Stove Recommendations

[greysky]

I need help choosing a stove for my 30 year old traditional brick colonial house. House has a full basement apartment, main floor and upstairs, approx 5000 ft. I currently have two-3ton heat pumps, one for the basement and main floor and one for upstairs. The main floor has a large 5'w 4' h masonry fire place with 3 flues on a outside wall. I will install a stainless insulated liner. Not sure if I should use the wrap or mixed insulation. I live about 50 miles from the Englander factory. I like the idea of buying a NC30 from them since they are made here and found where I can pick one up for a reasonable price. I have also looked at Hearthstone Equinox and Mansfield, stoves were nice but not sure about 8" pipe and the weight and cost of the Equinox. I also have been considering a Lopi Liberty, PE Alderlea T6, Summit, Harman TL300, Quadrafire 5700, Isle Royale, Jutol 600. What are the differences that justify a cost of two to three times the cost of the Englander? I have a farm with a lot of wooded acres and after my last electric bill have decided to buy a stove. I have already cut and split a lot of wood for next year. The stove will be a hearth mount. After reading the forum for a couple of weeks I don't know what to buy. Please help me with your suggestions.

Thanks

 

[SolarAndWood]

Welcome to the forum. It is hard to beat the bang for the buck of the Englander 30. The rest that you mention are well regarded here as well.

 

[greysky]

The Hearthstone Dealer had stoves on the floor but none hooked up. I liked the soapstone idea but they are heavy and expensive. He was also a Lopi dealer but only stocked the inserts. He was a good guy but wanted $4000 for the Equinox and qouted $3200 on a Liberty.
I liked both brands are USA made, from reading this forum they both have reputations for good quality.

No PE dealers in the area where I can look at stoves. I talked to and found dealers in other states who quoted T6s. One PE dealer recommended a Aderlea and told me that would be the best stove for my application instead of the Equinox. He seems to be very respected on this board and sold both brands plus the price was a lot better. I read enough bad reviews from owners to make me hold off. PE is made in Canada and has to be shipped along way and some how that has to be added into the price. Buying a stove from another state I don't think I will get much support for warranty, parts or other problems that might come up.
The Yutol dealer did not have any stock but seemed to be a good professional sweep. He wanted to look at my chimney and house but was busy and said about 3 weeks before he could come by. He also quoted me a very high price to install the liner and stove if I ordered from someone else. I would like to buy a USA product if possible but would consider the Yutol or other non domestic.

Harman made in PA so the freight should not be bad. I like the cooking grill but would probably never use it, ashes didn't have to emptied as often as other stoves. Not sure about top loading or down draft, no local dealer. Quadrafire not much info available no local dealers. I also like a manufacturer that if I buy there product I can call and get someone on the phone without waiting 45minutes. A few of these manufacturers don't even list there numbers. When I called Englander the line was always busy and I got put on hold about 30 minutes. The Englander guy I talked to was very nice and helpful when I finally got him.

 

[greysky]

Thanks for the reply S&W
I just want to heat the main floor and let some heat go upstairs when temps drop low. Hearthstone dealer was the only one who had any stock and I was going to buy one but not sure if they are worth the extra money, was quoted $4000. I liked the T6 and was going to order it but read a few reviews that made me wait. Then I thought maybe just order a good steel stove like the Liberty or Summit with a blower. I think a need to just buy something and let the chips fall as they may. The Englander seems to be very reasonable and if I don't like it I guess I can throw it on Craigslist. What would be a fair price to install a insulated liner ass kit and the stove?

 

[thinkxingu]

Grey,
You're really looking at two polar opposite stoves in terms of looks, cost, and performance--whereas both will throw lots of heat, the Englander will heat up more quickly, have more localized heat, and have more ups-and-downs as far as heat output while the Equinox will heat up slower, radiate heat more efficiently, and have a smoother heat curve.

I started with an NC-13 (my bro-in-law has a 30) downstairs and now have a Homestead upstairs. The Englanders are a great value, but I'd take the Homestead any day of the week.

S

 

[SolarAndWood]

Then I thought maybe just order a good steel stove like the Liberty or Summit with a blower. I think a need to just buy something and let the chips fall as they may. The Englander seems to be very reasonable.

If price and utility are your primary motivators, the 30 seems to be the clear winner. How big is the room it is going in? The only complaint I have heard about the 30 is that it throws too much heat. This may not be an issue for you at all in a 5000 sq ft house if it is in a big room. If it is an issue on warmer days, you build smaller fires.

If you want what I consider the ultimate utility stove, check out the Blaze King which is also American made. It has a huge firebox and the thermostat makes operation nearly as simple as a Fisher Price toy. The catalytic allows it to burn high and very low very clean/efficiently. This gives you exceptional burn times in moderate temperatures combined with the ability to put out big heat when needed.

I heat 24/7 from late September/early October to mid May and have a young family with both my wife and I working too many hours. I went the pure utility route and couldn't be happier. Any of these stoves are going to perform their best with dry wood, but it sounds like you are well on your way with that.

 

[greysky]

I will check on the Blaze King. I have not researched cat stoves but thought I remembered someone saying a very high price to replace the cat as ongoing maintenance a few years down the road. What is the price to replace the cat. and estimated life before replacing? If the stove is a great stove it may be worth spending a little $ every so often. Thanks for the recommendation. I have found a T6 I can get a good price on and keep thinking about it.
The house is a traditional house which I would not consider a open floor plan. The area I'm going to put the stove in is 13' wide by 45'L and consists of rec room open to the kitchen on the back of the house on the front I have a 17'w x 18L living room with two 3' pocket doors that open to into the den. next to the living room is a 10'W x 17L open hall with a 3' door into the kitchen with a open spiral staircase that would let air upstairs to 3 good size bedrooms. On the other side of the hall is dining room 13'W x12L with a 3' door that comes out to far end of the kitchen. Doors will be open so heat from the den will go to living room and dining room and up stairs. I hope by running the heat pump fans it will help distribute the warm air through the house.

 

[moosetrek]

Price for performance, the T6 is hard to beat. It is the same stove as the Summit, but with a cast iron outer shell instead of 16 gauge or whatever metal the Summit sides are made of. The company seems to have great customer service and is one of the few to offer a lifetime warranty on some major components. As mentioned, Englader is also a great stove; we've had both and the T6 is much better for even heating, depending on your room layout, etc.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I will check on the Blaze King. I have not researched cat stoves but thought I remembered someone saying a very high price to replace the cat as ongoing maintenance a few years down the road. What is the price to replace the cat. and estimated life before replacing? If the stove is a great stove it may be worth spending a little $ every so often. Thanks for the recommendation. I have found a T6 I can get a good price on and keep thinking about it.
The house is a traditional house which I would not consider a open floor plan. The area I'm going to put the stove in is 13' wide by 45'L and consists of rec room open to the kitchen on the back of the house on the front I have a 17'w x 18L living room with two 3' pocket doors that open to into the den. next to the living room is a 10'W x 17L open hall with a 3' door into the kitchen with a open spiral staircase that would let air upstairs to 3 good size bedrooms. On the other side of the hall is dining room 13'W x12L with a 3' door that comes out to far end of the kitchen. Doors will be open so heat from the den will go to living room and dining room and up stairs. I hope by running the heat pump fans it will help distribute the warm air through the house.

I own cat and non-cat stoves. I will be purchasing a third stove and the cost of maintaining a cat will not be a factor in my final decision. I would only recommend avoiding Vermont Casting cat stoves. Their cat parts are far, far more expensive than other manufacturers and the waiting time for delivery can be 6-12 weeks, if not more.

It is going to be mighty hard heating 5,000 sq ft with one stove in an old home that does not have an open floor plan. I deal with a very old home with a floor plan that is no where near the definition of 'open'. To get whole house heating from wood you will either need to use more than one stove or go with a wood furnace add-on.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I will check on the Blaze King. What is the price to replace the cat. and estimated life before replacing? The area I'm going to put the stove in is 13' wide by 45'L and consists of rec room open to the kitchen on the back of the house on the front I have a 17'w x 18L living room with two 3' pocket doors that open to into the den. next to the living room is a 10'W x 17L open hall with a 3' door into the kitchen with a open spiral staircase that would let air upstairs to 3 good size bedrooms. On the other side of the hall is dining room 13'W x12L with a 3' door that comes out to far end of the kitchen. Doors will be open so heat from the den will go to living room and dining room and up stairs.

The cat on the BK is easily accessed and somewhere around $250 to replace. I have heard estimates from 4 to 10 years for life. The cats in my VCs didn't last a season but that isn't a very good reference point.

The room my stove sits in is 21x55 and has similar open doorways to other parts of the house. I have no problem running it wide open and not overheating the room. You will probably be perfectly happy with the Englander in that space. The premium for the BK would be justified if: you want to burn when it is 50 out, you value the ease of operation of the thermostat and you want more control with longer burns. I guess it comes down to whether your goal is to eliminate the heat pump as much as possible or just supplement when it is cold.

The Summit/T6 were on my short list as well and very well liked around here.

I assume you use forced air for distribution from your post. You might also want to consider one of the new clean/efficient add on wood furnaces.

 

[greysky]

The house is big but I don't use much of it. I need to heat half of the main floor and 1 bedroom upstairs most of the time. If the heat pump fan will draw air into the basement apartment that would be a bonus. I figure with the size of the house I'd rather have large then small. I thought about putting a Garn or Eko in a shipping container with 1000 gals of storage. If they would give a full 30% credit like they do with solar I would be more inclined to do it. Geothermal would also be a alternative but I hear a lot of people complaing about the performance of there systems and and having the correct duct size as you need a lot more air flow for geo. Might be a good solution for new construction. The cost for geo was 25K and I would estimate 15k + for a gasifier. A wood stove has a lot of good attributes for the price. I have a old lazy boy I sit in most of the time next to the air register blowing cool air from the heat pump. Some nice warm air from a wood stove would be a nice change.
Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply so far.