yet.. another new guy here. would love input

[drastic]

Hi everyone. over the last week or so i have spent some time on here reading i have also spent about 4 hours or so a day calling dealers and driving to look for stoves. I guess because of where I live the dealers are not to interested in giving in home consultations so i reach out in hopes for some advise from the great folks here that seem to know a ton about wood stoves, as i know only what i have read on here... I live in CA, My home is 2143 sqft pretty open floor ( will upload a picture if i can) the room my stove will be in is about 27'x19' the rest of the house spreads out from there. from the floor to the ceiling is 9'8" it is a 3 section mobile home (2002) so iwill need a outside air kit I think the over all height of my chimney from stove to top will be around 15 ft or less. I do not know the R value of my home but i do know if it is 30F outside its around 60F inside (which is cold for the wife). I have never seen it get below 20F I was thinking about a harman TL300 but was informed by the wonderful readers here that with my climate and chimney size it would be a bad choice for my size house. I have also thought about the Lopi Liberty some dealers have also pointed me towards the quadra fire I was also looking at the PE Summit Along with the BK (although i have not seen one yet) I have oak available for free but it is not perfect wood. so a stove that would burn just about anything would be great. I value any opion that I could get. This will be my first stove so I hope that any ignorance that I may have displayed here does not offend anyone! The penny is the location of the stove, that wall is 13'6" and we have nothing in that part of the room i can provide a picture if anyone needs it. Again thank you all for your time and knowledge.

 

[Huntindog1]

Well looks like a good location for stove in the center of house. The stove will be in a large open room another good thing so as to not be too hot in one room.

Your square footage at 2143, I would say a 2.4 cu foot stove to 3.0 cu ft stove would do you fine.

As for the type of stove that would be your choice from researching.

Your wood needs to be well seasoned and less then 20% moisture content so go ahead and stock up on it. You will be glad you did as these new stoves wont operate on wood thats not seasoned well. Buy you a moisture meter and test the wood if your buying it.

 

[DougA]

If you are using that area as a dining room, as the plan suggests, I think a stove at that location will take up a lot of room for clearances. I'd suggest setting a few chairs to designate the area the stove will occupy plus the hearth in front of it. If that space is not intruding in your activities, go for it. Remember, with a stove on, you really would not want to sit too close to it.

The PE Summit is WAY, WAY too large for you. 99K BTU Not familiar with the others.

Free wood is always good.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Were in CA are you? Unless you are in the mountains I'd assuming your winters are mild, no?

Even though they are Canadian I'm a PE guy - well built, well supported, very simple to operate (1 lever), not too picky about wood. . .

 

[David.Ervin]

If you are using that area as a dining room, as the plan suggests, I think a stove at that location will take up a lot of room for clearances

Ditto that thought. Any chance you could move it to the other side of the room nearer the porch entrance? That'll be easier for moving wood in to feed it anyway.

 

[fossil]

The space proposed for the stove can't be the dining room. There's no direct access from the kitchen into that space. My guess is that the dining area is directly to the right of the kitchen as shown...completely open.

 

[drastic]

yes sir it is a free open room when i get back to the house i will get some pictures, a few hours as upload will not work from phone thank you all again

 

[fossil]

Were in CA are you?

Yeah, drastic...huge range of heating needs in CA...from none to a bunch...where are you? Rick (native Californian)

 

[weatherguy]

With your climate I would think a cat stove especially a BK would be prefect, you could load it up once a day and just turn the stat up a tad if it gets down below 30 for the night. I think that's why their so popular in the PNW, milder climate and burns low and slow.
The Summit is one of my favorite stoves but it's a heating machine, not sure it's a good fit for your needs.

 

[jatoxico]

Is this for supplemental heat or or do you envision running 24/7 during the heating season? So just food for thought; a small heater doesn't take up much room (or wood) and can effectively heat the living area when in use wheras a larger unit takes up more space and needs to be fed but can run for extended periods/overnight and really put a dent in your BTU needs.

 

[begreen]

If you are mid-CA you would be better off with the Spectrum than the Summit.

 

[xman23]

Also plan the chimney, they tend to run into floor joist and roof rafters, and come out on the roof where you can't get to it, or it doesn't belong. It's better if it's straight, but not mandatory. Better if you can get on the roof and do a top down cleaning.

 

[drastic]

Thank you guys very very much.for the input so far. I am going to try to answer all the questions ( I hope) I live near Tracy CA so it is mild or very warm compared to where some of you live. My house is all electric and my heater draws 120 amps so due to my pge bill being over $600.. that was with the heater at 65-68F This must be my only source of heat for the winter... Id like a stove that i can fire up at anytime. Also i would love to run it all night with out any issues The dining room and living room together are what we call the living room. ( so at the moment the dining room on the floor plan is just empty space)t The glass door you see goes into the space next to the kitchen which will be our dining room, B ed room 3 is the most important to me this is where my 6 month old sleeps and i would love to keep that room at a nice temp. My house has vents in the ceiling linking the bed rooms and study to the main area. ( im not sure if that will help) Is that also the non-cat stoves that have to have wood that is less than 20% moisture also? I really appreciate the help this seems like a project that really has to be done right the first time... (the first picture is the wall i would like the stove on. the second is a view but the hall way and the last pic is close to the wall where the stove will be for the view of the hallway. sorry about the quality.)

 

[jatoxico]

To answer one of your questions, all EPA stoves need <20% moisture content wood. Could say all stoves benefit from dry wood but new heaters especially.
If your winters are mild as you say a Cat stove that can burn long and low may suit you well. Depending what you decide there will good advice here for install and operation tips.

 

[Ashful]

A cat stove would definitely do well in your mild climate, with their ability to burn low and slow, but I would look carefully at draft requirements before choosing one here. The limited chimney height combined with warmer outdoor temps is a recipe for very weak draft, and we've had a few members with such troubles using cat stoves with short chimneys in the southern states.

 

[shoot-straight]

the BK princess and ashford are pretty deep stoves, meaning they will really stick out into the room. havent checked but i bet the chinook and sirrocos are pretty deep as well. i have never seen a woostock in person, but they look much shallower and might be less obrusive if thats what you want. those are two cat choices anyway.

there are literally dozens of non-cat options for you. choose your stove material first. metal, cast or soapstone. each has its good and bad points.

 

[drastic]

Thank you all. I am leaning towards metal and i am now looking into the BK princess ultra. Are the BK stove made as well as the Lopi? Each stove seems to have its own little selling points. is there any one system that is better than another as far as what is in the stove per each manufacture My wife and i are not considering looks (at this time) Is there a general rule to what chimeny size is needed. You guys have been great help so far. hopefully when i become well seasoned I can help somone in my same shoes.

 

[shoot-straight]

Thank you all. I am leaning towards metal and i am now looking into the BK princess ultra. Are the BK stove made as well as the Lopi? Each stove seems to have its own little selling points. is there any one system that is better than another as far as what is in the stove per each manufacture My wife and i are not considering looks (at this time) Is there a general rule to what chimeny size is needed. You guys have been great help so far. hopefully when i become well seasoned I can help somone in my same shoes.

i dont think anyone has ever been unhappy with a BK's workmanship if thats what youre asking. i just bought one, im having some growing pains learning how to operate it properly. BK is working with me to work the bugs out. there are huge learning curves with each stove.