Size of Firebox Large Enough? Pacific Energy Alderlea T4

[MtnMan100]

Looking at installing the T4 in newly constructed house in Colorado. Location of stove to be in a grand room open to top of second story in a 1900 sq foot house, i.e. would heat about 1/2 of it. We are going with in floor radiant heating throughout the house.

I'm concluding it is the right size for our intended use, which is occasional as supplemental heat and to use as a fireplace with the door open during the in between seasons.

However, the 18.75" side to side, 12 " front to back, 11.25" height of firebox is not large. And front door opening of 9.5" high and 14.75" wide seems a bit small too.

Am I going to be overly frustrated with difficulty of getting wood in this stove and room for draft to get a fire going? With its small capacity to hold wood and small door opening to load wood into it?

Wondering about experiences of others that have made decision for a smaller stove from Pacific Energy or perhaps other brands too.

I am also considering the T5 but am concerned with getting baked from too much heat, or if I run it low then with the door glass window blackening up.

 

[Hogwildz]

I am sure BG will chime in on this. I myself would be looking at the T5 or possibly even the T6.
Gentle heat, and if its a wide open floor plan as you say, the T4 ain't gonna cut it.

 

[snowtime]

I would go for the T5 at least. First off its a great heater and will give you overnight fires if you need it. This is the chance to get ready for those inevitable power outages. As far as to hot no problem you will learn to build small fires. Most here can burn in shoulder season by just limiting the size of fire and letting it go out.
The T5 and its brothers are convection so the heat is "soft". The only place for that searing heat that steel stoves give is from the front because of the glass. If theres a chance you will try to heat the whole house during winter than I would go for the T6. Either way your looking at some great stoves.

 

[Todd]

I think I'd go with the T-5. I never liked those small east/west loading fire boxes, they can be a real pain. The T-5 will give you more loading room and also gives you the straight in north/south loading.

 

[summit]

T5 or T6... if it was a stove for only one room, a T4... but if you want the burn time/extra oomf for the rest of the house when you want it you need the T5 at least. And get a blower no matter which one you get: you don't need to run any stove to full bore all the time with the blower attatched.

 

[fredarm]

I have the Vista insert, which is the same firebox as the T-4. It's small, but it's what would fit in my fireplace. It's a great little stove, well built and easy to use. It heats my living room and most of my first floor, which is only 950 square feet. Some heat does find its way upstairs, also 950 sf, but it certainly won't heat the whole house. It works well as a supplement, but if I could have fit a bigger firebox I would have. It won't hold an overnight burn, 6 hours is about the max, 3 to 4 before reloading is more realistic. You can't burn it with the door open--the baffle directs the smoke towards the front of the firebox to reburn it, so you run the risk of letting smoke in the room if you run it with the door open. It works much better with the door closed anyway, which gives you control of the air. Long story short, I'd go with the T-5.

 

[begreen]

Looking at installing the T4 in newly constructed house in Colorado. Location of stove to be in a grand room open to top of second story in a 1900 sq foot house, i.e. would heat about 1/2 of it. We are going with in floor radiant heating throughout the house.

I'm concluding it is the right size for our intended use, which is occasional as supplemental heat and to use as a fireplace with the door open during the in between seasons.

However, the 18.75" side to side, 12 " front to back, 11.25" height of firebox is not large. And front door opening of 9.5" high and 14.75" wide seems a bit small too.

Am I going to be overly frustrated with difficulty of getting wood in this stove and room for draft to get a fire going? With its small capacity to hold wood and small door opening to load wood into it?

Wondering about experiences of others that have made decision for a smaller stove from Pacific Energy or perhaps other brands too.

I am also considering the T5 but am concerned with getting baked from too much heat, or if I run it low then with the door glass window blackening up.

I would lean towards the larger stove for sure, especially if it is being depended on for heating when there are power outages. By the area described, the T5 will not overpower the room and is pretty flexible burning over a wide temperature range. . It will provide a lot more loading flexibility and longer burn times.

 

[MtnMan100]

Thanks for all who have posted. Hopefully some folks who have the T4 will post. Questions: how noisey is the blower and can you run it as different speeds?

 

[tutu_sue]

Keep in mind the T4 is rated to heat 1500 sq. ft. with 8 foot high ceilings in a moderate climate (like Seattle) and running full of wood with a lot of air and loading the stove every 2 to 3 hours. If you have the stove in a great room, cut the square footage number in half, actually a little more to account for the high ceilings. That would mean about 700 sq. feet in a colder climate (like CO or NJ where I live). I would say go with the T5 at minimum for heating half of the house and less fire tending and clean glass. You won't get baked a lot of the heat will hang out in the high ceiling.

 

[begreen]

A ceiling fan will be useful for breaking up hot air stratifying near the ceiling. Run it in reverse in the winter.

The blower may not be necessary at all with the Alderlea, it's a mostly convective stove. I'd try it without one for a season, then decide. If want to add it later, it's an easy 5 minute install. Although our blower is quiet on lower speeds (it is variable speed), it looks like the blower will be used mostly to rapidly cool down the stovetop in case of high temps and for seriously cold days. For us, that's daytime temps 25 and below. Otherwise we use a quiet ecofan and convection for gentle heat circulation.

 

[summit]

Thanks for all who have posted. Hopefully some folks who have the T4 will post. Questions: how noisey is the blower and can you run it as different speeds?

all PE stoves use the same blower: you notice it running on high, but it can be turned down to just a whisper.

 

[REF1]

Having had little but frustration with the small firebox I have (which is a little bigger than a Vista in a smaller house than yours), and the east west loading, and seeing CO is not a mild winter, I'd go with the larger unit. You can always open a window to cool down a house. But a stove will only give a max of heat and when you max it out and it isn't enough, it's a discouragement.

 

[MtnMan100]

Thanks for everyones' advice. Decided to go with the T5.

 

[dispatcher101]

good choice. I am in colorado springs a little over 1400 sq ft and no blower, have the T5 and love it You can achieve good overnight burns even when burning pine! Make sure to post pics Oh and it's almost impossible to darken the glass on these stoves, super easy to run and look great! You gonna instal it yourself?

 

[MtnMan100]

No, having it installed by the dealer carrying it locally. Looking forward to experiencing it next winter.

 

[dispatcher101]

nice! whereabouts in CO are you?

 

[MtnMan100]

Moving from northern Illinois to retire in Durango.

In Illinois, I have had a Vermont Castings Resolute to heat a seasonal porch for many years, which I bought used from a dealer, so the stove itself if probably more than 20 years of age. Realized from doing this how great wood stoves are.

I had intended to get another VC stove because this one has been a fine experience, until I stumbled upon this web site to learn how badly that company has been dragged down. It's a shame.

I stumbled on this site when I was googling the web to find a phone number for VC to ask a few questions, but found the company does not release a phone number.

 

[dispatcher101]

Durango is a great town; very beautiful area.

I assume you will be burning mostly pine??? Don't know how much experience you have with it in IL. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well it burns; and how little ash it leaves. I have to go about 2 hours west of here to find any decent permit areas for cutting my own wood. Beetle kill pine burns very well; has been dead for a number of years so the top 3/4 of the tree is normally very dry already. If you manage to cut/split in the early summer the majority of the pine should be ready to burn by winter.

Got a line on pole/post permits just out of Salida for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests.

"Post and pole permits are also available. Costs for post and pole permits are $20.00 which entitles the permit holder to cut and remove 75 posts or poles." http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/sal/firewood_information.shtml

The permits are broken into 4 tags. So I am assuming that 1 pole is as long a section of wood you can muscle up on the trailer with 3 or 4 guys without bucking it up. That should equate to a lot of wood at a pretty good price.

 

[begreen]

Moving from northern Illinois to retire in Durango.

In Illinois, I have had a Vermont Castings Resolute to heat a seasonal porch for many years, which I bought used from a dealer, so the stove itself if probably more than 20 years of age. Realized from doing this how great wood stoves are.

I had intended to get another VC stove because this one has been a fine experience, until I stumbled upon this web site to learn how badly that company has been dragged down. It's a shame.

I stumbled on this site when I was googling the web to find a phone number for VC to ask a few questions, but found the company does not release a phone number.

I had the original Resolute and loved that stove too. It was a classic. But when they changed to the EPA version of the Resolute Acclaim, it was a totally different stove. They would work great for 2-3 years, then need an interior rebuild due to the refractory assembly falling apart. That made it a very expensive stove to own.

You'll like the new PE. It's easy to light, simple to run and maintain and it'll give you a great lightshow.

 

[MtnMan100]

Dispatcher, where in Colorado do you live?

Yes, burning softwood will be a whole new experience for me. Hardwood is easy to come by in northern Illinois so that is all I have burned over the years.

I'm told there is a nearby company that does something with Aspen and has Aspen wood scraps one can go pick up very inexpensively. I think it is in or near Cortez. How does Aspen burn?

 

[begreen]

Softwood burns fine in the Alderlea. If you get high altitude spruce, it is much more dense than lowland spruce because it grows so much slower. MountainStoveGuy (Ryan) reports that it burns like hardwood.

 

[MtnMan100]

From what I have seen, the pine forest in the San Juans near Durango is much healthier than what I've seen along the front range. Much less beetle tree kill. So, don't know what the arrangements are to cut your own wood in the national forests nearby. But I've got a pick up truck and chain saw so will need to look into this.

 

[dispatcher101]

I live in Colorado Springs; about an hour and a half south of Denver. Yeah, that may be true that the San Juan Forest is in better shape. The Pike and White River forest have been devastated by beetle kill. Makes the mountains look ugly but is great firewood. I haven't burned a lot of aspen. I would imagine it would take some time to season well, but cheap/free wood is well cheap/free. I think it produces quite a bit of ash.
My brother-in-law and I normally take his F250 and my Tacoma and fill them both up. With 2 saws and 2 guys it goes quickly. Last year we stuck mostly to the area's outside of Breckenridge as well as outside of Florissant just before Wilkerson pass. I don't particularly like driving 2 hours to go get wood. But it's hard to beat $10-20 a cord.

Another buddy of ours just put in an old Buck stove and goes through some serious wood He bought himself a 16 ft x 8 ft trailer. He "thinks" that we are gonna go and just "load the trailer up." I don't think that he realizes what he is in for. cutting and loading a cord of wood is some serious work...especially above 10,000 ft! My brother and law and I are considering ponying up some money and just buying him the cheapest EPA stove we can find on craigslist...just so we don't have to help him get 10 cords to keep warm for next winter.

I would stop by the forest district office. They can provide maps of the firewood areas; and you can buy permits at the same time. They normally sell them in 2 cord packs of 4 1/2 cord tags. I can't buy a cord of Pine here in Colorado Springs for less than $100, an it is usually crap anyways. This way I can cut it to the length I want and have the splits the size that burns best for me. I am still young and gung ho, so we normally make 2 trips / weekend until we have what we need.

DINNER TIME...