Stove ideas

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woodsman23

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Aug 26, 2008
1,364
western southern tier of NYS
I have a friend who has a pellet stove and it is just to small to heat his 2500sq ft log home. He needs ideas on what could be the best wood stove to use to heat this place. first let me say it is a amish built 1980 era real log home with chinking the whole 9 yards.
it also has very high ceiling in the main great area 18' high with T/groove and R19 above it. the area is 42lx30wx18H (just the great area) with all remaining rooms at 8' ceiling heights. He had a wood stove last year but it was a sorry piece of equipment and was taken out and a pellet stove installed. He needs to be heating with wood he has many many acres of woods he can cut for free.
So if you folks have any recommendations for a good efficient wood stove your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Jim
 
I won't recommend a specific stove, but I have ideas about features I would like in a stove. Getting one with a door that has the handle on the proper side will prevent you having to reach around the door when loading, that is to say if you have your wood supply to the right of the stove as you are facing it have the handle on the right side of the door, if your wood-box or wood supply is on the left get one with the handle on the left. Consider cleaning the chimney I have to get on the roof to clean my chimney because I can't get into it from the stove end, I also have to take my chimney apart to clean it out. This is a real pain in the neck and something I gave no thought to when I bought my stove. My next stove will have a flat top, the one I have now has a step up which limits the size of the things I can put on it such as a water kettle, pot of stew, etc. The firebox on my stove tapers down from the front to the back this has a tendency to make the wood roll forward when loading or after a load has been burning a while as the majority of your wood is in the forward part of the stove. I always have to consider this as I build a load, I will look for a stove with a more square firebox next time.
Just a few thoughts.
 
Please make sure your friend has access some wood that has been split, stacked, and drying for at least 9-12 months before investing in a stove if he wants optimal burn times, heat, and much less creosote.

As far as stoves, if he wants soapstone, he can't go wrong with Woodstock or Hearthstone.

For plate steel, check out Lopi, Avanlon, Englander, Pacific Energy, etc. I'm not sure about cast iron.
 
Jim, assuming this is an open floorplan, he should consider a big stove of 3 cu ft or greater. We can speculate on stoves, but really this is up to his budget, dealer offerings and aesthetics unless he wants to install it himself.
 
Hey, woodsman23 <>I have a friend who has a pellet stove and it is just to small to heat his 2500sq ft log home. He needs ideas on what could be the best wood stove to use to heat this place. first let me say it is a amish built 1980 era real log home with chinking the whole 9 yards.<>

Basic rule of thumb we use for NYS is the 30/40/50 rule...
& I've posted it elsewhere in here...
For his house we'd probably consider 35 BTU per sq ft...He's got GOOD insulation but not GREAT
That being siad...2500 x 35 =87500 BTU OUTPUT...
At 75% efficiency he'd need 87500/.75 = 116.7K
That's in the boiler/furnace range...
The largest stove we carry is the Hearthstone Equinox (120K input & 78% efficiency) = 93.6K output.
I'd say he's outta luck if he tries to heat with ONE woodstove...
Maybe he can find a monster unit out there...
Unless he can close off some rooms he's gonna need at least 2 of em...
My $.02
 
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