i am about to purchase a new wood stove. I would be an occasional burner, heating about 1500 ft on main level, and 1000 on upper level. I don't NEED to heat with the wood burner. My home is new with very good insulation and natural gas. I just like the ambiance of the wood stove. I guess I like the "just in case" factor as well. I have an open concept home with the stairs leading up out of the living room. I don't want to bake out of the house, either. Price is basically a wash for all the stoves I like. Oslo 500, Hearthstone Manchester and Heritage,and lastly Napolean Banff 1400c. I would have a few more options on the Banff, for the same money. My questions are as an occasional user, is the soapstone bad idea, and are nay of these stoves head and shoulders above the rest.
Occasional burning
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Any proper installation in any situation is never a bad setup.
That said, certain stoves shine in more ways than others. Soapstone stoves are well designed at delivering a steady, maybe even described as "lower" heat due to their characteristics but it happens over a longer period of time.
In other words, you have options but being occasional really makes things up to you.
How much is the aesthetic value of the unused stove sitting there really worth to you and the family?
In all, a clear assessment of your total goals, even as an occasional user, will best help you find a stove that will fit what you need.
Welcome!
pen
That said, certain stoves shine in more ways than others. Soapstone stoves are well designed at delivering a steady, maybe even described as "lower" heat due to their characteristics but it happens over a longer period of time.
In other words, you have options but being occasional really makes things up to you.
How much is the aesthetic value of the unused stove sitting there really worth to you and the family?
In all, a clear assessment of your total goals, even as an occasional user, will best help you find a stove that will fit what you need.
Welcome!
pen
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I think a steel stove is best for you, look for something in a 2.5 cu ft range. How tight is your house? you may need to consider an outside air kit if your place is super tight.
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
Well, rearscreen........ it may be working. I've been wanting that PH for about 3 months now. She has been insistent on a front door,but now appears to be lightening up.
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
Those are all nice looking & classy stoves. Cast iron will retain a lot of heat & act similarly to the soapstone. Without knowing & looking up the specs & schematics of each of these stoves, here are some of my preferences when I looked for a stove a few years back--------
1) I like a stove that has been designed/engineered/tested to just require "ember protection" for a hearth. It saves a lot of expense & hassle not having to meet any "R" insulation value & gives you an idea that considerable thought went into its design.
--Clearances. The tighter the clearances, the better the stove design & engineering time spent on it (most likely). Always look at the clearances to make sure it will work in your situation.
2) I like a stove that is easy to clean the chimney. I.e., the stovepipe is accessible from the stove by a fairly easy removable baffle (or similar). One is thereby able to clean the chimney/stovepipe system without tearing the stovepipe apart @ every cleaning.
3) I like a stove that is a solid steel box construction. It can have the stone/cast-iron/steel shroud hanging on the outside. Cast iron only stoves eventually require a complete tear-down & a re-caulk or gaskets eventually. Likewise some soapstone stoves. This can be an onerous & sometimes expensive task a few years down the line.
4) Ash removal system. Important to some, but I see no value in it. We never use the ash-pan on our stove.
5) Cat or non-cat. Your preference -- they both have their attractions.
6) Simplicity (KISS) The fewer the parts & especially the fewer the moving parts, the less trouble one is apt to have in the long run -- just fewer things to go wrong. E.g. the more gaskets a stove has the more areas of entry for potential air leaks the stove has built into it.
(Just my 2cents. Some things to think about)
1) I like a stove that has been designed/engineered/tested to just require "ember protection" for a hearth. It saves a lot of expense & hassle not having to meet any "R" insulation value & gives you an idea that considerable thought went into its design.
--Clearances. The tighter the clearances, the better the stove design & engineering time spent on it (most likely). Always look at the clearances to make sure it will work in your situation.
2) I like a stove that is easy to clean the chimney. I.e., the stovepipe is accessible from the stove by a fairly easy removable baffle (or similar). One is thereby able to clean the chimney/stovepipe system without tearing the stovepipe apart @ every cleaning.
3) I like a stove that is a solid steel box construction. It can have the stone/cast-iron/steel shroud hanging on the outside. Cast iron only stoves eventually require a complete tear-down & a re-caulk or gaskets eventually. Likewise some soapstone stoves. This can be an onerous & sometimes expensive task a few years down the line.
4) Ash removal system. Important to some, but I see no value in it. We never use the ash-pan on our stove.
5) Cat or non-cat. Your preference -- they both have their attractions.
6) Simplicity (KISS) The fewer the parts & especially the fewer the moving parts, the less trouble one is apt to have in the long run -- just fewer things to go wrong. E.g. the more gaskets a stove has the more areas of entry for potential air leaks the stove has built into it.
(Just my 2cents. Some things to think about)
I was in your shoes, but just a few weeks in, Im using wood more than propane. I went with the Quadrafire Explorer II since the boss wanted the cast iron look and I wanted small clearance. My fire box is 2.4cft so it can be packed. Its a steel inner body with a cast outer. As for the clearances, 5 3/8 inches from rear of stove to anything combustible, that was the winner for me.
Dear Chris:
Most here don't "NEED",as you say, to heat with wood. We like the heat, enjoy the ambiance, as you say, love that we're using a sustainable and renewable and clean fuel for BTUs to heat our homes. Many also like that we harvest and produce our own heat. It's a lifestyle.
Ain't many wood burners that are fat BTW, or that NEED to go to a club for exercise.
Hey, get the Oslo, it is pretty for the romance needed, easy to use, clean burning, reliable. Be sure you do get it in porcelain. It will do well with your decor.
VT.
Most here don't "NEED",as you say, to heat with wood. We like the heat, enjoy the ambiance, as you say, love that we're using a sustainable and renewable and clean fuel for BTUs to heat our homes. Many also like that we harvest and produce our own heat. It's a lifestyle.
Ain't many wood burners that are fat BTW, or that NEED to go to a club for exercise.
Hey, get the Oslo, it is pretty for the romance needed, easy to use, clean burning, reliable. Be sure you do get it in porcelain. It will do well with your decor.
VT.
! Second break in fire tonight!!
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Hah! That's what I said when I went stove shopping too.
My furnace hasn't kicked in yet this year.
Soapstone is a bad idea if you think you might end up using it as a primary heater like I did; there's nothing wrong with it for someone who wants a stove for cosmetic value or just a space heater on cold days.
Soapstone has an extremely low thermal conductivity as compared to steel or cast iron, so the more soapstone you hang off of a stove, the more BTUs you are sending up the flue pipe.
In the bad old pre-epa days when a long burn time was a few hours there was an argument to be made for it, because it has decent thermal capacity (a bit better than firebrick), and thus could be used as a thermal battery.
It does still have a place in modern stoves: it looks nice, and all-soapstone exterior stoves won't quickly burn you if you touch it. Tulikivi makes some lovely ones.
Hmmm....I think there may be quite a few soapstone users that are going to disagree with your theories. I'm using one for primary heat, no backup, and not running high flue temps so I think the heat must be staying in the house pretty well. The PH is known to be a wood miser, so I don't think it is sending much heat up the flue either. Your wording in the first sentence could be interpreted as you saying you had a soapstone stove at one point but I think you have a steel stove, and it may be your first stove.
What?! While I think any stove (steel, cast iron or soapstone) is good for heating a home -- even as the primary heat . . . almost everything I've read here (no hands on experience) indicates that soapstone is perhaps best used for longer heating needs and not occasional heating (although I am sure it could be used in this way and do fine).
How does the side load work for you with the corner install? That is similar to my setup but I have a front loader. I have a window on the left but instead of a window on the right I have the fixed glass half of a sliding door there.
Side works just great!! From the back corners of the stove I am about 15" from the wall. Plenty of room, and not protruding way out in the room, either. I'll try and get a better pic later.
Thanks guys!! It was my first attempt at masonry, and I did the install myself as well.
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
Congrats! You made a great choice and that corner looks fantastic. Expect the gas people (it happened to us) to come out and replace the meter because you will be using less and they think the meter is broken. If you feel like your getting cooked out don't be afraid to crack open one of those windows.
mstoelton
Feeling the Heat
mstoelton
Feeling the Heat
I'm gonna have to differ with you on your soapstone "Theory". Soapstone is an incredible thermal sink and conductor. I installed a soapstone hearth in front of one of my inserts, when that thing warms up it stays warm and radiates heat forever. My Clydesdales will burn out during an overnight burn but will still be throwing nice warmth from the blowers when the fire is dead or near dead because of the soapstone liners. The soapstone levels out the hot/cold swings in the cycle. "Soapstone is a bad Idea.... " - Only if you never have used a soapstone stove! Spend some time around one, you will like it!
It's one thing to throw a scientific term out there, but quite another to understand how it might apply to different materials in this particular application. I'm not sure @jetsam is a scientist. All I know is that in my leaky 1000 sq.ft. house with no wall insulation, with a catalytic soapstone stove rated by the maker to heat 800-1300 sq.ft, I can load the 1.5 cu.ft. box twice a day and keep the place at 70 if nighttime temp is at least 20 and daytime temp is into the upper 30s, which is the coldest average temp range here. I've also heated this place with my Dutchwest, a cast iron cat stove with a convective top and back, very similar in construction to his stove (but without the extra internal shielding.) With the same fire box size as my soapstone stove, there is noticeably less heating of this house being done by the Dutchwest. Seems the heat from an equal amount of wood is actually staying in the house better with the soapstone stove, not going up the flue as he claims. FWIW, the EPA output ratings of my two stoves bears this out. Now, his stove has lower EPA output numbers than some soapstone or soapstone-lined cat stoves with similar efficiency ratings. I'm guessing that this has more to do with the design of the stove than it does with the "thermal conductivity" of the materials with which they are built.
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