I am deliriously happy PE Alderlea T6 owner! We've had the stove in our Western NC home for several years now and LOVE IT! I might add a flue damper after doing some research today on my second stove because others have commented it has a tendency to over draft in tall chimneys. Certainly, ours does. We have a very tall chimney (huge cathedral ceiling plus steep roof pitch has us some 33' or more). I love the ease of it, the look of it, and the size fire I can put in it. And, the trivets are awesome for warming socks and tortillas....
We're now building another home in Eastern NC where we live and work most of the time (Western NC home is a vacation place) and we're deciding whether we should get a second T6 or consider another model. I don't think I have a dealer option in Eastern NC for PE... This is perhaps not a show stopper but nice to have a dealer relationship when you need something. And, at this writing, I'm not sure if my builder would install it himself. But, it is a reason to expand our search to other models since we'll want to design in the specs for the stove before we start building.
Winter conditions are pretty identical in both places, but the local power situation is a little less stable in the Eastern NC location. When it goes out, it stays out for a few days at a time so we want to be sure we can stay warm if it does this when it's sub-freezing outside. We have plenty of seasoned hard wood (nearly all oak) and we CSS ourselves so we can make whatever size we want/need.
We like the idea of having the exact same stove because then it's all the same for operation, maintenance, etc. But, we're also considering a catalytic stove to see if we can get longer burn times -- particularly for those overnights when it's below freezing.
I didn't get a CAT for my first stove because I was new to burning and didn't want one more thing to worry about in my ignorance, so I chose the simplicity of the non-cat. And, we're only heating perhaps 10 nights a month at most since this is a vacation residence so it didn't seem like something I had to have. But, for our new home that we'll be in the other 20 nights a month, we want to heat exclusively with wood all winter and thought we might get more bang for the buck with a cat stove.
The home is in the design process so we have no constraints whatsoever at this point. We're thinking we'll end up around 2600 sqft and have cathedral ceilings in the great room (16-18'). We want a model with a blower and OAK.
I want cast because, well, I just like the look of cast. Cast over steel, such as the T6, is fine. I'm not wild about the look of soapstone but still reading up on it -- it's not entirely crossed off at this writing.
My short list so far is: a 2nd T6, Lopi Cape Cod, BK Ashford 30.
The only thing I've learned so far that I don't like is that the Lopi Cape Cod has a bit of a narrow firebox. It's stated at 3 cubic ft. but it seems it's not nearly as usable as the 3 cubic feet in the T6. How big of a problem is this really? We make HUGE splits for the T6 (of hickory or oak) for overnight burns and can put ~2 -4 of them in to fill the box for overnight. I imagine we can make smaller splits if needed for the Cape Cod. I presume the cat would allow for more burning on less and/or smaller splits. Is that true?
What other models should I consider? I've ruled out the Jotul already largely due to aesthetics. The QF Explorer III seems like it could be in the hunt, but I may have the same dealer limitation and why change from my beloved T6 for another non-cat?
Any reason why I should/should not switch to cat that I should be thinking about?
Thank you!
We're now building another home in Eastern NC where we live and work most of the time (Western NC home is a vacation place) and we're deciding whether we should get a second T6 or consider another model. I don't think I have a dealer option in Eastern NC for PE... This is perhaps not a show stopper but nice to have a dealer relationship when you need something. And, at this writing, I'm not sure if my builder would install it himself. But, it is a reason to expand our search to other models since we'll want to design in the specs for the stove before we start building.
Winter conditions are pretty identical in both places, but the local power situation is a little less stable in the Eastern NC location. When it goes out, it stays out for a few days at a time so we want to be sure we can stay warm if it does this when it's sub-freezing outside. We have plenty of seasoned hard wood (nearly all oak) and we CSS ourselves so we can make whatever size we want/need.
We like the idea of having the exact same stove because then it's all the same for operation, maintenance, etc. But, we're also considering a catalytic stove to see if we can get longer burn times -- particularly for those overnights when it's below freezing.
I didn't get a CAT for my first stove because I was new to burning and didn't want one more thing to worry about in my ignorance, so I chose the simplicity of the non-cat. And, we're only heating perhaps 10 nights a month at most since this is a vacation residence so it didn't seem like something I had to have. But, for our new home that we'll be in the other 20 nights a month, we want to heat exclusively with wood all winter and thought we might get more bang for the buck with a cat stove.
The home is in the design process so we have no constraints whatsoever at this point. We're thinking we'll end up around 2600 sqft and have cathedral ceilings in the great room (16-18'). We want a model with a blower and OAK.
I want cast because, well, I just like the look of cast. Cast over steel, such as the T6, is fine. I'm not wild about the look of soapstone but still reading up on it -- it's not entirely crossed off at this writing.
My short list so far is: a 2nd T6, Lopi Cape Cod, BK Ashford 30.
The only thing I've learned so far that I don't like is that the Lopi Cape Cod has a bit of a narrow firebox. It's stated at 3 cubic ft. but it seems it's not nearly as usable as the 3 cubic feet in the T6. How big of a problem is this really? We make HUGE splits for the T6 (of hickory or oak) for overnight burns and can put ~2 -4 of them in to fill the box for overnight. I imagine we can make smaller splits if needed for the Cape Cod. I presume the cat would allow for more burning on less and/or smaller splits. Is that true?
What other models should I consider? I've ruled out the Jotul already largely due to aesthetics. The QF Explorer III seems like it could be in the hunt, but I may have the same dealer limitation and why change from my beloved T6 for another non-cat?
Any reason why I should/should not switch to cat that I should be thinking about?
Thank you!
