# Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 review - Part 1



## begreen (Apr 5, 2008)

_warning, long post..._

*Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 –*

*Construction:* Updraft, welded steel firebox, firebrick lined. Heavy cast iron shell.
*Firebox capacity:* 3 cu. Ft, 60 lbs. hardwood, 20” log maximum (22” if loaded diagonally)
*Output:* EPA test fuel 37,501 BTUs, 97,000 BTUs maximum
*Size:* 29.125"H x 29.25"W x 28.75"D - 560 lbs

*House specs:* 1924 remodeled 2000 sq ft farmhouse. 2 story, with open first floorplan. Main heating, heat pump forced air. Flue 23 ft. is straight up with an offset at the stove to align with the pre-existing pipe that was installed for the F400 (rear-exit) flue.

*Review:*

This is our first steel stove. I’ve burned in a few nice steel stove from Quadrafire and Avalon at friend’s houses, but have never owned one except for my first stove which was an Ashley sheet metal stove. Our last 3 stoves have been Jotuls so some comparisons to them are inevitable. However, at heart, the Alderlea is a very different stove than the Jotul models we have owned. For the past two seasons we have been burning in the Jotul F400, Castine. This is a beautiful stove with a 1.5 cu ft firebox. However, the stove was installed in a new, central location in the house. This put greater heating demands on the stove as it now was heating the entire house instead of just the kitchen, dining room and living room. When burning hardwood (madrona) the stove was up to the task, but a week long power outage with temps in the 20’s showed me that with soft maple, the stove really had to be pushed hard with frequent fillings, to heat our house. Thus started my quest for a larger stove. Early candidates were the Jotul F500 or F600, Quadrafire Isle Royale, Hearthstone Bennington and PE Summit. PE stoves have always interested me, but gained new respect after I talked my neighbor into trying out a Spectrum. Their stove proved to be a real champ, providing good heat and long burn times with the same wood I was burning. I admit to be a bit jealous. However, my wife wasn’t sold on the look of the Summit. She really prefers a classic iron look in a stove.

Our biggest anxiety with a 3 cu ft stove was that it would drive us out of the house during fall and spring burning. We have a long shoulder season and generally moderate winters, so this was a prime concern. Local PE dealers weren’t much help. I’d mention getting a Summit or T6 for our house and they’d try to talk me into the next size down. My wife was getting visions of starting a fire and melting the candles in the house. Fortunately we have a great resource in the PacNW, the Chimney Sweep, aka Tom Oyen. Tom patiently explained the differences between heating with the mid-sized and large PE stoves. We came to the conclusion that the mid-sized PE would cover maybe 80% of our burning requirements. The big stove would cover 100% and Tom assured me that I didn’t have to burn a maximum fire in order to burn cleanly. It was our good fortune that this season Tom had a T6 in the store that they were testing. Testing complete, he offered the store stove to us at a great price. Deal done, the T6 moved south to our home. I can’t thank Tom enough for the help he has been and the great service he and his crew have provided. They run a first rate shop.

The T6 has several unique features. Its fire view is a bit larger than the Summit. The ash pan is filled by raking the ash toward a dampered hole in the floor of the firebrick. You open the damper, then rake the ash into the hole. There is also a nice slot in the ash lip into which one can push ashes directly into the ash pan. That’s a real nice touch. We’ll probably uses this feature more than the ash dump as I like to keep a full bed of ashes on the floor of the firebox. Another unique feature on this stove (and the Summit) is the EBT (extended burn time) system. This allows the stove to burn well over time with less supply air. It has an internal thermostat that adds more air to the dying coal bed as it cools down. This refreshes the fire and maintains the coal burning stage over an extended period of time. I’ve only run one medium-large load of wood through the stove. But 9 hours later, I had enough coals to start a new fire without much fuss. Overnight burns with NW softwood will not be an issue. On top, the stove has a cast iron trivet system that stands about an inch above the inner steel stove. This keeps the temps on the stove top moderate. If you want a hotter surface for cooking the trivets swing out to the sides. It’s a really slick system. The trivets can also be used for bread rising, warming shelves, mitten dryers, etc. The temp can be regulated by the relative position of the trivet to the stove surface. It’s a really nice feature that we expect to use a lot next season. I was a bit concerned that the heavy trivet system might be a little flimsy, but PE has built this really stout. This stove is built to last.

*Comparisons:* There are many similarities between the Jotul line and the Alderleas. Both stoves have simple designs that require minimal maintenance. Both stoves are built stout and provide good fire views. The fit and finish of the Alderlea is very nice, though castings are not quite as fine as the Jotul’s, but we are splitting sand grains here. However, the Alderlea line is not available enameled and at first that was a blocker for me. Jotul’s enamel is first rate and keeps the stove looking great. But our first cast iron stove (the original VC Resolute) was painted and we really liked it, so I got over this. The T6 door latching mechanism takes a bit more effort than the Jotul, but it’s very simple and stout. The air control lever is stamped steel. While it functions just fine, it feels cheap next to the Jotul’s smooth and elegant system. I may splice on a nicer lever just for the tactile pleasure of it. The ash system is very different.

The Jotul has a cast grate with a sealed ash pan system below it. One simply moves the ash over the grate with a tool until it fills the pan. Pushing all the ashes down a small 3" hole makes it pile up in the pan and block the exit. My preference is toward the simpler system on the Jotul. The Summit has indicators on the ashlip for the air control position. The Alderlea has none and doesn’t say anything about the lever direction in the manual. So much for the cons. PE changed the door gasket on the Alderlea models to a graphite gasket. This is the same as on the Jotul. The glass on the T6 has more gasketed surface which may help it seal better. So far the glass is staying cleaner on the T6. You can actually see the air wash working when starting up a fire. For a big stove, PE has done a good job of dressing up the Alderlea. It is well proportioned and has a classic look.

*Burning:* This is one of our biggest and most pleasant surprises. The firebox is huge. Lots of room for building a fire however you like. Starting a fire is very easy, much better than the Castine which seemed starved for air until it got going. So far we’ve been putting down two splits N/S with ~ 5” gap between them. We fill the gap with 4-5 balls of newspaper, then lay a few thin splits, or cabinetry or flooring scraps E/W on top of the splits. Light and leave the door ajar for about 15 minutes and the fire is going strong. Add a couple more splits and close the door. There has been almost no smoke spillage from the stove in spite of lighting fires sometimes when it’s 45 outside. My wife loves the easy starting. The stove heats up slower than the Castine. It takes a while to get the mass of cast iron warmed up. For this reason, it also takes a bit longer for secondary burning to start.

I’ve noticed a big difference from the F400 in flue and stove top temps. Burning soft maple the F400 would rarely get over 400 degrees in the flue, with average stove top temps around 500 once it was warmed up. The T6 flue temps will often get up to 550 with a fire startup, then taper down as secondary combustion starts. Stove top temps on the T6 have been 550-625, but I can see how they could easily go higher with a full load of hardwood. Trivet top temps have been running about 200 degrees cooler. Due to the cast iron wrappier, the heat given off by the stove is very gentle. Previous experience with unjacketed steel stoves was a quick blast of heat.

The Alderlea is much more like a soapstone stove in the way it burns and the way it heats. It tends to warm up slowly and gives off steady heat even after the fire has burned down. What has completely delighted us is the well mannered nature of this stove. The warmth is gentle and operation is very simple. Even with a full blaze, it’s not uncomfortable to stand right next to the stove. So far, the side temps are great. Our stove is 6.5” from the wall and I am measuring surface temps on the drywall of 130 degrees after 3 hrs. with a big fire. This is excellent heat shielding. Our longest burn so far has been about 9hrs. I filled the stove about ¾ full on a 35 degree night, and after the wood was fully charred, closed down the air control to about ¼ open. The stove cruised with a 625 top temp until I went to bed, at which point I closed the air control all the way. The next morning I had a nice bed of hot coals and started a new fire by adding a couple splits and kindling. At no point did the house get uncomfortable. The living room reached 74 degrees and around the corner in the hallway it was 72. Our concerns about having too big a stove have proven completely unfounded. Turned down, the stove cruises like a Cadillac on Route 66, smooth... To quote Bogie - PE, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

pictures:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/16973/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/17113/


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## begreen (Aug 28, 2013)

_Used up all my characters I guess. Continued - https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/17191/ _


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## begreen (Aug 28, 2013)

Addendum, 4 seasons later.

We have now had lots of experience with the stove under a lot of different burning conditions and with both soft and hardwood. It continues to impress us with its ease of operation and flexibility. Here are some updated comments.

Heating: We usually don't fire up the stove until temps drop down into the 40's. With higher temps we let the heat pump carry the load. Our normal shoulder season fires are with 3-4 splits allowed to burn hot (500-550) and then just adding a split or two to keep the fire going or letting it go out if the house is comfy. Burning this way we have never been overheated by the stove. Our living room stays between 72-75 in our open floorplan house. When temps drop below 40F we start 24/7 burning. Our typical reload cycle with softwood is about every 8 hrs.. With good hardwood it can be 12 hrs. We've had some rare 10-15F days over these 4 years and the stove really delivers. With the Castine, when the temps dropped below 20F I was feeding it almost continuously and pushing it. There wasn't enough fuel to maintain a high temp for more than an hour or so. The T6 cruises nicely at 650F for many hours with a good full load. That keeps the house warm in spite of the cold.

Loading: Initially we always loaded N/S and still do when we are starting the fire or when we want to kick up the heat. Now on reloads we mostly go E/W. This has notably extended the burn time by and hour or two.

Mods: I added a blower a couple years ago. Our house is perfect for a convective stove so it wasn't really necessary, but the blower is nice to have when it is very cold outside and for quicker warmups. This is a quiet blower with a variable speed control. Unless you run it on high speed it is barely noticeable. I also blocked off the EBT. The boost manifold works, but a bit too well. I was finding that sometimes the wood gas bloom was too intense for my liking with a fresh reload. The EBT was admitting too much air at the base of the fire. A piece of metal tape over its intake has cut the EBT off. That has made the stove very predictable with peak temps never over about 700F. Our stove is a series A model PE. In 2012 (?) PE changed to EBT to series B and moved it to the secondary port. It is now functioning more like a barometric damper on the secondaries. It looks like a very nice change. Owners of new models should not have to do anything and may get a bit longer burntimes with the new EBT.

Conclusion: The stove has turned out to be a winner. We love the flexibility of the trivet top and the big firebox. My wife runs the stove a bit more gingerly than I. She only reloads with a few splits at a time, but that is fine. The stove burns well regardless. Going on season 5 all firebricks are in good shape, the stove is very easy to clean and runs well on both softwood and hardwood. The paint still looks like new, probably because the castiron never gets very hot except on the door.


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## PapaDave (Aug 28, 2013)

I really appreciate the update begreen.
These are beautiful stoves, and from your review, they operate very easily.



begreen said:


> The T6 cruises nicely at 650F for many hours with a good full load.


Mine would read "The Ashley cruises nicely at 650F for *an hour or 2* with a good full load"
.


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## beaubi_wan (Jun 3, 2014)

begreen,
I have been looking for a stove and really like your review of the t-6.  We are building a new home near Olympia and have looked at so many stoves... many of which you say your were looking into before you bought the t-6.  My wife and I are wanting to be able to cook on the stove probably more often that just in power outages, and I really like t-6... she likes the porcelain white option in the t-5 but after reading your review I think the 6 is great.  She also is open to painting the t-6 a color with the high heat paint.  Anyhow, our home will be 2800 sqft, open floor plan with an open to above area by the staircase and the main living room.  Master bed on the main floor with 3 beds up.  I was looking at the Manchester (heard a lot of people like the feel of soapstone heat) but cooking on it seems a little tougher because of the void between the stove surface and the cast iron where the heat floes through.  I also have read some negative things about it. 

You still love your gentle giant in the south Puget sound?


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## begreen (Jun 3, 2014)

Welcome to Hearth.com. We will be going on season 7 with the T6 in the fall. It continues to perform admirably with little fuss. They have redesigned the EBT system on the new T6 that should be a nice improvement.


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## PeterT (Jul 26, 2014)

Thanks for the very comprehensive review Begreen. The Alderlea's have only just been certified and released here in Australia and your review has given me another possible option for heating our large plan living areas. Do you think the flue temps would be sufficient to heat water if a flue boiler was used? I would appreciate any advice your could provide here.


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## begreen (Jul 26, 2014)

We've had the Alderlea for several seasons now. It has been a good performer. For the past couple years we've been fortunate to have good hardwood (locust and cherry) to burn when it gets cold out. The stove works great with that too. 

Note that the new T6 has a different and improved EBT system. It now regulates the secondary air only. This is a better design in my opinion.


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## Woody Stover (Jul 26, 2014)

begreen said:


> Note that the new T6 has a different and improved EBT system. It now regulates the secondary air only.


Are there just two versions of the EBT, A and B, or three?


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## begreen (Jul 26, 2014)

On the T6 I only know of 2.  You may be thinking of the C body Summit insert? The first EBT version is on the boost manifold and fed the base of the fire. It is thermostatically regulated. The second version is on the secondary manifold intake and works like a barometric damper supplying more air to the secondaries when the draft increases. There is also a new EBT on the Neo series that I think works like the version 2 EBT.


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