New Stove Install, Northern New England

[deebs]

Hello everyone! Long time reader here finally needing some advice. We are looking to install a small stove to heat a sunroom for year-round use in a cold winter climate. The sunroom is 288sqft and surrounded by double-pane sliding windows on 3 walls, with the 4th wall fully-insulated. The roof is insulated and the ceiling is sloped, max height of 8ft. The floor is tiled (on top of subfloor, on top of decking, no insulation). There is no existing heat source in this room. We have several stove dealers in the area, and from content on this forum we were leaning towards a Pacific Energy stove, most likely a Vista. We like the idea of a non-catalytic combustor as this is for occasional use only and we want the whole family to be able to light it up without much to worry about, in addition to the long-term reliability benefits.

A couple of questions here if you guys don't mind:
-Will a stove of this size be adequate to heat this space in the cold of winter? Please note we need occasional/supplemental heat only, and we'd rather go slightly too big than too small.
- A dealer has recommended a hearth pad. Is this necessary if there is already a tiled floor?

Happy to provide more info if anyone wants it.

Thanks all!

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a good choice. The installation is likely to have a short flue system so you want a stove that will work on it. The new manual now calls for 15' for PE stoves, but in the past this requirement was shorter at 12-13'. With the stove burning, you should be able to open up the sliders and also heat that part of the house, particularly if the blower is on and blowing towards the slider door opening. The stove only requires ember protection. If the floor is ceramic tiled it should be ok without a hearth pad.

 

[deebs]

Thanks begreen, appreciate the feedback. Any other stoves you would recommend? I know PE stoves still don't qualify for the 2021 tax rebate, not sure if there are any other smaller, non-cat, quality stoves out there that would. I was offered a new VC Aspen, but their reputation is keeping us away. Whatever we end up with, I'll follow up here with some pics.

 

[begreen]

The Morso 7110 would work as a chill chaser. The Lopi It looks like the new Aspen is worth considering. The VC Dauntless and Aspen has been completely redesigned in 2020. The Lopi Evergreen is a little larger, but qualifies too. If there is a good opportunity and desire to share the heat with the house then this would be a good choice. In hybrids, look at Woodstock stoves.

 

[deebs]

Following up here, we ended up getting a deal on a floor model, 2019 PE Super 27. Working a like a charm in 0deg this week. Here's a pic:

 

[begreen]

Congratulations. It looks good! Does it have the blower? Is it heating just the sunroom or are you getting some warmth into the house too?

 

[deebs]

It's new and still a little smelly/fumy so we haven't opened up the sliders into the house yet, after 5 fires now. But we've gotten up to 85 in there when its single-digits (F) outside, so I think it's going to work out! Especially when we get out of the arctic weather and back into the teens/20s, and we can still push it hotter if we want.

Any tips on curing the paint quicker? I thought the smell would be gone by now. We got the stovetop up to 550deg on our last fire, and kept up there for a solid 3hrs before turning it down for the night. We are just using a magnetic thermometer for the time being.

 

[begreen]

The paint doesn't really start baking in until the stove is hotter than 500º. Next fire take it up to 650º and let it cruise at that temp for an hour or so. That should do it.

I'm glad it worked out with the shorter flue system. Sounds like you have good dry wood too.

 

[Ashful]

Any tips on curing the paint quicker? I thought the smell would be gone by now. We got the stovetop up to 550deg on our last fire, and kept up there for a solid 3hrs before turning it down for the night. We are just using a magnetic thermometer for the time being.

Congratulations on your new stove. No on curing the paint quicker, just follow the manual and let it do it's thing. Each time you reach a new high, it will likely stink a bit, but that's just part of the fun of buying a new stove. Someday very soon, that part of the deal will be a distant memory.

 

[deebs]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try to get it up to 650 next time...I'll just have to keep the intake wide open and reload a little more frequently most likely.

As for wood, we run our fireplace in the main part of the house very often, and consequently have a good wood storage system & routine. With this stove we'll probably bump our consumption up to 4 cords for next year. I know that's nothing compared to the regulars here! Time to get seasoning already...

 

[begreen]

The stove should go up to 650º pretty willingly with a 3/4 full load. Once it is burning well, close down the air to at least 50% if not 75%. At 0º outside you may be able to close it down all the way with a robust fire. Closing down the air does 2 things. It creates a vacuum in the firebox that pulls the air through the secondary ports in the baffle and it keeps the fire resident longer in the firebox for more complete combustion. This makes the stovetop hotter and wastes less heat up the flue. Running it wide open can overheat the stove and chimney pipe. It's a waste of fuel.

A flue thermometer is a good investment and guide for running the stove. it will show you what is happening. I rarely use the stovetop thermometer, but always use the flue thermometer for guidance. A probe thermometer is required for double-wall stove pipe. Condar makes a good one.

 

[Ashful]

With this stove we'll probably bump our consumption up to 4 cords for next year. I know that's nothing compared to the regulars here! Time to get seasoning already...

I've seen probably a half dozen "how much do you burn" threads in 10 years on this forum, it's an almost annual right of passage, here. I've never gathered the data to actually calculate averages and deviation, but it does appear the vast majority are burning 3 - 4 cords per year per stove. Most are burning only one stove, but there's always a handful with two. One local guy, @BrowningBAR used to keep 3 stoves going, but I don't think he got to leave his house too often.

 

[deebs]

I ordered the Condar thermometer. Nervous to drill through my brand new double-wall pipe but I'll get it done haha. Interesting stuff about the intake vs. temperature - that makes sense. There's still lots to learn!

We have neighbors that go through ~15 cords a year, but of course that is for a primary heat source in a leaky house. Our winters are brutal in Coos County. We hit -26F on several occasions already this winter and the wind chills on top of that can be just comically outrageous.

Thanks for the tips everyone!