Stove recommendations

[beaton]

We are gearing up to redo our kitchen in our 1850 1-1/2 story cape here in seacoast New Hampshire. The kitchen has an older chimney that could fit a 6" liner and is in otherwise good condition. We've been considering installing a small wood stove in the room to help keep the area warm, provide a cozy spot to hang out, provide some back up heat to the oil burner and for power outages. The kitchen is 25 feet long, but the first 13 feet is about 7.5 feet wide, while the last 12 feet is about 13 feet wide = 260 sf. The narrower part is the kitchen area and is a lean-to on the back of the main cape portion of the house. The wider part is in an extension that connects to a small office and then to the barn. This is where the kitchen table and seating are placed. The stove would be against the wall farthest from the kitchen area and backing up to the small room that connects to the barn. The entire area is over an unheated crawlspace and the ceiling is poorly insulated, although we're hoping the "cash for caulkers" program might help us with some insulation improvements this year. Generally, this is the coldest part of the house except for the room connecting to the barn. There is one doorway, located where the room widens, that leads into the main cape part of the house. The total house is about 1400 sf. 600 ft upstairs. I was looking at the small Morso's which are on sale down the road. Have also seen the Woodstock stoves on sale. Don't know what size I should be looking at. The small Morso's look like they could take some work making small pieces that will fit in them. Looking for stove recommendations. I have a 1976 Vermont Castings Defiant sitting in the barn that I removed from the living room when we moved in. It was on the same flue as the boiler and it took up half the room. I've assumed it is just too big to comfortably use and perhaps out of date for running regularly now.

 

[wendell]

There are so many variables it is going to be hard to give you good advice. The small Morsos will throw off an impressive amount of heat for their size but you will need to feed them every 4 hours or so to keep the heat going. The Woodstock's can be a great choice as a cat stove can give you more control over the amount of heat you get which gives you more flexibility.

 

[jeromehdmc]

If you like the European style of stove you might look at Scan. I have a Scan A-10, it puts out quite a bit of heat for it's size. It takes 16 to 18 inch logs. You will also notice a few people like the Englander stoves, I think the 13 is their smaller version. What style of stove do you like?

 

[begreen]

How much opportunity is there for the heat from the kitchen to be distributed to other parts of the house? If very little, I'd keep the stove on the small side. Maybe a Morso 2110 or Jotul F3CB. However, if you can place a fan blowing cool air from the main part of the house, into the (now toasty warm) kitchen, then a little larger stove like a Woodstock Palladian, or Pacific Energy T4 or T5 could work. For more recommendations it would depend on how much room there is and the clearances available.

 

[Bobbin]

I am a truly "dyed in the wool" Woodstock fan. Their Keystone or Palladian are the smallest woodstoves they have in their "stable". I can only offer my experience with their Fireview and Classic but can tell you they build a wonderful product and stand behind everything they sell. I love the catalytic stoves, and I love soapstone for its steady, gentle, uninsistant heat over time.

But there are a TON of other small stoves on the market that will perform beautifully in your circumstance. And I've little doubt a lot of voices will chime right in with their recommendations. From what you've shared it doesn't sound as though there is a lot of opportunity for the a stove in the kitchen to provide much heat easily to the "original" part of of the house. I agree that it would be easy to buy "too much stove" and be blasted out of the kitchen area because the heat generated was unable to easily infiltrate the rest of the house.

Start laying in your firewood NOW. Whatever stove you may opt to purchase will only operate easily and efficiently with SEASONED firewood. I cannot stress this seemingly simple point enough.

 

[cmonSTART]

Woodstock makes a great stove and is a local company. Napoleon makes some very nice stoves which should work for you, as does Englander. Blaze King makes the Princess and Briarwood II which may work. I also like hearthstone.

IMO, I would stay away from Century and Vogelzang. Some folks here have done OK with them but I'm not impressed.