The stove challenge!

[jpl1nh]

March 6, 1 degree F, wind gustin as high as 26 which translates to wind chill values as low as -44! ridiculous for this time of year, maybe anytime of year. But if you love to heat with wood, aren't these the times you relish. My clunky old Jotul combifire has brought my house temp up from 60 to 70 in just an hour and a half with these conditions. No draft issues today fellas, and we ain't producing any smoke either! That's all from Newfields NH. Hope you all are warm.

 

[elkimmeg]

Its freaking cold here 4 degrees and real windy. I thought this was March. The wife added a few splits before she left for work, not bad only lost a few degrees over night.

Days like today it's going to be a challenge to gain a degree or two inside But working on it

Looking ahead Saturday looks like we will return to normal

 

[babalu87]

76 in the living room after an honest 7-8 hour burn and PLENTY of rolling coals that I put two BEEG pieces on to keep the house temp up. Upstairs is usually around 8 degrees less than the living room.

I can get it to 80 if you guys want
It is days like this when I realize that the stove is sized just right.
With all the sunshine we may have to let it go out, I am going home early today, partly to play with the stove and partly to work on that GD Volvo!
No start, TODAY OF ALL DAYS!! Battery seems fine, bright lights, fans etc.

Red beans and rice on the stovetop for dinner

 

[Harley]

4 below this morning leaving for work, and the wind was really howling last night..... Looks like last night/today are going to be the coldest hear in the NE.... back to normal for the weekend. It will be a bit of a challenge to keep the house really warm.

 

[jpl1nh]

You know, its days like today that I really question upgrading my stove. Yeah its not EPA approved, its not flashy, can't watch the fire less I slide the door under and put the screen in, but this old combifire has my house at a steady 72 running somewhere between idle and moderate and I'm burning mostly punky white birch and punky poplar, 6" rounds or splits though. Left the red oak, maple, yellow birch in nice splits for my wife today. Damn stove works so well, I'm afraid to replace it! I hear some of you guys wondering if you'll be able to keep up, and I probably could have my place at 85 today! What do you think?

 

[BrotherBart]

You know, its days like today that I really question upgrading my stove. Yeah its not EPA approved, its not flashy, can't watch the fire less I slide the door under and put the screen in, but this old combifire has my house at a steady 72 running somewhere between idle and moderate and I'm burning mostly punky white birch and punky poplar, 6" rounds or splits though. Left the red oak, maple, yellow birch in nice splits for my wife today. Damn stove works so well, I'm afraid to replace it! I hear some of you guys wondering if you'll be able to keep up, and I probably could have my place at 85 today! What do you think?

I dunno. How cold is it outside where you live? Zero. Eighty?

 

[elkimmeg]

BB I know the artic front pushed threw your area but up in the NE its the winds
Howling 35 to 45 mph the sun is doing nothing finally made it to 7 degrees here
We are going to set all time low records here for March. My work day is shot I can't work outside in this

I was suposed to be replacing windows today complete removals not just replacement sash

 

[jpl1nh]

I live about 15 miles from the coast of NH. Today, the day I was refering to, its currently 5 with 15 to 20 mph winds. My house has about a 1200 sq ft footprint, is open concept with a second floor loft with two bedrooms and a bath off the loft. We heat it all with wood, though I have a forced hot air oil burner that I prefer never to use! Its quite shaded and moderatly well insulated. The current Jotul combifire sits right in the middle with a central masonary chimney which I never really have any draft issue with using my current stove. I've been looking at the Jotul Castine and the Woodstock Keystone. Hmm, soapstone or cast iron? I like the cat in the soapstone stove but want to be able to take a chill off quickly on spring and fall mornings so I'm leary of the soapstone. Like to cool the house down overnight so I'm unsure of the Castines ability to burn low effectively over night. I'm leary of the Vermont Castings cats due to quality issues. Don't like the visuals of the steel stoves
And then again, the combifire just burns away so well..and I its paid for.

 

[BrotherBart]

BB I know the artic front pushed threw your area but up in the NE its the winds
Howling 35 to 45 mph the sun is doing nothing finally made it to 7 degrees here
We are going to set all time low records here for March. My work day is shot I can't work outside in this

I was suposed to be replacing windows today complete removals not just replacement sash

Yep, mighty cold here for us of the "moderate climate" set. Too cold to mix and pour that concrete to fix my bridge that washed out last week. Also too cold to get out there and put the new engine on the log splitter.

 

[BrotherBart]

I live about 15 miles from the coast of NH. Today, the day I was refering to, its currently 5 with 15 to 20 mph winds. My house has about a 1200 sq ft footprint, is open concept with a second floor loft with two bedrooms and a bath off the loft. We heat it all with wood, though I have a forced hot air oil burner that I prefer never to use! Its quite shaded and moderatly well insulated. The current Jotul combifire sits right in the middle with a central masonary chimney which I never really have any draft issue with using my current stove. I've been looking at the Jotul Castine and the Woodstock Keystone. Hmm, soapstone or cast iron? I like the cat in the soapstone stove but want to be able to take a chill off quickly on spring and fall mornings so I'm leary of the soapstone. Like to cool the house down overnight so I'm unsure of the Castines ability to burn low effectively over night. I'm leary of the Vermont Castings cats due to quality issues. Don't like the visuals of the steel stoves
And then again, the combifire just burns away so well..and I its paid for.

If the stove is doing its job, why mess with success?

 

[elkimmeg]

If you noticed the recent Vc complaint are not the Cat stoves everyone wishes they had the cat stoves VC has re certified the cat Encore and Defiant to 2011 so they plan to keep on making them. there has been 4 or 5 model revisions each time they have addressed past issues each time they have made them used friendlyer and made cat replacement easier Today not one bolt has to be removed to replace the Cat in the Encore just tap up two steel wedges tilt and remove the heat plate and itsd right there. About as easy as it gets. All complaints are past complaints which have been addressed. The company has new ownership and direction. The new cats experience 20 years of development and design tweaks.
the Jotul model you are thinking about a nice stove but you will be hard pressed to get a productive 8hr burn one can do that in a Cat encore I do every night.
Jotul is a superb stove but you need to up size to extend your burn. The Cat Woodstocks on sale now, become a viable option for soapstone stoves expecially when you live relitively close to their opperations

 

[jpl1nh]

EL, I love the look of the woodstocks, but what about those mornings each end of the season where its 62 in the house now but its gonna be 65 outside later and you just need one small fire to warm it up but not have you too hot the rest of the day? How do you do that with soapstone? Thanks for the VC info, I've been skeptical cause people have compalined about gaskets falling out, warpage and stuff, but otherwise I like they're looks and like the idea of a cat.

 

[webbie]

Chill Factor is showing as -23
Temp is about 1 degree......at 8 am.

Cold....really cold.

That combifire is a great stove for medium to high burns and with the interior chimney you are probably getting a decent efficiency.

 

[elkimmeg]

Listen if it gets to 65 open a window or two there is no one stove made for every condition It's the opperator that learns to adjust to the conditions not the stove I'm sure you can figure out how to work it for the varying conditions.
As for Vc gaskets they use the same cement and gaskets as almost all North American essembled stoves. Eventually all stoves have gasket replacement problems.

Also if not broken in correctly and allowing the cement to cure, every stove can have issues. One hears about Vc stoves having issues because they manufacture 50,000 a year
one does not hear too much about the manufacturer that produces 3000 units. ITs all relitive. When was the last time you heard about a Buck stove gasket problem?

WE hear a lot about PE here on the forum because of active member ship of owners But out in Saltlake City show one has to go out of their way to find PE little cubical stuffed in the back.
They are not a large manufacturer nothing on the scale of Jotul or Travis Industries. Did you know VC Intrepids sold more stove models than all of PE stoves?

 

[jpl1nh]

Great point regarding VC's volume, hence the number of problem reports. And I'm sure there are many stove owners who don't take the care they should to break their stove in, or just to learn to control the burns to not overfire them. My wife thinks I'm nuts geting detailed about how to operate the stove and just is not interested in efficiency, creosote buildup, pollution, etc. In her mind, you just shove the wood in and burn it. Her idea of a long burn is to cram the stove as full as it'll get and shut it down. I'm sure she is by no means the only operator like that, unfortunately. Thanks for the input!

 

[Hogwildz]

12° Windy as hell here. 73° inside. Burning between 450° & 500°. I'm happy with my insert. Doing a better than expected job on this big ol place.
Wood rack was a lil low last night, wind blew it over, thats a first for me. Almost broke the bathroom bay window.
I'll be moving her over a bit now.

 

[keyman512us]

Yup...talk about 'March Madness'.
I've got the capability to heat with wood...but had to put up a taller flue (which blew down in the last arctic blast)...so staying warm courtesy of the "dinosaur- goo machine" right now...maybe next year things will get better...oh well.

 

[jpl1nh]

Takes some wicked weather to take stove safety matters all the way to your outside woodrack. Pretty incredible doings!

 

[babalu87]

Car is fixed .............. for now, I found nothing really?!?!?!
Reset a code and turned the key on and off about 20 times, could be the antenna for the fancy Volvo keys.
House is 76 downstairs 68 upstairs, its 14 degrees and the wind is SCREAMING!

If you are building a home, build a Cape and have the backside face South, I cant believe how efficient this house is on a day like today.

Bonus of having a 6 acre lot................ I just found some more wood on my plow truck that I forgot about, ready to burn once it warms up

 

[jpl1nh]

And that's the type of day its been here in the NE. Wife didn't want to get up, dog didn't want to go out, car didn't want to start, but little matter, the stove had the house nice and warm. Did the wood you found on your plow truck just fall there today in the wind, or was it there before?

 

[babalu87]

LOL
No it is what Eric Johnson calls Sunday wood and I call Frankenstein wood.
It was a NASTY twisted up piece of Oak that I pounded on for a few days and then threw on the truck in disgust after I finally got it split. I didnt want that wood in the pile and then I forgot about it.
It will burn just fine once it gets closer to room temperature.

 

[jpl1nh]

Yup, the kind of wood that stands out in a crowd (or is that in a cord). Hope it distinquishes itself in the stove too!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

If you noticed the recent Vc complaint are not the Cat stoves everyone wishes they had the cat stoves VC has re certified the cat Encore and Defiant to 2011 so they plan to keep on making them. there has been 4 or 5 model revisions each time they have addressed past issues each time they have made them used friendlyer and made cat replacement easier Today not one bolt has to be removed to replace the Cat in the Encore just tap up two steel wedges tilt and remove the heat plate and itsd right there. About as easy as it gets. All complaints are past complaints which have been addressed. The company has new ownership and direction. The new cats experience 20 years of development and design tweaks.
the Jotul model you are thinking about a nice stove but you will be hard pressed to get a productive 8hr burn one can do that in a Cat encore I do every night.
Jotul is a superb stove but you need to up size to extend your burn. The Cat Woodstocks on sale now, become a viable option for soapstone stoves expecially when you live relitively close to their opperations

im going to side with elk on this one, (even though we are a competitor of VC) the issues that plagued VC in the past are "in the past" the company has rolled up its sleeves and done one heck of a job in addressing their issues, i for one am impressed with what they have done, and i dont impress easy. 0.7gph unit? wow! if i didnt work for ESW (i am prejudiced) i'd likely shop for a VC knowing what i know. great features like top loading, nice looking product and a solid american product (i know the company is canadian owned, but they be by gawd americans working on the line) the ESW in me (also american made and owned by the way) makes me say i think we are "btu for the buck" a better value, but you will have to admit, its a pretty solid endorsement to have a competitor speak this way about a product.

 

[Todd]

I live about 15 miles from the coast of NH. Today, the day I was refering to, its currently 5 with 15 to 20 mph winds. My house has about a 1200 sq ft footprint, is open concept with a second floor loft with two bedrooms and a bath off the loft. We heat it all with wood, though I have a forced hot air oil burner that I prefer never to use! Its quite shaded and moderatly well insulated. The current Jotul combifire sits right in the middle with a central masonary chimney which I never really have any draft issue with using my current stove. I've been looking at the Jotul Castine and the Woodstock Keystone. Hmm, soapstone or cast iron? I like the cat in the soapstone stove but want to be able to take a chill off quickly on spring and fall mornings so I'm leary of the soapstone. Like to cool the house down overnight so I'm unsure of the Castines ability to burn low effectively over night. I'm leary of the Vermont Castings cats due to quality issues. Don't like the visuals of the steel stoves
And then again, the combifire just burns away so well..and I its paid for.

Soapstone will take the chill off and works well in the spring and fall. You just have to plan ahead a little. It takes me an hour to bring my stove up to 500 with good dry wood. Great sale going on at Woodstock right now.