Old Burner in Mid MO needing a bigger stove than my Englander 13NC

[JPinnell]

Been away from here for years. I've been burning an Englander 13NC for the last 17 Winters in a 1400sqft Ranch. We are in process of an addition, about double, with a Bonus above the Garage. In total 2800sqft but I don't expect all the heat to get everywhere. So let's say 2200+ for heating. That little 13NC I love, been reliable as a hammer, just gets a baffle blanket every 3-4yrs.

I'm looking forward to a bigger firebox, longer burns. I'm used to air tube injection, don't think I want a Cat. Wife wants something besides a black steel box, enamel option, etc. I don't care, I'm practical. I'd prefer not to spend $5K for a stove when we are over budget on the addition.

New Fam Room is 450sqft where the new stove will be. I've got plenty of Red Oak and Hickory seasoned. Currently burn about 2.5 Cords yr.

Pacific Energy Alderlea T5/T6
I'd love to find a 30/32NC Englander

What should I be looking at? Any show rooms to recommend to take the wife to in Mid Mo?

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Pacific Energy Alderlea T5/T6
I'd love to find a 30/32NC Englander

Welcome Back!

For the PE Stoves, go to their website and they have a showroom locator

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We just went through the same thing here, with selecting a new stove. My wife's only input was brown enamel. We looked at all the major stove lines and narrowed down to the Woodstock stoves, Vermont Castings Encore, the PE T5 and the Hearthstone Shelburne and when I factored in what we wanted/ needed we picked the Hearthstone Heritage. In our situation, that was our best choice.

The PE T5 was a close second, and if we had a reliable dealer around here I would have given it additional looks.

I'm sure more input is incoming!

 

[Todd]

Check out the Drolet’s. You may find some at local hardware or big box stores.

 

[reaperman1]

Been away from here for years. I've been burning an Englander 13NC for the last 17 Winters in a 1400sqft Ranch. We are in process of an addition, about double, with a Bonus above the Garage. In total 2800sqft but I don't expect all the heat to get everywhere. So let's say 2200+ for heating. That little 13NC I love, been reliable as a hammer, just gets a baffle blanket every 3-4yrs.

I'm looking forward to a bigger firebox, longer burns. I'm used to air tube injection, don't think I want a Cat. Wife wants something besides a black steel box, enamel option, etc. I don't care, I'm practical. I'd prefer not to spend $5K for a stove when we are over budget on the addition.

New Fam Room is 450sqft where the new stove will be. I've got plenty of Red Oak and Hickory seasoned. Currently burn about 2.5 Cords yr.

Pacific Energy Alderlea T5/T6
I'd love to find a 30/32NC Englander

What should I be looking at? Any show rooms to recommend to take the wife to in Mid Mo?

I have the 13 also as a shop stove, its been a true blessing here in minnesota. Your right, its reliable as and pretty bulletproof. However, looking forward, you will want a north-south loader. The shallow firebox of the 13 is one of its drawbacks, good luck.

 

[begreen]

While looking at the PE stoves, consider the Summit LE Classic too. The porcelain enamel jacket looks sharp and they've added a nice dark green option this year, in addition to blue, black, red, and white.

 

[begreen]

Also look at the Big Drolets and Osburns. These SBI tube stoves will be similar to the Englander brand, which is now owned by SBI. The Englander 500 is a less expensive variation on the Osburn 3500 and kin to the Drolet Legend III.

 

[JPinnell]

Thanks for all the comments. For a basic stove I like the Drolet Escape 1800 w/Nickel and Legs. I could prob "sell" that to the wife on appearances. But I don't see a leg option for the 2100?

Same goes for the larger Englander Blue Ridge 500, only pedestal, no leg.
Pacific Energy Dealer is about 90min drive, may call and see what they have on the show floor.

We will likely put this a corner of the new Fam Room next to the half stairs that leads into the old fam room which has a 5x7 opening. So a N/S loading deeper stove might fit the space better. Combined common area is about 1100sqft.

 

[begreen]

What a shame, Drolet has discontinued the Austral/Myriad/Legend III lines. That would have answered the desire for legs in a big stove. If you can locate a Legend III, consider it.

 

[jacksnipe]

Thanks for all the comments. For a basic stove I like the Drolet Escape 1800 w/Nickel and Legs. I could prob "sell" that to the wife on appearances. But I don't see a leg option for the 2100?

Same goes for the larger Englander Blue Ridge 500, only pedestal, no leg.
Pacific Energy Dealer is about 90min drive, may call and see what they have on the show floor.

We will likely put this a corner of the new Fam Room next to the half stairs that leads into the old fam room which has a 5x7 opening. So a N/S loading deeper stove might fit the space better. Combined common area is about 1100sqft.

if you want stoves with legs check out Empire Stove Products, very close to SBI products

 

[begreen]

Thanks, they are another SBI company that we don't often hear of. The Gateway 3500 firebox is the same and the leg option is there for their Gateway stoves.

 

[weee123]

Sadly the trusty 30/32NC has been discontinued. It seems SBI is gobbling up the well known budget friendly stove manufacturers and streamlining them to their basic designs.

 

[JPinnell]

OK, went to a semi local dealer showroom. Looked at Buck, Jotul, Blaze King, Hearthstone, Pacific Energy, and Kuma.

I 'think" we settled on a Hearthstone GreenMountain 80. "It's Black, but cast and has some detail, so not just a metal box" according to the wife. So, CAT stoves were not on my radar. 20yrs ago they sucked. Improved? I thought we'd be getting a PE T5. But she did not like the '50s retro look.

Dealer makes it sound like maintenance is minimal. I do like the look of the GM 80, big glass. But concerned the 3.1cu ft firebox may be too large? Overall living space is 2900. The room it will be in is 480sqft but an archway that leads to the kitchen/dining so that combined area (fam/kit/dining) is about 1100sqft with 9-10ft vaulted ceilings and skylights. . Then the bedrooms etc come off of that? GM60 or GM 80? We get Midwest Cold, mid MO, but not North.

 

[begreen]

The Green Mountain stoves are hybrids, the cat is for extra cleanup of the flue gases. It's a more complex stove than the 13NC with more maintenance, but should get the job done.

 

[JPinnell]

The Green Mountain stoves are hybrids, the cat is for extra cleanup of the flue gases. It's a more complex stove than the 13NC with more maintenance, but should get the job done.

With the amount of reading I've done the last day, I'm not sure a CAT stove is for me. I like the ease of bottom up cleaning with the sooteater. But the wife likes the look of the Hearthstone. But I will be in charge of its care and feeding.

 

[begreen]

I'm with you. Low operational costs and easy maintenance has high value for me because I'm the one doing it. Cats are in a lot of recent stoves to clean up the last niggling bits. Some of this was driven by the 25C tax credit which is now history in a month.

 

[JPinnell]

While looking at the PE stoves, consider the Summit LE Classic too. The porcelain enamel jacket looks sharp and they've added a nice dark green option this year, in addition to blue, black, red, and white.

View attachment 341971

BeGreen: wife did not like the look of the PE Summit/Classic/Super27 as too "plain" and the Nickel/Colors for a Retro look got struck down too. It can be BLACK if it has design detail, cast iron jacket, etc.

The Alderlea T5 or T6 were allowed, but she did not like those available colors and the black Models were her 3rd choice.

 

[begreen]

Isn't the Green Mountain black cast iron? Personally, I would get the stove that is right for the job. I hear you, we were at this juncture years ago. We had a gorgeous blue-black enamel Jotul F400. This was a wife pleaser for sure. She loved the look. After running it for 2 seasons however, it was clearly not the best fit for our house or lifestyle. It was too radiant for our house and smallish living room and required 4 hr reloads in very cold weather. The room temperature swings were fairly wide depending on the point we were in the burn cycle.

In Feb. 2009, Tom Oyen had a floor model T6 that he offered me at a great price. I bought it and swapped out the Jotul. The first response from her was it's so big, and it's black. But, 2 or 3 days later it was plainly evident that this was a much better fit for our house. We woke up to a warm house with a bed of glowing coals for a restart. Room temp swings became a memory. My wife also found the stove easier for her to run. She was sold and it became part of the family. With low cost of operation and ease of use of the stove has proven itself year after year.