Stove selection help for newbie

[jake529]

I will start by saying I am not a seasoned burner, I had a wood stove in my parents house that I used about 20-25 years ago.

My wife and I are in the process of having a home built. It is going to be about 1800 square foot total. It will be a 1.5 story with the upset being in the rafters with dormers. The up stairs will also be 3/5s over a garage. No basement and very open living area, 30x30 down stairs and all bed rooms upstairs.

We have the stove designed to be placed on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. No loft to the upstairs. The stove pipe run will be about 25-30 feet total with 15 foot outside since it comes out near the side of the house and it has a 12:12 roof pitch. The run is straight, no bends needed.

The house is located in Pueblo Colorado at about 4,800 feet in elevation and has about 330 days of sun. We do get mildly cold days reaching about -10 or so a few times a year but it could also be about 50 mid day in winter at times.

We plan to burn as often and as much as possible and just crack windows if need to cool down. Wood is intended to be the main heating source.

The stove company our builder recommended suggested the following stoves per conversation with us. We like them all for different reason.

Iron strike Grandview 230
Napoleon S series
Jotul F 500 Oslo
Blaze King Sirocco 30

We are leaning towards the BK. It seems to be the easiest to operate once it is running and would also burn longer and lower on the warm days. We will have propane central air as back up and to help circulate the heat if need up stairs.

Just wondering if the BK will really be easier to run and burn longer once it is going and if it will do good with local wood (not much hardwood around here).

Please help us not make an expensive, wrong decision

 

[begreen]

The Blaze King should work well, but I would consider getting the Sirocco 30.1 for greater fuel capacity. That will equate to longer burn time. For the best success, whatever stove you get will want fully seasoned, dry wood.

 

[jake529]

The Blaze King should work well, but I would consider getting the Sirocco 30.1 for greater fuel capacity. That will equate to longer burn time. For the best success, whatever stove you get will want fully seasoned, dry wood.

What is different on the 30.1 vs the 30? I can’t find anything in the BK 30 series book they gave me.

 

[lsucet]

What is different on the 30.1 vs the 30? I can’t find anything in the BK 30 series book they gave me.

I think he meant 30 vs 20 series. 30 has bigger box and 30.1, the latest has a little better emission I think.

 

[Nigel459]

I think he meant 30 vs 20 series. 30 has bigger box and 30.1, the latest has a little better emission I think.

I think a manual I saw even had “.2” on it this year...

 

[Ashful]

Another vote for BK 30 series over BK 20 series. The 30 has a wide output range, and better clearances than the 20, and obviously... a much bigger fuel tank.

I would definitely go cat stove in this scenario, as you have a relatively small space to heat. With a non-cat, you’d want to match the size of the stove to the space, so as to not overheat the space. That would mean a smaller stove, with a small fuel tank, and thus short burn times. But with a cat stove, you can turn down to where that’s not an issue (esp. BK), and stick with a larger stove that will have long burn times.

Another line to consider would be Woodstock. I prefer BK, and believe I have good reasons for that, but just as many prefer Woodstock. These two brands lead the cat stove market.

Yes, the BK is very easy to run. So easy that you’ll usually hear folks call them boring. There is a catalytic combustor that will need replacement every third or fourth year, if you’re burning 24/7, but that’s as easy as pulling and reinstalling the lint trap in your dryer. It’s a non-issue, for me. I believe Woodstock’s cats are similarly easy to remove.

They’re up to 30.2 now? Has anyone cataloged the changes from 30.1? I have two very early 30.1’s, so early they’re sort of 30/30.1 hybrids, one even has a “numbers” label instead of the “swoosh”!

 

[jake529]

Thanks for the feedback so far!

I have not heard much on any of the other models listed so I assume they are really not the right stoves for this situation? Also, any concerns with heating the upstairs rooms over the garage from a wood stove down stairs without a loft? I do have central heating and air so I could use the fan to circulate the air. Garage is pointed straight north, I know not the best spot for it but it is what it is...

By the way, I was never considering the model 20, I only mentioned the model 30.

Does $2300 sound like a decent price delivered on the model 30 BK?

 

[lsucet]

If is new for that price any 30 series is a hell of a deal

 

[jake529]

If is new for that price any 30 series is a hell of a deal

Sweet, yes it is new from a dealer. Throw in the 20-30 foot for pipe and the install and we are supposed to be in to it for about $3500-4500 over and done with.

 

[moresnow]

Nice deal!

Since you are building new... Why not centrally locate the stove? Most would say its the way to go if possible.

 

[jake529]

Nice deal!

Since you are building new... Why not centrally locate the stove? Most would say its the way to go if possible.

It would be in a bad place for the chimney(would be lots of bends and sneaking through walls) and would be putting heat out in the wrong spot for down stairs so it would me hard to run it to often and not over heat the dining room.

 

[Ashful]

I only know the Ashford pricing, not the Sirocco or Chinook, but that would be a heck of a good deal for an Ashford 30. List is over $3500 for that stove, and I would assume list pricing is roughly similar on all of them.

On getting heat to the upstairs, it’s going to be a “wait and see”, no matter what we debate here. But, there are a few things we can say:

If you come home to a cold house after a week on vacation, and try to heat those upstairs rooms from the stove, it’s going to be a no-go situation. You just won’t be able to move enough heat over that distance, especially working against make-up air (more on that next), to affect a big temperature change, there.

But, that is not the typical operating mode of a stove. Whereas you might be used to cycling your central heating on a programmable thermostat, such that the house is cool at night and warm when you’re awake, stoves can’t be run in that mode. You load them before you leave the house in the morning or go to bed at night, such that the house can be warm when you arrive home or wake up. Thus, the house is just always kept at your desired temperature, 24/7.

The positive side effect of this constant temperature, from the perspective of this conversation, is that you will be surprised how well the stove can heat far-off rooms. All of this space is within a single insulated envelope, and convection currents will develop that move the cold air toward the stove, and bring the warm air from the stove to the far corners of the house. This is a weak way of moving heat, which is why it’s a poor way to bring a cold space up to temperature in any reasonable time (my paragraph above), but it is usually enough to maintain acceptable temperatures on a house that’s already up to steady-state.

A lot of folks use small desk fans (6 inch variety) on the floor to push cold air from a distant room toward the stove. This cold air is then replaced by warm air flowing along the ceiling, into said space. In a typical ranch house, one might put that fan in the doorway of the bedroom at the end of the hall, pointed toward the living room. It doesn’t take much, again... we’re just helping to boost the convective currents that will typically form on their own.

Make-up air is the frustrating factor. Your stove is going to draw a small fraction of the air of a fireplace, but it still needs air. This air comes thru every crevice and leak in the house, mostly around doors and windows. Assuming interior doors are all open, as much of this air comes from the windows in distant rooms, as those in the room with the stove itself. This will be the primary thing fighting you, on keeping distant rooms at an acceptable temperature. This is one of the two primary reasons people like to run outside air kits (OAKs) on their stoves, the other reason being a too-tight house that can’t supply sufficient air volume for the stove.

 

[Alpine1]

Unbelievably low price, if I were you I already had bought it just to not loose the deal. And don’t worry about the wood soft or hard, it will work splendidly with both: I only burn spruce and pine, a little birch or beech here and there if I can scrounge it but it isn’t really necessary.

 

[jake529]

Perfect, sounds like the BK is the right one. Thanks for the input. Got my Husqvarna 450 Rancher yesterday so now I need to get some wood and start letting it season.

 

[SuperJ]

When I got my Ashford, I looked at Siroccos too. The pricing is different.
For the Sirocco, you have to buy the door, fans, and legs/pedestal separately I think. It added a couple hundred. Make sure you're getting everything (including the mini convection deck). For the Ashford you just chose the color/enamel, and whether you want the fan kit or not.

 

[Elle]

Love my Jotul Oslo. Have it six years and it has been wonderful. I like it because it is cast iron and really holds the heat. Takes a bit to hold up but I like the feel of the heat if that makes sense