We’re looking to replace the old Waterford 100 wood stove in our 1100 sq ft home that we moved into a year ago here in snowy Northern California. After spending hours reading through Hearth’s forums, we’ve narrowed our stove search and are looking for a little help assessing final candidates given some peculiarities of our home.
About our house:
* 1100 sq ft; wood heat only; open-plan living/kitchen/dining room; ducting (with fan) above wood stove pumps warm air to the back, isolated bedroom
* Good southern exposure: when the sun comes out the main living area will get into the 60s/70s midday with no morning fire
* The Waterford 100 (firebox approx. 0.9 cu ft) is capable of heating the house… but we routinely close bedroom doors to make it an easier job, and the stove chews through the seasoned oak and pine that we need to feed it almost hourly
* House has a brick chimney that runs up the wall behind the tiled hearth with corrugated metal walls (rough drawing attached) - current stove has top flue exit, then approx. 2 ft vertical stove pipe into a 90-degree bend, into another 2-3 feet section (all single-walled, with almost certainly non-code clearances) to the chimney connection. Total height difference from top of stove to top of chimney is probably 15-18 feet with 2-3 lateral feet in the stove pipe run
What we’re looking for in a new stove:
* Efficiency
* Larger firebox to give us possibility of coals in the morning, more heating potential especially when bedroom doors are open, longer time between reloads
* Heat living space quickly in the morning
* Non-cat with a big window and a design that fits the space - stove is a major focal point of the open living/kitchen/dining room area (and there’s no TV, so a flame show would be great)
* Dimensions in the vicinity of 23-26” wide and 20” deep to fit well diagonally on existing hearth; would be nice to have top and rear flue exit options
* Usable top surface for cooking - our power goes out with some regularity in winter
* Accept at least 17" firewood
After considering many heaters from posts on this site and through visits to dealers, here’s where we’ve ended up:
* Morso 2110
- Pros: physical size and design are perfect for the room; comparable size to existing stove - confident we won’t cook ourselves out of the house; mostly good reviews; top & rear flue options
- Cons: only slightly larger firebox (1.1 cu ft) over current stove - overnight burns unlikely; have read it can have issues with smoke exiting doors on reload (perhaps exacerbated by our up-90-over pipe run to get to the chimney); under 75% efficient (a dealer told us this - I can’t find conclusive information)
* Efel S33
- Pros: seems a unique combination of high efficiency, large window, medium-small firebox (1.7 cu ft), and longer burn times (although I don't buy the 'most advanced stove ever' marketing!); read it radiates initial heat quickly
- Cons: Expensive; Can’t find many reviews; No west coast dealers - difficult to get parts?; top flue only (no rear flue it seems on the US model?)
* Hearthstone Shelburne
- Pros: Large (for us) firebox (2 cu ft) for more heat, longer burns; soapstone fire brick will even out overnight temp fluctuations in the house; good reviews; top & rear flue options
- Cons: Possibly too big for the space; Slower to radiate heat when starting (?); Retained heat in fire brick might cause overheating midday when sun is out
What are we missing in our thinking here? Anything you see differently that might push us in one direction or another?
Thanks so much,
NN
About our house:
* 1100 sq ft; wood heat only; open-plan living/kitchen/dining room; ducting (with fan) above wood stove pumps warm air to the back, isolated bedroom
* Good southern exposure: when the sun comes out the main living area will get into the 60s/70s midday with no morning fire
* The Waterford 100 (firebox approx. 0.9 cu ft) is capable of heating the house… but we routinely close bedroom doors to make it an easier job, and the stove chews through the seasoned oak and pine that we need to feed it almost hourly
* House has a brick chimney that runs up the wall behind the tiled hearth with corrugated metal walls (rough drawing attached) - current stove has top flue exit, then approx. 2 ft vertical stove pipe into a 90-degree bend, into another 2-3 feet section (all single-walled, with almost certainly non-code clearances) to the chimney connection. Total height difference from top of stove to top of chimney is probably 15-18 feet with 2-3 lateral feet in the stove pipe run
What we’re looking for in a new stove:
* Efficiency
* Larger firebox to give us possibility of coals in the morning, more heating potential especially when bedroom doors are open, longer time between reloads
* Heat living space quickly in the morning
* Non-cat with a big window and a design that fits the space - stove is a major focal point of the open living/kitchen/dining room area (and there’s no TV, so a flame show would be great)
* Dimensions in the vicinity of 23-26” wide and 20” deep to fit well diagonally on existing hearth; would be nice to have top and rear flue exit options
* Usable top surface for cooking - our power goes out with some regularity in winter
* Accept at least 17" firewood
After considering many heaters from posts on this site and through visits to dealers, here’s where we’ve ended up:
* Morso 2110
- Pros: physical size and design are perfect for the room; comparable size to existing stove - confident we won’t cook ourselves out of the house; mostly good reviews; top & rear flue options
- Cons: only slightly larger firebox (1.1 cu ft) over current stove - overnight burns unlikely; have read it can have issues with smoke exiting doors on reload (perhaps exacerbated by our up-90-over pipe run to get to the chimney); under 75% efficient (a dealer told us this - I can’t find conclusive information)
* Efel S33
- Pros: seems a unique combination of high efficiency, large window, medium-small firebox (1.7 cu ft), and longer burn times (although I don't buy the 'most advanced stove ever' marketing!); read it radiates initial heat quickly
- Cons: Expensive; Can’t find many reviews; No west coast dealers - difficult to get parts?; top flue only (no rear flue it seems on the US model?)
* Hearthstone Shelburne
- Pros: Large (for us) firebox (2 cu ft) for more heat, longer burns; soapstone fire brick will even out overnight temp fluctuations in the house; good reviews; top & rear flue options
- Cons: Possibly too big for the space; Slower to radiate heat when starting (?); Retained heat in fire brick might cause overheating midday when sun is out
What are we missing in our thinking here? Anything you see differently that might push us in one direction or another?
Thanks so much,
NN
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