Stove recommendation 1500 sq ft

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kingquad

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Nov 17, 2010
681
Pennsylvania
Hello. I'm a former wood burner/poster here, but sold my house and stove many years ago. My newest house is a 2 story colonial that is 1550 sq ft(750 downstairs/800 up). 2x4 walls with 1970's insulation. I'm located about an hour north of Pittsburgh, so we see some nasty weather occasionally. The attic has been completely air sealed using spray foam and caulking, then insulated to R50+. The basement rim joist has also been sprayed with closed cell foam and supply side ductwork has been sealed. This made a pretty decent dent in fuel oil consumption from mid January on, but prices continue to sky rocket. Last year it cost me $1250 to fill my tank at the end of the season and this year it was $2000. It was definitely colder this year though. Unfortunately, it now seems like price increases are only going to continue, so I'm looking to install a free standing wood stove. As of now, this stove will only be run during the day cause we have kids who sleep with their doors closed. This will probably change as they get older.

The stove will be centrally located in the living room on the first floor. I should have no problem getting heat into the kitchen with a small fan on the floor. Heat should also flow easily up the stairs to the bedrooms(4 of them). The chimney will go out through the wall and up the side of the house. My intent as of now is to have it professionally installed.

Previously, I had an Enviro 1700 insert in the basement of my ranch house and it was great. That house also had a spray foamed attic, so it was incredibly tight. If Enviro still manufactured wood stoves, I'd probably go with the 1700 step top. Now I'm considering the Lopi Endeavor, PE Super or Summit, and the BK Princess. The thing that concerns me with the Princess is the low stack temps with an exterior chimney creating more creosote build up. I like the features of the Lopi(bypass and ash pan), the baffle design on the PE(although I'm not sure which size to go with), and the burn times and "Ronco, set it and forget it" nature of the Blaze King. This stove with also be operated by my wife and I feel like the easiest option for her is the Blaze King. As far as the PE's go, I'm wondering if the 2.0 firebox has enough power or should I go with the Summit. I could pull 12 hour burns out of the Enviro, which made life very easy.

Also, I have a few cords of 2 year old wood split stacked and covered already . I have many more bucked and getting ready to split in May after the garden goes in.

So, given my situation and brands I'm leaning towards, which stove do the more experienced burners here think would best suit my needs? I'll admit, I've always had a soft spot for the Super, but I'm weary about whether it will get the job done when the temps really drop.
 
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The Endeavor or PE Super are right-sized and will get the job done. If the furnace has to run a couple of times as a supplement on very cold days it's not a big deal. This will also help keep floors warmer and pipes from freezing.
 
The Endeavor or PE Super are right-sized and will get the job done. If the furnace has to run a couple of times as a supplement on very cold days it's not a big deal. This will also help keep floors warmer and pipes from freezing.
Thank you for the reply. Any thoughts on the validity of my Blaze King concerns, or am I just being paranoid?
 
Kids tend to keep their doors closed even more frequently as they get older...at least mine did. As for age of operation, my 9 year old granddaughter ran a Princess with no issues....though she can also set up and build a computer too!
 
Thank you for the reply. Any thoughts on the validity of my Blaze King concerns, or am I just being paranoid?
If setup properly pretty much all modern stoves are pretty easy to run.
 
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"Ronco, set it and forget it" nature of the Blaze King."...This is one of many reasons I went with the Princess..I was very concerned about my wife running any other type of stove..she picked up operating the Princess easily and runs it like a champ! She had never ran a stove before..my set up is 13.6 ft straight up double wall pipe..I clean twice a year and will avg. 2-3 cups of creosote for both cleanings..I run my stove warmer than most on 12 hour cycles..I dont clean glass very often either and I have no trouble keeping my 1,950 sq. feet as warm as I want it..do you plan on cleaning the chimney yourself? How long of a run do you think you will have?
 
"Ronco, set it and forget it" nature of the Blaze King."...This is one of many reasons I went with the Princess..I was very concerned about my wife running any other type of stove..she picked up operating the Princess easily and runs it like a champ! She had never ran a stove before..my set up is 13.6 ft straight up double wall pipe..I clean twice a year and will avg. 2-3 cups of creosote for both cleanings..I run my stove warmer than most on 12 hour cycles..I dont clean glass very often either and I have no trouble keeping my 1,950 sq. feet as warm as I want it..do you plan on cleaning the chimney yourself? How long of a run do you think you will have?
Yes, I will clean the chimney myself. As far as height, I'm guessing just over 20'.
 
Thank you for the reply. Any thoughts on the validity of my Blaze King concerns, or am I just being paranoid?
I'm running two BK Ashfords on exterior chimneys. Both are lined with 6" stainless flex wearing a blanket wrapper, one about 15 feet tall and the other near 30 feet. No issues, whatsoever.

Any junk that collects in the pipe, which is minimal, is dry and crusty and isolated to the bottom 2 feet and top 2 feet of the pipe. Pretty much nothing in-between. I installed a key damper on the taller pipe, as the draft was a bit strong for optimal performance, at that height.
 
"Ronco, set it and forget it" nature of the Blaze King."...This is one of many reasons I went with the Princess..I was very concerned about my wife running any other type of stove..she picked up operating the Princess easily and runs it like a champ! She had never ran a stove before..my set up is 13.6 ft straight up double wall pipe..I clean twice a year and will avg. 2-3 cups of creosote for both cleanings..I run my stove warmer than most on 12 hour cycles..I dont clean glass very often either and I have no trouble keeping my 1,950 sq. feet as warm as I want it..do you plan on cleaning the chimney yourself? How long of a run do you think you will have?
All stoves I have used have been set it and forget it. I am not saying anything negative about blaze kings at all they are great stoves and easy to use for sure. But again with almost all stoves you get it up to temp set the air and walk away as long as they are sized and setup properly
 
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Loaded our stove at 7:30am and lit it. Turned down the air at around 8am. That's it until this evening.
 
Just called a Blaze King dealer close to me. Almost $5K for a Princess with fans and OAK(pedestal and black door). Is that way out of line? I have several friends in the neighborhood who have used this dealer for pellet stoves and they were all happy with the service they received.
 
That's about double what the basic stove sold for here about 10 yrs ago. Steel prices and markups have run amok. At this rate, stoves will get priced to the point where folks will just stop buying them.
 
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Just called a Blaze King dealer close to me. Almost $5K for a Princess with fans and OAK(pedestal and black door). Is that way out of line? I have several friends in the neighborhood who have used this dealer for pellet stoves and they were all happy with the service they received.
Seems to me thats about $1500 more than I paid for mine 5 years ago..
 
All stoves I have used have been set it and forget it. I am not saying anything negative about blaze kings at all they are great stoves and easy to use for sure. But again with almost all stoves you get it up to temp set the air and walk away as long as they are sized and setup properly
I only spoke from my experience and the 2 stoves prior to the BK were anything but simple to run..granted those 2 stoves were from 25 years ago and had some age on them when I got them...lol..the one always wanted to run away..you did not dare walk away from it until you were sure it had settled in...both of those stoves are nothing but bad memories now..this Princess is by far the easiest stove I have ever ran and has the most consistent heat output as well..often times there will only be 1 degree of difference from the time I go to bed till I get up in the stove room..thats impressive...
 
Almost $5K for a Princess with fans and OAK(pedestal and black door).
Ashford 30's with fan kits were being quoted around $3k in 2015, but then... COVID.

I suspect current oil pricing, and Putin panic has the stove shops pretty busy, these days. People are reactionary.
 
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I only spoke from my experience and the 2 stoves prior to the BK were anything but simple to run..granted those 2 stoves were from 25 years ago and had some age on them when I got them...lol..the one always wanted to run away..you did not dare walk away from it until you were sure it had settled in...both of those stoves are nothing but bad memories now..this Princess is by far the easiest stove I have ever ran and has the most consistent heat output as well..often times there will only be 1 degree of difference from the time I go to bed till I get up in the stove room..thats impressive...
Well yes if the stove is old and leaky or it has excessive draft that completely changed things. But having burnt about 10 stoves now including a princess I really don't see that the princess is any easier to run than the others. Load it with wood get it up to temp set the air and walk away. Some the setting takes a couple steps but in general on a reload they all take 10 mins or so untill they are cruising along.

Now yes the princess does absolutely have more even heat. But in my experience less BTU output than other similarly sized stoves over the same time period.
 
Now yes the princess does absolutely have more even heat. But in my experience less BTU output than other similarly sized stoves over the same time period.
Yes, though in this case, I think the Princess will handle most of the heating load. The furnace may cycle during extremely cold weather, but that could be a good thing.
 
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That's about double what the basic stove sold for here about 10 yrs ago. Steel prices and markups have run amok. At this rate, stoves will get priced to the point where folks will just stop buying them.
Or we’ll see a revival in homemade stoves and used smoke dragons.
 
I’d look into either a Jotul F45 or PE T5. Around here these two stoves are still under $3k. It seems most of the tax credit approved stoves have a 26% higher price for some reason lol.
 
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Or we’ll see a revival in homemade stoves and used smoke dragons.
Prices on used smoke dragons are getting pretty high as well. And raw steel is really up there to
 
Just called a Blaze King dealer close to me. Almost $5K for a Princess with fans and OAK(pedestal and black door). Is that way out of line? I have several friends in the neighborhood who have used this dealer for pellet stoves and they were all happy with the service they received.
I just got quotes here for Blaze King inserts - $4.7K for Princess insert, $4.8K for Ashford/Sirocco. (That’s just the insert part - doesn't include liner, installation, etc.) So that’s comparable to what you were quoted. Depending on where you are in PA (I’m in the western suburbs of Philadelphia) it could be the same dealer, or could be a separate data point.
 
Perhaps BKVP can enlighten us on general wholesale pricing trends, without having to disclose anything proprietary. I suspect dealer pricing has increased some, due to supply chain and transportation issues. I know it has in my industry. But of panic-driven stove buying frequency is up, it's likely dealer/installer mark-up has increased, as well.
 
My osburn 3300 went up 800 last year.i just beat the increase and because this was the 3rd stove I bought from my dealer he gave me 15% off.
 
So, I just got price quotes for the PE and Lopi.

PE Super LE with black door, legs, blower, and OAK- $3350 Their ballpark install costs seem obscene though. Roughly $6500. She said last year the same install would have been around $4500, material costs have skyrocketed.

Same dealer- Lopi Endeavor with blower and OAK- $4200

Different dealer PE Super with same options as above- $3500 Their ballpark install is around $5000

Definitely leaning toward the PE. Might begin pricing materials for a self install.
 
Well, I just got some great news on chimney and stove pipe pricing. My stepfather is a licensed HVAC contractor and can get me all my chimney materials at wholesale.

Edit: Is the PE eligible for the tax credit?
 
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