New to Wood Stoves - help

[Jacub]

Hi All,

Just discovered these forums and hoping to get some help. I recently moved into a 30 yr old home. It has a wood stove (Consolidate Dutchwest Sequoia 455) and a wood insert (WinterWarm 1280) both approximately the same age as the home. Unfortunately, both cats have used up their life and I can't get parts for these obsolete stoves. I am thinking about replacing one for this upcoming winter. I can't seem to access the link for stove ratings in the "Which new stove to buy" sticky. Hoping to hear your expert opinion for some years of trouble free heat.

The home is 4550 sq feet of finished space on the 1st floor and mainly heated by oil. It has an open concept design. I would likely burn wood for 4 days per week while I am here (I work away). I live in Ontario, Canada so our winters can get pretty cold.

A local dealer has promoted the Vermont Casting brand to me. From reviewing these forums, I understand that VCs has not been looked upon kindly given its track record over the past few decades. I also have access to Jotuls, Drolet HT2000 or 3000, Napoleons, Pacific Energy, Quadra-Fire, and Enviros from various local dealers. I would love to have an enamel finished free-standing stove if its possible. If anyone has any specific recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[Mech e]

I owned a Consolidated Dutchwest Large stove in the early 80s. It did a good job for an early cat design stove. My last two stoves were built by SBI just outside of Quebec. My first one was an Osburn that I burned 2-3 cords of wood per season from 1988 - 2018. It was still functioing just fine when I replaced it with a Drolet Escape 1800 last year. I expect the same service life out of this stove. The construction has not changed that much. The stoves are well built, many meet 2020 EPA standards, and are a very good value. Check out Osburn, Drolet, Enerzone, and Century Heating. All of these stoves are built by SBI in the same Quebec factory.

 

[Dataman]

Having Limited Experience, but I ran Blaze King King for last 8 years. Great Stove. Replaced with Pellet Stove. If your getting on in years somthing to consider. Only downside is Firewood was Free last 7 years and Pellets cost $1,100 each year. But my back thanks me

 

[Simonkenton]

4550 square feet on the first floor? Good God what a palace! Beau coup cubic feet to heat.

Get the Jotul, great stove. And you are right, stay clear of VC.

 

[begreen]

Please try the sticky "Which new stove to buy" again. I fixed the broken links.

For such a huge area put in the largest stove that will fit. The Drolet HT3000 is a great choice. Replace the insert with the largest Osburn, or Pacific Energy that will fit.

 

[Zack R]

Let's see a photo of the old stoves and the area to be heated.

 

[moresnow]

Sounds like we need pics of the entire place. Sounds impressive!

 

[Pertzbro]

Drolet HT3000 ... Large, Somewhat locally made by you, cheap. No cats to mess with.

 

[SudsJeff]

Welcome to the Forum and to wood burning stoves. I also live in Ontario (Sudbury) and have discovered some of the benefits and challenges with wood burning in this region. If you end up buying the Drolet, consider Costco.ca for the HT2000. Its a 3.7cu/ft stove. Although, its not pretty like the enamel stoves you speak of.

Depending on where you live finding well priced hardwood maybe tricky. In Sudbury, we primarily have softwoods and birch. As you get further south (towards Toronto or Ottawa) you start to see more hardwoods (ash, maple, red oak). Up here, we pay nearly 150 a face cord for split hardwood delivered (when we can find it). Its almost always wet (moisture in the 30% range) even if the ad says "seasoned", so plan on waiting a year to burn stuff you recently purchased. You can also apply to get a permit from the MNRF to harvest wood from designated lots or from crown land with a salvage permit. Its a ton of work cutting down trees to make firewood, but many people on the forum love it.

When you start to crunch the numbers, burning wood (that you purchase) is about the same price as propane and way more expensive than natural gas. So unless you have a source of cheap/free wood, you are burning wood for the pleasure and will likely be supplementing with a furnace. Consider this when you are selecting your stove so you select one that is pleasing to look at.

 

[Jacub]

Thanks everyone! This has been very helpful! I'm close to Ottawa and we are fortunate to be able to get hardwood for $100-$110 per face cord split and delivered. The place is heated by furnace oil at a rate of $1.26 per litre now with our carbon tax (or $4.77 per gallon). I don't think I will be able to heat this place just with wood. I also work away for 3-4 days at a time. My plan was to keep the place at 14 degrees / 57 F while I am gone and run the stove continuously while I am around. I don't know if this is feasible.

Jotul F600 is no longer available in Canada. I can obtain a F500 but it's a little bit tight for a left sided loading door (I'll have to remove a partial wall which I'd like to do anyhow to open up the area). I'm being quoted ~$4235 for the stove, another $1200 for a chimney liner and pipe, and $2400+ for the labour to install. This is all before taxes and permits. I don't know what to make of these quotes. Not sure how reasible it is to carry in 200kg stove or how DIY friendly it is to do the liner.

 

[begreen]

We need more info and maybe some pictures for the install location. Did you look at the Drolet HT3000?

Hardwood takes a year or two after it is split and stacked to dry well enough for burning.

 

[Jacub]

I did consider the drolet HT3000. It is currently only available in Quebec (replacing the HT 2000). I'll take some photos of the proposed area to place the stove (main floor) and the unused flue tomorrow morning.

It would be a lot easier and cost me less to place the stove in the unfinished basement. The garage is in the basement level making fetching the firewood a lot easier. However, i'm worried that the heat would not travel very well upstairs. It is a circular open staircase but otherwise no open vents to the main floor.

I apologize. The pain floor square footage is around 3400 sq feet, the 2nd floor is another ~1200 but I never use it. Will get some pics soon.

 

[SudsJeff]

My plan was to keep the place at 14 degrees / 57 F while I am gone and run the stove continuously while I am around. I don't know if this is feasible.

That should be fine. When I get burning deep into the winter I will sometimes run my stove for weeks. with 3-4 days of burning I doubt you will even need to remove ash during the burn.

Jotul F600 is no longer available in Canada. I can obtain a F500 but it's a little bit tight for a left sided loading door (I'll have to remove a partial wall which I'd like to do anyhow to open up the area). I'm being quoted ~$4235 for the stove, another $1200 for a chimney liner and pipe, and $2400+ for the labour to install. This is all before taxes and permits. I don't know what to make of these quotes. Not sure how reasible it is to carry in 200kg stove or how DIY friendly it is to do the liner.

Thats an expensive stove, but it sure is pretty. 1200 for a liner and pipe seems a little high. WHat kind of liner is currently there? maybe a 6x6 clay tile liner? I ended up just venting my basement wood stove through the clay liner. Not as ideal venting compared to a ss liner but works well enough. liner kits are around 400-500 CAD, you might need 300-400 in 6" double walled pipe. I paid 750 for my install (without a liner).

I had a really pricey quote like yours when I got a quote from a local fireplace store. I then got a second quote from a local chimney sweep which is what I ended up going with. My wood stove (enerzone 1.6, $1349) installed was 3000 after taxes.

Its pretty impressive how heat moves up on its own. We have our wood stove in the lower level of our split level and the upstairs bedrooms have no issue getting warm. A big factor for us is getting all the warm air off of the ceiling. Fans help, so does running the furnace fan to suck the cold air out of the rooms (which then forces warm air to be drawn in.

 

[Jacub]

Here's some pics of the proposed area to install on the main floor. I'd like to take down the left wall so the area is even more open. The back wall is made of masonry blocks where the existing bore is located. Existing liner is 8x10" clay.

 

[begreen]

I did consider the drolet HT3000. It is currently only available in Quebec (replacing the HT 2000).

The HT2000 is fine. The Osburn 3500 is also worth looking at. In Jotul look at the F55. In PE look at the Summit and Alderlea T6. If eye-candy is important, the Quadrafire Explorer III is a great looking stove.

 

[Simonkenton]

I bought an Oslo here in North Carolina 3 years ago for $2500. They were asking $2800 and I talked them down.
I don't know how Canadian currency compares to the Yankee Dollar.