Still havent decided

[Malatesta]

Well its been really hard for me and the Misses on deciding on which stove to get ? Our home isabout 1500 sq. ft. 2 story 1930's with front and rear dormers.

Weve narrowed it down to Heartstone's Shelburne , Lopi's Leyden and the T5 from PE for cast iron models.

For soapstone its the Wood stock Fireview or Hearthstone Heritage.

The chimney will be straight up about 25-28 ft. The stove will be used mostly as a primary heat source.

Do you feel any of these will be under-powered ? and working the stove to hard ?

There all nice stoves and i no theres even more out there that are just as nice.

So any suggestions from users of these and how happy its made you and the wife would be greatly appreciated !

 

[RedRanger]

If it is available in your area? Take a look at the Enviro Kodiak line of stoves as well.

Good bang for the buck!! I`m getting 7 hour burn times using only softwood with my 1700 insert.

 

[Chief Ryan]

I have the Woodstock Fireview and i love it. The soapstone gives a very soft heat that doesn't blast you out of the room. Right now my stove is running at about 550 and it's very comfortable.

I have a ranch style home with 10' ceilings that steel a lot of the heat. I have a small fan on the mantel of the fireplace to blow the heat to other side of the house and it works good.

Woodstock has a 6 month no questions asked money back guarantee on all there stoves and a unbeatable customer service. I was at there factory for about 4 hours and they showed me the entire place. Even go to sit down the the guys who test the stoves. They had sensors all over the stove collecting data, it was really cool

They say the stove will heat 1600 SQ FT, so it may work for you.

Good luck

 

[Hanko]

another procrastinator. Keep waiting and you can turn the AC on

 

[Hogwildz]

How wel is the house insulated?
at 25 to 27' tall, I suggest an inline damper to help control if draft gets over powering.
I have 27' on my insert and it drafts very strong. Nothing overpowering, but some have had overdrafting problems with taller stacks.
Duravent makes one that is built into the stove adapter. Others may also, not sure.

 

[Todd]

If your serious about using the stove as your primary heat source I'll try and steer you towards the soapstone. My opinion after burning many different stoves is soapstone is best for 24/7 burning. It just gives you that comfy even radiant heat. The Fireview would be a great fit for you along with the Heritage, but I would personally go for the cat stove for the longer more controlled burns.

 

[Malatesta]

another procrastinator. Keep waiting and you can turn the AC on

I have a stove in the house now,i just want to make this my last purchase hanko. Thks for your wonderful input.

 

[Malatesta]

How wel is the house insulated?
at 25 to 27' tall, I suggest an inline damper to help control if draft gets over powering.
I have 27' on my insert and it drafts very strong. Nothing overpowering, but some have had overdrafting problems with taller stacks.
Duravent makes one that is built into the stove adapter. Others may also, not sure.

House has replacement windows, our current stove drafts really well. We have a damper and it still pulls good. Its currently 8 inch. The new stove will be 6 and in a different location. All the old stuff will go.Thks for the reply

 

[Dix]

another procrastinator. Keep waiting and you can turn the AC on

I have a stove in the house now,i just want to make this my last purchase hanko. Thks for your wonderful input.

Woodcrib ...take Hanko w/ a grain of salt ;-)

 

[BrotherBart]

Never owned one and never burned in one but I think that Shelburne just looks like a great wood stove if you are a cast iron stove type person. The quality just jumps out and grabs ya.

 

[Malatesta]

If your serious about using the stove as your primary heat source I'll try and steer you towards the soapstone. My opinion after burning many different stoves is soapstone is best for 24/7 burning. It just gives you that comfy even radiant heat. The Fireview would be a great fit for you along with the Heritage, but I would personally go for the cat stove for the longer more controlled burns.

Thks Todd thats what i was thinking too. I just wish woodstock made one about 70,00btu's. I like the Phoneix too just wish it had a blower option. I guess i could always place a small fan in the room.

Thks for the reply !

 

[Malatesta]

Never owned one and never burned in one but I think that Shelburne just looks like a great wood stove if you are a cast iron stove type person. The quality just jumps out and grabs ya.

Its a beautiful Stove BB. Along with the Leyden. This will be our last purchase. Owe Eileen Hanko didnt bother me at all, just my way of saying thks !

 

[BrotherBart]

I just wish woodstock made one about 70,00btu's.

I live not more than 90 miles south of you and have a 75,000 BTU stove in a 2,500 sq. ft. two story house. Put a 70,000 BTU wood stove in that place and most of the winter you are going to be sleeping in the garage. Gentle heat or no gentle heat.

 

[atvdave]

I can't say much as I am new at this stuff, but I do have a Lopi insert. I am very happy with my purchase, and the insert seams to be built very well. I have a ranch style home of 1600sf.

 

[Malatesta]

I just wish woodstock made one about 70,00btu's.

I live not more than 90 miles south of you and have a 75,000 BTU stove in a 2,500 sq. ft. two story house. Put a 70,000 BTU wood stove in that place and most of the winter you are going to be sleeping in the garage. Gentle heat or no gentle heat.

Too much BB ! for the 1500 sq ft ? Our old stove just isnt efficient. So do you think 50-55 thousand will do it ? and be comfy upstairs.... Iam just not up to date on these newer stoves and there output capability.

Weve been to dealers and checked out the stove that had wood in them and they were really warm ! Big difference thou in a home.

 

[Hogwildz]

I never had a soapstone stove, but sounds like that would be the way to go for you.
Long , gently disbursed heat. Myself, I needed a simple to operate non finicky stove. One that heats up quick and puts out serious heat.
Not saying any other don't do that. I did not want to deal with a cat, and wanted a one air control operation.
I always say, make a list of things you must have in a stove, things you would like to have bu are not a must, and the things you don't want to deal with.
Pick 3 or so that are in the park, go through the list and narrow it down to the one that fits the bill the best.
I also relied bigtime on reviews and complaints or lack of.

 

[BJ64]

I have the Lopi Leyden and I am happy with it. On the other hand I don't recommend it lightly.

I can report that I have not had any of the issues that seem to bother some of the other downdraft stoves and it surpasses all of my expiations. It will crank the heat and use a surprisingly small amount of wood when the after burner is kicked in. I am also sure the other stoves will crank the heat on demand and be efficient with the wood. I cannot say that there are any advantages with the Leyden unless it comes to appearance. It is a handsome stove and that is what the wife and I wanted.

Another reason I hesitate recommending the Leyden is that the down draft stoves have more of a learning curve and require more attention to operate. The other rigs are simpler to learn and operate. It is reported that the soap stone rigs radiate heat for a very long time and that the Pacific Energy stoves have great burn times. These are big advantages.

With the Leyden I can count on a 6 hour burn and I often get 7 or 8 hour burns but it took a while to learn how to do it. Once the fire dies the stove cools to 200 degrees rather quickly. It will hold a good bed of coals at least for 4 hours and is quick to restart. I believe your other choices can do just as good and in some cases better in these various aspects.

The good things about the Leyden. It is well built. It is easy to start. I see no potential problems with it. The afterburner works without fuss. It is easy to keep clean. Top loading is great! The company is responsive; they successfully addressed the damper issue that they had in earlier models. It has a stately look about it and it cranks heat on demand. You can daisy chain burns for days, just kick out the after burner for a second, reload with wood, dump ash if needed, and re-engage the AB.

The Leyden is a very good stove; I just don't think it is the right stove for everybody. In your case I would pick between the PE T5 and the soap stone stoves.

 

[rickw]

Long post warning...

Just put in a Woodstock Fireview last weekend. It is fantastic. It looks like its using much less wood than the old stove (part of that is that its a hearth stove instead of an insert). As attractive though is the convenience (long burn time). It will reliably go more than 12 hours between loads - I have been loading it twice a day this last week (without needing to light more than the first fire). I'm reloading with splits too, no screwing around with kindling.The old insert might go 6 hours at best, and generally required lots of fussing to be able to do it (preheating, packing, etc). It might take a 1/2 hour to be able to engage the cat on the Fireview; but that isn't much different than fiddling with a secondary burn system. Then you don't touch it for many, many hours.
Many people have mentioned that it could be larger. If it was bigger it would probably have a greater minimum heat output; making it less than ideal for shoulder season. Our house is a moderately well insulated 1200 sqft ranch (3 inches fiberglass in attic, blown-in fiberglass in standard 2x4 stud walls); and the stove is making us sweat at a 375 stovetop temperature, with the outside temp at 10 degrees.
Woodstock has made a well balanced design that works great. Just look at the reviews on this site (search under ratings). You'll find about 50 VERY satisfied customers. Look at any other stove to find one with such positive ratings. Check the size of their homes, too - not many owners say it throws too little heat.
Yes its heavy. Four standard guys hefted it without herniation. Not a big deal. (take off the top and remove the firebricks)
The Woodstock company was very helpful and friendly when I picked up the stove last summer. I've heard their support is great but I haven't needed to find out.

So how do I REALLY feel? I like it a lot, I like the cat a lot. If you really need a bigger stove maybe look at the Blaze King cat; you could probably fill that mother up once a day.

Like with so many things this is not the time to make a choice based on cost alone. Value is what you're after here, and you probably want to do as good a job a possible with the choice of stove, the hearth, the wood rack/shed. Take your time, do it right and you won't do it over again in a few years. Best of luck!

 

[Hanko]

another procrastinator. Keep waiting and you can turn the AC on

I have a stove in the house now,i just want to make this my last purchase hanko. Thks for your wonderful input.

your welcome, a grain of salt is good

 

[G-rott]

Let us know what you do and how it works for you.

rickw...insulate insulate insulate...add some attic insulation and be more comfortable, go green...save fuel and money. Cellulose is a good weekend job on most ranch houses and it is one that is more comfortable to do when it's cool or cold outside.

Garett

 

[Backwoods Savage]

After being on this forum for a while there is one thing that really sticks out but has not been mentioned or else I've missed it. It seems that almost every stove or insert mentioned has to be burned hot. People are even talking about running 500 + degrees when the outside temperature is in the 40's. I've even been cut down by some well-meaning folks when saying there is no need to fill the stove and run it so darned hot. They say it is just because I have a cat. stove.........

Okay, there is another great reason to have a cat. stove. Why on earth should I operate my stove in the spring or fall the same as I do in winter? It just does not make sense to me. They say that is how the stove is made to operate. I say, okay, do it, but don't complain because your wood pile has shrunk so darned much when it isn't even winter yet!

With our soapstone cat. stove, we can operate it according to our heating needs and not according to how that danged thing has to operate; that is, getting the thing as hot as you can so the secondary lights. I can run the Fireview according to what the weather dictates. If it is cold, we fill it and get the temperature up to 500-600 with no problem. If it isn't so cold, especially if the sun is shinning too, then we can put in 3 small splits and enjoy a fire with stove top temperature maybe 300-350 degrees....and we don't have to worry about creosote either.

I just can't imagine having a stove that has to be operated at 500 degrees or higher all the time. As for me, I'll have the amount of heat that the house needs and save my fire wood. I also won't spend much time cleaning a chimney either.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Long post warning...

Just put in a Woodstock Fireview last weekend. It is fantastic. It looks like its using much less wood than the old stove (part of that is that its a hearth stove instead of an insert). As attractive though is the convenience (long burn time). It will reliably go more than 12 hours between loads - I have been loading it twice a day this last week (without needing to light more than the first fire). I'm reloading with splits too, no screwing around with kindling.The old insert might go 6 hours at best, and generally required lots of fussing to be able to do it (preheating, packing, etc). It might take a 1/2 hour to be able to engage the cat on the Fireview; but that isn't much different than fiddling with a secondary burn system. Then you don't touch it for many, many hours.

Rick, I hope it is only when you are starting a cold stove that it takes 1/2 hour before engaging the cat. Or perhaps your wood isn't quite as dry as ours. With our stove, after 10 minutes we have a raging fire. We normally engage the cat. within 10-15 minutes, depending upon which type of wood we put in the stove. If all very hard wood, then we will go 15 minutes and sometimes a little more, but with dry maple, 10 minutes usually does the trick.

 

[Highbeam]

Woodcrib. You have chosen a very good group of stoves. I have a 1963 1700 SF rambler and burn the heritage. It is 25 degrees and snowing outside right now. 78 inside, heritage at 350.

The stoves on your list have very different installation requirements as far as clearance to combustibles with the woodstock being the worst. It is rear event only and has big rear clearances. The PE can be very close to the back wall and the heritage almost as close. The side door on a wide stove is absolutely fantastic, I haven't opened the front glass door of my heritage for at least a month.

Price is highest on the hearthstone and burntimes are pretty low compared to either the T5 or the woodstock. Burntime is so so important that I would go for the woodstock if it fits or the T5 if you need it to sit close to the wall.

I wouldn't consider hearthstone due to high cost and I don't know enough about the Lopi to compare it.

 

[rickw]

Backwoods - re: the time it takes to engage the cat on the Woodstock

Still getting the hang of it. If the stove temp is still high at reload (250+) then its just a few minutes; if around 200 it seems to take 20 minutes or so (with the air control at ~ 1.5 or less) before engaging the cat. I've been a little reluctant to open it up with the bypass on (cat not engaged) as it seems to be a very inefficient mode. Maybe I should just let it rip at 2 or 2.5 on the air control until heated up.

The point I was trying to make was that the cat is no more difficult to get running than is a secondary air system (way easier I think). Then you don't have to mess with it for quite a while. The whole idea of a cat being inherently difficult or touchy certainly is not the case so far. BTW, with outside temps around 10 the reload interval is more like 8 hours to keep the house comfortable. Cheers!

 

[rickw]

Re: rear clearance for Woodstock

They make a rear heat shield for the Fireview, goes on easy. Drops the rear clearance to 18" from combustibles.

Oh, and directly under the stove the tiles are actually cool to the touch (this after nearly a week of continuous burn). The radiation shield supplied with the stove works very well. The recommended single layer of 1/2" Durock or Wonderboard under tile seems like plenty of insulation.