To Upgrade or to not upgrade my stove, that is the question?

[farscape105]

Hi, so I know nothing about stoves. I grew up on fireplaces. We have an old double door freestanding Hutch Rebel in our living room. We go through about 3/4 cord a season. I have a custom fit in screen to use it like a fireplace with doors open. We mostly use it for ambiance and to add heat to our sunk in living room. We are having all new Class A stove/chimney pipes installed and wondering if I should upgrade to a modern stove. Also new pipe will have damper flue. Since we don't use it to heat our house, I don't see a pressing reason to upgrade. I love the large firebox and stove in great condition. One thing is that I can't find metal plate with manufacturing info which could cause an issue with insurance companies. But so far in the last 15 years with 3 different companies has not been an issue. Also, I assume even with 8" pipe that down the road might not be too much of issue to upgrade? A friend of my wife commented the stove like we have is mostly used in shops/garage? Why is that? Cost not a big concern, but I assume be pricey to get new with similar size opening/firebox. Thanks for your opinions. Here is pic of stove. Wasn't sure to post in new or old stove thread so did in both.

 

[kborndale]

If your burning less than a cord a year I don't really see it being worth your money to upgrade to a modern stove. A new stove and 6" chimney will run quite a bit.

 

[farscape105]

Thanks! Yes that's what I thought since it is mostly used for ambiance. Like I said I grew up with fireplace and mostly want that affect.
Here is pic of stove with screen. Again we use it 100% with doors open so efficiency is not a concern. If we did upgrade I would want one with a similar sized opening which is 18" wide by 14" tall.

 

[Eman85]

I would keep it and use it just like you do for ambiance and backup heat. Yes it will create creosote in the chimney, just keep it clean. No it's not an EPA stove and not as efficient but it will do the job just fine. Yes you find stoves like that in shops, because they give pretty good heat and they are durable and inexpensive.

 

[kborndale]

I would keep it and use it just like you do for ambiance and backup heat. Yes it will create creosote in the chimney, just keep it clean. No it's not an EPA stove and not as efficient but it will do the job just fine. Yes you find stoves like that in shops, because they give pretty good heat and they are durable and inexpensive.

Burning with the doors open like they mainly do, I don't see it creating much creosote.

 

[danrclem]

Since you don't use very much wood I'd say keep it. The only reason not to keep it is if your insurance company wouldn't cover your house in if somehow it caused a fire.

 

[reaperman1]

If the cost isnt a big concern, then go for it. Since you like the ambience of a nice fire, it's hard to beat the show from the secondary combustion that a modern tube stove will display Plus you will benefit from way more heat output and way longer burn times.

 

[peakbagger]

If you have money to burn, feel free to get the latest and greatest, folks do that all the time with motor vehicles. IMO there is no way to justify economically given the use. Creosote is far more related to wood dryness than stove design unless you are trying to stretch out burns with a lot of turn down on the stove. I could suggest you could paint it, but it looks pretty good in the photo. Some folks paint the doors with contrasting high temp paint to make the patterns stand out a bit.

 

[bigealta]

A new stove with big glass door is the way to go if you replace it. That's what i would do.

 

[xman23]

The issue you can have with a new stove is they are stoves made to heat. I don't known how many of the new ones can burn open. My 20 year old, Oslo can. But we never have, as we are primarily heating with it.
One advantage of a new stove, most have glass front doors. It will give you the same fire view as you are doing, while allowing a controlled fire that produces more heat with less wood consumption.

 

[bigealta]

My jotul f400 can as well. I have a screen, but never used it and most likely never will.