Please shorten our research time for us...

[adk4]

We can not get a pellet stove as planned and are back to looking at our first choice.......wood stoves.

Please post recommendations about wood stoves that are cast iron, classic and have the max. btu output. By classic we mean the look of a quadra fire Isle Royale. (in pellet stoves it was the Mount Vernon) KWIM?

TIA

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

I would look at the Jotul's, The Oslo F500 is a really nice cast iron stove.
But it all depends on your buget, the size of your house and dealer location.


WoodButcher

 

[Todd]

Jotuls are nice lookers, also look at the Lopi Leyden, Avalon Arbor, Harman Oakwood, but my personal favorite is this one.
www.woodstove.com

 

[Jags]

How about the Quadrafire Isle Royal??

Maybe that was too obvious. :lol:

Really though, it is a quality stove. 'nuff said.

 

[begreen]

Not a short list, first choices in large stoves, in no particular order would be Quad Isle Royale, Jotul F600, Hearthstone Bennington, Pacific Energy Alderlea T6, Morso 3610. There are also some downdraft stoves that may work fine depending on the flue. These are the Lopi Leyden (or Avalon Arbor) and the Harman Oakwood. Though caveat emptor, the fate of Harman seems to be questionable at the moment. If a catalytic stove is ok, then the VC Encore is a good looker, but with the same caveat as Harman.

Some factors to consider are clearances - downdraft stoves usually have higher rear clearance requirements and whether rear exit is required or not. How large an area are you trying to heat? What is the floorplan like and where will the stove be installed (fireplace or freestanding)?

PS: What happened with your Mt. Vernon order?

 

[FLASHMAN]

I'm biased, because I run a Jotul F600, but I looked at them all and did a LOT of research before buying. To me, dollar for dollar, you can't beat Jotul. I put mine in an unfinished part of my basement and added a 30k BTU reclaimer, and some little corner fans. I'm heating 3780 total square feet, and not a whimper. On a 6 degree day, in the coldest part of my house (sunroom) I can maintain 72 degrees as long as the sun is out, without the heat even coming on at all...

 

[adk4]

Some factors to consider are clearances - downdraft stoves usually have higher rear clearance requirements and whether rear exit is required or not. How large an area are you trying to heat? What is the floorplan like and where will the stove be installed (fireplace or freestanding)?

We are trying to heat a 2800 sq ft ranch from the finished basement. The goal is to use the electric baseboard or propane forced hot air as little as possible upstairs. This would be a freestanding stove not a fireplace. We intend to put in some vents with fans to help move the air up. We are also total rookies so any advice is welcome!

PS: What happened with your Mt. Vernon order?[/quote] The Mount Vernon was our first choice for pellets. What happened was the distance away from the dealer . We figured service would be impossible to get on the Mt Vernon. We went with a Harmon P68 from a local dealer, but now find that we won't have any hope of that until next year. Wood was our real first choice, but we had talked ourselves into pellets as a cleaner, less labor intensive option.

 

[adk4]

I'm biased, because I run a Jotul F600, but I looked at them all and did a LOT of research before buying. To me, dollar for dollar, you can't beat Jotul. I put mine in an unfinished part of my basement and added a 30k BTU reclaimer, and some little corner fans. I'm heating 3780 total square feet, and not a whimper. On a 6 degree day, in the coldest part of my house (sunroom) I can maintain 72 degrees as long as the sun is out, without the heat even coming on at all...

What is a BTU reclaimer? TIA

 

[begreen]

Usually, if you are trying to heat upstairs (the first floor), the best place to have the stove is upstairs. However, some house layouts that have insulated basements, an open floorplan and a large, open central stairway can be heated moderately with a basement stove. Often this means that the basement room where the stove is located is quite warm in order to accomplish the task. There are a lot of variables including how well sealed the house is, how well insulated, house size, etc. FWIW, with the stove upstairs, the flue will be shorter and perhaps less expensive.

 

[FLASHMAN]

I'm biased, because I run a Jotul F600, but I looked at them all and did a LOT of research before buying. To me, dollar for dollar, you can't beat Jotul. I put mine in an unfinished part of my basement and added a 30k BTU reclaimer, and some little corner fans. I'm heating 3780 total square feet, and not a whimper. On a 6 degree day, in the coldest part of my house (sunroom) I can maintain 72 degrees as long as the sun is out, without the heat even coming on at all...

What is a BTU reclaimer? TIA

Actually, it's made by Magic Heat... 30k BTU is its heat output 30,000 BTU's.

Basically, it's a box with heat tubes in it and a fan that reclaims some of the heat that would otherwise be lost up the chimney. The gases going up the chimney heat the tubes and when they reach a certian temp, the fan kicks on and blows that heat into your room. not the prettiest thing in the world, so I wouldn't reccommend it for a living room application, but for me it was perfect because my stove is in the unfinished part of my basement. here's what the unit looks like:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331508_200331508

 

[Todd]

I'm biased, because I run a Jotul F600, but I looked at them all and did a LOT of research before buying. To me, dollar for dollar, you can't beat Jotul. I put mine in an unfinished part of my basement and added a 30k BTU reclaimer, and some little corner fans. I'm heating 3780 total square feet, and not a whimper. On a 6 degree day, in the coldest part of my house (sunroom) I can maintain 72 degrees as long as the sun is out, without the heat even coming on at all...

What is a BTU reclaimer? TIA

Actually, it's made by Magic Heat... 30k BTU is its heat output 30,000 BTU's.

Basically, it's a box with heat tubes in it and a fan that reclaims some of the heat that would otherwise be lost up the chimney. The gases going up the chimney heat the tubes and when they reach a certian temp, the fan kicks on and blows that heat into your room. not the prettiest thing in the world, so I wouldn't reccommend it for a living room application, but for me it was perfect because my stove is in the unfinished part of my basement. here's what the unit looks like:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331508_200331508

Watch out for these things, they rob heat from your flue that is used to maintain your draft and can be a real creosote factory. The new EPA rated stoves are draft sensitive and don't put lots of heat up your chimney. These magic heat reclaimers need a hot chimney like the older pre EPA non airtight stoves. I've tried this in the past and had dripping black goo in my pipes and a very hard to clean and stinky chimney.

 

[FLASHMAN]

I'm biased, because I run a Jotul F600, but I looked at them all and did a LOT of research before buying. To me, dollar for dollar, you can't beat Jotul. I put mine in an unfinished part of my basement and added a 30k BTU reclaimer, and some little corner fans. I'm heating 3780 total square feet, and not a whimper. On a 6 degree day, in the coldest part of my house (sunroom) I can maintain 72 degrees as long as the sun is out, without the heat even coming on at all...

What is a BTU reclaimer? TIA

Actually, it's made by Magic Heat... 30k BTU is its heat output 30,000 BTU's.

Basically, it's a box with heat tubes in it and a fan that reclaims some of the heat that would otherwise be lost up the chimney. The gases going up the chimney heat the tubes and when they reach a certian temp, the fan kicks on and blows that heat into your room. not the prettiest thing in the world, so I wouldn't reccommend it for a living room application, but for me it was perfect because my stove is in the unfinished part of my basement. here's what the unit looks like:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331508_200331508

Watch out for these things, they rob heat from your flue that is used to maintain your draft and can be a real creosote factory. The new EPA rated stoves are draft sensitive and don't put lots of heat up your chimney. These magic heat reclaimers need a hot chimney like the older pre EPA non airtight stoves. I've tried this in the past and had dripping black goo in my pipes and a very hard to clean and stinky chimney.

I'm on my second year with mine and have absolutely no problems.I run an airtight Jotul, and PLENTY of heat escapes up the chimney. When I installed my stove, I also installed a 6" stainless flue liner, and believe me, draft is not an issue on my stove. I haven't had any excess creosote, in fact, if you're getting creosote DRIPPING in your pipes, I doubt that the reclaimer was the offender there. My guess is that you're not achieving complete enough combustion, i.e, you're using wet or green wood.