Replacing Pellet stove with wood stove

[Complete]

Currently we have a 1996 Breckwell pelletstove P24L that is ragged out. Firebox is burnt out and the fan rattles. It needs to go. We had a power outage and had no heat. Primary source is forced air HVAC. Heatpump with Electric strip heat.

I grew up with a timberline woodstove with a blower in the basement. It did an amazing job of heating our 1960s vintage house during Maryland winters. It also was nice to have the top surface to boil water/make soup etc...

I'm looking for recomendations for a wood burning solution. My fireplace opening is 30" high x 48" wide. The house is 2800sq feet, open concept floorplan, built in '65, little bit drafty as compared to modern homes but we're only looking to offset the heatpump on days below freezing (10 or less here in Oregon) and keep the house nice and toasty.


So far been looking at Lopi, vermont castings, pacific energy, jotul, hearthstone and englander.

 

[brad wilton]

Welcome complete,i would stay away from vc bad rep,i'll let begreen and the others from the wet coast chime in,they know climate better.

 

[Firewood Daddy]

I'm definitely a Jotul fan here. The f500 or 600 would heat your home nicely.

 

[tcassavaugh]

so.....are you looking for a fireplace insert or a free standing to drop on the hearth and occupy part of the fireplace opening? I too am a fan of Jotul. I've had a small (F602) and a medium (F3CB) stove that were both bullet proof. I have no experience with the larger ones but if they follow suit, they will probably be just as good. I've had a couple of Vermont Castings and their predecessors and while the early stoves were pretty good i hear the later models lack in quality control. i prefer free standing to insert but thats personal choice. i also like a blower to help move the air around and work great in this southern maryland area. good luck in your search. there are a lot of good stoves out there.

 

[Complete]

Hey thanks for the warm welcome fellas! To address some of your questions...

I would really prefer a free standing woodstove hanging out of the fireplace vs an insert.

I really know nothing much about stoves, or how they install so I'm here reading and learning. I really like the Lopi endeavor because of the two cooking/warming surfaces but I doubt it will fit in my current space.

Seems some stoves have a rear outlet vs the top outlet and others do not. Seems like I would need a rear outlet to fit in the existing fireplace. But again I'm unsure how it all works.

If I uploaded some photos of the current setup, would that help?

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

I'll also throw my vote in for Jotul as I heat our entire home exclusively with the F400. However, make sure to get the right sized stove for your house. That is the key. It sounds like you would need the Oslo to heat that home, and possibly an additional small heat source in the far reaches of the house.

We have a 2,200 square foot open concept ranch house and the F400 was recommended for our layout/size. My family has always heated with wood in some form or another but the Jotul was my first EPA stove. While the F400 was rated for less square footage, I trusted our dealer as he said they were far more efficient and, if we went with the Oslo, it would make the central room too hot. Mistake. I should have stuck with my wisdom of over thirty years of wood burning and gone with the biggest stove we could accommodate. To heat effectively during typical January/February I have to close off our guest bedroom, reducing the heated square footage to about 2,000 square feet and put a space heater in our master bedroom closet to keep our pipes from freezing. I also have to run the stove at near it's max temp continuously to keep the nucleus of the house in the seventies and the edges in the high sixties.

One more thing to be aware of is part replacement cost and maintenance. That is the downside to my current stove. If anything needs to be replaced, the cost is extreme. As I've said before on other threads, I really like my Jotul as a modern EPA stove but not that much more than all the old smoke stacks we used to run.

 

[firefighterjake]

Just about any of those brands you mention are good . . . with one possible exception . . . which has been mentioned.

I am a Jotul fan boy . . . but you may want to look at Pacific Energy . . . I know some folks in your area of the country (yes, BeGreen . . . I'm thinking of you) really like the PE line (truth be told a PE was in my list of finalists as well.)

If you're looking for a good, but inexpensive stove, the Englander line is highly regarded for both the quality and excellent customer service.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Just about any of those brands you mention are good . . . with one possible exception . . . which has been mentioned.

I am a Jotul fan boy . . . but you may want to look at Pacific Energy . . . I know some folks in your area of the country (yes, BeGreen . . . I'm thinking of you) really like the PE line (truth be told a PE was in my list of finalists as well.)

If you're looking for a good, but inexpensive stove, the Englander line is highly regarded for both the quality and excellent customer service.

firefighterjake made me think of another thing. Customer service is key and Jotul has virtually no direct to consumer customer service. Yes, I have the direct phone number but have never been able to talk to anyone. I've always had to leave messages and have never been called back. That's why I always turn to hearth.com for questions and solutions.

 

[jatoxico]

Can you post any pics of the hearth where it will go? Coming off a pellet stove with thermostatic control you may not be ready or want the peak and valley heating characteristics of a stove using tubes for secondary burning and might really appreciate a cat stove's ability to run low and slow in your climate.

 

[Complete]

Can you post any pics of the hearth where it will go? Coming off a pellet stove with thermostatic control you may not be ready or want the peak and valley heating characteristics of a stove using tubes for secondary burning and might really appreciate a cat stove's ability to run low and slow in your climate.

 

[Complete]

Okay! That was my attempt at uploading photos! I hope that worked. I made a drawing with relevant dimensions. The small door to the left is a wood storage with a steel passthru door to the outside. Currently the steel passthru door is non-opp. Needs repair.

Thanks for the recommendation on the cat-stove...been starting to read up on those. Seems like a better way to go after all. I just hope its not too complicated for the wife to run and wouldnt want it to clog up. We have wet wood lots of times (its oregon after all).

I'm open to doing tile work on the floor, but thats all of the modifications I want to make. Opening the fireplace up is more than I want to get into.

Was thinking of trying those pressed enegy logs... But thats a different topic.

My goal for this house long term is to reduce dependence on the 'grid'. Live sustainably. And be okay if SHTF. Also forgot to mention we have natural gas service to the house also if that makes any difference.

 

[jatoxico]

I agree you would need a rear vented free standing stove or an insert that extends onto the hearth. In both cases it's recommended to use a full steel liner to the top of the existing chimney. Most common is a 6" round liner. Do you know what the dimensions and construction of your chimney is? Ex. is it an interior or exterior chimney, is there a clay liner and what size, what's the total estimated length etc.?

 

[Complete]

Since we last spoke, I yarded out the pellet stove and measured external chimney at 18-19 feet high.

I pushed the two tubes from the pellet stove up and closed the flue. The flue will have to be cut out in order to fit a 6" pipe through. I want to get up top and look down to find out the internal construction.

It's rusty behind the stove, must be leaking. The 3-4" exhuast tube and fan had 2" of dirt/mud inside.

Theres a draft hole made into the floor of the fireplace with a slide out clean out on the outside.

 

[jatoxico]

Progress! Ideally you would install an insulated liner and a block-off plate (see below) to separate the old smoke shelf and flue from the living space for maximum heat retention and performance. Most new EPA stoves seem to require about 15' of chimney so you're good there.

 

[Complete]

Progress! Ideally you would install an insulated liner and a block-off plate (see below) to separate the old smoke shelf and flue from the living space for maximum heat retention and performance. Most new EPA stoves seem to require about 15' of chimney so you're good there.

View attachment 170220

Okay awesome. Need to get creative to get around this flue/smokeshelf or remove it in such a way that it can be reinstalled later. I hate hacking up original parts of the house.

Thanks for the heads up. I will keep my current block off plate. It can probably be reused or at least used as a template for a new one.

 

[jatoxico]

Need to get creative to get around this flue/smokeshelf or remove it in such a way that it can be reinstalled later.

That may not doable . They have top dampers you could add to give that capability back.

 

[Complete]

That may not doable . They have top dampers you could add to give that capability back.

Okay yeah I saw a graphic about that... It was a more efficent design supposedly anyway.

 

[Complete]

Hey, if nothing else, you guys inspired me towards progress today! And for that, I thank you!

Before...

After...

 

[brad wilton]

In my humble opinion go with something with a jotul type style will match house nicely.

 

[Complete]

In my humble opinion go with something with a jotul type style will match house nicely.

I agree! My wife really likes the ornate double doors on the Jotul.

I like the heathstone one and the woodstock one that looks pretty similar and sorta fancy lookin.

Need to lookup to see which are cataylst type

 

[begreen]

If you just looking for a supplement on rare cold days and are trying to save a bit of money then the Englander 13NC would do the job. It's 28.5 in tall. For more horsepower maybe consider the Woodstock Ideal Steel?

 

[RandyBoBandy]

My vote will not get much support but I am still a fan of Vermont castings. They are great looking heaters and I really haven't had any problems outside of regular maintenance on both of mine.

 

[Complete]

If you just looking for a supplement on rare cold days and are trying to save a bit of money then the Englander 13NC would do the job. It's 28.5 in tall. For more horsepower maybe consider the Woodstock Ideal Steel?

Ooooh Daang! The woodstock Ideal Steel looks really nice!

With the cost of the stove pipe and labor involved with the install, it seems like spending a bit more for the 'right' stove without comprimising much is the way to go.

The englander 13nc looks like top outlet only. Seems like that would make the install a pain to get the exhaust pipe lined up and hooked up.

 

[begreen]

You would be coming down the chimney with a flex liner. The stove would need to be placed so that the liner more or less aligned with the flue vent hole. There's a bit of wiggle room in this style install. Look at BrotherBart's 30NC install for an example.

 

[Complete]

You would be coming down the chimney with a flex liner. The stove would need to be placed so that the liner more or less aligned with the flue vent hole. There's a bit of wiggle room in this style install. Look at BrotherBart's 30NC install for an example.

Thanks BeGreen. Looks like 20' of flex is $3-600. If i could get a deal on a 30-nch for around $700, i might be able to get this whole thing done for around a grand with a help from a buddy or two?

Was looking for distance from center of flue to front door and back of unit dimensions, so I could mockup with cardboard to see how it looks.