New guy with questions

[ColoMack]

Hello,

I am new to wood burning (other than camping) and have questions. I will try and keep this short.

I currently have an Englander pellet/corn stove that I LOVE but wanted something that I could heat the house with during power outages and for general saving on my power bill. While leaving my corn stove in place I installed a chimney from my unfinished basement up through the up stairs laundry room, through the attic and out of the house. I was fortunate because this was a straight up run in the area I wanted the stove. I had already purchased a Montgomery Ward Franklin heater wood burning stove from a guy at work for $100. While I think my chimney install is safe and correct I don't think this old wood burner is really that good. I had to feed it TONS of wood just to increase the temperature a little in my basement. Granted the basement is unfinished but really? its roughly 1200 sq feet with an upstairs a little bigger. I plan on finishing it this winter but I think before I do I want a new stove. I have given up on used. I am unable to find anything at a local auction or craigslist and think it would be a good investment to purchase a new quality unit.
Two affordable stoves that I keep coming back to are the Vogelzang Performer (or Ponderosa) and the Englander 30-nc. I have seen some reviews on Vogelzang wood stoves that are not very positive but the Englander 30 seems to get higher marks while costing less. I hope there are some that may own one of these stoves that can help me make my decision, lead me in a completely different direction or tell me to stick with what I have. Unfortunately due to the large number of dead elm trees on my property that is what I will be burning mostly if that helps. As with most people safety is a big concern.
One last question, how come the Englander 30 is rated at 75k BTU while the Performer is rated at 119k BTU but heat the same square feet. Are these ratings at all reliable?

I just want to make sure I make the right decision and I am not sorry about my purchase. Thank you for your time.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Is the basement stove considered a secondary stove to your pellet stove? or will you run them both at the same time?
You mentioned power outages only

 

[blades]

Just go with Englander. Great people to do business with should the need arise. Bonus made here stateside not Chicom garbage steel. Heat my 2k sq ft ranch with one. Might check and see if the Home depot in Johnson city, Tn still has a special going on.

 

[ColoMack]

Is the basement stove considered a secondary stove to your pellet stove? or will you run them both at the same time?
You mentioned power outages only

I will run both at the same time when I am here weekends ect. I will probably run my pellet stove more until I get my basement finished. My house is a much older home and has the smaller chopped up rooms with a large living room up front. My pellet stove keeps this living room toasty running on low and keeps the back bedrooms and dining room/kitchen livable. My plan is to cut a hole in the floor of the laundry room with a grate and get additional heat up there and up the stair well into those harder to reach areas with the woods stove as well as the main source for the basement area.

 

[ColoMack]

Just go with Englander. Great people to do business with should the need arise. Bonus made here stateside not Chicom garbage steel. Heat my 2k sq ft ranch with one. Might check and see if the Home depot in Johnson city, Tn still has a special going on.

ok thank you for this. Do you know why the big difference in BTU rating with the same suggested heating area?

 

[Grisu]

Hello ColoMack and welcome to the forum!

The best predictor of heat output from an EPA-approved secondary burn stove is the size of the firebox. The more wood you can burn the more heat a stove will produce. Both have a firebox of 3 cu ft and should therefore be comparable. There is no standardized definition of heating area so manufacturers are pretty flexible in their numbers. And the BTU numbers depend a lot on the testing procedure and what type of wood was used etc. In the end it is all about the amount of wood you can burn over how many hours that will decide how warm your home will be. The Englander is a well-liked stove here and supported by great customer service. Several deals have recently been posted in the forum and members got it for ~$800 delivered. Do a little search and you should easily find those threads.

However, heating a 2400 sqft (?) home from an unfinished basement with a woodstove will be a tall order for any stove. Better get that basement finished soon. And check out local fire codes before adding grates to your floor. Make also sure that your wood is dry with an internal moisture content of less than 20%. Dead trees can have less moisture but it is no guarantee. I would still split and stack it for 2 years just to be on the save side.

 

[jeff_t]

BTU ratings are propaganda. There is no set standard.

Firebox size is a better indicator of heating ability.

 

[Ashful]

Unfinished basement = 5 very large concrete heat sinks, called four walls and floor. Very few are successful adding heat to a house via an unfinished basement. First, you need to heat the earth around your house...

 

[kennyp2339]

Hmmm, although you say your new to wood heating, your crossing that fine line in a major lifestyle change by joining this website..lol. I would go with the reliable NC-30, haven't heard a bad review yet on that stove. (certified NC-30 operator) On a more serious level though, if your trying to heat an unfinished basement (no insulation) a good portion of the heat gets absorbed into the walls, no stove no matter the quality will work correctly. Finish that basement and get an extra 30% of useable heat. As far as the chimney, your on the right track. an inside chimney is far better than an outside one (most people) design an outside chimney because they think that's were it belongs, Wood - dead elm, start cutting it down now, split and stack it asap - both stoves are new technology that relie on good dry wood (under 20% moisture)

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I will run both at the same time when I am here weekends ect. I will probably run my pellet stove more until I get my basement finished. My house is a much older home and has the smaller chopped up rooms with a large living room up front. My pellet stove keeps this living room toasty running on low and keeps the back bedrooms and dining room/kitchen livable. My plan is to cut a hole in the floor of the laundry room with a grate and get additional heat up there and up the stair well into those harder to reach areas with the woods stove as well as the main source for the basement area.

just be careful cutting holes in the floors and putting grates in, might want to check with building codes to make sure dampers aren't needed.

 

[ColoMack]

Thank you for all your help. I will probably pull the trigger on the 30 after we get back from vacation. Thanks again!