Read "Which new stove to buy?" Would still appreciate a little advice.

[zituzupe]

Hi folks,
I'm moving into a new (to me) house and would like to use wood as at least supplemental heat. The house is one story with a walkout basement (1,300 square feet total), and the previous owners had a wood stove in the basement. Almost all of the living space is upstairs. There is an open stairwell that I'm hoping will allow some heat to rise and disperse. A couple pieces of information:

• I'm in the northern part of the country, so it gets quite cold. -20F is fairly common.
• I have access to a fairly cheap supply of wood (maple, ash, oak).
• The house was built in the 70's. It has older windows, and I would classify the insulation as moderate. Not as bad as an old farm house, but nowhere near a modern well built home.
• The chimney has a clay tile liner.
  
• I've added a couple pictures of the current chimney setup to the end of this post.

I'm looking for advice on a reasonably priced, reliable, durable stove that can do the job. I don't care what it looks like. I'm leaning towards something without a catalytic combustor, just because I don't want to have to replace it every few years. I also worry that down the road parts may get harder to find if a manufacturer goes out of business. All advice/pointers appreciated.

Thanks

 

[thedriver]

Hi folks,
I'm moving into a new (to me) house and would like to use wood as at least supplemental heat. The house is one story with a walkout basement (1,300 square feet total), and the previous owners had a wood stove in the basement. Almost all of the living space is upstairs. There is an open stairwell that I'm hoping will allow some heat to rise and disperse. A couple pieces of information:

• I'm in the northern part of the country, so it gets quite cold. -20F is fairly common.
• I have access to a fairly cheap supply of wood (maple, ash, oak).
• The house was built in the 70's. It has older windows, and I would classify the insulation as moderate. Not as bad as an old farm house, but nowhere near a modern well built home.
• The chimney has a clay tile liner.
  
• I've added a couple pictures of the current chimney setup to the end of this post.

I'm looking for advice on a reasonably priced, reliable, durable stove that can do the job. I don't care what it looks like. I'm leaning towards something without a catalytic combustor, just because I don't want to have to replace it every few years. I also worry that down the road parts may get harder to find if a manufacturer goes out of business. All advice/pointers appreciated.

Thanks
We just moved to an old farm house and, just purchased another stove. we had a Drolet Blackcomb 1.9cf ( love the stove ) in our other house that worked very well heating it. however we wanted a larger stove for the new place ( larger home no insulation ) so we got the Drolet Balit 3.2cf for the living room and put the blackcomb in the kitchen - dining area. we love it to. lots of heat , very good burn times , well built, and very reasonable price. Drolet make good, reliable , well built, stoves. both of my stoves are non cat stoves. there are many stoves to pick from but , a friend turned me on to Drolet stoves and, I am very happy with the product. my brother in law got a cheap big box store stove and he is not happy. get a insulated stainless steel 6" chimney liner and you should be good . good luck with your project .
View attachment 185478 View attachment 185479 View attachment 185480

 

[begreen]

The Englander 30NC is a popular inexpensive heater with large capacity. Is the brick hearth on a concrete slab? Another alternative would be the Drolet 3 cu ft stoves.

 

[firefighterjake]

Englander 30 is what springs to mind . . . it should be mentioned that a) if the basement is not insulated a lot of the heat will be sucked up and lost in the concrete walls and b) any modern woodstove needs well-seasoned wood to burn (not sure if you're thinking of buying the stove now and getting/processing wood now or later.)

 

[zituzupe]

The Englander 30NC is a popular inexpensive heater with large capacity. Is the brick hearth on a concrete slab? Another alternative would be the Drolet 3 cu ft stoves.

Thanks for the recommendations begreen. Yes, the bricks are sitting on the slab.

 

[zituzupe]

Englander 30 is what springs to mind . . . it should be mentioned that a) if the basement is not insulated a lot of the heat will be sucked up and lost in the concrete walls and b) any modern woodstove needs well-seasoned wood to burn (not sure if you're thinking of buying the stove now and getting/processing wood now or later.)

Appreciate the feedback firefighterjake. Portions of the basement walls are insulated with rigid foam. There is definitely room for improvement. I do realize that not having wood that has been split and dried for a year or more is not ideal. My plan is to look for trees that have been dead a while and are somewhat dry. Plan b is to pay to have a pulp cord of seasoned logs delivered, and then cut and split them.

 

[CenterTree]

Appreciate the feedback firefighterjake. Portions of the basement walls are insulated with rigid foam. There is definitely room for improvement. I do realize that not having wood that has been split and dried for a year or more is not ideal. My plan is to look for trees that have been dead a while and are somewhat dry. Plan b is to pay to have a pulp cord of seasoned logs delivered, and then cut and split them.

I think you will find that logs are not "really" seasoned until they are bucked and split though.
Some stoves are more fussy for dry wood than others, although they all do better (and less frustrating) with the dry stuff.
The 30NC is a fussy one.
You may do best to purchase a truly seasoned cord for your first year. That is if you can actually find true seasoned wood for sale.

 

[CenterTree]

And don't forget to have that clay liner inspected for cracks, etc.
You may find you will need a liner.

 

[CenterTree]

Heating from a basement can be tricky (and disappointing) unless it is the basement you want to heat.
The open stairwell may or may not transfer heat to the upstairs. Depends.

Is the basement ceiling insulated? If it is, then most of your heat will just stay in the basement. If it is not, then you will see some benefits on the living space in the form of warmer floors.

 

[MaintenanceMan]

30nc would do you nicely.

 

[Woody Stover]

My plan is to look for trees that have been dead a while and are somewhat dry.

If you have a sizeable woodlot to scour, look for small, dead-standing trees that the bark has fallen off. Avoid Oak, unless very small with all the bark gone. Black Cherry, even lying on the ground, can have good, pretty dry trunks long after the sapwood has rotted away because the heartwood is rot-resistant.

 

[zituzupe]

I think you will find that logs are not "really" seasoned until they are bucked and split though.
Some stoves are more fussy for dry wood than others, although they all do better (and less frustrating) with the dry stuff.
The 30NC is a fussy one.
You may do best to purchase a truly seasoned cord for your first year. That is if you can actually find true seasoned wood for sale.

Thanks CenterTree. Seasoned/split wood sells for about $65 a face cord here. I have a natural gas boiler, so I'd need to do some math and see if it made sense at that price.

 

[zituzupe]

If you have a sizeable woodlot to scour, look for small, dead-standing trees that the bark has fallen off. Avoid Oak, unless very small with all the bark gone. Black Cherry, even lying on the ground, can have good, pretty dry trunks long after the sapwood has rotted away because the heartwood is rot-resistant.

Makes sense. Thanks for the tip.

 

[zituzupe]

The Englander 30NC seems to be the consensus choice. I see that Home Depot has them for $899, which is cheaper than anywhere else I can find online. Is that about as good as I'm going to get?

 

[zenoparadox]

Seasoned/split wood sells for about $65 a face cord here.

What people mean when they say "seasoned/split" can vary quite a bit.

In my part of MD, everybody and their brother will tell you their wood is "seasoned" when it is not. And the quality of splitting can vary tremendously. Last year my wife and I bought a cord of "seasoned/split" wood from a "reputable" source. The wood was not seasoned, and the splitting was done poorly: lots of odd shapes. My splitting is much nicer than what they delivered. We had moved in just a few months before, had run out of the little wood the previous owners had left, and a nasty snow storm was about to hit. We were concerned about a power outage leaving us without heat.

 

[MaintenanceMan]

AMFM Energy sells factory refurbished Englanders for a little less.HD is about as good as it gets otherwise, typically.