New stove advice.

[VTGuy]

Hello all.

I'm going to buy a new woodstove soon. I have read around in here quite a bit and I think I have narrowed my stove possiblities a bit and am open to suggestions.

My house is fairly new, well insulated... The footprint of the house is 38x28 with about a 12x12 bump out that is the entryway, stairs going down to basement and up to main floor from here. The stove will be located centrally in the finished basement with good heat flow to next floor via 12x12 bump out. The floor plan is fairly open cape, total living area including finished basement is around 2300sf. I will use the stove to heat as much as possible during the cold months in VT (some nights to -10F or more). Burning hardwood, chimney is about 30ft +- metalbestos.

My "shortlist" is: Hearthstone Mansfield, Pacific Energy Alderlea T5? T6?, Avalon Arbor, Morso 3610. I realize some of these may seem a bit large for the size of the home but after reading posts here it seems the only sure way to get overnight/longer burns is to have a sizeable firebox. Would like to have a stove that's efficient and not a finiky burner.

Any and all opinions appreciated.

 

[VTGuy]

Why is no one weighing in on this one?

 

[Gunner]

You are right in looking at the bigger stoves for your house size and climate. Any one of those stoves will get the job done (I am not familiar with the Avalon you mentioned) My only concern is heating from the basement, in some houses it seems to work others it does not. Figure out what you like and don't like, features, looks, soapstone, steel, cast etc. How are the local dealers?

Edit: T5 is to small IMO go with T6 if PE.

 

[begreen]

Welcome VTG, everyone's probably out adding to the woodpile (or gone fishin'). It sounds like you've covered the basics. With a 30' stack, draft will be strong and may need a draft damper to make the stove easier to regulate. Though you've probably read, basement installs are not the favorite here for whole house heating, but the large opening will help get a good return air loop going.

The Hearthstone Mansfield or Alderlea T6 would do the job very well. I'd also consider a Jotul Oslo. If top-loading is your choice then consider a Vermont Castings Encore or Defiant. It comes down to aesthetics, clearances, budget, burning habits, loading preferences - all are good stoves. But most important is having a good dealer that will work well with you.

 

[wg_bent]

I was out side hacking up an 80' oak that's about 45" in diameter that I had cut down today. Well... There's nothing to weigh in on! Those are all very nice stoves, and all would do the job. Which one do you and your SO like the look of the best? That's the one to buy.

 

[Gooserider]

All are good choices, from good manufacturers, and should give good performance. (along with the additional models mentioned in the replies)

The two things that you mostly need to consider now are:

1. The aesthetics - you are going to be heating for part of the year, but looking at the stove all year long - pick something you like the looks of!

2. The heating characteristics of the stoves - since you sound like a 24/7 burner, this is somewhat less critical, as you will get the stove hot and keep it that way, but it might be a factor. Soapstone is great for radiant heat and will keep a steadier temperature, but it sounds like you are going to be needing convection heat as well to get the heat up to the upper level via that bumpout. I'd consider looking for a stove that either came with a blower, or that could have one added easily...

Gooserider

 

[keyman512us]

Why is no one weighing in on this one?

First off VTG...Welcome to the site.

As quoted above...It's currently the "off season" and a good majority of the members are 'snow birds' and are either "gone fishing"...gathering wood the way squirells gather nuts for winter, tending to the garden, maintaining bee hives, repairing the gear, building rainwater systems, or other activities that have them tied up 16 hours out of 24...So don't be rather alarmed... take a step back, grab your favorite beverage and do some searching here on the site...

Believe it or not the search function here is as good as google and just about any question can easily be answered with a little effort on your part. Having done some research already...don't hesitate to read over and cross check...

With the high energy prices, burning wood is becoming a lot more attractive and quite a few "newbies" can be found asking the same questions you are... so spend a little of your time researching and people will chime in...

As a courteousy though... most newcomers to this site ask a few questions and then "disappear" as quickly as they came...so if you get something out of it think of becoming "a regular here" and then reflect when newcomers join in...

Here at the hearth... you will get out what you put in... this site is more of a comunity than most... Ease up a bit...All in time...With a little patience...

 

[wg_bent]

Goose makes a good point about the convection heat from the lower level. A more convection oriented stove such as Morso 2140 (vs the 2110)
or possibly something more like the PE Summit's or Osburn 2200 with a blower. The blower will help circulate heat a bit better, but then again, a small fan might do the same thing if pointed at a VC Defiant. The 24/7 aspects of burning are also valid. Run a stove constantly, and the material is less of a practical consideration and more of aesthetics. The only time it comes into play is in the spring and fall. If you just want a little bump in the house temp to take the chill off, a soap stone stove isn't the best choice. A steel stove is, but if you want long, even heat output the stone can't be beat.

 

[stoveguy13]

In that amount of space in VT you may also want to take a look at the Jotul f600 and the quadra-fire 5700

 

[Shane]

I'd get that Avalon. I'm partial to Travis though. Don't work for them but that would be cool. Your layout sound similar to mine but much larger. I heat from the basement (with a pellet stove) and there is a difference between downstairs and upstairs. But it's tolerable and better than turning on baseboard electric heat. I might suggest a model that can accomodate a fan just to "break up" the radiant heat around the stove and help move it along.

 

[VTGuy]

Thanks to all who've responded,

I am new to the forum, didn't mean to seem "pushy" for responses. To put it in context; I discoverd the forum late in the week and read a lot on here, searching... found a lot of good info, then decided to post the question. The wife and I were planning to catch the end of the local dealers sales and make a decision on Saturday, thus the rush.

All this aside, we went, we shopped, we bought. The winner is Hearthstone Mansfield. Should have it in about a week, looking foreward to it. We moved into our new place this year, have'nt had a woodstove in a long time. I grew up burning wood, father, uncle and I used to cut split and sell about 80-100 cords a year. I thought I was pretty well done with wood but am happy to be getting back into burning, maybe the price of fuel has something to do with it :ahhh:

I'll be checking in here often, seems like a good group.

Thanks again.

 

[Mike Wilson]

we went, we shopped, we bought. The winner is Hearthstone Mansfield.

Sweet stove. You're going to love it. Absolutely beautiful stove.

Now if you could only get it out of the basement...

-- Mike

 

[begreen]

Excellent choice VTG. Let us know how the install goes and by all means take lots of pictures and post them in the pictures forum.

 

[babalu87]

Its going to be VERY hard to heat an entire home from a basement. My neighbor has one that he puts wood in all winter and I still see the oil man making deliveries.
Its not getting the heat up, its getting the cooler air from the rest of the house to circulate.

 

[Todd]

Heating from the basement can be hard in most homes, but that depends on the location of the stove and how open of a floor plan you have. I've done it successfully in a couple different homes. You just have to have a good circulation loop or supply and return between the floors. Yes, you may have a 5-10 degree difference in temps between floors, but I don't mind as long as the furnace doesn't kick on. Good luck, and congrats on the new stove.

 

[djeffers]

We are also new stove shopping.
We purchased a Pacific Energy Super 27 for the home we sold. Unfortunately the stove made the deal. Researching again we re contacted Tom Oyen through the web site at http://www.chimneysweeponline.com.

His comments to us:
When you're trying to heat the upstairs from the downstairs, an air convection stove will do a lot better job, as these pump out heated air, and Mother Nature decrees that it will rise to the upper story. The Hearthstone Homestead is primarily a radiant heater, and doesn't put out nearly the amount of heated air that the Pacific Super 27 does. You can read more about this in our online Sweep's Library at http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/horadiantconv.htm." You can email on the site with the particulars of your home and Tom will let you know the best stove to meet your needs.

The Super 27 in the basement was great. Long burns, miserly on wood, good heat and clean glass. I cannot find anything comparable except the T5 with the cook top ability. Basement stove=cleaner living area and warm floors.

Good luck with your shopping.
Breezytrees

 

[North of 60]

My stoves in the basement. We have real winters here. Our upstair floors are always warm. Upstairs is allways warm. I have floor registers cut into every room, sleeved to the downstairs ceiling. A timer that runs my furnace fan for 10 minutes every hour. @ -20 C or colder.

 

[North of 60]

My stoves in the basement. We have real winters here. Our upstair floors are always warm. Upstairs is allways warm. I have floor registers cut into every room, sleeved to the downstairs ceiling. A timer that runs my furnace fan for 10 minutes every hour. @ -20 C or colder.

P.S. My sleeves all have spring loaded fire dampers. There is always a draft @ the floor on my stairs telling me some type of convection is happening.

 

[begreen]

Welcome breezytrees. Sounds like you'll be getting another PE soon.

As to VTG's install, we'll have to wait and see. With that large 12 ft. opening, if there is little air obstruction, the stove may work out ok, especially if the house is well insulated. We have a large open staircase and the second floor is only a couple degrees cooler than the first floor when the stove's going. You can measure a 5 degree difference between the warm air at face height and cool air returning at stair level in the stairwell. Hopefully VTG will see similar airflow.

 

[VTGuy]

Hi,

There is actually a stove in the basement now, it came with the house, it's a Waterford Erin (small). We moved in in Feb 07 and didn't have much wood but the few weekends that I burned, the heat seemed to make it to the second floor fine. When the new stove arrives I'll be able to fine tune and see what temp differences between floors are etc. I'm thinking about just biting the bullet and putting the blower on the stove as part of the install, can't hurt. That will give me the convection if I need it.

Guy

 

[VTGuy]

Hi all,

Just a follow up to say that we did go with the Hearthstone Mansfield and the installation went well. I've been burning here in Vermont for about 6 weeks. The stove is doing a great job so far of heating the whole house down to a low of about 12 deg. F outside temp. The temp in the basement runs about 78-80 when the stove is working, main floor temps run about 68-70 in main area an 65 in outer rooms, top floor bedrooms at about 60-65. We're very happy with the results. The stove gives good overnight burns and holds heat very well, it keeps the temps in the house pretty steady, not too much of a drop, even in the morning. My only complaint would be that the ash removal system is not that great on this stove, I end up shoveling them out because the ash grate is a pain, I had hoped for a cleaner system. If anyone out there has advice for easier ash removol with this stove please share it.

Cheers, Guy

 

[Gooserider]

Glad you like the stove over all - I'm surprised you haven't gotten the usual call for pictures yet - we likes lots o' piktures... :lol:

On the ash removal thing - Do a search for the "Ash Trap" - it is a sort of scoop with a lid on it that is supposed to be very good at removing ashes from a stove with a minimal amount of mess and hassle. Never tried one, and they are a bit pricey, but might be just what you are looking for. We've had a few folks on that have used them and said good things...

Gooserider

 

[jpl1nh]

Seems to me that's the ash tray is the one thing I hear posters grumbling about on many of the Hearthstone products. Shoveling isn't that hard and when you consider all the other things to like about your stove, seems somewhat unimportant. Congrats! yes pics please!!