What stove do you recommend?

[Michael Golden]

I am new to all this but, I have been lurking trying to learn from you guys here on hearth. Here's the story: I am building a new house about 1250 sq ft two bedroom home. Most of the house Is dedicated to living space and this space has 12 ft vaulted ceilings. I already have a spot dedicated for a insert where I will build a chimney around around it using lick and sticks. I am really set on the blaze king princess because of what I have heard and read about burn times. I started calling around and getting prices on this unit and it looks like anywhere from 3200 to 3600 for just the stove. I am really interested in hearing what you guys would recommend other than the blaze king insert. I live in southern Ohio so winters aren't terrible but I would like to run this all winter to supplement my heat pump. Thanks in advance Mike

 

[begreen]

Welcome Michael. Why are you getting an insert instead of installing the freestanding BK Princess? That would be my recommendation, though a Woodstock Keystone would also work nicely.

 

[Michael Golden]

Well I was looking at having a more traditional looking fireplace but with the efficiency of an insert. Is it more efficient going with a freestanding unit? Thanks

 

[pen]

Yep, I'm with BG on the freestander. Only reason I'd ever consider using an insert is if I was stuck with the fireplace and needed to do something with it.

If you go with any free standing unit, you'll save yourself a lot of work over building the faux fireplace, and you may find that you won't need to run a blower at all (depending on your setup) to heat the place with the free stander, but with an insert you'll hear that fan running all the time no matter what.

If you were considering building the fireplace for an aesthetic purpose, perhaps a creative stone (or other material) wall behind the stove would work nicely? Or perhaps the aesthetics of a soapstone stove as BG mentioned also could help fill a visual void.

But really, there are lots of stoves on the market that are great and would serve you well. I'd consider doing some window shopping, find a bit longer short list of stoves, then folks on here can help you decipher the nuances of each to help you pick the perfect one.

Also, you didn't mention if you burn wood currently or not. If not, just a heads up that the vast majority of folks selling "seasoned wood," aren't. It's best to keep at least 1 full year ahead on your wood supply, buy it cheap (or get your own done early) and do the seasoning yourself. Cut, split, and stacked in a well ventilated outdoor area for 1 year and your good with a good many species of wood, smaller rounds (unsplit pieces) and oak can take 2 years.

Welcome!

pen

 

[Michael Golden]

That Woodstock is very nice looking......what type of burn times do they get and are they a cat stove?

 

[Michael Golden]

I honestly haven't even thought about a free stander, but I got on google and saw a few with stone walls behind them like you suggested and they do look pretty nice. Also, I really never even thought about the fan not have to run with a free standing unit. My problem is I don't know of any good stove shops around me.....is there any locals from Ohio that know of a good shop where I could do a little window shopping?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Pacific Energy T5 wouldn't be a bad choice either.

You'll get 7-11 hours out of the Keystone depending upon how hot you burn it. And, yes, it is a cat stove.

 

[pen]

I was just looking at the woodstock website, and it lists their keystone and palladian stoves as having a 7 inch flue??? Do they have a typo there or is that really they way they are designed?

pen

 

[begreen]

A freestanding stove is generally more efficient than an insert. And an insert is only approved for use in a masonry or certain prefab fireplaces, not the type of structure you are proposing.

The Woodstock Keystone is a cat stove with good burn times. I think on low you can expect 10-12 hr burn times. Todd has 2 and can give you more information.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I was just looking at the woodstock website, and it lists their keystone and palladian stoves as having a 7 inch flue??? Do they have a typo there or is that really they way they are designed?

pen

Not a typo. But I don't think I've come across one owner that isn't running a 6" liner/pipe with it.

 

[BrotherBart]

I was just looking at the woodstock website, and it lists their keystone and palladian stoves as having a 7 inch flue??? Do they have a typo there or is that really they way they are designed?

pen

Next time you clean the stove pipe, measure that hole in the top of your 30 below the stove collar. 5.5".

 

[pen]

Next time you clean the stove pipe, measure that hole in the top of your 30 below the stove collar. 5.5".

Yep, noticed that too. Just seems odd that their largest stoves call for a 6 in flue, and their 2 smallest call for a 7 inch. Hadn't noticed that before and knew folks ran the 6 inch on the keystone. Just wanted to make sure Michael was aware if he had to use the 7 inch.

pen

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah 7" would be a goofy setup. Never saw that. Good catch pen. I often suspect that the eight inch requirement on cat stoves is BS with a proper height chimney or liner. But they have to do the test runs with the 8" I guess. I wouldn't hesitate to fire a BK King into my 5.5" liner just to see. A lot of things say that the smaller diameter creates higher velocity when it is hot. And I have sure seen that in both of my 5.5 liners.Light those suckers off and it is Hoover city.

Now finding connecting pieces is a whole nother subject.

 

[fossil]

For your browsing & idea sprouting pleasure...the possibilities are endless. I am squarely in the freestaning stove camp in this case. Rick

https://www.hearth.com/gall/main.php

Welcome to Hearth.com, Michael!

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. If you can do freestanding the efficiency gain is there. So much so that I put a free standing stove in my fireplace to replace my 21 year old beloved insert. And love it.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Another vote for a freestander with stone. Originally I was like you, set on a fireplace. I wanted the traditional look (grew up with them) and especially a mantle for Christmas. Then we found the Cottage and building one was NOT in the budget, and I already loved the look of the Endeavor (although we ended up with it's "sister" stove, the Republic 1750). And this was here, and I decided I liked the look (if not the location and BAD installation)-fyi that much stone is HEAVY-plan for that when building!!

I originally wanted to copy this set up here, especially the mantel, but it wasn't practical for us. This is a scene from "The Christmas Card" (movie), sorry for the size but it's a screen capture from Youtube, couldn't find a good still with the stove otherwise.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep, noticed that too. Just seems odd that their largest stoves call for a 6 in flue, and their 2 smallest call for a 7 inch. Hadn't noticed that before and knew folks ran the 6 inch on the keystone. Just wanted to make sure Michael was aware if he had to use the 7 inch.

pen

I ran mine with a 7" to 6" reducer, which Woodstock says is OK to do. Works fine, plenty of draft on my 17' stack. They rate the Keystone at 700-1300 sq.ft. but in a new, well-insulated home in southern OH, I'd think it would be plenty of stove. It'll toss the heat with some dry wood. No problem getting 12 hours on a low burn.

 

[Todd]

If you decide on a Keystone or Palladian you can vent 6" but be aware the front hearth clearance goes up from 8" to 10". Woodstock needs to get this info in their manuals. I guess the stove gets a little warmer with the smaller pipe when it was certified for 6" stack.

Another option since your looking at Blaze King is their new line, the Sirocco or Chinook 20 models. They should have no problem heating your space and have incredible burn times.

 

[BrowningBAR]

If you decide on a Keystone or Palladian you can vent 6" but be aware the front hearth clearance goes up from 8" to 10". Woodstock needs to get this info in their manuals. I guess the stove gets a little warmer with the smaller pipe when it was certified for 6" stack.

Another option since your looking at Blaze King is their new line, the Sirocco or Chinook 20 models. They should have no problem heating your space and have incredible burn times.

Wait a minute. Your ordered a Princess? I though you were set on the Sirocco. What changed? For you, a 2.75 cu ft stove is huge.

 

[Todd]

Wait a minute. Your ordered a Princess? I though you were set on the Sirocco. What changed? For you, a 2.75 cu ft stove is huge.

Wife likes the looks of the Parlor better and we both think the bigger fire box may be an advantage since we just finished a pretty much all glass 200 sq ft addition. I now have 2200 sq ft total to heat and I'm thinking the Princess can pretty much burn 24 hours per load with good hardwood so I'm planning on loading the Princess once a day and use the Keystone to boost the upstairs temps as needed. The new stove should be here next week.

 

[Michael Golden]

I think I'm gonna have to rethink my thinking on this! I didn't realize that what I was wanting to do wasn't really kosher. I gonna look into these freestanding stove a little more. Is there a good stove shop around Cambridge? I willing to travel either way north or south.....Mike

 

[begreen]

Cambridge in what state Michael? Can you add your general locale to your avatar info?

Edit: That would be Cambridge, Ohio I assume?

 

[Todd]

Another option you could look into if you like the fireplace look is to just get an efficient EPA fireplace like the RSF Opel or Fireplace Xtrordinair and build a nice stone or brick hearth around it. Then you could also pipe some duct work off these units into other rooms.

 

[begreen]

I thought about them, but was concerned it would be too much heat for this small place and a lot more expense.

 

[Michael Golden]

Yep sorry about that but, yep Cambridge Ohio.....