30-NCH Stove Replacement
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That actually is not correct. Period of Meaningful heat is essentially the time between reloads. In other words, the time when you have to reload a stove to keep the joint warm. In shoulder seasons this could be 12 hrs and in deep winter it could be 8 hrs. Unfortunately this adds the huge variable of the home environment, so a better compromise to help understanding was to define it as the time between a set stovetop temp, say from 300F and rising to back down at 300F. It is simply an attempt to quantify wood stove heating to a person that doesn't already own a stove or that particular model, and to refine the ambiguous marketing term of burn time.
The OP has given us another clue. Wondering if the basement is insulated?
Well said for my house 250 stovetop is the end of meaningfull heat. That will vary depending upon your btu load.
I feel like theres some confusion here. Maybe I was unclear. I can get 8 hours out of the 30 easy. But if I run it like this I'll probably only be able to fill it 3 times in 24 hours. Which won't be enough. Especially if I get behind and let the temperature in the house drop. I'm noticing the 30NC states 1800 is the maximum square footage they recommend it for while the princess is higher. 2500 I think?
My basement is insulated. And again I'm not having any trouble keeping the house at a good temperature while I'm home to keep feeding the fire every 5-6 hours.
My basement is insulated. And again I'm not having any trouble keeping the house at a good temperature while I'm home to keep feeding the fire every 5-6 hours.
I’m hearing two things. The Period of Meaningful Heat PMH defined based on how long before your house cools down which I believe is utterly ridiculous, and PMH defined as the period of time that stove top temperature can be held up above a meaningful level which really is much smarter. That temperature ought to be at least 300 and this has nothing to do with the home. The stove could be out on the porch!
If you can keep your PMH300 for 12 hours in any noncat then that is really good. I can’t do it with an nc30 and couldn’t even do it with a stone stove. I don’t think most people can.
A cat stove will do it for 20-30 hours. It’s hard to ignore that and the effect it has on comfort.
It’s not just me though, perhaps this thread has morphed into a cat vs noncat thread and should be retitled to attract more data points. This forum has many members that have burned both cat stoves an noncat stoves and can share their experiences.
If you can keep your PMH300 for 12 hours in any noncat then that is really good. I can’t do it with an nc30 and couldn’t even do it with a stone stove. I don’t think most people can.
A cat stove will do it for 20-30 hours. It’s hard to ignore that and the effect it has on comfort.
It’s not just me though, perhaps this thread has morphed into a cat vs noncat thread and should be retitled to attract more data points. This forum has many members that have burned both cat stoves an noncat stoves and can share their experiences.
If filling the nc30 three times a day is not enough heat then filling the princess 2 times a day won’t be enough either.
The cat vs noncat debate is becoming less relevant.
More than three full nc30 loads per day for 1800 insulated sf seems excessive. How many cords per year have you been going through?
Alpine1
Feeling the Heat
If you’ll be out for work all day, and no one at home can keep the fire going, definitely go for a cat stove! Possibly a BK princess or a king (convincing the better half is up to you). The ONLY reason we went for a BK was the loooong burn times. Actually, better than expected (you know... ads fanfare like “our stoves heat 10.000 sq meters with 4 toothpicks “ or “you load on Monday and it will heat your whole ranch till Saturday” is common) I thought that the 30 hrs burn can be achieved with perfect draft, perfect wood, perfect everything.... not so with BK. My stove, with common cordwood, normal installation and nothing special done easily stays lit for 24 hrs.
Yes, the questions asked have nothing to do with cat vs non-cat. A cat solution was suggested at the outset. The questions asked are to understand the problems the OP is having. We don't live in the house and have only been given details of operation, stove location etc. in fragments. The exploration in this direction was to see if this was a operation issue or not. A new cat stove is expensive so it is good to make sure that the money is well spent.
The tangent is because someone brought up PMH. PMH is relevant to a new stove buyer and the heat requirements are going to depend on the time of year and the house. For our house 250-300F is about when I am typically refilling now. It was more like 300-350F with the Castine. I attribute this to the T6 having a lot more mass helping keep house temps more even. YMMV
The tangent is because someone brought up PMH. PMH is relevant to a new stove buyer and the heat requirements are going to depend on the time of year and the house. For our house 250-300F is about when I am typically refilling now. It was more like 300-350F with the Castine. I attribute this to the T6 having a lot more mass helping keep house temps more even. YMMV
The second load would probably not be a full load because if want to burn it down low enough and in time so that I could add a third before bed. We've burning about 3.5 - 4 cord a year. Honestly a big problem we have is letting it go out. Starting from a cold stove is a really pain.
The square footage does include the the basement. Though I should mention we may be losing a good big of heat to windows. One entire side of the house is nothing but glass.
That is the issue with our house too. We have two really big glass areas facing north in an old farmhouse and a couple bay window on the side.
Area Heated: up to 2,200 sq.ft. It is about the same size as the 30-NC, but with a more efficient hybrid design. The IS can easily provide 12-16hr burn times. It has no fan though if you are dependent on the blower for heat circulation.
There are bigger beasts, but they require an 8" flue.
I've changed the title to better reflect the topic. I'd love to hear from more people with experience with the 30-NCH. I'll search other threads in the mean time, but I'd love to hears some others experiences with the following:
- What kind of burn times are you getting. And are you counting only periods of good heat output or something else like including time for the coal bed to die down.
- How many times are you loading per day it to heat how many sqft?
It has everything to do with the house. If a stove top temp of 250 can provide enough heat to maintain temp in your house that is meaningfull heat some people will need more some less.
Going back over your concerns. If the 30NC is ok with mild weather draft in the current tove location then an IS or BK should be ok too.
That sounds like a heat loss issue and also not unsimilar to our house, though we only rarely get below 20F so this is perhaps less an issue for us. If this is an uncommon situation, do you have a primary heating system that can make up the slack?
I suggested the IS because it has a bit more high end btu output if pushed for heat. In very large stoves besides the BK King there is also the Regency 5100. both take 8" flues.
You are loading the stove correctly and I'll assume the stove is getting fully packed with a load. The only difference from our burning is that we tend to burn 6-8" splits except for starting. Thicker splits help extend burn time in our stove.
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Don't want to sound jaded but I personally like the NC30, they in my opinion are a proven work horse, great craftsmanship and provide the user with about 8hrs of meaningful heat in the depths of winter which is pretty good considering the cost.
I love mine. I think we are more the problem than anything. We just can't stay on top of it like we used to.
Have you looked into insulating curtains or shades to reduce heat loss via the windows?
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