replacement stove for a Buck 27000B?

[wsl91]

Good evening, great site, been searching it for a while. I'm looking for advice on replacing a Buck 27000B

Bought the house 6 years ago, stove was in the basement not connected to a stack. I determined where to place and had access to a free almost new 6" Stainless insulated which I cut a hole in the foundation and installed. It's fine most of the time (can open both doors usually) but I know the Buck wants an 8". Stack exits the basement and runs up the 1 story side of my 1.5 story 2000 sq/ft home. Approx 20' of stack. Inside stack all doublewall and 18" clearances. Concrete floor and poured walls mainly unfinished basement with a drop ceiling. It's configured as a free standing stove.

70s home, new windows, new doors, 70s insulation.
The Buck does fine. I run it with a stack temp around 300 measured 12" above the stove. I control it with the stack damper 1/2 and air inlets mostly closed I don't like to abuse it and it still has paint on the front. At 450 it really cranks out the heat but if you can believe the stack thermometer this is on the high end of safe. It heats the uninsulated basement more than adequately then later the heat affects the 1st floor and at some point the furnace runs less. I know its not going to heat the 2nd story so I don't it expect it to. I've burnt wood for most of my adult life. This is supplemental heat to the furnace but also important as we are subject to harsh Midwest winters. I have continual access to Midwest Hardwoods which is all I burn.

I want to replace the Buck for the following reasons:
longer burn time
more effecient wood useage
modern stove insurance compliant (they aren't after me yet)
fresh air intake

I can't find a btu rating or tag anywhere for the Buck so it's hard to know what to replace it with. I understand larger fireboxes equate to longer burn times. I can't burn all night with the Buck but I'd like to. If I split real big oak pieces and save them out sometimes I still have coals in the morning. The Buck heats the basement well but not window opening well. If I had to guess I'd say it's 40-50k btu usable? I'd think the basement needs to be hotter to impact the home better.

I want to replace the Buck but I don't know what Stove BTU rating is needed. I want to go up in output but not to the point of operating dangerously. My home furnace is modern and is 95k btu so I don't see where a stove over actual output of more than 80 or 90k is needed particularly since it's all in one place.
After reading for countless hours I'm kinda closing in the following stoves due to consistently good comments:
Drolet HT2000 or more likely Myriad 2
Englander NC30
Vogelzang Ponderosa

I just don't want to drop $1500 and have a stove that makes less heat than I'm taking out or makes more than seems safe.
Thank you

 

[bholler]

Good evening, great site, been searching it for a while. I'm looking for advice on replacing a Buck 27000B

Bought the house 6 years ago, stove was in the basement not connected to a stack. I determined where to place and had access to a free almost new 6" Stainless insulated which I cut a hole in the foundation and installed. It's fine most of the time (can open both doors usually) but I know the Buck wants an 8". Stack exits the basement and runs up the 1 story side of my 1.5 story 2000 sq/ft home. Approx 20' of stack. Inside stack all doublewall and 18" clearances. Concrete floor and poured walls mainly unfinished basement with a drop ceiling. It's configured as a free standing stove.

70s home, new windows, new doors, 70s insulation.
The Buck does fine. I run it with a stack temp around 300 measured 12" above the stove. I control it with the stack damper 1/2 and air inlets mostly closed I don't like to abuse it and it still has paint on the front. At 450 it really cranks out the heat but if you can believe the stack thermometer this is on the high end of safe. It heats the uninsulated basement more than adequately then later the heat affects the 1st floor and at some point the furnace runs less. I know its not going to heat the 2nd story so I don't it expect it to. I've burnt wood for most of my adult life. This is supplemental heat to the furnace but also important as we are subject to harsh Midwest winters. I have continual access to Midwest Hardwoods which is all I burn.

I want to replace the Buck for the following reasons:
longer burn time
more effecient wood useage
modern stove insurance compliant (they aren't after me yet)
fresh air intake

I can't find a btu rating or tag anywhere for the Buck so it's hard to know what to replace it with. I understand larger fireboxes equate to longer burn times. I can't burn all night with the Buck but I'd like to. If I split real big oak pieces and save them out sometimes I still have coals in the morning. The Buck heats the basement well but not window opening well. If I had to guess I'd say it's 40-50k btu usable? I'd think the basement needs to be hotter to impact the home better.

I want to replace the Buck but I don't know what Stove BTU rating is needed. I want to go up in output but not to the point of operating dangerously. My home furnace is modern and is 95k btu so I don't see where a stove over actual output of more than 80 or 90k is needed particularly since it's all in one place.
After reading for countless hours I'm kinda closing in the following stoves due to consistently good comments:
Drolet HT2000 or more likely Myriad 2
Englander NC30
Vogelzang Ponderosa

I just don't want to drop $1500 and have a stove that makes less heat than I'm taking out or makes more than seems safe.
Thank you

Well those old bucks can make some serois heat but to do so they burn through tons of wood. Either the drolet or englander will work fine they are good value stoves. I personally would avoid the vogelzang they have durability issues.

Insulating the basement will dramatically improve your ability to heat right now you are sending about 1/3 of your heat through those walls to heat the ground outside.

 

[wsl91]

I should note that I spent some time doing the math on how many btus are in the species of wood and propane I burn. Given I burn 2 cord a year with a maybe 50% efficient stove but get cheap propane (buy on year contract) payback isn't particularly great. Buying a new insert and having it installed in my masonry fireplace on the main floor would have a very lengthy payback time so I'm upgrading in the basement where I can do all the work. If propane goes up that's a different situation.

 

[bholler]

I should note that I spent some time doing the math on how many btus are in the species of wood and propane I burn. Given I burn 2 cord a year with a maybe 50% efficient stove but get cheap propane (buy on year contract) payback isn't particularly great. Buying a new insert and having it installed in my masonry fireplace on the main floor would have a very lengthy payback time so I'm upgrading in the basement where I can do all the work. If propane goes up that's a different situation.

I personally like heating from the basement. But the basement needs to be insulated if you want to be successful at all.

 

[jotul8e2]

I'd go with the Englander 30 NC. It works great with a 6" flue. 20' stack height will be fine (but you will not use the damper). It is easy to operate with hardwoods. There is a nice large window that keeps itself clean so that you can see what the fire is doing.

There really is no downside.

 

[wsl91]

I pulled the trigger on an Englands add on wood furnace. It will be here in a week or tw0. I see nothing but positive reviews and claims of heating 2000sq ft homes. It has a top flue which allows me to stay at 2 90's which I wouldnt be able to with a rear flue. Keeps the heat source in the basement which is needed but places the heat where its needed. I understand insulating the basement but it does get wet once in a great while and as unfinished is easy to clean. I have access to 2 cord a year sustainable so spending 5-6k on an insert for the masonry chimney has a 12+ year pay back with my typical propane cost and that's not counting other costs that come with wood. I think installing an insert should be done by a licensed contractor with the liner so if there's a problem with the insurance company you are in a better position. I recently added a deck and had to move the propane entrance and hired that for the same reason even though it's well within my capability.
Thanks all.