New house stove suggestions?

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Auzzie Gumtree

Minister of Fire
Oct 17, 2012
535
Guys just sold my house and bought a new bigger house with a bit more land. I am hoping to take my 5 years of wood with me so I will be good to go with fuel. Currently the new house has a large open fireplace which I want to convert to a wood stove. Here's my dilema would you put a insert in (looking at neo 2.5) or a rear flue stand alone heater like a jotul F500? Or leave the fireplace and put in a top flue heater like the Regency 5100?

I really like the idea of the cat stove with the extra long burn time, but then I like the look of the jotul but i also like the flush minimal look of the neo...,..

Also liked the osburn matrix......

Which will give the best bang for my dollar? The area I am trying to heat will be about 2000 sq ft open plan with a bit of help from wood oven.

The house also has a Sweetheart wood oven like the one below.....

(broken image removed)
 
Do you have a pic and dimensions of the fireplace? Is it at an interior or exterior wall? How cold does it get in your area and how good is the insulation of the house? You will need to figure out if a ~2.4 cu ft stove will be enough or you need to go larger.

As for the regency 5100: The few reports I have read here so far seem to indicate it is not a BlazeKing stove. Don't expect putting in an XL-stove and getting the burn times of a BK King.
 
As for the regency 5100: The few reports I have read here so far seem to indicate it is not a BlazeKing stove. Don't expect putting in an XL-stove and getting the burn times of a BK King.
They had some early issues but with a few tweaks they are pretty good now getting close to bk. Not quite there yet but getting there
 
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Thanks for the quick response I live in Australia so its not that cold but it has a long burn season. It gets to freezing some nights and day time temp as low as 50 degrees.

The fireplace is on an outside wall. I have never had an insert and I don't like having the blower on all the time. The fireplace is pretty big and I don't want to lose a lot of heat up the chimney.
 
Insulation is pretty much nonexistent as all Australian houses.
 
The 5100 is getting some good feedback here in aus. The fire has to have a good burn time it has to be able to restart after work about 10 hours. Doesn't hazvevto have much heat but throw on a couple of splits and away you go.
 
The fire has to have a good burn time it has to be able to restart after work about 10 hours.

That should be easy to do with a 3 cu ft stove. Honestly, my 2 cu ft insert still has enough coals after 10 hrs for an easy restart usually.

Large fireplace, exterior wall and no blower noise preferred: I would go with a (convective) stove. Have you looked at the Jotul F55?
The fireplace is pretty big and I don't want to lose a lot of heat up the chimney.

When you put a block-off plate in that won't make a difference between stove and insert.
 
I don't think we can get that one here in australia...

I did like the heat output of the neo 2.5 any feedback on that one?
 
Is your existing fireplace a brick and mortar or is it a pre-fabricated fireplace built into a chase? If it's a pre-fab, you may not legally or safely install an insert.

I had a prefab in my house that I removed and installed a BIZ Ultima into the space. Reference my profile photo. You do not need to run a fan with this unit but I have one with a fan speed controller. You can't hear it on the lower settings. There is also a duct system with this design and small in line booster fan I run to my main house heating duct. That gets the heat to the back bedrooms of my ranch style home.
 
There is also a duct system with this design and small in line booster fan I run to my main house heating duct.
That sounds quite interesting - this is a ranch style house as well.

The fireplace is a brick and mortar so should be all good. Does yours give out plenty of heat and do you get an overnight burn?
 
The BIZ Ultima heats my house exceptionally well in the freezing and occasional below zero temperatures we experience in the U.S. Midwest. It's a non-catalytic double wall steel design that in my opinion does a better job of exchanging cold air to warm air in a single story house versus a cast iron catalytic that is more radiant heat for the rooms immediately adjacent to and above it.

Three to four oak, ash, or cherry logs will heat strongly for 3-4 hours. I add the last logs of the night between 9-10 pm and it generates house warming heat until 4-5 am when the gas furnace takes over. When I get home around 6 pm, there are still hot coals under the ashes that gets new logs fired up. Over the average six months we run the burner, we consume 5-6 face cords or two cords of mixed hard woods. It's the perfect burner for our needs and the T shaped footprint of our house.

If you have a brick and mortar fireplace, I don't believe this unit would work for you...it's a huge cabinet. An insert may be your best bet. I'd look at non-catalytic types for a ranch. I've owned Osburn and SCAN burners in the past that also worked well.
 
I don't think we can get that one here in australia...

It's a newer model; may still be in testing for the Australian market. If you like the look I would inquire at a Jotul dealer or Jotul itself. The reviews here have been very positive so far.
I did like the heat output of the neo 2.5 any feedback on that one?

Not quite sure what you mean with heat output. The max BTU numbers are usually not that informative as the stove will rarely be run that way. How much BTU a stove can put out is mostly determined by its firebox size and in that regard the Neo will be similar to any other 2.5 cu ft stove. However, as a flush insert in an exterior wall fireplace you will need to run the blower most of the time. PE blowers are usually not that loud on low although I have not experienced the one of the Neo 2.5 yet. It is also a newer model with only a few reviews so far. I suggest a forum search.
 
For a freestander I'd be looking at a Pyroclassic IV if I lived down under.
 
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Have heard mixed reviews on the pyroclasic or as some call it pyrocrap. It looks like it needs exceptionally dry wood and that anything other than perfect wood can cause the flue to partially block and as it is only 100mm flue it doesn't take much to restrict the flow. Also I don't think it will be big enough and all my wood is cut too big it likes long thin wood but mine is short and thick.
Not quite sure what you mean with heat output. I looked at one in full burn at the local store and it was impressive. Stayed a while and I actually reloaded the fire and stayed until full burn and then turned it down and got amazing secondaries. It was impressive.
 
Any reviews on the osburn marix? This also looks impressive on paper...
 
I have an insert with a fan but only use the fan when it gets below 40* f. I also like the look of a free standing stove in or in front of a fireplace. Look in the photo gallery of the site, plenty of good setups.
 
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