Recommendation for 2nd Woodstove

[smileti]

Hi there -

I'd like to to install a 2nd Hearthstone woodstove to heat the ell in my 18th c farmhouse and would appreciate some advice on which size stove to purchase. In the 2100 sq foot two story main house, I have a Hearthstone Phoenix installed in the biggest fireplace on the first floor (we ran a stainless chimney up the stack). I love the stove, although wonder whether I should have purchased one of the larger Hearthstones - Mansfield or Equinox - as the stove is cooled way down by the time I get home from work (10 or 11 hours after leaving). The ell is 400 sq feet, basically uninsulated and very cold. We have our eat-in kitchen there and it's the room where everyone likes to hang out. There's a huge fireplace which is where I'd install stove #2 - I'll run a stainless chimney up the stack.

Do I: a) move the Phoenix from the main house to the ell and buy a Mansfield or Equinox for the big house, or b) buy a smaller stove (like the Homestead) for the kitchen ell?

I love the way the Equinox looks - would it be too big for my house?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Todd]

I would move the Phoenix to the ell and install the Mansfield in the main house. The Equinox might be overkill.

 

[wellbuilt home]

I had a large soap stone in the 80s and what we would do is burn two fast hot fires twice a day one in the am and one in the pm . This way it wont get to hot in the spring and fall. In the winter we would burn three large rounds in the center of the fire box .It would burn hot and last all night but wont heet you out of the house. I would rather have one large stove then two smaller ones. less mess a large stove will burn 12 hrs I have a harthstone equinox coming my house is over 3000 feet . I could have used a mansfield but I like the side load and have lots of space for the large stove

 

[smileti]

Unfortunately we need two stoves because there's no good way to circulate the heat from the main house into the ell. It's set up in the classic Big House, Little House configuration with just a door between the two structures. I tried using one of the small fans that mounts up in the corner of the door but it wasn't effective - although it did give my husband yet another opportunity to say "I told you it wouldn't work!" (He does all the cooking and I find that allowing him the occasional small victory makes for better meals.)

 

[Highbeam]

I would also send that smaller Phoenix into the smaller room and get a large heater for your large house. Especially with an older house you need more stove than the ratings claim. I also think that the mansfield would work but the aesthetics and side door on that equinox would make me consider it too.

 

[smileti]

I really don't want to rely on an electric fan to heat the ell for a number of reasons - the primary one is that a box fan - or any other kind of large fan - will block access between the house and the ell. It's a high traffic area - in addition to housing the eat-in kitchen, the ell also has the only working entrance to the house as well as the door to the basement.

 

[smileti]

Highbeam & Todd -
I do really like the way the Equinox looks and if the ancient hearth can support its nearly 700 lbs, I'm very tempted to buy it. I assume the down-side of an over-sized stove is over-heating the house. Can one compensate for that by say not filling the woodbox completely and burning fewer logs at a time? Or is that ridiculously inefficient?

 

[webbie]

Highbeam & Todd -
I do really like the way the Equinox looks and if the ancient hearth can support its nearly 700 lbs, I'm very tempted to buy it. I assume the down-side of an over-sized stove is over-heating the house. Can one compensate for that by say not filling the woodbox completely and burning fewer logs at a time? Or is that ridiculously inefficient?

It can be....especially in stoves with a large flat bottom. It takes a critical mass of embers and heat to make a fire work well, and a small teepee fire inside a large firebox is not going to work too well.

I think sizing is more important than some here give credit for - I have heard a lot of opinions about "go big", and while that may apply to a single stove in a large area for a 24/7 burner, it is against my usual advice. I usually suggest that stoves be sized by the amount of wood intended to be through them. If you are gonna burn 2 cords a year in a stove, it should be a small to medium one.

 

[smileti]

Webmaster - Thanks for your advice. I burned 4 plus in the Phoenix last year to heat the main house (we have oil baseboard so the woodstove is supplemental). Two cords is probably right for the ell as I don't think I'll be keeping both stoves going 24/7 - the ell will get the most use nights and weekends. What do you think about a Mansfield in the big house and the Phoenix in the ell?

 

[begreen]

I like the idea of going up a size in the main house for longer burns. The Mansfield is a good choice. If the ell stove is going to be used part time, you might want something that heats up faster. Soapstone stoves are beautiful and great 24/7 burners, but a 1.5 to 2 cu ft cast iron stove like the Hearthstone Shelburne, Jotul Castine, or a hybrid like the Quadrafire Cumberland Gap or even a steel stove like a PE Classic with a blower might be better for quickly getting the ell up to temperature.

 

[smileti]

The cast iron is a good idea - but I'd end up with an extra stove (the Phoenix).

 

[begreen]

Yeah, there's that. But if it is in good condition, I would bet it will sell in a day if you wait until Sept or October and posted it on Craigslist. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you got the price you paid for it. Or you could ask your Hearthstone dealer about trading it in on a Shelburne. Considering the Mansfield purchase, they should offer a nice package deal.

If you keep the Phoenix, that would work too. It would just take a bit longer to heat up the ell., but that may be no big deal.

 

[Todd]

Isn't the Phoenix half cast iron and half soapstone? I'm thinking it would work just fine in the ell, it won't take as long to heat up like the Mansfield or Equinox.

The Equinox has a huge 4cu ft firebox and for it to burn clean you need to keep that firebox hot. A small load may not bring the firebox up to the required 1100 degree temp to obtain a secondary burn and could cause creosote build up? I could be wrong but I'm thinking the Mansfield would be a better fit. Too bad there isn't a 3-4 cu ft firebox soapstone catalytic stove out there.