I know this has been asked many many times, but I'm looking into buying a wood stove to supplement my heat. I am looking to find a small wood stove to supplement my living area. I do have a kuuma vapor fire which I love, and it will heat the whole house easily at the coldest it gets around here. My problem is it does way too well, and if I load it when I leave for work, it will over heat the whole house if it's above 30 degrees outside. I do realize it's a good problem to have, but I don't want to waste wood doing it that way. Smaller fires are what I have been doing, but I am gone for 10-12 hours at a time. It's not optimal, but it kind of works. The stoves I have been thinking about are the vc Aspen c3, quadrafire discovery I, or the vc intrepid. I am currently leaning towards the Aspen, but not a lot of information on it. I like the low clearances, the weight, and the potential burn times. The one thing I would like to know before purchasing or looking further into, is why don't they give you draft specifications so I could set it up correctly off the bat. I am only heating 750+/- sq feet in warmer temps.
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I should clarify. The house is 1700 total sq feet. And I do like messing around to get things set up and installed correctly. I do have the tools and means to check draft and stack temps. It is how I got the vapor fire dialed in. I do really like the idea behind the Aspen, and no user controls doesn't scare me one bit, but I want to know what the draft should be at, and other than just stack height, how to adjust draft without a key damper, or would I absolutely need one.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
The air control works My take is it’s decent but tends to run hot. Honestly for for the cost you could easily install a MR Cool mini split (and if you are installing a new chimney have money left over to run it for ten years).
I did think about a mini split, but I was thinking about putting that off until the central air goes out. It's not that a mini split is a terrible idea, but I like the idea on heating my whole house on a 1600 watt generator when my power goes out, which does happen enough. I've been playing around with both ideas really. We do have an open fireplace that will heat the house to about 25+/- outside, but it wastes so much wood. Too bad it's an air cooled chimney, I wouldn't hesitate to take it out and replace it with a stove.
And I do have an older pellet stove in the basement, that does do the trick in shoulder seasons, but I don't like the idea of paying for fuel when I can heat with wood I process myself. The pellet stove by itself can do about the same as the fireplace.
I also could hear the house with lp, the furnace is only a few years old, and it works well, but anything in my opinion other than heating with wood is a cost. Even a super efficient mini split. It's definitely my opinion though. Even wood has its costs, but it figure I save about $2000 a year compared to lp.
What about an insert in the fireplace? A catalytic unit will run low and slow when desired.
In an ideal world, i would absolutely love a Woodstock fireview. But, it's a little heavy for the floors in this modular house. I am willing to reinforce the floor by building a wall in the basement, but that adds to the cost.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
It’s not that heavy. I have two inlaws that like to dance that I’d be more concerned with concerned with.
I won't get into the building nightmare that is my house. 2x10 floor trusses on anywhere from 14 to 19 inch centers on a 13 1/2 foot span. And where the stove would go is on 19 inch centers. Not good. At almost 500lbs, that's a large load.
You'd cringe in our house. 2x8 true dimension joists, about 24" on center and a 30' span. Our stove and hearthpad are well over 600#.
If concerned about the weight, put a post with a 4x4 cap that spans 3 joists under the stove area.
What I did. Probably didn't need it but made me feel better. Just used block and a beam made from 2x6 and some oak shims.
I built a 2x4 wall under my bathroom before I did tile in it. I refused to have cracked grout when I was done. But I would reinforce my floor before a big stove. But I still like the clearances of the Aspen and the quadrafire. I like the Woodstock, but not so much how far away it would be.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Seems like the Aspen fits the bill. I’d look hard at the smaller stoves from Pacific Energy. No tax credit but I think they make a better stove.
Honestly, now that you said something, I did look at them. It is something to consider. I actually was intrigued by their tn25c. It's a bit big, as I was looking for a smaller firebox, but if I can get low enough burns and long enough, I'm perfectly fine with a bigger firebox, and it would be easy to not have to have totally different size wood from the kuuma. I know I make this difficult for myself deciding. And if it works as intended, it would make it easy for the wife to use too.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I’d wait to see how the cat works out. There is a reason they haven’t released it in the pacific energy line yet. I don’t know what it is but to not have a single tax credit eligible stove….. SBI just thumbed its nose at the EPA. Seems to be working ok for them.
Tax credit eligible is not a deciding factor for me. Simple operator controls makes things appeal to me. Especially when it's not just me. That is one thing I love about the kuuma. It's way too easy to use. Set it and forget it. Load and walk away. I do still check draft once in a while, and watch my stack temps, but that's for fun. The wife wouldn't know what she was looking at. That's one thing that made me lean towards the Aspen. But I'm also not afraid of new technology.
The cat in the TN25c is just for a final cleanup of the flue gases. Looking at the design I am pretty sure it will burn like a conventional tube stove. The stove is already quite efficient. The cat may be just to add a percent of efficiency to pass the arbitrary 75% threshold for the tax credit. For less heat, burn just a few splits. If the goal is low and slow, then a pure catalytic stove from Woodstock or Blaze King would be a better choice.
The Woodstock has been at the top of my list, but I'm not sold on a blaze king yet. Nothing to do with the performance, or the longevity, but just a matter of personal preference. But /, that does lead me to an additional question. Is there a stove designed for 24/7 low burns that doesn't require extra chimney maintenance. It's not that I'm not willing to do it, but just curious. And I'm not saying I need a cat, or that a tube stove is out of the question. They are more simple to operate, but I do know the drawback is not as low as a burn. And I am still intrigued on how the tn25c operates, even if it is a tube stove with a cat. Curiosity is all.
The TN25c operates like a normal tube stove. There is no bypass or user interaction with the cat. If simple and small is desired also look at the PE Vista LE and the Drolet Nano.
I do thank you for the suggestions. I just have lots of questions, there are only a few hundred options, and I don't think there is a completely correct answer. But this did help me tons. All of the suggestions help, and I do think the Woodstock is back on the very top of the list. Too bad it's out of stock for now. But I do still go back to the Aspen as my second choice. PE definitely gets a lot of good reviews on here though. Might have to add that to my list. And the nano was considered, but I don't remember now why I took it off. I was originally looking for a cat stove for the low burns, then ran across the Aspen and liked all of it except the no user controls, and lack of reviews. But it does seem like from the ones I found it was either love it or hate it. And no matter what I get, I will be playing with it until it's set up right now it should or how I want it. Still playing with the kuuma, and air sealing the house better. Which I do know will make my problems better and worse.
So, I did some thinking, research, measuring, more thinking, looked into my closest dealers, and I have redone my list.
1 Woodstock fireview
2 bk 20.2 models
3 hearthstone but don't know what would fit best.
1 Woodstock fireview
2 bk 20.2 models
3 hearthstone but don't know what would fit best.
Soooo. We heat 750 sq/ft roughly on our main floor, corner install, 15' vent, with a BK 20.
Sketchy insulation by current standards. This keeps the same square feet upstairs warm enough for our bathroom and master bedroom.
Impossible to really compare with your situation in reality but worth mentioning.
I can say I'd be glad to share any advice/experience you're interested in. Just ask.
I will also say that your first two stove considerations would match mine perfectly.
I might replace your third consideration with a Kuma option.
Sketchy insulation by current standards. This keeps the same square feet upstairs warm enough for our bathroom and master bedroom.
Impossible to really compare with your situation in reality but worth mentioning.
I can say I'd be glad to share any advice/experience you're interested in. Just ask.
I will also say that your first two stove considerations would match mine perfectly.
I might replace your third consideration with a Kuma option.
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