Striker 160??

[BugDoc]

I have been investigating wood stoves for the last few months and have gleaned a lot of useful information from this forum. Thanks for that!! To make a long story short, because of the confines of the space that I have to put a stove, I have found that the Striker 160 is the only stove that I have found so far that will fit in the space that I have available. Unless any of you have any other suggestions. I just put in a new heat pump this fall, so I am wanting a small stove as a secondary and emergency source of heat. It will be fired every weekend as I sit in front of the TV during the long wet winters in Oregon watching football.

My questions are these:

1) Is this a quality stove?

2) What is a reasonable price to pay? I remember reading posts of folks picking this little devils up for around $600. I have called all of my local dealers and the prices that I have been quoted have been quite a bit more ($1,050-$1,500 for the plane jane model with legs) and ($1,200-$1500 for the pedistal with ash drawer). Would I be taken to the cleaners paying these sorts of prices? Since I won't be heating the house with this stove, I would like to keep cost to a minimum.

I was really hoping to find one of these for the $600 price?

Looking forward to everyones comments.

Thanks,

BugDoc

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Never heard of it but I know Pacific Energy has a sale going and their Vista models are very nice. Eric

 

[BugDoc]

The Striker 160 is by Country Stoves, which from what I understand was recently bought out by Lennox.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

you might take a peek at the englander 13-nc i do not know your clearances needed so im not certain it will fit , but its rated up to 1500 square ft, and price should be lower than the striker pretty close to the 6hundred you were looking at. here's a link.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/13-nc.html

feel free to contact me if you want information on this unit

 

[GVA]

I would PM countrygal and or wrenchmonster I believe they both have this stove I know they have the stryker but not sure on the model#
See how they like it..

 

[BugDoc]

you might take a peek at the englander 13-nc i do not know your clearances needed so im not certain it will fit , but its rated up to 1500 square ft, and price should be lower than the striker pretty close to the 6hundred you were looking at. here's a link.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/13-nc.html

feel free to contact me if you want information on this unit

Thanks for the lead!! I will check into this stove as well. The price sounds a lot more favorable. By checking out the website for my local dealers it looks to be handled more by "big box" stores like Home Depot. At least in my neck of the woods. I worry a bit about the "knowledge of stoves" and the level of customer service that you get in those types of stores relative to a place that specializes in stoves???

 

[Elderthewelder]

I have the C160 insert, I bought it new last year from a dealer, cost for just the insert was $1199, than there was the liner kit, blower, off set adapter box, and installation.

I have a small zc fireplace that it went into and they played hell getting it all hooked up. But bottom line I like it very much, I have a small 1300 SQ' tri-level home and it heats it very nicely.

If you shooped craigslist you could probably find one for half the price as new, that is what wrenchmonster did, he got the freestanding model of the same stove, the S160.

I think these Country stoves are more popular here on the west coast than in other areas of the country, they are made in Washington state. It seems that every dealer around sells the Country line

here is a local dealers say on the c160 (it is not the dealer I used)
http://monroefireplace.com/product.asp?Product_Id=33583&d_id=9186&l1=9179&l2=9185

This one on Seattle craigslist looks like the plain jane S160, no fancy legs, or pedestal
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/for/439475662.html

 

[stoveguy2esw]

you might take a peek at the englander 13-nc i do not know your clearances needed so im not certain it will fit , but its rated up to 1500 square ft, and price should be lower than the striker pretty close to the 6hundred you were looking at. here's a link.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/13-nc.html

feel free to contact me if you want information on this unit

Thanks for the lead!! I will check into this stove as well. The price sounds a lot more favorable. By checking out the website for my local dealers it looks to be handled more by "big box" stores like Home Depot. At least in my neck of the woods. I worry a bit about the "knowledge of stoves" and the level of customer service that you get in those types of stores relative to a place that specializes in stoves???

well to be honest , the customer service is me. selling through the DIY market we do all of the customer service work through the factory (we build em so who would be better to help you with em if needed (but its doubtful that we would be) most of our "woodstove calls" are more for information than problems.

 

[wg_bent]

Look at the Lopi Revere and the Osburn 1800i. both have a larger firebox and will fit where the striker will in most cases.
The Osburn has the best fire view in the business and will do 8 hour burns with the right wood. Oregon.. lot's of pine there... and my Osburn burns that very nicely.

 

[Gunner]

What exactly are the "confines of the space" where the stove will go...just so we know what you have to work with.

 

[Gunner]

Just looked at the Country 160 on-line. The one downside I see to this stove is the firebox is only 14" deep, essentially making you load the splits east/west (or cut everything really short) This may be acceptable with a side and or top loading stove, but IMO a real PITA with a front loading door. There is NO WAY you can safely load as much wood into a stove from a front door E/W as you can N/S.

 

[CountryGal]

We have the Country S160. Our living room is pretty small and it will warm the place very well. We do load E=W but always did even in the old stove which was larger. I can tell you the load is more than enough to heat the space we have. As far as clearances, 6" to the stone wall behind the stove was required. We have a corner setup. The prices you quoted are about what we paid but we also had the whole hearth redone by the dealer.

 

[Elderthewelder]

Look at the Lopi Revere and the Osburn 1800i. both have a larger firebox and will fit where the striker will in most cases.
The Osburn has the best fire view in the business and will do 8 hour burns with the right wood. Oregon.. lot's of pine there... and my Osburn burns that very nicely.

Country C160 Firebox
W= 18"
D= 14"
H= ??

Osburn 1800 firebox
Width: 11.5"
Depth: 14.5"
Height: 17.0"

 

[BugDoc]

I have the C160 insert, I bought it new last year from a dealer, cost for just the insert was $1199, than there was the liner kit, blower, off set adapter box, and installation.

I have a small zc fireplace that it went into and they played hell getting it all hooked up. But bottom line I like it very much, I have a small 1300 SQ' tri-level home and it heats it very nicely.

If you shooped craigslist you could probably find one for half the price as new, that is what wrenchmonster did, he got the freestanding model of the same stove, the S160.

I think these Country stoves are more popular here on the west coast than in other areas of the country, they are made in Washington state. It seems that every dealer around sells the Country line

here is a local dealers say on the c160 (it is not the dealer I used)
http://monroefireplace.com/product.asp?Product_Id=33583&d_id=9186&l1=9179&l2=9185

This one on Seattle craigslist looks like the plain jane S160, no fancy legs, or pedestal
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/for/439475662.html

Maybe I am paranoid, but I worry about buying a used stove, particularly of unknown age. My main concern is how I determine if it is up to current codes and how to figure out the proper installation requirements. Particularly so that my insurance company doesn't get their undies in a bunch!! Are those valid worries or should I start shopping for a good used stove? The one you provided the link for appears to be just like the new S160 I looked at my local dealers last night after work. I assume that it would have the same clearance to combustibles as a new stove of the same model?? If still available, I would be tempted to drive up and get it.

 

[BugDoc]

What exactly are the "confines of the space" where the stove will go...just so we know what you have to work with.

Here is the hearth area that was already existing in my basement, and by default (unless I want to start all over, which I don't is were a stove needs to fit. The hearth measures about 60 inches in depth from the back of the wall to the laminate flooring. The brick do not have and inch of open air space behind them and according to my local builing inspector (and from I can tell as well) don't provide additional fire protection. Basically, my clearances are from the wall itself behind the brick (5 inches). I would prefer to back a stove into the corner so that the door faces the main part of the room. Another issue that I have that is that if doing so, to keep 16" in the the front the pipe exit from the stove and the exit in my exterior wall (see fashionable plate covering hole!!) won't line up. Can a guy work around that or not. The other option is to have the back of the stove against the outside wall. Sorry this is so difficult to explain, but hopefully the photo will help. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!!

 

[Elderthewelder]

there is nothing wrong with buying a used stove as long as you do your homework and know what you are buying. In regards to that Country I provided the link on, I would email him and ask if there is any type of I.D. data plaque on the back of the stove, I know my c160 has one on it and it tells the model number and serial number, and perhaps the mfg date, with this info you can get a idea of how old it is and how much use it has had, also inspect the stove for signs of over firing, look insid to see if the baffles that hold the upper firebricks are warped, or if the secondary burn tubes are warped, look around the flue opening at top of stove for any cracks. also ask that seller if he has all the exhaust/chimney pipe with it

 

[Gooserider]

There are a couple articles on purchasing a used stove in the hearth wiki, they go into pretty good detail about what to look for. One key thing to insist on is that the label on the back be present and legible, it should have all the certification info on it that your building inspector / insurance co. would need, and a minimal clearance chart. It is helpful if the person has the actual manual, but not vital since you can get manuals for most stoves online if the company is still in buisiness.

Otherwise look at that wiki article to see the "hardware" aspects of what you should look for.

Gooserider