PE Summit vs T6 Alderlea- heating a large two story

[patrolman467]

I know these two stoves are basically the same, except the Summit has a steel surround and the T6 has a cast iron surround. The square feet that I will be heating is 1300 on the main level and 1300 upstairs. The stove location is in the middle of the house close to the stairway leading upstairs. The stove that I have now is the T6. It is heating the house well once the fire gets going good and the stove comes up to temp. The process of starting with a cold stove and getting it fired up where it is warming up the house takes quite a long time. I know that a lot of the heat is rising up the stairs to warm the second floor. I have a standing tower fan that I use to push more heat down the first floor toward the den and bedroom. My question is concerning heating faster. Would there be much difference in these two stoves when it comes to producing more heat in a quicker amount of time? Would the Summit, not having the iron surround, produce more heat and allow more heat to be radiated into the house?

 

[madison]

IMHO, not significantly.

Do you have a blower? From a cold start up, it takes me ~ 15 mins or so to get the stove warm enough for the blower to come on. And the blower helps get the heat off the stove....

 

[patrolman467]

I do have the blower and it helps a lot. I'm thinking that a lot of the heat is going straight up the stairs when it first gets going. I'm just wondering if not having all this cast iron on the stove would allow the stove to produce more heat in less time.

 

[Shaun]

Does the blower make that much of a difference? I have a Summit without a blower and was wondering if it is something I should look at getting.

 

[madison]

Does the blower make that much of a difference? I have a Summit without a blower and was wondering if it is something I should look at getting.

Depending on your home, room size etc. yes

Think of it this way, when you get in your car on a really cold day (or really hot day), do you ever turn the blower on to control the temperature?

Heat exchange requires flow, sometimes convection (no blower) is adequate.

 

[oldspark]

How insulated is your house, I heat about the same area as you are and I have a Summit, it works better now that I have tighten up the house but at first it was a struggle, does not put out the heat the old stove did.
I agree with everything madison said, dont think you are going to see much of a difference.