Replacing circulatory wood stove

[Gordie]

I have to replace an older valley comfort circulatory style wood stove.
Its located in the basement of a partially finished, 1800 sq ft drafty house, in a cold climate.
There has always been a stove of this type in the house and when frequently loaded with a lot of wood can heat it.
I want to move to a more efficient style of stove like a radiant type, to burn less wood and have longer burn times.
Will a radiant style stove like a drolet or a century do the job or should I stick with the circulatory style?
My concern is heat distribution throughout the drafty house.

 

[begreen]

The best investment by far will be addressing and sealing leaks and insulating. If some of the basement walls are uninsulated, then that is where a lot of heat is heading outside instead of in the house.

A modern stove of equal capacity should burn longer but with some caveats. It will be fussier about dry, fully seasoned wood, it will run differently than the old circulator, especially if the circulator had a thermostatically controlled air intake.

On the plus side, less wood will be burned and you gain a nice fire view.

Look at the big Drolets for starters.