New to burning: Should I upgrade my stove?

[Aranyic]

I've been wanted to go to wood heat for quite a few years but where I was living the house had a buck stove insert into a chimney and no liner. It was a little more investment than I could afford to get the liner run at the time. We moved recently and the house does have an older free standing stove hooked to a newer chimney (installed about 4 years ago I would say). Had a qualified sweep come out and clean everything out and he said that it was all clean and looked good. Only oddity is the stove is an old 8" flue piped down to a 6" chimney. Not ideal or what he really likes to see but it looked as if everything had been burning just fine with the setup.

I did a test fire earlier this week and it worked fine; really put off some heat. I had identified the stove at one point but it was on my laptop that died. Didn't get that particular file moved over I don't believe.

Now here is my dilemma; I know that I'm not going to have enough good seasoned wood for this season and probably into next. I will be buying some (or possible get an eco-brick solution that I know exactly what I'm getting) until I can get a decent supply of wood that I know is good.

Knowing that I've got to buy wood the amount of wood that I'm burning will be of some concern to me. I'm considering it would be worth my investment getting an Englander 13NCH or 30NCH. How much less wood could I realistically expect to burn with a newer stove? Could I see a 25% reduction or is that over ambitious?

There would be some other benefits to me I think of having a matching flu and chimney size. And since this is something new to me and I have not grown up burning wood I'm thinking it would be beneficial to me having glass and being able to monitor the flame a little better? Or does that not really matter as long as I'm maintaining correct stove temperatures? I'm also going to pull the blower on the current stove and have it worked on; it runs but something is completely right.

I've included a picture of the current stove and setup. I don't think I would have to do anything else with insulation or hearth around it correct? The house is on a slab and the stove on tiles. 27" from the center of the chimney pipe to the walls. 22" from the front of the current stove to the carpet line. Those all seem to fall within the guidelines in the owners manual for the 30-NC if I'm reading it correctly.

It's a 1 story ranch house; 1800 sq feet. The stove is positioned at the midpoint of the house along the front wall.

 

[gzecc]

I would try that stove out. Put a thermometer on it and have at it. If it doesn't float your boat over the next heating season, start looking for another. This way you have time to look. In the mean time, get more wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Agree . . . try this stove out for the year. See if you even like heating with wood . . . it really isn't for everyone. If you burn for a year and find that you enjoy the heat and don't mind the drawbacks then it may make sense to upgrade to a stove that burns more efficiently.

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

I am surprised the sweep said that stove looks fine. Does it have an UL-tag somewhere that lists clearances for that stove? If not is needs 36" all around and you only have 27".

For a house that size I would get the 30NC, the 13NC will be too small and burn times will be on the short side. With dry wood I would expect a reduction in wood use of 1/3 if not more. The other clear benefit will be the longer burn times of a modern stove compared with the current one.

 

[jatoxico]

If your wood is going to be marginal this season then I would keep the unit you have. Burn it hot and keep a close eye on the condition of the stack throughout the season. Get a good wood supply started with the idea that you will go to a new stove either this time next year or the year after when you can feed it properly dried wood. Use the time to your advantage, do your research and get a stove at a good price that meets your needs.

*I too was wondering if some heat shielding might be in order.

 

[begreen]

Both the 13NC and 30NC have stiff hearth requirements. It could be that the current tiled floor area is insufficient protection. If so, no worry. There are other affordable alternatives. Consider the Englander Madison stove or a Drolet Legend or Drolet HT2000. All of these stove only need ember protection for the hearth so no changes needed to the current tiling assuming that is ceramic tile.

For this season buying a couple tons of a good quality solid fuel like BioBricks may be the best option. Use as directed. Also, do a google search on - kiln dried firewood ohio. If the wood has been barn or kiln dried it could be ok. If you buy wood moisture content can be checked with a moisture meter. Split the wood in half and press the prongs into the freshly exposed surface of the wood. You'll want the wood to be <20% moisture, but if it is close that maybe ok with a little extra time under shelter or in the house.

And welcome. Stick around and we'll get you heating safely.

 

[blades]

To get the best performance out of the nc 30 15-18% would be better, 20 is pretty marginal also taking into consideration the vulnerabilities of various moisture meters. 12-15% really blows the doors off heat wise from a 30. Most meters are design with cabinet grade wood in mind and are calibrated that way which skews the results. Some can be re-calibrated.

 

[begreen]

Yes, dry wood is wonderful, though I've limped through part of the season with 20-22% mc wood. Not the best but when it's all you have it's better than nothing. Bringing it into the house and letting it dry out for a few days inside helps.

 

[jatoxico]

For the OP the issue isn't likely to be that his newly bought wood is 22% when he was hoping for 18%. It's that the wood will most likely be 28% or more. Buying a new stove and enough kiln dried wood or bricks to feed it for a season is an option but won't be cheap.

 

[Aranyic]

I feel like the current tile under the stove is 3/8" slate tile on concrete slab; I found the same stuff at our local home depot to match it. I've got just a basic moisture meter that will be here Saturday; I figure it won't be exact but I should be able to get a very good idea what I've got? If I'm using kiln dried 2x4 in the shop as a baseline that should be ~8% on the high side from what I understand? If it reads 5% consistently I could pretty safely assume that I'm measuring 3% lower than actual and have some margin to the good instead of the bad I'd hope.

I've got quite a few standing dead ash trees around the property that have been bare this entire year that I'm working on bringing down. I'll see where that wood is moisture content wise and I've got 1 cord of wood I'm picking up Saturday morning that the trees were but ~14 months ago and have been split and stacked for about 6-7 months. I'll just see where that is at I can probably get more of that if needed.

I'll also pickup 2 skids (1ton each) of eco logs http://ecobrick.net/dealerloc for about $215 per. Which is more than I want to spend but gives something I know I can use and will still be cheaper than propane; it will also get me some experience which is the important thing.

I'll need to look into some heat shielding for the walls; that isn't anything major to accomplish is it?

 

[begreen]

If there is concrete slab under the tile then you are good to go with any stove. Dead ash is probably your best bet. It's good firewood that dries quickly. You'll only need heatshielding for the walls if you keep the old stove. There are several ways to execute a wall shield but basically it is a non-combustible material like sheet metal or tiled cement board held 1" off the wall on spacers or non-combustible firring strips and open top and bottom to allow the free flow of air behind it.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/stove_wall_clear

 

[Babaganoosh]

I say upgrade. You have a great spot for the stove. Mine is at the end of my house. Booooooo

 

[zig]

I've got quite a few standing dead ash trees around the property that have been bare this entire year

Ash is your best friend.