quadrafire burn times

[RAG01]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for quite a while -- my husband and I just bought our first house and we're in the market for a wood stove. We're inserting it into a rumford-style fireplace (or really on the hearth of the fireplace), so we're very limited in what we can fit. Inserts won't work, so we're looking at freestanding stoves.

We're pretty much down to a jotul oslo and the quadrafire cumberland gap, but I have a quick question for you all. The quadrafire brochure says that the cumberland gap has a pretty unbelieveable burn time -- 11.7-15.7 hours. That's compared with the oslo's 8-10 hours. Now, I know that none of these numbers probably aren't realistic, but I'm wondering whether the quad will really have a much longer burn time than the oslo. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Rachel

 

[RAG01]

Whoops! I meant that all of these numbers probably aren't realistic!

 

[TMonter]

Depends on how you define burn time.

Usable heat will likely be 7-9 hours and you would still be able to restart the stove after 11-12 on low fire.

A lot has to do also with how hard you are firing.

My 3100i Quadrafire insert gets 7-9 hours usable heat on low fire but I can get 12 hours and still restart the stove from coals. Since the Cumberland Gap has 20% more firebox volume than my stove I would say their claim is not outrageous if you were burning good seasoned hardwood.

 

[savageactor7]

In NH it gets cold so you're more interested in usable heat not hot coals....although hot coals are important it's the heat that keeps you warm. What you should should do is talk to the neighbors that burn wood and solicit they're opinions on a good stove that will keep you warm. We have a QF 4300 st in our 3k+sf house...it's OK and does the job but I wished I would have gotten the next size up or at least a stove with a 3ft firebox so I wouldn't have to split so small...which I will do in the future. Personally I would say a non cat stove ...and they're all pretty much the same is good for 8-9 hrs max for usable heat. Of course perfectly seasoned wood works the best and that could be hard to control unless you have you're own source of wood.

 

[RAG01]

Thanks to you both. I believe that the quad has a 2.4 square foot-ish firebox and the jotul has a 2 sq foot firebox, so I suppose that explains part of the difference. For the record, we're hoping to heat a bit over 1000 sq feet of our 2,200 square foot house. It is a pretty traditional colonial saltbox. The stove will be in the living room; the kitchen is perpendicular to the living room and there is a pretty large archway between the two (we expect to install a couple of fans in the archway). Those two rooms make up about 800 square feet and those are the rooms we most hope to heat. The chimney goes up through the middle of the house. We have three bedrooms upstairs that we expect to keep mostly closed, and a den on the first floor that is also likely to stay closed a lot of the time.

I'm not sure which neighbors burn wood (we've only been in town a few weeks), though I have not seen too many wood piles, which is sort of surprising in our neck of the woods. I'd love to know, though, because it would give us an excuse to get out and meet them (and maybe find out where they get their wood -- we can't supply all of our own).

 

[Redox]

I think Savage speaketh the truth on burn times. Our 4300 hasn't quite been hitting the long burns that the brochure led me to believe. I also think the square footage recommendations are optimistic, but this is common in wood stoves. Sometimes I wish I had gotten the 5700, but ours is manageable. It gives me an excuse to run downstairs and give it its 3AM feeding!

Chris

 

[Opportunist]

I would back up a little. It's great to compare the different stoves. But first look at the chimney (does it need a liner) and the hearth the stove will sit on. What are the clearances? What stoves will fit on the hearth within code? How much space is required at the rear, sides and front?

The Oslo has better clearances with the purchase and installation of a rear heat shield and double wall pipe. 6"

 

[begreen]

Good points. First be sure the stove will fit. As long as it fits in the masonry fireplace, the main clearance issue is probably the mantel, if it is combustible. The hearth may need an extension to accommodate the front hearth requirements of 18" from the front of the stove door and from the side door front too.

As far as burn times, the capacity of the stove to a large extent will determine this. Go by the low figure stated by the manufacturer and you'll be closer to real heating times. But it will vary a great deal depending on the wood and how the stove is run.

 

[Opportunist]

Before buying the Oslo. I went from "I like the dragons on this stove" to comparing all the clearance specs. I was leaning towards a Quadra-Fire but my hearth was leaning towards the Oslo. The hearth won. Then when you really think you know what you want. The salesman says: "how's your chimney?".

This site was a great help in narrowing the choices down.