New to burning, Stove Recommendations Please

[TheKid760]

Hello everyone,

I moves from southern Ca to whatcom county, Wa. polar opposite climate for the most part. We are looking to put a wood stove in our house to serve as primary or supplemental heat and as a backup heat and cook source for when power is out as we are all electric now.

It doesn't get too cold up here (winter avg 25-45*) and we normally have our thermostat set at 66-68* so we don't need it to be roasting hot. However with the crawlspace, all the windows and likely the lack of house being airtight (we feel drafts but haven't pinned down from where yet) the heater seems to cycle quite often.

We love the look of the Cape cod, ashford 30, and the like. However as stated our primary concern is heating ability and cooking ability for power outage situations. I'm gone from home often so a long burn time would be nice for the wife to not have to keep tending it. I'm not thrilled to pay over 3k for a stove but am not opposed to it.

I'm sure i have forgot a few things but I have 4 kids so I must tend to them now.

I made a sketch of out house layout. It is a single story, crawlspace, vaulted ceilings in living room/kitchen (11ft at peak), wide 4ft hallway and 36" doors. 2x6 construction build in 2005, double pane windows. But it feels much colder than it should be so I will be pulling trim this summer to check window gaps.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. A woodstove will make a nice difference. The Ashford 30 should do the job, but are you going for a freestanding stove or an insert for the fireplace? If insert then check if the Ashford 25 will fit. Is there a ceiling fan or two in the main area? If not, that could be part of the problem. Warmer air will stratify at the highest part of the ceiling making it feel cool at floor level. One very important item that may get overlooked at this time of year is firewood. A modern stove needs well seasoned wood to burn correctly and most efficiently. If a wood stove is being planned for heating next season, buy your wood now and get it stacked off the ground with a cover on top. Doug fir is a good wood for this area. It dries quickly.

The house has a lot of glass. That's nice for letting light in, but not so good for heating. Insulated shades or curtains can help reduce this loss. Also, is the house in a dry area with good drainage? If so, it might worth considering changing the ventilated crawlspace to a sealed and insulated space. That made a large difference in our house.

FWIW, we heat with a large stove that is a non-cat. In mild winter weather it gets fed twice a day. In colder weather 3 times. My wife tends the stove when I am away. If you are in the Bellingham area stop by at The Chimney Sweep. It's a classic stove shop with some good offerings.
(broken link removed)

 

[blacktail]

I sent you a PM about sourcing wood.

 

[TheKid760]

Welcome. A woodstove will make a nice difference. The Ashford 30 should do the job, but are you going for a freestanding stove or an insert for the fireplace? If insert then check if the Ashford 25 will fit. Is there a ceiling fan or two in the main area? If not, that could be part of the problem. Warmer air will stratify at the highest part of the ceiling making it feel cool at floor level. One very important item that may get overlooked at this time of year is firewood. A modern stove needs well seasoned wood to burn correctly and most efficiently. If a wood stove is being planned for heating next season, buy your wood now and get it stacked off the ground with a cover on top. Doug fir is a good wood for this area. It dries quickly.

The house has a lot of glass. That's nice for letting light in, but not so good for heating. Insulated shades or curtains can help reduce this loss. Also, is the house in a dry area with good drainage? If so, it might worth considering changing the ventilated crawlspace to a sealed and insulated space. That made a large difference in our house.

FWIW, we heat with a large stove that is a non-cat. In mild winter weather it gets fed twice a day. In colder weather 3 times. My wife tends the stove when I am away. If you are in the Bellingham area stop by at The Chimney Sweep. It's a classic stove shop with some good offerings.
(broken link removed)

Thank you.

To clarify I have no fireplace or stove now. The marking is where I plan on putting the stove.

This is our first winter so I will have to see how moist the crawl space is. There are parts of our property that are very very moist. Did you encapsulate it yourself?

I need to start collecting wood and build a woodshed. I'm also looking into building a wood splitter, but that'll be another topic.

And the wife has her goal of getting nice heavy curtains for the Windows. The summer project list is longer than we'll have time for I'm sure...

 

[TheKid760]

I found a used Lopi Endeavor locally for $750.

To you think that would be big enough for me?

 

[begreen]

Are you in eastern or western WA? Up north or more in the Seattle/Tacoma area?

The Endeavor is a great stove. It's simple and well built. It should be able to heat core area of the home for about 85% of our normal western WA weather. My preference would be for a 3 cu ft stove with 2550 sq ft to heat, but that doesn't mean that the Endeavor wouldn't make a notable dent in the heating bill.

Do you know when it was made? The mfg. date should be on the UL tag on the rear of the stove. For $750 I would expect it to be relatively new and in very good condition.

 

[TheKid760]

Are you in eastern or western WA? Up north or more in the Seattle/Tacoma area?

The Endeavor is a great stove. It's simple and well built. It should be able to heat core area of the home for about 85% of our normal western WA weather. My preference would be for a 3 cu ft stove with 2550 sq ft to heat, but that doesn't mean that the Endeavor wouldn't make a notable dent in the heating bill.

Do you know when it was made? The mfg. date should be on the UL tag on the rear of the stove. For $750 I would expect it to be relatively new and in very good condition.

We too were looking in the 3cuft range but I went to take a look and talked the guy down to 550. It's in good shape, glass is pretty clean, a couple spots on paint need touch up but the secondaries look good and the flue slides free and easy. It just needs a door gasket.

I figure for the price we'll give it a try and just make the hearth large enough for a big boy if we decide to upgrade.

I feel that with our house any stove would have trouble heating the bedrooms and if it did it would be burning is out of the living room. We don't like it above 70.

 

[begreen]

Looks nice and the stove will definitely help reduce the heating bill. It would still be helpful to know if this is in western WA and what the date is on the stove back.

PS: Nice trailer, govt. surplus?

 

[blacktail]

He said he's in Whatcom County.
For that deal I think I would be trying the endeavor too. My neighbor has one and I really like it. His house is 1700sf and he can cook himself out of the house very easily.

 

[begreen]

Thanks, yes I missed that. I know a fellow that heated his house with an Endeavor in Skagit County. It worked well for all but the very coldest days in the single digits. Now it heats his shop.

 

[TheKid760]

Correct, I am in Whatcom.

The trailer was gov surplus, I picked it up from Camp Pendleton in Ca. It has been great.

The date is hard to read (careless paint overspray) but it appears to be Feb 2003.

 

[begreen]

Correct, I am in Whatcom.

The trailer was gov surplus, I picked it up from Camp Pendleton in Ca. It has been great.

The date is hard to read (careless paint overspray) but it appears to be Feb 2003.

Good deal. The stove should have stainless steel burn tubes then. Older Endeavors came with steel tubes. Now that you have the stove you will need to get a good stash of wood asap. I would stock up at least 3 cords. Orient the stacks E-W so that the prevailing SW winds and summer North wind can blow through the stacks. If possible get doug fir, it dries pretty quickly. Madrona, maple and fruit wood will need a couple years to dry satisfactorily.

 

[TheKid760]

For right now I'm going to have to buy it.

I just bought a project splitter that I'm rebuilding/rehabing

What is a good price to pay for a cord now days?

 

[begreen]

Prices run the gamut. Locally green doug fir is selling for $250 a full cord delivered. Your area might be a bit better. Just be sure the wood is the proper length, split to a reasonable size and a true cord (not face cord).
(broken link removed to https://bellingham.craigslist.org/mat/d/fire-wood/6498322786.html)

 

[TheKid760]

Thank you. I messaged him.

How is this? I'll get dimensions to confirm half cord claim but the pallet would be convenient for offloading and moving around with my tractor.

They are mill ends but I believe it was fresh water. I'll confirm.

 

[begreen]

I've never burned mill ends but some do. The price is attractive. Not sure about how well seasoned it is. With shrink wrapping all the mointure will be held in the stack. Also I would check to see how much bark is in the pallet load vs real wood.