First wood stove

[firefighterjake]

Be sure to size the stove to your home -- both in terms of square footage . . . and keeping in mind the lay-out (open vs. closed design), insulation, etc.

It is not always a hard and fast rule, but one bit of advice worked pretty well for me . . . figure out what stove you need by square footage and then go one size larger. Obviously this may not apply with a super insulated home. In the shoulder season I find that I can easily do quick, hot fires that warm the place up with a one-time fire that will warm the stove and then the heat will radiate off the stove for several hours -- enough to keep the place comfortable. During most of the winter the stove works great and heats the home to a comfortable temp.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I still don't know what to buy. I'm going to look at an englander today at Home Depot and if I don't like that then it'll be a pacific energy. I also considered a pellet stove but I know nothing about those

Relax. It's a wood stove, not a marriage. If things don't work out you don't have to give it half your stuff.

 

[begreen]

My house is 1600 square feet but I want I bigger stove because of where the location of the stove has to be and how the house is chopped up.

Can you tell us more about the house? Is the floorplan open or many rooms closed off from each other? One or two story? How well insulated is it? Where will the stove be located?

 

[Mv7fd]

Stove is in the living room has a story above that the kitchen was an add on in 1984. The kitchen has nothing above it but we will one day add an addition on above the kitchen. The main part of the house has 18 inch think stone walls with insulation and then the foam board and dry wall the second story is log with vinyl siding over that with same insulation and downstairs. The kitchen is regular construction. The heat will get to the kitchen by a door way or this little window cut between the living room and the kitchen where we will put a fan. Staircase is open to the upstairs also will have floor vents

 

[begreen]

Great info, thanks. It sounds like you would do ok with a stove in the 2.0-2.5 cu ft range.

 

[Mv7fd]

The other thing with the stove it has to be EPA certified and emit no more than 3.0 gph and if it meets all that then I can get 500 bucks cash back so now I just gotta decide between 2000 dollar pacific energy or the 899 englander

 

[BrotherBart]

Buy the one that feels right. You are gonna be living with it for a long time. As to quality and heating ability, either one will get'er done. If you live in Western Maryland do not go low on heating power. I may have just missed it but you keep saying PE. Which PE? I'm old. I miss things.

 

[Mv7fd]

Either the fusion or the spectrum classic

 

[BrotherBart]

The 30-NC will kick either one of their asses for heat production and burn times but that Spectrum Classic is a nice wood stove. And has nice features like the standard convection panels on the sides, great finish, big ass ash pan and the stainless baffle. I would let my sister marry somebody that owned one. Just concerned about burn times in essentially a two CF firebox. If I swung that way it would be the Summit Classic.

With your insulation and space the Spectrum should make you a good heater. I just can't bring myself to endorse the Fusion. Microwave oven looking things should be microwave ovens. But that is just me. It is your house and decor.

 

[Grisu]

The other thing with the stove it has to be EPA certified and emit no more than 3.0 gph and if it meets all that then I can get 500 bucks cash back so now I just gotta decide between 2000 dollar pacific energy or the 899 englander

There are certainly more than those two stoves that are EPA-certified and get less than 3 g/h. Jotul F45 or F50, many Quadrafire stoves (e.g. 4300), Woodstock Ideal Steel, Lopi Endeavor to name a few.
Btw. The Spectrum/Fusion emits 3.4 g/h; would that still be in range?

 

[Mv7fd]

Narrowed down to the spectrum or summit just need to decide if it's worth to go with the bigger stove. Overall square feet is 1545. And the room it's going in is 13X16

 

[begreen]

I think the Spectrum will do the job fine. Maryland has an average of 4707 degree days. That is pretty close to Seattle's 4611. The average low temps are also within one degree of each other. Our next door neighbor has a Spectrum in an old 1600sq ft farmhouse. It has never had a problem heating their house in spite of low insulation. Their burn times are typically 10-12 hrs. in our average 30-40F winter days and that's with softwood.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Narrowed down to the spectrum or summit just need to decide if it's worth to go with the bigger stove. Overall square feet is 1545. And the room it's going in is 13X16

You're asking the wrong question. It's not about "worth it." It's about which stove is the right choice. A Spectrum will heat the sh_t out of 1500 Sq Ft.

 

[MovingOffGrid]

PE Summit: Emissions 3.9 gm/hr - so this might not work for you:

(broken link removed to http://www.pacificenergy.net/products/wood/stoves/summit/)

My Summit kicks out the heat for sure and it has been a forgiving and good stove even on my non-standard chimney - but if I was doing it over (and I didn't have an awesome central 6" thimble ceramic/brick chimney), I'd spend extra and get a BIG CAT Stove. I'd love to have more than 8-10 hour burn/glow time at max that I can sometimes squeeze out of my Summit with hardwood.

I think I have the 'grass is always greener on the other side' syndrome

However, for your size area the Summit would make you throw open windows all winter. Spectrum, if it is in your emission range would be good size - or maybe also consider a Blaze King Princess if you want really long burns (if you don't want them now - sooner or later you likely will).

Blaze King Princess is in your under 3 gph range - you can get it with pedestal if you don;t like the legs. Great long burn times!
Emissions (grams/hour) 2.42 g
(broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/EN/wood-princess.html)

 

[Ashful]

What MovingOffGrid said... bigger cat stove. 30+ hour burn times on slow roast.

 

[Mv7fd]

so i pulled the trigger and got the spectrum classic. paid 2277 which i don't think its bad i still gotta buy a blower and thats 325

 

[bobdog2o02]

so i pulled the trigger and got the spectrum classic. paid 2277 which i don't think its bad i still gotta buy a blower and thats 325

Hold off on the blower, any stove makes a plume of convection current. Invest in some small hose fans to move cold air toward the stove.....

 

[Mv7fd]

If i do get one is it better to buy a cheaper one

 

[bobdog2o02]

Not really, its more that a blower is unnecessary. This blower topic is a bit controversial.... I suggest searching the topic on this board.

 

[Mv7fd]

Hopefully after all that money i'll be impressed

 

[Mv7fd]

And I really hope it'll be big enough

 

[Bigg_Redd]

so i pulled the trigger and got the spectrum classic. paid 2277 which i don't think its bad i still gotta buy a blower and thats 325

Good choice. Hard to tell if you will be impressed but feed it dry wood and it will make plenty of heat. My place is 1500+ sq ft and poorly insulated. I keep a window cracked through most of the heating season.

Do they offer a blower as an option on the Classic now? When I got mine in '08 it was not an option. If so, I'd burn it for a while before you get a blower as there's a better than average chance that you won't need it.

 

[Mv7fd]

I will try and see how it goes. I had thought about going with a summit but that would be to much I think

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I will try and see how it goes. I had thought about going with a summit but that would be to much I think

There's a lot of inflated chatter on this board about what a wood stove should be, could be or is. The fact is that it is a large space heater. The second and ancillary fact is that all woodstoves are a compromise: If you buy a stove with the coldest possible temps in mind it will cook you out most of the burning season.

 

[BurnIt13]

I have an Englander 30 and it is a high quality heat monster. Its not the fanciest stove but it is uncomplicated and gets the job done. I skimmed the thread...did you mention how big your house is and how old/tight it is?

I have a 115 year old 2 story, 1,500 square foot colonial that is just now starting to be insulated and tightened up. When I first got the stove it made the place too warm if it was over 35 degrees. Now that I have better insulation it gets a bit warmer than I'd like above 15F. It was absolutely perfect this past winter with the polar vortices and what not. Just kept stuffing it with wood and the house was 75-80 degrees and smiling on nice low/slow fires.

Simply put the 30 is too big for my house now. I can do smaller fires but the firebox in the 30 runs much better when full, not empty. Fewer fires and I just end up with hot/cold swings. If my budget allows, in the next year or two I will go with a PE Super 27. Its a bit smaller and has great clearances so it will fit the space perfectly.

I'm on the fence on whether or not I'd want a blower for it. The only time I use the one on the Englander 30 is when I've screwed something up and the stove went nuclear. The blower helps bring the stove top temps down a bit.