First post ever to any forum. Please be kind- I know you will; I have been lurking for some time.
I have a 3000 sq ft rancher (1450 up and 1450 down) that I want to heat with wood. It has electric basebord but I don't want them kicking on any more than necessary for obvious reasons. House is fairly tight, judging by how often my A/C has been cycling.
Winters here in western Maryland are not consistently cold; temps tend to vary more than what most of you guys are probably used to, though. That being said, sometimes it'll get into the teens here for weeks and where I'm situated (at foot of mountain) it's breezy, so I want the capacity to heat things up when necessary.
The basement is unfinished but will be finished soon. It will enjoy excellent air movement due to an open floor plan, and I'll be removing the insulation betwen floors to promote cozy toes.
I want a non-cat stove in the basement and plan to cut grates/ registers in the floor to allow air to move to the main floor. So now the question: Which stove to buy? Answer: (I think) Talk me out of the Jotul 600 or 55. My only reservation is firebox size. The 600 comes in at 2.97 whereas a Quad 5700 has 3+ cubic feet.We're talking fractions but before I spend big bucks I want to be as sure as I can reasonably expect to be.
To give you any idea of my thinking, here's my short list:
* Quad 5700 (I was loving the big honking firebox until I read that the Chinese metal may crack)
*Jotul 600 or 55 (are they big enough to heat my space? I'd buy a 600 in a heartbeat if assured that it has the capacity- the sticker at the local showroom only said 2400 sq ft, but the salesman said they're tested in Norway so... )
*Napolean 1900 (haven't seen it but it's a little cheaper than most and I like the specs- educate me here)
*Harman HL 300 (saw this one too. Just worried about wife forgetting to close secondary and melting that sucker down)
Shoud I consider something else? After all my research and lurking, it looks like it's boiling down to firebox size, which was why the Quad got me all fired up until I read about the cracking. So my main question is: are there any stoves I've mentioned that do NOT have the capacity to heat this space? Emphasis on the Jotul. Thanks so much.
I have a 3000 sq ft rancher (1450 up and 1450 down) that I want to heat with wood. It has electric basebord but I don't want them kicking on any more than necessary for obvious reasons. House is fairly tight, judging by how often my A/C has been cycling.
Winters here in western Maryland are not consistently cold; temps tend to vary more than what most of you guys are probably used to, though. That being said, sometimes it'll get into the teens here for weeks and where I'm situated (at foot of mountain) it's breezy, so I want the capacity to heat things up when necessary.
The basement is unfinished but will be finished soon. It will enjoy excellent air movement due to an open floor plan, and I'll be removing the insulation betwen floors to promote cozy toes.
I want a non-cat stove in the basement and plan to cut grates/ registers in the floor to allow air to move to the main floor. So now the question: Which stove to buy? Answer: (I think) Talk me out of the Jotul 600 or 55. My only reservation is firebox size. The 600 comes in at 2.97 whereas a Quad 5700 has 3+ cubic feet.We're talking fractions but before I spend big bucks I want to be as sure as I can reasonably expect to be.
To give you any idea of my thinking, here's my short list:
* Quad 5700 (I was loving the big honking firebox until I read that the Chinese metal may crack)
*Jotul 600 or 55 (are they big enough to heat my space? I'd buy a 600 in a heartbeat if assured that it has the capacity- the sticker at the local showroom only said 2400 sq ft, but the salesman said they're tested in Norway so... )
*Napolean 1900 (haven't seen it but it's a little cheaper than most and I like the specs- educate me here)
*Harman HL 300 (saw this one too. Just worried about wife forgetting to close secondary and melting that sucker down)
Shoud I consider something else? After all my research and lurking, it looks like it's boiling down to firebox size, which was why the Quad got me all fired up until I read about the cracking. So my main question is: are there any stoves I've mentioned that do NOT have the capacity to heat this space? Emphasis on the Jotul. Thanks so much.