What should I replace my Quad 4300 with? I need more heat?

[JA600L]

(broken link removed to http://lancaster.craigslist.org/ppd/4292997966.html)

I have been eying up some stoves on craigslist, and I think I am finally ready to bite the bullet. I am very impressed with this stove in particular.

The Hearthstone Bennington. I don't care about square footage or what they say a stove can and can't do. I need something that pumps heat. I don't mind walking around in my boxers. Also, I work 10 hours a day so a very long heat time would be just amazing.

Can anybody vouch for this stove? I am open to some other ideas but this is local and much less than new, so I don't want the hassle of ordering or driving far. There is a Quad and Harman dealer close by too, but their prices new are outrageous.

 

[jrems]

That is big, I am very pleased with it's little brother( shelburne) I bought mine used off craigslist too about a month ago. I have a 1200sqft single floor ranch and after just a few hours it's often too hot. When we had the 0 degree cold snap it was able to keep up. With the firebox packed I'll get a good 6 hours out of a burn, even in the morning 8 hours later the stove is still to hot to touch and plenty of coals to get it going quickly. Check the baffles and be careful moving it. When I got mine the owners tried to move it to help before I got there and broke the baffles. I got it cheaper but it was a pain to replace. Good luck, I think it should be a good heater.

 

[begreen]

The Bennington was a nice model, now replaced with the Manchester. The price is not great. That is about what they were selling for on dealer clearance. What is your local dealer dealer selling the Quadrafire Isle Royale for? Maybe wait for a month or so for prices to drop.

 

[Huntindog1]

How big a house are you heating? Thats a pretty good sized stove. Rated for 14 hour burn cycle. Most likely get 11 or 12 hours.

If your wood is "just slightly" too much moisture, it will burn, but cut down on your BTU's you get out of the stove.

Tells us more.

 

[JA600L]

The stove burns great when there is a fire, but I need something that retains the heat as the fire dies down. I am heating 1200 sqft upstairs as well as 600 downstairs ( the other 600 is garage). My problem with the steel stove is it heats up and cools down so quickly. I imagine that cast iron or soapstone would hold more heat.

 

[madison]

Never used the Bennington, looked at it, briefly, but did not like the front double doors and shallow firebox, obligating E/W burning and side loading.

Fitting larger splits into that side door looked like a very tight fit.

 

[begreen]

Get a big square firebox stove with a heavy metal jacket. That will give you long burn times and heat retention/release as the fire dies down. Or look for a used Hearthstone Mansfield.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

The stove burns great when there is a fire, but I need something that retains the heat as the fire dies down. I am heating 1200 sqft upstairs as well as 600 downstairs ( the other 600 is garage). My problem with the steel stove is it heats up and cools down so quickly. I imagine that cast iron or soapstone would hold more heat.

The bigger (heavier) a stove is the slower it is to heat up and cool down, but they don't "hold more heat" or burn longer or anything of that nature. The burn time formula is pretty simple: the bigger the firebox the longer the burn time and vice versa, assuming the stove is in proper working condition.

 

[begreen]

The Alderlea does retain and release heat differently from the Summit. I have run both and find there is a more notable swing in temps with the Summit that with the T6. The best way I can describe it is that the Alderlea feels and behaves more like a soapstone stove.

 

[Huntindog1]

2.5 cu ft stove is plenty for 1800 square foot house. Sounds like you lack insulation especially in the garage area. You might forgo the expense of a new stove and better insulate. I heat 2500 sq ft house with a smaller stove.

 

[stovelark]

Hi JA- The stove you have now normally "pumps the heat out pretty good". It seems well capable of heating the area you describe, if the fuel supplied is good. The Bennington double door wasn't a big success for HS, the long bolt/handle protruding in front was a common dislike amongst potential buyers. The Shelburne is pretty popular here in New England but a Jotul Castine is a better cast stove for less money. If you want to spend 2 grand or so, find a Jotul F55 Carrabassett. Its a bigger stove than the Quad, its a steel shell with cast outside. The PE T6 like BG has above is a good stove too, a bit more money though. If you want tons of heat, an Osburn f2400, PE Summit or similar stoves would be good choices. Kinda surprise though, a Quad 4300 is normally quite the heater. Good luck, buckle up for next week, the arctic blast will be coming.

 

[JA600L]

This stove has heat sheilds all over it. Maybe I should grind the welds off. It is definitely a convection heater. Sitting in front of it is about the only way to feel the heat. I guess I can't complain too much, at 0 degrees out I could keep the house in the high mid 60's overnight with a load of oak.

 

[begreen]

If you want radiant heat and have the clearances that entails then maybe get an Englander 30NC without the side shields.

 

[shoot-straight]

We have a 2200 sq house that we just upgraded to an bk Ashford. It has only been running for 4 hours and I can already feel I made the right call. I am away a lot too. Longer burn times were really important to me 8 hours with my hearthstone were OK, but didn't fit my schedule. Sure the price sucks, but what do you do.

 

[Burn-1]

A friend just bought a Drolet HT 2000. It cranks out the heat and has a huge firebox. The price was pretty reasonable as well

 

[Huntindog1]

What kind of burn cycle times you been getting? A burn cycle is over when you have just enough coals to easily get another load of wood going on those coals.
Alot of people think they are going to have flames for 14 hours and thats a misnomer.

I hate to see you go out and have to spend more money when the stove you have is paid for and should fit the bill.

These stoves with the insulated fireboxes and side shields are designed to mostly radiate heat out the front and top of the stove. If your wood is good and seasoned dry less than 20% moisture you should be able to get your stove loaded and shut back down in like 20- 25 minutes on a hot bed of coals. As once you get that input air shut down to a almost closed setting the air flow theu that stove is really low meaning alot heat is flushing up the flu and more time to radiate out the top and front of the stove. Some times when people have really tall flues the draw of the flue is too much and causes the wood to burn up too fast. So your burn times are less and more heat is flushed up the flue dues to a higher air flow thru the stove. If your wood is too moist you will sppend too much time tying to get the heat up in the stove. Then by the time you get the temps up alot of your wood is already consumed and less wood left for a long burn cycle. The sub par wood the stove never puts out the heat it should as the secondary burn is not that good as the moisture keeps the firebox cooler as it cooks out of the wood.

 

[begreen]

A friend just bought a Drolet HT 2000. It cranks out the heat and has a huge firebox. The price was pretty reasonable as well

One caveat with this stove, there's no OAK connection in the HT1600 or HT2000 according to Drolet.

 

[JA600L]

I did notice my door was not sealing completely. I could put a little pressure on the door and feel the latch go limp. I shimmed the latch and noticed a longer steady burn time. The gasket was replaced this year, but this is an almost 10 year old stove. So parts do relax. All things considered it is heating my house, just not to the point of walking around in my boxers which is OK.

 

[Huntindog1]

I just got into a batch of my wood thats much drier, I was using wood that wasnt performing too well for me. I measured it and it was 20-21 percent. These splits I am into now are like around 16% moisture content and its amazing the increase in the performance of the stove. Longer burn times , being able to shut the stove down sooner and shut the input air down lower but yet still have good amount of heat out of the stove at the lower setting. Temps in the house staying up better.

That door gasket problem you have its a big issue, if you get it fixed you will see a big change in the operation of the stove.

 

[JA600L]

It did make a difference. I threw a big chunk of oak in this morning with some medium splits. When I got home 10 hours later the stove temp was down to about 150 and almost no ash with just enough coals to fire it back up. If I hadn't set the heat pump at 67 it may have heated the house all day.