Stove Size Question

[emsflyer84]

Hey all, I live in central NH and we’ll be putting in a wood burning fireplace insert in this year. It will be to supplement radiant floor heat on the main level and forced hot water baseboard on the second level. It won’t be the primary heat source (unless oil goes up to $10 a gallon this year…). The fireplace is actually in the dining room / kitchen area. The house is a cape style probably 1700 sq. feet and very well insulated with new windows, etc. It holds heat well and is not drafty at all. Right now I’m split between the Osburn 1700 and the Osburn 2000. I have no problem with the price difference but I was told by my installer that it’s better to have a small stove that works harder then a large stove that you burn small fires in and let smolder because they will build up creosote much more when not running at full potential. But at the same time, the larger 2000 seems like it will have longer burn times, take bigger wood and can be more easily loaded both NS and EW. Plus my fireplace is fairly large and it will look better proportioned. Curious what you Gus think about what my installer said about a smaller stove being potentially better in my case, especially for supplemental heat. Thanks!

 

[NickW]

N/S loading is huge. My Osburn Stratford II (ZC) does not like E/W.

 

[Newbie78]

Get the bigger stove. We recently went from a 1.9 to a 3.3. I was worried that the bigger stove would not heat up fast with a small fire. That turned out to be nothing to worry about. Lots of kindling and 2 or 3 splits and off it goes. Once it warms up it stays warm far longer cause it has 35% more mass. We did not like e/w loading in very cold weather where the firebox was packed full. Logs rolled into the glass often and were a hazard, in our opinion. We like the bigger stove better. In a milder climate it wouldn't be such an issue.

we prefer the option of n/s or e/w loading 18" wood. Also, the bigger stove is much heavier and holds heat way longer so heating in the fall has been effortless. The bigger stove will not require as much middle of the night loading like the smaller stove did. We loved the little stove, but we like the bigger one even more at this point (about 1 month in).

oh, and just to be clear, the bigger stove heats up just as fast as the smaller stove with near equal amounts of wood. You just have to modify your fire-making procedure slightly.

and you know the proportions you like. That has everything to do with how satisfied you will be with how it looks.

your installer may be right to a point, but I think you can easily work around his concern.

and N/S loading is HUGE, imo for us. Otherwise we wouldn't have even switched stoves.

 

[stoveliker]

You should indeed not smouldering a bigger stove, instead you should make smaller but hot burning fires in them. And take advantage of the larger output and longer burns (as compared to a smaller stove) when it's cold.

 

[EbS-P]

I have the Drolet version of this insert the, 1800i. It’s more plain and cheaper. It’s not huge. If I want a small fire it does a good job with a clean burn on a half load. But my 24’ of insulated liner it is over drafting. How tall is your chimney? Second question/comment the outside air kit is not a direct connect. So if you need that due to really tight home I’m not sure it’s the best as cold air can just flow out the front of the unit. May or may not matter. Have you had a fire in the fireplace? Does it draft well?

 

[kennyp2339]

Go as big as you can, one of the biggest gripes is a small stove when it gets ridiculously cold out, between needing more heat, fitting pieces in when there are a lot of coals, or having to clean ash out of the stove every other burn, a small stove gets old after a while.
If its warmer out and you dont need a full fire, just cut the load in half and run a batch burn here and there.
Dont forget about insulated liner & block off plate

 

[emsflyer84]

I have the Drolet version of this insert the, 1800i. It’s more plain and cheaper. It’s not huge. If I want a small fire it does a good job with a clean burn on a half load. But my 24’ of insulated liner it is over drafting. How tall is your chimney? Second question/comment the outside air kit is not a direct connect. So if you need that due to really tight home I’m not sure it’s the best as cold air can just flow out the front of the unit. May or may not matter. Have you had a fire in the fireplace? Does it draft well?

Hi there, thanks for the reply. My current fireplace drafts well, the chimney is tall, probably not sure how tall but two full stories. The Drolet 1800i looks like it might be a good option for us as well at a significant price savings. What are the real differences between the Drolet and the Osburn? I know it's the same parent company and I like the idea of pocketing some extra money for firewood, but I'd happily spend more on the Osburn if the long term benefits are significant enough...

 

[emsflyer84]

Go as big as you can, one of the biggest gripes is a small stove when it gets ridiculously cold out, between needing more heat, fitting pieces in when there are a lot of coals, or having to clean ash out of the stove every other burn, a small stove gets old after a while.
If its warmer out and you dont need a full fire, just cut the load in half and run a batch burn here and there.
Dont forget about insulated liner & block off plate

Great info, thanks. Sounds like the consensus is a larger box has more benefits that outweigh the smaller one. It's up between the Drolet 1800i and the Osburn 2000. And the research continues...

 

[kennyp2339]

Great info, thanks. Sounds like the consensus is a larger box has more benefits that outweigh the smaller one. It's up between the Drolet 1800i and the Osburn 2000. And the research continues...

@begreen has a lot of experience with batch burning or running half loaded stoves due to his semi warm PNW location, the point I'm trying to drive home, when your on the fence with stove size is say your buring a 2.5cuft box, the reality is after your initial burn your only going to be using 2 cuft or less due to fire shape, ash & coals taking up space, if we get a long stretch of cold you'll find that when running the stove a little harder (due to smaller size) that wood like oak burns hot but quicker and there are tons or egg size coals that need to be burnt down before you could fit larger splits in, could be a pia if you want to go to bed, the larger box helps with that.

 

[EbS-P]

Hi there, thanks for the reply. My current fireplace drafts well, the chimney is tall, probably not sure how tall but two full stories. The Drolet 1800i looks like it might be a good option for us as well at a significant price savings. What are the real differences between the Drolet and the Osburn? I know it's the same parent company and I like the idea of pocketing some extra money for firewood, but I'd happily spend more on the Osburn if the long term benefits are significant enough...

As far as I can tell the Drolet doesn’t get the trim on the door. And the surround looks more plain. The internals are the exact same. Not sure about the blower. But mine is quiet

 

[NickW]

You mentioned buying firewood. You (as a general rule) can't buy seasoned firewood. Even the kiln dried stuff at the gas station or local big box is usually not under 20% mc. Most of us strive to be 3 years ahead on our wood supply.

 

[emsflyer84]

You mentioned buying firewood. You (as a general rule) can't buy seasoned firewood. Even the kiln dried stuff at the gas station or local big box is usually not under 20% mc. Most of us strive to be 3 years ahead on our wood supply.

Agreed. But for my first season or two I won't have much of a choice...

 

[Newbie78]

drolet and osburn have exactly the same fireboxes. Enerzone has a 1/16" thicker top, otherwise also exactly the same. There are tiny niceties (tiny in my mind anyway) on the upscale models, that is all. The substance of the stoves are all the same. Chevy, Oldsmobile, Cadillac.

also, in models like the legend (3.3 feet) the osburn and enerzone have the curled down top at the front. The drolets are flat. I think I prefer the flat (even tho my top is not dead-flat (like maybe 1/32" bow in the middle)).I have a pretty straight eye and notice that stuff immediately. Many wouldn't. I'm sure that the curl helps to keep the top dead- flat during the welding process.

I'm fighting the wind today. Sigh. When the wind is straight out of the west, we have an intermittent down draft which makes starting the morning fire from coals a sometimes smokey affair. It happened this morning. Sheesh. Once the chimney is hot it can overpower almost any wind. Pita.

Ps, drolet's customer service through myfireplaceproducts.com is impeccable and more than generous. They have earned my loyalty on two stove purchases in the last 13 months. I imagine that applies in all of the SBI company?

Some minor things that are must-dos on the two drolet stoves I have experience with; tighten the allen set screws for the eccentric door hinge pins before the pins turn and pull the door out of alignment. Also, apply some anti-seize to the pins several times in the early stages (take the door off, antiseize the pins, put the door back on. Do this as soon as you feel the faintest friction while swinging the door. After several applications that becomes a very rare need - at least with the copper-coat I've been using). Dry graphite might be better, I haven't tried that.

Also, the door gasket splice at the bottom centre of the door can get damaged in the first few fires when the gasket tends to stick slightly to the stove body. It needs to be protected. I had that problem with the Columbia, which was rectified with a carefully applied small amount of hitemp silicone and a wee piece of tin foil. Fixed. Done. No more damage. No leak. I did the same to the legend stove before I even had a fire in it. Fixed, Done. This time with perhaps the tiniest whiff of a leak, as I see signs on the stove body that there's a wee bit of a draw there. Nothing of great concern tho, as it doesn't appear to breach the gasket whatsoever. I'll keep an eye on that.

myfireplaceproducts sent me a new gasket kit for the Columbia immediately when I called them about it. Not even a question. I didn't even have to ask. It was offered freely immediately. And now I have a spare.

I have a long story about exemplary customer service regarding my recent legend stove purchase too, but maybe later...

wind just howling out there. Damn.

PS, go as big as you can in the SBI lines. My assumption at this point that they are all good stuff and are backed by refreshing, prompt customer service in this age of waiting on hold for hours...

 

[Newbie78]

Go as big as you can, one of the biggest gripes is a small stove when it gets ridiculously cold out, between needing more heat, fitting pieces in when there are a lot of coals, or having to clean ash out of the stove every other burn, a small stove gets old after a while.
If its warmer out and you dont need a full fire, just cut the load in half and run a batch burn here and there.
Dont forget about insulated liner & block off plate

EXACTLY our experience. Kenny is not as "wordy" as me! Lol. I will work on that..

 

[stoveliker]

Agreed. But for my first season or two I won't have much of a choice...

Yes, you can buy a pallet of sawdust bricks. They are dry (store then inside). As ebs-p says, consider it part of the cost of an install. Burning wood that's too wet WILL leave you disappointed, blaming a good stove, and loose confidence and interest in wood burning.

 

[emsflyer84]

Yes, you can buy a pallet of sawdust bricks. They are dry (store then inside). As ebs-p says, consider it part of the cost of an install. Burning wood that's too wet WILL leave you disappointed, blaming a good stove, and loose confidence and interest in wood burning.

I'll look into this while I get some wood seasoning for the next few seasons. Thanks.

 

[emsflyer84]

Well, as luck would have it, I’m sitting at my desk today and a client of mine who owns a stove shop stopped in out of the blue. I told him about my project and he laughed when I asked how hard it was to get an insert these days. Just for fun he called his shop and the manager had ONE Osburn 2000 that a customer backed out of and it wasn’t spoken for yet. He gave me a great deal and the rest is history…

 

[kennyp2339]

Well, as luck would have it, I’m sitting at my desk today and a client of mine who owns a stove shop stopped in out of the blue. I told him about my project and he laughed when I asked how hard it was to get an insert these days. Just for fun he called his shop and the manager had ONE Osburn 2000 that a customer backed out of and it wasn’t spoken for yet. He gave me a great deal and the rest is history…

Congratulations!

 

[begreen]

Well, as luck would have it, I’m sitting at my desk today and a client of mine who owns a stove shop stopped in out of the blue. I told him about my project and he laughed when I asked how hard it was to get an insert these days. Just for fun he called his shop and the manager had ONE Osburn 2000 that a customer backed out of and it wasn’t spoken for yet. He gave me a great deal and the rest is history…

Love it when the universe works like that. Sounds like it was meant to be.