Stove Advice

[dromlyn]

Hey guys,

First time prospective stove owner looking for some advice. For the past 7 years I've been heating my home with an old smoke dragon wood burning furnace (forced air). It's been gobbling up LOTS of wood so I'm ready to move to another solution. I considered getting another basement furnace but then thought that a wood stove in the living space would be better.

So, my search began. Here were my criteria ...

• Will heat the roughly 1400 sq ft of down stairs in my house [see diagram below]. I also have an additional 700 sq ft in a second floor that I'd like to keep at roughly 60 degrees.
• Won't cook us out of our primary living space. slow heat release is good.
• Won't leave a huge "hearth-print". the primary 700 sq ft is where our living room, kitchen and entryway are located. So it shouldn't take up a huge amount of space.
• Cook-top. I live in the mountainous regions of central PA so we do get power outages occasionally.
• Looks. It'd be an added benefit if it looked halfway decent in our living room.
  
• Price isn't too much of a concern. But if it was a draw between two stoves it'd be worth saving 500-1000 bucks.

After my search I'd narrowed it down to three stoves ... (in no particular order)

Wood Stock Progress Hybrid
Pros:

• SIDE LOADING DOOR is wonderful because I have more room side to side than I do front to back.Soapstone for "softer heat".
• I like the intentionally dedicated cooktop.
• Rear venting
• Customer Service.

Cons:

• EXPENSIVE
• weight
• the 14 hour burn time is wonderful but the ashford is claiming 30 hours (is that real?)

Blaze King Ashford 30
Pros:

• BURN TIME (again, is that real?),
• price is better than PH,
• I think it's a more attractive looking stove.

Cons:

• FRONT LOADER requires more hearth space out front, eats up livnig space
  
• Doesn't appeart to have a dedicated cook top (true?).
• Shape of firebox only allows 18" logs. Can I get enough wood in to heat all 2100 sq ft. of house?

Wood Stock Ideal Steel
Pros:

• PRICE,
• dedicated cook top.
• Big firebox, allows 22" logs.
• Rear venting.

Cons:

• Front loading,
• not crazy about how it looks (not terrible though).

So, this is what I've got so far. I'd be really interested in hearing from people who had these particular stoves. I'd also be open to any suggestions (even if it's a stove that I haven't considered).

Maybe some of you think that I should just buy a new wood furnace for the basement. I'd be interested in hearing pros and cons of that too.

Thanks for any thoughts you can give ...
-dromlyn

 

[quotejso]

I haven't seen the bk stove but the progress looks better in person. The soapstone is really nice. My first fire was very small and the stove was still hot 6 hours later. Plus the ashpan is huge. More weight the better.

 

[begreen]

Those criteria are why we have the Alderlea T6. But if a cat stove is the preference then the Ashford 30 would be my first choice. The Progress has very large clearance requirements.

 

[kennyp2339]

I own a BK princess, the BK product line is the real deal, with great customer service, Wood stock from what I hear is also great company, they stand behind there products and everyone that owns one of there stoves swears by it. You have some good choices, I would look into what dealers are by you and product availability.

 

[dromlyn]

Those criteria are why we have the Alderlea T6. But if a cat stove is the preference then the Ashford 30 would be my first choice. The Progress has very large clearance requirements.

Thanks for the advice ... so, I'm gathering that the Alderlea T6 is a non-cat? I don't have a ton of experience with wood stoves so, could you go through the pros and cons of cat vs non-cat.

I checked on the website and it said that the Progress had a 7" rear clearance with the optional heat shield. I thought that was pretty good.

Do you feel that the Ashford 30 could easily handle the space I'm hoping to heat?

Thanks again.

 

[begreen]

The Progress is a highly radiant stove. It has large clearances to the sides and back if unshielded. The Ashford is probably a better choice if space is at a premium. It is a convective stove with much closer clearances. The Ashford also has longer reported burn times and is thermostatically regulated. Both are good stoves.

I have a non-cat by choice. My wife and I are usually home so feeding the stove 2-3 times a day is not a problem. Also, we have a heat pump that works well for milder weather so long slow burns in fall/spring are not a concern for me. We start burning when temps regularly get into the 40s. The difference in burn time between cat and non-cat stoves when being pushed for heat diminishes. The mass of the T6 combined with our home's open floorplan does a remarkable job of even heating with little temperature swing. I like the Alderlea for it's simple baffle design, low maintenance, large mass, even heat, squarish firebox, flexible cooktop with swing out trivets and good looks. I chose to go non-cat because of the low maintenance and the fact that there are multiple people running the stove. Finally, the Ashford came on the market years after the Alderlea so it wasn't a choice at the time. If it had been on the market then with a nice blue-black enamel the choice would have been tougher.

There are many discussions here about cat vs non-cat. Do a search on that topic and remember, everyone thinks their stove is the best.

 

[dromlyn]

Great! Thanks so much for the advice.

 

[dromlyn]

The Progress is a highly radiant stove. It has large clearances to the sides and back if unshielded. The Ashford is probably a better choice if space is at a premium. It is a convective stove with much closer clearances.

One other question ... what does "convection" mean ... does it require electric blowers? I guess I was assuming that they were both "radiant".

 

[begreen]

Almost all stove are to some degree radiant. But there is a huge difference between stoves that have little between the fire and the room besides a layer of metal or stone and stoves that have an additional layer of metal as a jacket or shield between the stove body and the room. These jacketed or shielded stoves will radiate less heat from their sides but that heat will still convect naturally from the bottom to the top of the shield or jacket. Some installations are helped by adding a fan to the stove to help it convect more strongly. This depends on the installation and the stove. For example, we only use the blower our convective stove in the coldest weather. Otherwise it stays off. But some folks run the blower all the time. In some cases like some Jotul stoves, you can get a blower for a radiant stove to help it convect more strongly. And to further complicate matters, there are also stoves that combine radiant sides with a convective top.

 

[maple1]

Maybe some of you think that I should just buy a new wood furnace for the basement. I'd be interested in hearing pros and cons of that too.

There is a big difference in overall comfort through the house in comparing a space heater (stove) to central heating (furnace). If you're used to the heat a furnace can put to all the places you want (assuming the ducting is proper), you might be disappointed in the temp differences between some parts of your house with a stove. I would be hard pressed to go to a space heater if there was already a central heating distribution system in place - there are some very good wood furnaces on the market these days.

Also, not sure what you have for a wood furnace dragon now, or how well your house is constructed & insulated/airsealed, but shutting down the basement furnace might make for a very cold zone down there with potential for a pipe freezup or something like that - if the basement is used to a significant heat source down there. So to speak.

 

[dromlyn]

Ok, I think I'm understanding. We really need this stove to function well during power outages as well. From what you're saying it doesn't sound like that would be a problem to go without the blowers if need be.

 

[begreen]

We have frequent and sometimes long, multi-day outages. The stove has saved our buns and kept us comfortable more than once.

 

[dromlyn]

Maybe some of you think that I should just buy a new wood furnace for the basement. I'd be interested in hearing pros and cons of that too.

There is a big difference in overall comfort through the house in comparing a space heater (stove) to central heating (furnace). If you're used to the heat a furnace can put to all the places you want (assuming the ducting is proper), you might be disappointed in the temp differences between some parts of your house with a stove. I would be hard pressed to go to a space heater if there was already a central heating distribution system in place - there are some very good wood furnaces on the market these days.

Also, not sure what you have for a wood furnace dragon now, or how well your house is constructed & insulated/airsealed, but shutting down the basement furnace might make for a very cold zone down there with potential for a pipe freezup or something like that - if the basement is used to a significant heat source down there. So to speak.

Those are some great points. Right now I'm burning upwards of 6 cords per winter (not including the tank of oil I use for the shoulder season) in my old Hunter forced air system. So, I'm just really looking for more efficiency. However, I've also been interested in being a bit more prepared for power outages in some of our harsher winters (of course the big fan on our Hunter requires electricity).

Anyway, if we would go the wood furnace route, do you have any suggestions on good forced air furnaces out there?

 

[dromlyn]

We have frequent and sometimes long, multi-day outages. The stove has saved our buns and kept us comfortable more than once.

Saving the buns is our top priority!

 

[maple1]

Those are some great points. Right now I'm burning upwards of 6 cords per winter (not including the tank of oil I use for the shoulder season) in my old Hunter forced air system. So, I'm just really looking for more efficiency. However, I've also been interested in being a bit more prepared for power outages in some of our harsher winters (of course the big fan on our Hunter requires electricity).

Anyway, if we would go the wood furnace route, do you have any suggestions on good forced air furnaces out there?

Check out the Boiler Room section - lots of furnace info over there.

Some quick names: Kuuma (pretty well top of the line), Caddy, Tundra (more $ to less $). All secondary burners. With a proper installation, it would be setup for when the power goes out by allowing natural convective flow through the ducts. The principles for accomplishing that are fairly straightforward - hot air rising upwards out of the furnace outlet with little restriction. (e.g no downturns in the supply ductwork). It won't put out the same amount of heat as if the fan is blowing of course, but it should stop you from freezing in an outage.

I'm not a furnace guy but I think you can get a new Tundra for less than $2000. If you have a furnace in place already it shouldn't be a huge job to make the swap as long as you're existing ductwork isn't something really weird. Note that because all these are secondary burners you will need fairly dry wood - but you will need that with the stoves you're looking at too.

 

[dromlyn]

Check out the Boiler Room section - lots of furnace info over there.

Some quick names: Kuuma (pretty well top of the line), Caddy, Tundra (more $ to less $). All secondary burners. With a proper installation, it would be setup for when the power goes out by allowing natural convective flow through the ducts. The principles for accomplishing that are fairly straightforward - hot air rising upwards out of the furnace outlet with little restriction. (e.g no downturns in the supply ductwork). It won't put out the same amount of heat as if the fan is blowing of course, but it should stop you from freezing in an outage.

I'm not a furnace guy but I think you can get a new Tundra for less than $2000. If you have a furnace in place already it shouldn't be a huge job to make the swap as long as you're existing ductwork isn't something really weird. Note that because all these are secondary burners you will need fairly dry wood - but you will need that with the stoves you're looking at too.

Great, thanks I'll check that out.