Which Quad 4300 or 5700?

[Sleepy]

I was all set to buy the 4300, but after searching this forum, I am thinking of getting the 5700.

I have a 1300 sq ft 1-1/2 story house on a 30'x30' block basement. I can't put the stove upstairs so it will go in the basement.

My heatloss for the house and basement matches the advertised max output of the 4300.

I have always thought that a wood stove should not be oversized as it will not burn hot and possibly cause creosote build-up.

I am sure that the 4300 will heat the house, but for a little more cash, I can get a bigger fire box with the 5700, but will I have trouble with too much heat?

Please advise.

Thanks.

 

[Jags]

Go with the bigger unit if its gonna be a basement install. My personal opinion is that most all stove mfgs upper ratings for heat output are kind of "pie in the sky" numbers. Meaning in the real world, don't match the upper end of the stove output numbers with your house sqft. I would say, be in the middle of the numbers and that should be a pretty well sized up unit.

 

[Sleepy]

Go with the bigger unit if its gonna be a basement install. My personal opinion is that most all stove mfgs upper ratings for heat output are kind of "pie in the sky" numbers. Meaning in the real world, don't match the upper end of the stove output numbers with your house sqft. I would say, be in the middle of the numbers and that should be a pretty well sized up unit.

Thanks Jags. I am leaning that way.

My only concern is that I will not be able to run the 5700 hot enough to have it burn cleanly.

Your Isle Royal has about the same size firebox (I think). Does it burn clean with a low fire?

 

[Jags]

Go with the bigger unit if its gonna be a basement install. My personal opinion is that most all stove mfgs upper ratings for heat output are kind of "pie in the sky" numbers. Meaning in the real world, don't match the upper end of the stove output numbers with your house sqft. I would say, be in the middle of the numbers and that should be a pretty well sized up unit.

Thanks Jags. I am leaning that way.

My only concern is that I will not be able to run the 5700 hot enough to have it burn cleanly.

Your Isle Royal has about the same size firebox (I think). Does it burn clean with a low fire?

Sure does. I clean the flue every two years (inspect yearly, but only needs cleaning every two). My glass will often go for 3 weeks before it needs to be cleaned, and the ash produced is a nice grey powder (signs of a complete burn).

That stove does not have to sit at 650F (stove top) to burn clean. The idea that it has to be cranking to keep clean is not completely accurate. The real needs are: have a high enough internal temp to keep the secondary burning, and a high enough pipe temp to keep the draft going and most important is DRY wood. You can do this at a lot lower temp than its upper limit. Yes, this means there is a "lower" limit also, but we are talking about a huge difference in BTU output from the lower to upper.

 

[savageactor7]

Hi Sleepy I wanted the 5700 but ended up with the 4300, it's adequate to keep me running around in shorts but I'm burning wide open most of the time. Ordinarily you should be good to go with your SF...but with the stove in the basement that changes things.

Do you have a stove down there heating the house now? That should give you an idea how the 4300 should preform.

All things considered I get the 5700 if I were you....the tax credit has to take some of the sting out of the 5700. Good luck Sleepy.

 

[jtp10181]

I have a customer with a 3100 in their basement, can't even heat the basement. He wanted me to tell him the stove was defective... sorry, not easy to heat a solid concrete room sunk into the ground.

Had the ceiling near the stove at 90F after like 30 minutes from a cold start. The concrete wall across from the stove was like 67F (up from 66F).

 

[BrotherBart]

Heating a house from the basement is a losing proposition. My office in the basement with the Jotul F3 burning twelve to eighteen hours a day does zilch for heating the two floors over it. The radiant heat from the stove keeps me warm but the stove on the main floor keeps the house warm. Those basement walls and the dirt outside them almost make sucking sounds absorbing the heat.

Last year I moved my office back up one floor just to save wood.

 

[Sleepy]

Thanks for the replies. This forum is great!

I have decided to buy the 5700.

A little background on me and my house: I have burned oil for 18 years. I am in the heating business and was a technician for an oil company. 11 years ago I took a sales position where I designed and sold heating systems. Comparing fuel costs was an everyday thing.

in 1999 I bought a cheap wood stove from a customer. This was one of those cheap console stoves rated at around 46,000 BTU's that came from a farm supply store. I never seriously considered heating full-time with wood and bought the stove only for power outages. From time to time, I fired the stove and after awhile it would heat the house, but the stove took constant attention to keep it going.

In Jan 2008 after seeing oil hit unbelievable price levels, I bought and installed a Mount Vernon AE pellet stove and installed it on the first floor. It had a few bugs to work out, but worked great. Since my house is small, a second stove upstairs would not be practical. I also have a class A chimney in the basement for my soon to be removed oil-fired boiler.

My basement is 30'x30' and one wall is insulated. I can insulate the others if I need to. I also have a fan and duct that will move air upstairs and a laundry shoot I prop open for return air. I know that a stove in the basement will burn more wood, but that is where it needs to be.

I spent some time last night reading about the proper way to fire this stove. By properly building a fire, letting it burn down to coals, moving the coals forward and refilling the stove, I can see how it will burn clean at lower levels and maintain a fire for a longer time without attention.

This may be the first time in my life I have looked forward to winter.

 

[Jags]

If it is an option....insulating the other 3 walls would be on my list of stuff to do before winter.