Hello All-
It's been almost 15 years since I posted here as "thomis" (couldn't resurrect that account). Back then I was responding to someone's post of an Atlanta Stove Works 27 box.
Anyhow, I'm now in process of planning a barndo/ homestead build and having the architect draw up my shop plans. I have my choices narrowed down to two stoves from a list of 6 finalists, excel sheet pics attached..
Three main factors driving my choices are burn time, desire for manual damper and cook top ability.
Burn time - the shop is also my home office and will be detached from the house. I need to be able to stoke the fire at night, go into the house, wake up and help get the kids out the door and then go to the shop and be able to get a fire going easily from coals rather than having to start one from scratch. So I need 10 hour burn time minimum.
Manual damper - real bad experience with an Aspen c3 that currently sits against the wall out of commission. Something is wrong internally that I can't figure out. After nearly two seasons of smoky fires it simply won't draft anymore. First season kind of worked great. Hated that I couldn't crack the door to give it some air.
Cook top - I love the ample cook top space on the 27 box. These new stove designs are beautiful but don't leave much flat, usable space on top for a couple skillets, etc.
The Lopi Rockport would probably be my first choice but appears to have a small-ish cook top. For this reason, I'm leaning towards the Hearthstone Melburne for burn time and appears to have a decent cook top. Would love to hear your thoughts. The six stoves I'm looking at are listed in the attached pics.
Came back to edit - someone is going to ask how big the shop will be = 400 sq ft. Yes, there are two doors and lots of windows for when that big stove gets too hot.
It's been almost 15 years since I posted here as "thomis" (couldn't resurrect that account). Back then I was responding to someone's post of an Atlanta Stove Works 27 box.
Anyhow, I'm now in process of planning a barndo/ homestead build and having the architect draw up my shop plans. I have my choices narrowed down to two stoves from a list of 6 finalists, excel sheet pics attached..
Three main factors driving my choices are burn time, desire for manual damper and cook top ability.
Burn time - the shop is also my home office and will be detached from the house. I need to be able to stoke the fire at night, go into the house, wake up and help get the kids out the door and then go to the shop and be able to get a fire going easily from coals rather than having to start one from scratch. So I need 10 hour burn time minimum.
Manual damper - real bad experience with an Aspen c3 that currently sits against the wall out of commission. Something is wrong internally that I can't figure out. After nearly two seasons of smoky fires it simply won't draft anymore. First season kind of worked great. Hated that I couldn't crack the door to give it some air.
Cook top - I love the ample cook top space on the 27 box. These new stove designs are beautiful but don't leave much flat, usable space on top for a couple skillets, etc.
The Lopi Rockport would probably be my first choice but appears to have a small-ish cook top. For this reason, I'm leaning towards the Hearthstone Melburne for burn time and appears to have a decent cook top. Would love to hear your thoughts. The six stoves I'm looking at are listed in the attached pics.
Came back to edit - someone is going to ask how big the shop will be = 400 sq ft. Yes, there are two doors and lots of windows for when that big stove gets too hot.
