Small house, tight clearances, smaller stove, registers and more...

[jibe]

Well all, first post here. I've been reading old posts and threads for about 2 hours now so here goes:


I currently have a SeeFire 1600 woodstove heating ~750 sq ft upstairs. I'm heating the ~750 feet downstairs with electric and gas, but only enough to keep pipes from freezing really. I don't use the downstairs very often, mostly storage. Poorly insulated, updated windows, slowly working on sealing the house up tighter. House was built in 1928. Thinking about putting in a register to pull air downstairs with a fan integrated into it.

The Seefire is sitting on a 48in (wall run) corner hearth pad. I'm not a hundred percent sure it is up to code, but it is within a 1/4 in or so of whats on the plate if I'm reading it right.

When I had the chimney cleaned the sweeper suggested I have the stove replaced due to a welded plate inside the stove that made cleaning difficult and a bunch of broken brick inside.

I'd like to have as small a stove as possible as well as tight clearances to reduce the impact the stove has on the room. Money is an issue. I looked at the Jotul 602, but I'm a little concerned about overnight burns, but I can live without that really. Clearances don't really seem that good either.

The stove is angled into the corner and I'd like to keep it that way. Thoughts? I like the looks of jotul and morso stoves and I seem to have some sort of pre-disposition to n-s loading like the 602 and morso 2b (if I have my terminology right.)

 

[Sealcove]

I don't know if a different shape works for your space, but you might look at the Lopi Answer if you want a fairly small stove with tight clearances. With an approved double wall connector, it only requires 7.5" to combustibles off the corners for a corner installation.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You might also look strongly at the Woodstock stoves. Soft heat in smaller places is more comfortable and those stoves are built extremely well. Besides, you will not find a better warranty in the industry! When we put ours in, we reduced our fuel needs by a bunch! We used to use from 4-6 cords and sometimes more wood per year. Last year we burned less than 3 and stayed much, much warmer.

Welcome to the forum and good luck to you.

 

[begreen]

You'll need a close clearance stove. As much as I like the 602, this is not the best for your situation unless a wall shield is added. For longer burns and close clearances and affordable stoves, I'd look at jacketed steel stoves instead. Possible candidates are a Napoleon 1100c, Pacific Energy Vista, or the Quadrafire 2100. If you have the stove connected with double-wall interior pipe, then you can stay with the 48" hearth. I'm partial to PE stoves, but you may find a better deal on the other brands locally.

This is a tough time to be buying a new stove. Demand has been high this year. If you can't find them locally, you might check with Tom at the chimneysweep. Shipping shouldn't be too bad to OR. (broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/pacvista.htm)

Trying to heat the downstairs from upstairs is not going to happen without some sort of brute force fan system that probably will be more expensive and noisy than it's worth. It would be better to keep investing on insulation and caulking for down there.

 

[Jimbob]

The Vista Classic is a small stove that only needs 3" clearance from the corners IF it is installed using double walled pipe. The removable baffle makes cleaning a snap, too.
I also agree with BG. Money spent on insulation is $$$ well spent.

 

[jibe]

Thought I might bump this for some additional thoughts if anyone has any...

I kind of like the look of the Morso and Jotul stoves, but yes, clearances are an issue.