Wood stove size to burn cedar

[Beno]

Hi there,

I’ll build an 1800 sq.ft bungalow, ICF concrete and highly insulated, with concrete floor + ceramic tiles for thermal mass, sun-tempered (Ottawa, Canada). The lot has softwood, mainly cedar. The question is what size of wood stove to choose? Shall I choose a bigger wood stove since I have no hardwood and plan to sleep whole night without fueling the stove?
My options are (my family likes warm rooms):
1. VC DEFIANT (cat, 3.3 cu.ft.)
2. VC ENCORE (cat, 2.1 cu.ft.)
3. Napoleon 1400 (non-cat, 2.25 cu.ft.)
4. Napoleon 1900 (non-cat, 3 cu.ft.)

At this point I’d rather stay away of the VC everburn non-cat. Since I’ll burn cedar overnight I suppose I should choose at least 3 cu.ft. wood stove.
Let’s take a vote, just answer listing your options, starting with your best choice.
The money is not a criteria (yet ) but I can choose only between VC and Napoleon.

Thanks in advance,
Beno

 

[elkimmeg]

Both Travis Industries and Vermont castings are good manufactures. Its days like this I wish I had that larger stove but my setup limits what Will fit

I have the Cat Encore and wish I could have a Defiant but rear exit location limits me. The Encore was a huge improvement to the Resolute Acclaim as far as heat output and lenghtening lond productive burning. It is really amazing the how easy it is to control It practically runs its self
In you location 1800 sq ft Canada go with the larger fire box the smaller ones will accomplish heating most of the time the larger on might be av ble to give you the edgde today.

However I have raised it a degree or two since the load up this morning still 5 degrees out and I know you are still bellow zerro.

I have been on thei forum 4 years or more Never once have I read a complaint about the Cat Defiant. They very rairly show up used on Ebay I attribute that to customer satisfaction
The technology used in the Defiant has been tweaked for 20 years and have become quite predictiable and user friendly that is if you want to set it and forget it the next 8 hours while you burn cedar. If you want to play with stove controls than purchase some other stove. Establish coals bed load it up 15 minutes later engage the damper and cat and 8 hours late fill it up again If you were burning oak make that 10+ hours. BTW the Defiant is approved for the optional 6" flue collar. Here what may make the difference pick out what pleases you eyes because both manufactures are quality stoves, so you can't make a bad choice. What I like are the options the Bread warmer and mitten racks The open fire screen for warmer romantic nights on the coach with the wife and a little wine. I do not know if the Lopi has open fire screen option ( this option is only approved for 8" flue)

To me I really like the Cast iron VC look But one learns to live with their choices, especially when one is warm

I honestly Can't say The Defiant is betted than The Lopi I have never owned a Lopi I might never own one. Why mess with sucess and if the Lopi is only top vent I will never own one.

There are a lot of satisfied Lopi users the should pipe in and tell of their experiences.

 

[Gunner]

Let’s take a vote, just answer listing your options, starting with your best choice

1. Napolean 1900
2. VC Defiant

I checked out Ottawa on theweathernetwork just now, it's -9F and -25F with the windchill the encore and the 1400 are way to small.

 

[slowzuki]

As I said in my other reply to the original post, eastern/northern white cedar is an extremely poor choice of heating fuel. Great kindling and very valuable as posts and sawlogs right now.

 

[Highbeam]

Cedar is extremely poor? I have a couple of cords of western red cedar split up and drying for next year. All the firewood guides I could find called it a "fair" or "good" wood to burn with an energy content very similar to red alder which I have burned with great success. I may be mistaken by equating western red cedar with the eastern/northern white cedar. It is unfortunate that the wood guides and tables seem to focus on the hardwoods available in the east.

I have burned enough seasoned red cedar in my 3 CF firebox to know that it does fairly well, not as well as madrona, but much better than cottonwood in terms of heat output and length of burn.

Does cedar with its natural oil content cause trouble with the cat converter?

 

[Corey]

I think the firewood rating is definitely going to depend on what you have available in your area...price is an important factor, too. Down here in the midwest, I feel like I am wasting my time or spending too much if I'm not cutting free hedge. If the cedar is all you have available and it is free, I would say it suddenly gets bumped to an 'excellent' wood in your case. I have only burned a few scraps of it myself so can't comment too much on it's true heating ability. Although I would suspect that with any soft wood, good air control and relatively large pieces of wood are the key to getting a long burn.

Corey

 

[nshif]

Here in the Sierras we have Incense Ceder. one of the higher BTU cedars. Its easy to get, grows like weeds, and processes great. But at best its like 17-18K Btu/hr. Not a good overnight burn wood, I use it for spring and fall short fires and mix it in with Oak and Pine for long burns. I cant see it being used for an all night burn in any stove.

 

[wg_bent]

Elk...Travis??? Napoleon is not a Travis stove... Wolf industries..

I'd go with the Defiant in that list. Go with really big since Cedar is not the highest BTU wood in the world. Otherwise it's a nice wood to burn and split.

Both Travis Industries and Vermont castings are good manufactures. Its days like this I wish I had that larger stove but my setup limits what Will fit

I have the Cat Encore and wish I could have a Defiant but rear exit location limits me. The Encore was a huge improvement to the Resolute Acclaim as far as heat output and lenghtening lond productive burning. It is really amazing the how easy it is to control It practically runs its self
In you location 1800 sq ft Canada go with the larger fire box the smaller ones will accomplish heating most of the time the larger on might be av ble to give you the edgde today.

However I have raised it a degree or two since the load up this morning still 5 degrees out and I know you are still bellow zerro.

I have been on thei forum 4 years or more Never once have I read a complaint about the Cat Defiant. They very rairly show up used on Ebay I attribute that to customer satisfaction
The technology used in the Defiant has been tweaked for 20 years and have become quite predictiable and user friendly that is if you want to set it and forget it the next 8 hours while you burn cedar. If you want to play with stove controls than purchase some other stove. Establish coals bed load it up 15 minutes later engage the damper and cat and 8 hours late fill it up again If you were burning oak make that 10+ hours. BTW the Defiant is approved for the optional 6" flue collar. Here what may make the difference pick out what pleases you eyes because both manufactures are quality stoves, so you can't make a bad choice. What I like are the options the Bread warmer and mitten racks The open fire screen for warmer romantic nights on the coach with the wife and a little wine. I do not know if the Lopi has open fire screen option ( this option is only approved for 8" flue)

To me I really like the Cast iron VC look But one learns to live with their choices, especially when one is warm

I honestly Can't say The Defiant is betted than The Lopi I have never owned a Lopi I might never own one. Why mess with sucess and if the Lopi is only top vent I will never own one.

There are a lot of satisfied Lopi users the should pipe in and tell of their experiences.

 

[Gunner]

Beno, I gotta ask why are you limiting yourself to only 2 mfg.

 

[slowzuki]

Western red and eastern/northern white cedar are different woods. I burned a 8" round last night for a reminder, it was a fairly wet piece, lasted about 40 minutes.
Ken

Cedar is extremely poor? I have a couple of cords of western red cedar split up and drying for next year. All the firewood guides I could find called it a "fair" or "good" wood to burn with an energy content very similar to red alder which I have burned with great success. I may be mistaken by equating western red cedar with the eastern/northern white cedar. It is unfortunate that the wood guides and tables seem to focus on the hardwoods available in the east.

I have burned enough seasoned red cedar in my 3 CF firebox to know that it does fairly well, not as well as madrona, but much better than cottonwood in terms of heat output and length of burn.

Does cedar with its natural oil content cause trouble with the cat converter?

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks Slowzuki. I was in fear that I had wasted lots of cutting and splitting time. The tables rate red cedar fairly well but real world experience is very important too. The eastern cedar must be very lightweight.