help choosing new stove

[Corie]

Oh believe me, I know what you're saying. I just think it's within the adjustablility of the quad 3100. Quad says the range of Btu's is 10,000 - 54,000. That's a pretty solid range for a house this size. Most days he'll probably need something like 20k btu's.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ya know, that could make a real good topic on its own. What does that bottom end of BTU ratings mean? Who knows, but does it really mean standing there tossing a little split at a time in a stove, air wide open and just keeping it going like I do in the office? Has to. Can't mean "Load'er up and choke'er down."

Of course the manufacturer's ad department is the only one that knows.

After Dane hires you ya gotta let us in on that.

 

[Corie]

You're absolutely right BB. Truly, I have no idea what that number means either. That's the problem with no standardization in some of these quantities.


And once Dane Harman hires me I shall educate us all!

(I'm crossing my fingers big time)

 

[BrotherBart]

BB,

IMNSHO, manufacturers' 'ad' departments actually KNOW very little, other than how to make fancy-smancy adverising materials.

Roger that.

 

[Gunner]

This is were I get confused.

Let's say you got 3 stoves, small/ medium/ large... they hold 20/40/60lb of hardwood respectively. I fire 20lbs in the large stove and 20lbs in the small stove, the heat output has to be the same right? Or will the large stove burn that 20lbs quicker(assuming everything is the same except the size of the firebox) 20lbs of wood is 20lbs of wood. I don't get it!

 

[Sandor]

This is were I get confused.

Let's say you got 3 stoves, small/ medium/ large... they hold 20/40/60lb of hardwood respectively. I fire 20lbs in the large stove and 20lbs in the small stove, the heat output has to be the same right? Or will the large stove burn that 20lbs quicker(assuming everything is the same except the size of the firebox) 20lbs of wood is 20lbs of wood. I don't get it!

I was confused, but I learned my lesson, first hand.

I had a Regency 2400 in my house in MD. Worked fine.

Built a mountain chalet home in WV, about the same size as my MD house, and went with the larger Regency to get an overnight burn. Identical stove with a larger firebox. NOT!

Trying to choke down the larger stove to burn overnight resulted in a nearly plugged cap screen in weeks.

Burning the larger stove to get a clean burn resulted in more heat than I could use when it was 0 outside.

If I were on the market for a new stove, I would buy the smallest stove possible with an 8 hour burn time.

Actually, I think the perfect stove for this application would be one of Elks restored VC Resolute Acclaim's.

Instead of replacing the VC in the womens house with my Woodstock, I gonna tune up the VC for another season. (She already kicked me out twice!)

 

[Homefire]

Maybe you should be thinking pellet stove.
You can pick up one at Lowe's for about $1000 that will heat 1000sq ft easy easy.
You can burn a mix of corn and wood pellets in them and
they will burn 7/24 . The Mrs's cand load it and clean it as well.
You can sell your fire wood to buy pellets if the fule cost is an issue.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Maybe you should be thinking pellet stove.
You can pick up one at Lowe's for about $1000 that will heat 1000sq ft easy easy.
You can burn a mix of corn and wood pellets in them and
they will burn 7/24 . The Mrs's cand load it and clean it as well.
You can sell your fire wood to buy pellets if the fule cost is an issue.

Pellets typically cost more then wood, and the cheapie pellet stoves work when they work, when you need to fix them you better be a pellet stove mechanic. the parts arent very avalible, and techitions typically wont work on them. If i were to buy a pellet stove, i would buy it from a place that knows how to fix them and stocks parts.

 

[Gunner]

This is were I get confused.

Let's say you got 3 stoves, small/ medium/ large... they hold 20/40/60lb of hardwood respectively. I fire 20lbs in the large stove and 20lbs in the small stove, the heat output has to be the same right? Or will the large stove burn that 20lbs quicker(assuming everything is the same except the size of the firebox) 20lbs of wood is 20lbs of wood. I don't get it!

I was confused, but I learned my lesson, first hand.

I had a Regency 2400 in my house in MD. Worked fine.

Built a mountain chalet home in WV, about the same size as my MD house, and went with the larger Regency to get an overnight burn. Identical stove with a larger firebox. NOT!

Trying to choke down the larger stove to burn overnight resulted in a nearly plugged cap screen in weeks.

Burning the larger stove to get a clean burn resulted in more heat than I could use when it was 0 outside.

If I were on the market for a new stove, I would buy the smallest stove possible with an 8 hour burn time.

Actually, I think the perfect stove for this application would be one of Elks restored VC Resolute Acclaim's.

Instead of replacing the VC in the womens house with my Woodstock, I gonna tune up the VC for another season. (She already kicked me out twice!)

Question...The larger regency resulted in more heat than you could use when it was 0 outside, only because you had more wood in it? If you loaded it the same as your old 2400 how would it put out more heat.

To me it seems that you can't expect overnight burns in a small space. Overnight burns means alot o wood....still trying to wrap my head around identicle loads of wood giving off more btu's because the fire box is bigger. Help!

 

[Sandor]

This is were I get confused.

Let's say you got 3 stoves, small/ medium/ large... they hold 20/40/60lb of hardwood respectively. I fire 20lbs in the large stove and 20lbs in the small stove, the heat output has to be the same right? Or will the large stove burn that 20lbs quicker(assuming everything is the same except the size of the firebox) 20lbs of wood is 20lbs of wood. I don't get it!

I was confused, but I learned my lesson, first hand.

I had a Regency 2400 in my house in MD. Worked fine.

Built a mountain chalet home in WV, about the same size as my MD house, and went with the larger Regency to get an overnight burn. Identical stove with a larger firebox. NOT!

Trying to choke down the larger stove to burn overnight resulted in a nearly plugged cap screen in weeks.

Burning the larger stove to get a clean burn resulted in more heat than I could use when it was 0 outside.

If I were on the market for a new stove, I would buy the smallest stove possible with an 8 hour burn time.

Actually, I think the perfect stove for this application would be one of Elks restored VC Resolute Acclaim's.

Instead of replacing the VC in the womens house with my Woodstock, I gonna tune up the VC for another season. (She already kicked me out twice!)

Question...The larger regency resulted in more heat than you could use when it was 0 outside, only because you had more wood in it? If you loaded it the same as your old 2400 how would it put out more heat.

To me it seems that you can't expect overnight burns in a small space. Overnight burns means alot o wood....still trying to wrap my head around identicle loads of wood giving off more btu's because the fire box is bigger. Help!

The physical larger size of the stove, and the added surface area will pull more heat from the firebox and radiat it into the room. So, if you had the same size fire in a small and large stove, the smaller stove would be more likely to sustain a secondary burn while the larger unit may not be hot enough to support secondary burn.

So going back to my Regency stoves, the larger unit needed a bigger fire to get a clean burn.

Make sense yet?

And btw, overnight burns does not mean alot of wood. My Woodstock will overnight burn off of 3 good size splits, while the womens Resolute Acclaim needs at least five....and she can pack that thing clear up to the griddle....gotta love top loaders!

 

[Todd]

Oxman,
I think the stove Sandor has would be perfect for your situation. The Woodstock Keystone or Palladian. I know your not a big fan of cat stoves, but these are very easy to burn and maintain. They are also the right size for your house and will easily burn overnight. It will be hard to find a small non cat stove that will burn all night. Also have the added value of soapstone that wont blast you out of the room. They may cost a little more than you want to spend, but will eventfully pay for themselves.

 

[Roospike]

"WOOD STOVE COMPARISON PAGE
Sorted By: SUSTAINED OUTPUT (8 HOUR BURN) " Here is a small chart on some models of stove with comparison of each with a 8 hour burn time. As most info is going to tell you you are going to get only so much BTU per log per the # of logs used. Say you use "OAK" for wood example and the logs are all the same size and seasoned correctly you are going to get so many btu's from that log and more with more logs, now how you damper the stove will be the given factor of how you distribute the BTU's over an 8 hour burn. More air in let/more damper then more BTU's but less over all time to burn . When you damper the stove down you get less BTU"s but a longer burn time. So if you want the max btu's and the longest burn time it going to take more wood to less inlet air.(and a bigger stove) You will get only so much max btu over 8 hours per the size of the stove. ie smaller stove is going to give less max BTU's and or less max burn time. Also the Heating Efficiency % from the stove has to be figured in to figure how much of the woods BTU your going to keep and how much is going up the pipe. here is the link. (broken link removed to http://chimneysweeponline.com/wscomp8.htm)

 

[seaken]

The VC Acclaim is a unique stove. It is able to achieve the overnight burn AND a clean burn at the same time because the secondary combustor is insulated. If the draft conditions are within normal range (not too strong. not too weak) that stove will do an excellent job on long burns with dense fuel, such as Oak or Maple. It is rated at 40,000 btu/hr and is perfect for the 1000 sq. ft. mark in most houses. The Small Dutchwest Cast NON-CAT (NOT the former Catalytic version that you have previously experienced) may also perfrom similarly. It is rated about 35,000 and has a similar combustion system. The price for the Small DW is about $1200. The Acclaim is about $1600.