have a mix of sizes. Some stacks are along my driveways cement retaining wall with excellent sunlight and wind. Have used about a 1/3 to half cord so far.
After watching a guy on the net from Alberta with a Vista we knew this was for us. Our main floor has no problem getting to 77 when it’s in the teens or 20’s outside. Upstairs temp 70-73. Bigger is not better in our case. Stack it before I go to bed and it’s still 68 downstairs in the AM. Granted our house is 21 years old and insulated well with a new slider and some new windows. The $38 eco fan is awesome and does move the warm air.
We used 50% less gas in Nov and 46.4 less in Dec and that’s with gas appliances so very happy with the stoves performance and how it does not eat wood fast.
Glad I found this forum!
