Great site - Hoping to get some expert advice as I am in full research mode for a new stove.
Quick description of existing situation:
I have a large extended cape approximately 64 x 32 with 3400 sqft. I wouldn't call the floor plan open, but it isn't completely segmented either. I currently have a hearth at the far end of the long dimension with a VC Intrepid. The hearth measures 48.5” wide by 43.5” deep, and the living room it is in is approx. 22' x 14' and opens to the kitchen. The VC is a nice little stove, but I think the previous owners only installed it for an occasional fire to temper the living room. The hearth goes all the way to the ceiling in the vertical, and houses an 8" x 8" flue. I would like to install a new unit that will put out some serious BTU’s to help fight our fairly rough winters. While the new rig won’t be running 24/7, I plan on using it at least 3-4 full days a week and depending on ease of use and time to heat up most other winter nights.
I realize that my layout is not completely desirable with the current stove location. My hope is to be able to distribute the heat as much as possible, knowing that it might be 78-80 in the room with the stove, but hopefully 70+ at the other end of the house and 65+ upstairs. A different stove location is not really an option at this point.
I started by looking at all options, including traditional wood and pellet stoves. I have decided against pellet at this time for several reasons (maintenance, cost, existing inventory of wood). I have also excluded CAT stoves from my search criteria, due to maintenance, ease of use, and fire viewing. I would say that price definitely out weighs aesthetics, but looks are always somewhat important. There seems to be a dealer for pretty much all major vendors in my area, and I am fairly confident that any of them would do a decent job with install/inquiries. I am very much concerned with buying a quality solid unit that will last 15+ years with minimal maintenance. I am also very concerned about getting too small of a unit. Some people I have talked to have tried to steer me more towards a medium sized unit (40,000 BTU). I want to make sure that on the windiest and coldest -15 degree night I have the ability to make my house nice and toasty.
I have been looking at the PE Alderlea T5/T6, Quad Isle Royale, Morso 3610, Jotul F500/600, Hearthstone Bennington and the Regency P3100.
Although I like the looks of the Bennington, I don't have the hearth area to accomodate the side door. The side door looks a little funky to me as well with the way it hinges top to bottom vs side to side. This said, if it was the overwhelming winner I wouldn't be opposed to a portable hearth extender. Reading the manual, they also throw out there several times not to damage the ceramic baffle when loading. Definitely strong chance that this could happen in my household.
The Regency looks like a pretty bare bones heater, but I have read some less than stellar reviews. On the looks scale it definitely doesn't compare to the cast or T5/T6. Again, if there were solid performance reasons to go with it or a similar straight steel unit, I can look past how pretty it is.
The Morso looks like a really nice unit, and seems to be extremely durable and rugged. I am a little hesitant for some reason though, as I have read several posts and comments about issues with draft. I also think that I want the benefit of some convective heating, and this unit seems to be primarily a radiant heater.
I really like the looks of the Jotul, but I'm not sure that the F500 is big enough, and I have gotten a mixed reaction on the F600. Also have the convection vs radiant questions.
I am tending to lean towards the PE and the Quad Isle Royale, as these both seem like pretty solid units. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of PE before stumbling on this site. This said, everything I read and hear sways me to this stove. I really like the idea of the steel box with a cast shell to get the best of both radiant/convective worlds. I also really like the output of the T6 as well, and the EBT if anything sounds like a really cool feature. I am somewhat concerned though as this appears to be a new model without a lot of data proving its long term results. I am also concerned that there might be a small possibility that I get too large of a unit, and I will need to put on the space suit to reload because the room will be so hot.
The Quad really looks like a nice stove as well. I like the thought of top-load but it also concerns me. I have heard that it is kind of a pain to open the lid, rotate the tubes, etc. The dual air controls also seem a little more complicated for novice users.
A few questions:
1. How big of a factor is convective vs radiant heating? Do you really get the best of both worlds with the Alderlea? If I put a blower on a cast stove or add additional circulation via fans am I doing roughly the same thing as with a convection design?
2. With my configuration, am I better with going with a steel box vs Cast to try and reduce the potential overheating of the area by the stove
3. Can someone help me with the floor protection calculations? For example PE's T6, the width of the stove is 28.75" + 16" clearance + 2" (I assume a little space is needed if non-combustible in the vertical) = 46.75". According to the manual, the min depth is 40.5". Is it really 6" from the edge of the ash lip to the door?
4. Am I in the right ballpark for stove choices
I apologize for the length of this post, but would appreciate any input.
Quick description of existing situation:
I have a large extended cape approximately 64 x 32 with 3400 sqft. I wouldn't call the floor plan open, but it isn't completely segmented either. I currently have a hearth at the far end of the long dimension with a VC Intrepid. The hearth measures 48.5” wide by 43.5” deep, and the living room it is in is approx. 22' x 14' and opens to the kitchen. The VC is a nice little stove, but I think the previous owners only installed it for an occasional fire to temper the living room. The hearth goes all the way to the ceiling in the vertical, and houses an 8" x 8" flue. I would like to install a new unit that will put out some serious BTU’s to help fight our fairly rough winters. While the new rig won’t be running 24/7, I plan on using it at least 3-4 full days a week and depending on ease of use and time to heat up most other winter nights.
I realize that my layout is not completely desirable with the current stove location. My hope is to be able to distribute the heat as much as possible, knowing that it might be 78-80 in the room with the stove, but hopefully 70+ at the other end of the house and 65+ upstairs. A different stove location is not really an option at this point.
I started by looking at all options, including traditional wood and pellet stoves. I have decided against pellet at this time for several reasons (maintenance, cost, existing inventory of wood). I have also excluded CAT stoves from my search criteria, due to maintenance, ease of use, and fire viewing. I would say that price definitely out weighs aesthetics, but looks are always somewhat important. There seems to be a dealer for pretty much all major vendors in my area, and I am fairly confident that any of them would do a decent job with install/inquiries. I am very much concerned with buying a quality solid unit that will last 15+ years with minimal maintenance. I am also very concerned about getting too small of a unit. Some people I have talked to have tried to steer me more towards a medium sized unit (40,000 BTU). I want to make sure that on the windiest and coldest -15 degree night I have the ability to make my house nice and toasty.
I have been looking at the PE Alderlea T5/T6, Quad Isle Royale, Morso 3610, Jotul F500/600, Hearthstone Bennington and the Regency P3100.
Although I like the looks of the Bennington, I don't have the hearth area to accomodate the side door. The side door looks a little funky to me as well with the way it hinges top to bottom vs side to side. This said, if it was the overwhelming winner I wouldn't be opposed to a portable hearth extender. Reading the manual, they also throw out there several times not to damage the ceramic baffle when loading. Definitely strong chance that this could happen in my household.
The Regency looks like a pretty bare bones heater, but I have read some less than stellar reviews. On the looks scale it definitely doesn't compare to the cast or T5/T6. Again, if there were solid performance reasons to go with it or a similar straight steel unit, I can look past how pretty it is.
The Morso looks like a really nice unit, and seems to be extremely durable and rugged. I am a little hesitant for some reason though, as I have read several posts and comments about issues with draft. I also think that I want the benefit of some convective heating, and this unit seems to be primarily a radiant heater.
I really like the looks of the Jotul, but I'm not sure that the F500 is big enough, and I have gotten a mixed reaction on the F600. Also have the convection vs radiant questions.
I am tending to lean towards the PE and the Quad Isle Royale, as these both seem like pretty solid units. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of PE before stumbling on this site. This said, everything I read and hear sways me to this stove. I really like the idea of the steel box with a cast shell to get the best of both radiant/convective worlds. I also really like the output of the T6 as well, and the EBT if anything sounds like a really cool feature. I am somewhat concerned though as this appears to be a new model without a lot of data proving its long term results. I am also concerned that there might be a small possibility that I get too large of a unit, and I will need to put on the space suit to reload because the room will be so hot.
The Quad really looks like a nice stove as well. I like the thought of top-load but it also concerns me. I have heard that it is kind of a pain to open the lid, rotate the tubes, etc. The dual air controls also seem a little more complicated for novice users.
A few questions:
1. How big of a factor is convective vs radiant heating? Do you really get the best of both worlds with the Alderlea? If I put a blower on a cast stove or add additional circulation via fans am I doing roughly the same thing as with a convection design?
2. With my configuration, am I better with going with a steel box vs Cast to try and reduce the potential overheating of the area by the stove
3. Can someone help me with the floor protection calculations? For example PE's T6, the width of the stove is 28.75" + 16" clearance + 2" (I assume a little space is needed if non-combustible in the vertical) = 46.75". According to the manual, the min depth is 40.5". Is it really 6" from the edge of the ash lip to the door?
4. Am I in the right ballpark for stove choices
I apologize for the length of this post, but would appreciate any input.
