Wife and I recently purchased an 1878 farmhouse. Original house is 2000 sf two story and a 700 sf "L" shaped addition has been added consisting of a 450 sf kitchen with 16 ft ceilings and a 250 sf hexagon room with lots of windows. Looking for a stove to supplement the geothermal unit that does well in the original home but the addition seems to be an efficiency nightmare due to the number of windows. We had regular $750 electricity bills last year. The stove will be in the kitchen on the shared wall with the hexagon room so it's not directly underneath the bedrooms. I like the idea of temp control with the cat stove (low and slow). My question is will the Cape Cod be too much since we spend most of our time in the hexagon room? Other suggestions?
Rookie thinking of Cape Cod
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Trilifter7
Feeling the Heat
The Cap Cod should be fine. I would also suggest looking at the Woodstock Progress Hybrid. It's soapstone so it gives off a softer heat which might be beneficial in a tight room. Also has a cook top for cooking.
![[Hearth.com] Rookie thinking of Cape Cod](/talk/data/attachments/105/105914-976fb9f7ccbc5711e8f9092d58d2eb4c.jpg?hash=ulfGv6gqT3)
aansorge
Minister of Fire
(broken link removed to http://southbend.craigslist.org/fuo/3895520599.html)
Here is about the perfect stove for your application, and it comes with all the venting. This one is in your home state, no idea how close it is to you. Haggle 'em down to 1200, clean her up, and you'll have a great stove for a low price.
Here is about the perfect stove for your application, and it comes with all the venting. This one is in your home state, no idea how close it is to you. Haggle 'em down to 1200, clean her up, and you'll have a great stove for a low price.
aansorge
Minister of Fire
Actually talk them down a bit more than that...it is a 98 model (but never fired). I'd try talking them down to 900.
These are great stoves, and a lot smaller than the Cod. It should suit your addition well. Of course check out clearance to combustibles on any stove before you purchase.
here is the web link for the Keystone...(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/keystone)
These are great stoves, and a lot smaller than the Cod. It should suit your addition well. Of course check out clearance to combustibles on any stove before you purchase.
here is the web link for the Keystone...(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/keystone)
I agree. If the Keystone is anywhere near you, go for it. I'd put in a hearth pad that would be satisfactory of a Progress Hybrid/Cape Cod. Get a good price on the Keystone, run it for a year. If it is too small for your needs, you should be able to sell it at the end of a season for what you have paid for it and move up to a bigger stove. Place the stovepipe/chimney such that a Cape Cod or Progress Hybrid will just slip in where you initially install the Keystone. The Keystone will absolutely make a huge difference, and may well be all you need. If you find you want more heat, easy to move up in size. And, you will have experienced a soapstone stove and know what heating with one feels like, so you'll know if you want to go that route with a bigger (if needed) stove.
Ram 1500 with an axe...
Minister of Fire
$750 a month! Wow you definitely need to do something about that....many here will help you get what you need, I'm glad your doing something about that electric bill... Gl
fox9988
Minister of Fire
Welcome Doc21,
Has the original 2000sqft been insulated? Walls, floors, ceilings? Windows replaced? drafty? What about the addition?
$750 +geothermal=huge BTU loss. Is the geo working properly? Could you be loosing BTU"s to it?
Sorry for all the questions but something that a stove won't fix, it very wrong. Good luck
Has the original 2000sqft been insulated? Walls, floors, ceilings? Windows replaced? drafty? What about the addition?
$750 +geothermal=huge BTU loss. Is the geo working properly? Could you be loosing BTU"s to it?
Sorry for all the questions but something that a stove won't fix, it very wrong. Good luck
The entire house was taken down to the studs and redone in 1999 when the addition was added. I have no problems with the original house but it is noticeably colder or warmer depending on season in the new addition. The new addition has lots of windows (double pane) that I suspect to be a large part of the problem. As for the geo unit, I did have to replace several parts this winter ($1500) and we were without heat for over two weeks. It was definitely not running optimally which may have contributed to the electric bill. I have two small children and vowed that would be the last time we relied on kerosene for heat and here I am today. I know figuring out the insulation issue is the best solution, but with lots of free wood and a strong back, a stove seems like a no brainer. The top two on my list are the Cod and the VC Encore. For me it's coming down to whether the Cod will be too much stove since there is no air return in the addition to move the heat to the original house.
fox9988
Minister of Fire
How large is the opening between the addition and the original house? The larger it is the more heat you will be able to generate in the addition and move to the rest of the house, without overheating the addition. Fans can help also. The Cape Cod should be able to heat the entire home, just not from the addition. As suggested a Keystone should heat the addition easily plus help the rest of the house.
If you do a little research on here you will quickly find that an encore isn't a great way to go. VC is plagued with problems, I'd run from any VC except the cat dutchwest.
I have never had a keystone, but I've had lots of other stoves and most of them would do fine in your set-up. But I can honestly say that the cape cod is the finest burning stove I have ever ran!
I have never had a keystone, but I've had lots of other stoves and most of them would do fine in your set-up. But I can honestly say that the cape cod is the finest burning stove I have ever ran!
The opening between the addition and the original home is, unfortunately, a normal doorway. I'd read some horror stories on VC and quality control and customer service in the last several years. Wasn't sure if those issues had been resolved so I appreciate the info. These forums are great. Any other suggestions in a cat or hybrid stove for my situation? The Cape Cod is looking good but I'm still concerned about being able to move the air. I should mention the Mrs is interested in adding on to the house (I got my 43 acres so she now wants her ridiculous bathroom). The addition would be off of the current "L" addition. Probably getting ahead of myself, but it never hurts to lean on the wisdom of experience.
Great video Webby! I'm almost sold, but I've also heard some pretty steep prices on the Cape Cod. Haven't priced it out yet, but I can get the Encore for 2795. Obviously, if the quality is still an issue with VC, that's irrelevant, but the $4K I've heard on the Cod might be pushing it.
I don't think the Cape Cod will be too much heat as long as you have a sensible plan to move the air. FYI, if you are looking in this direction there are other alternatives including Woodstock's new Progress Hybrid, Blaze King's stoves and the established stoves of several other companies.
Any way to position the stove in that addition where a blower on the stove would be shooting at that doorway?
Yeah I know. Power outages. Have a lot of them myself but a little generator for the blower is cheaper than Kero and doesn't smell the house up.
Yeah I know. Power outages. Have a lot of them myself but a little generator for the blower is cheaper than Kero and doesn't smell the house up.
aansorge
Minister of Fire
The woodstock hybrid has very similar capabilities and is cheaper...
(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/sale)
sticks
Burning Hunk
The problems with VC have not been fixed. Do yourself a favor spend thhe money now on the Cod instead of on the Encore later.
aansorge
Minister of Fire
There are lots of non-cat options that would work here, especially with some air circulation. Is there a ceiling fan in the addition? If you can post a sketch of the 1st floor plan we can suggest some ways to assist airflow. Pics of the room, proposed stove area, connecting doorway etc. also will help.
![[Hearth.com] Rookie thinking of Cape Cod](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/106/106019-e6dad50ab00ff5a82bba0b46efbd9860.jpg?hash=-rz4zzRRPh "[Hearth.com] Rookie thinking of Cape Cod")
This is a view from the original house into the addition which are the two rooms I have problems with. The stove would sit on the wall where the kitchen table is now. You can see the hexagon room through the next doorway. There is a ceiling fan in the kitchen.
Good about the ceiling fan, it will help move the air. I see a small problem. Mechanical code says that a return vent must be at least 10 ft away from the stove. Check with your local inspecting authority to see if this will be an issue or not.
What do you see when the camera is turned 180 deg, pointing into the old section of the house? That is where I am thinking of suggesting putting a fan. This might be able to be built into the kitchen wall if there is no convenient location outside this doorway, but it would help to see the wall and doorway to see if there are other options. Maybe even a transom window?
What do you see when the camera is turned 180 deg, pointing into the old section of the house? That is where I am thinking of suggesting putting a fan. This might be able to be built into the kitchen wall if there is no convenient location outside this doorway, but it would help to see the wall and doorway to see if there are other options. Maybe even a transom window?
That vent is actually not an air return. I'm not sure what the thinking was on it, but it appears to just be a vent between the rooms. Directly behind the camera is a 12 X 25 ft living room which would easily accommodate a ceiling fan. A 90 degree turn then leads the entryway with stairs followed by a 10 X 10 room. There is a landing and two bedroom upstairs above the 12X25 and 10 X 10 downstairs rooms.
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