New Stove for the Cottage

[robanov]

Hi,

I purchased a cottage in Northwest Ontario last year and would like to upgrade the wood stove.
Cottage is 1180 square feet ranch style, built in 1984.
Insulated walls and ceiling, no insulation in the floor.
Newer windows in living area, older windows in 3 bedrooms.
Cottage will be used weekends all year.

Layout of main living area is open concept, L shaped (700 square feet total).
Current stove is Napoleon 1100 and located in the corner of the L.

The Napoleon stove works fine in shoulder seasons, but has difficulty in the dead of winter. We can supplement with electric baseboard heaters but would prefer not to. The cottage is not heated when we are away during the week and temps can dip to between -20 and -30 Celcius.

We'd like a larger stove that will help heat up the cottage quicker when we arrive and still look great.

Options are:
PE T5
Jotul F55

Am I on the right track here? Any recommendations or opinions? Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Bringing a place up from -30C rapidly is a challenge. You are not just heating the air, but all the contents, walls, etc.. That mass really holds on to the cold. The Alderlea T5 is only a little larger than the 1100. If you want the equivalent firepower as the Jotul you will need the T6. Also consider the Enviro Boston 1700 which is in between the T5 and the T6 and maybe the Napoleon S4?

 

[robanov]

Thanks begreen. The T6 will cost me approximately $500 more than the Jotul and it will not fit without modifications to the hearth. I looked into Enviro and discovered they are not currently represented in my area. I'm hoping the Jotul F55 will present a significant improvement over the Napoleon.

 

[Woody Stover]

and maybe the Napoleon S4?

Nice to have a choice besides black...

 

[begreen]

Thanks begreen. The T6 will cost me approximately $500 more than the Jotul and it will not fit without modifications to the hearth. I looked into Enviro and discovered they are not currently represented in my area. I'm hoping the Jotul F55 will present a significant improvement over the Napoleon.

It definitely will be a step up. The F55 is a serious heating machine and very nicely made.

 

[jeff_t]

Our place in northern Michigan is a little bigger, but if I had to depend on the stove only to warm it up for a weekend, it would be time to go home before it got comfortable.

Between the forced air furnace and the stove, it takes a few hours to get reasonable, and a day before everything in the house gets up to temp. After that, the stove will maintain in subzero temps.

Like begreen says, go bigger. Once warmed up, you can always run smaller loads to manage the heat. Or open a window.

 

[robanov]

With the Napoleon 1100 working hard and the baseboard heaters on, it would take about 5 hours to get somewhat comfortable (60 F). Many weekends last winter we weren't able to get the temp above 68 F.

 

[begreen]

Does the place go stone cold when unoccupied or is the heat set to a minimum temp like 45F?

 

[robanov]

Stone cold. Actually I think it was colder than stone cold last winter.

 

[jeff_t]

Like when the snow that falls off your boots stays on the carpet and doesn't melt. For a couple of hours

 

[Cynnergy]

It takes us about 4 hrs to get the living room up to temp in our cabin from 0 with the Super and the oil stove lit. The whole thing isn't fully warm for about 24 hrs. Can't imagine doing that at -30! Go big.

 

[begreen]

Stone cold. Actually I think it was colder than stone cold last winter.

If this is a frequent (like weekly) situation I am wondering if it wouldn't be better to have the heat on low. That might save the cost of getting a new stove. Or do you shut off the power completely?

 

[robanov]

Power was shut off completely. Improving insulation and leaving the heat on low would help, I agree. Guess I'm looking for a quick fix with the new stove.

 

[begreen]

At -22F in a stone cold building that is not guaranteed with a larger stove. It seems like a more cost effective solution would be to leave the heat set low, around 45F.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

At -22F in a stone cold building that is not guaranteed with a larger stove. It seems like a more cost effective solution would be to leave the heat set low, around 45F.

I agree, the issue is the whole structure including what insulation you have in the walls and such as well as everything in the house is all at the start temperature, takes a lot of heat to drive the cold out of the insulation and the solid materials both in the construction of the house as well as whats inside of it