Merits of multiple stoves

[Snowy Rivers]

The topic of "What stove should I buy" comes up a lot.

A pellet stove by its very nature is a "Space Heater". Granted these stoves can heat a fairly large area but the question is can the people living in there be comfortable???

Sizing the stove can be tricky

Get a good all around stove that can heat the house completely (total sq ft) and during the shoulder seasons everyone swelters.

During the cold season, the room that has the stove is cozy but the res of the house is freezing.

To use the HVAC furnace fans to circulate adds cost to the overall picture and does not work all that well to distribute the heat.

A small house that has one main living area can in most cases do fine with one stove.

A two story home thats insulated well can likely do fine if the heat will rise up a stairwell and heat the upstairs.

A large rambling Ranch style home is a different story.

These "Barns" are a real challenge to heat even when they are insulated well.

I decided early on after buying a triple wide manufactured home with all electric heat that the pellet stoves were the ticket.

Our current setup is this.

We have a Prodigy II in the living room (SW corner)
A Quadra fire 1000 in the living room (NW corner)
An Advantage II in the family room ( NE corner)

The Advantage is sitting upon a raised hearth to allow the stove to blow warm air over the top of the furniture easily and down through the length of the house.

The following pics show a view from one end to the other. (you can see the kitchen breakfast bar as a reference point)

I am standing in the Dinning room and shooting into the living room, showing the Quad and the Prodigy.

The dining room is to the left of the Breakfast bar looking toward where the Prodigy is sitting.

Granted, not everyone has the room for multiple stoves, but in many cases the task at hand can be better accomplished using two or more stoves.

The results for us have been great.

When the outddor temp is in the low 50's F the Prodigy will keep the place quite cozy.
Let the temp drop to the mid to upper 40's and the Advantage alone does a right fine job.

Once the temps fall to the 30's and on down the Advantage and the Prodigy work in tandem to keep the place comfy.

Keep in mind that I am not stoking either of these stoves up on the upper settings.

Tonight both are running on the lowest setting and the house is at 70F (35F outside and likely snow by morning)

If the temps drop way down (teens) the Quad may be needed to help a little. Dont know yet as we have not had any weather that cold since the Little stove was added to the team.

Sizing a stove can be a tedious task, too big and it runs you out of the house, too small and it can't keep up when its cold.

I dont like to see a stove having to be run on the max setting to be able to heat the house.

I prefer the low to mid settings for 24/7 Duty.


All stoves are rated at a BTU output level (maximum)
The ratings will usually give a "from X to Y" ( 8500-35000 or some such ###) and this will be from the low to the high heat settings.


Just some thoughts and ideas as to what can be done. A small house can be a challenge to find a spot to put a stove thats not in the way.

A larger house can be a challenge too, things like stairwells, decks and such can make direct venting a real interesting situation.

I hate the idea of chopping holes in the roof for chimneys so I went with the direct venting on all 3 of the stoves here.

All work well with ZERO smoke back in the house, even during a power outage.


Hope this gives some newbies to the pellet stove world some ideas or at least alternatives.


Dont be afraid to think used stoves, so many folks simply dont use their pellet stoves for more than esthetics and then sell it a few years later for very good prices.


I paid $200 each for the Whitfields
The Quad was purchased new in 1993 for $1000 (floor demo model, with little use)

Snowy

 

[PastTense]

The more stoves, the more work loading and cleaning them.

 

[briansol]

wow, how many tons do you burn? can't beat a $200 stove though.

Back in the old days, there was a fireplace in every bedroom and the kitchen & living spaces as well. Why not today too?

 

[Nicholas440]

Looking at your layout there it seems very open, and I would think a couple of ceiling fans would greatly help by moving air from up at the ceiling downward into your living areas. You may already have them, but I dont see any in the photos. Feeding 3 stoves can get costly too, I see you use shells, and most likely pellets in the Quad since it wont burn shells. My guess is the electric heat really costs a lot to operate I'm not that familiar with it because I have natural gas and it's very inexpensive compared to propane, and oil . So having a couple of stoves running on the low setting probably gives you a more even heat in the areas you want the heat in most.

I have ceiling fans and I really notice the difference in distributed air when I turn them off, they really help by moving the warm are all around and that also helps to keep the living room area from being too warm.

 

[defield]

Snowy,

Always good to have more than one heat source, just in case. One stove needs parts, you still have two!!

That is why we have a new Buderus oil boiler, a wood boiler, and a pellet stove.

All serve their purpose.

The wood boiler is great to have in the colder weather and if the power goes out. Also heats the domestic hot water when in use.

The pellet stove gives nice heat, and the fire is just plain enjoyable.

The new Buderus boiler is very efficient as backup heat and heats the super insulated domestic hot water tank.

More work? . . . Certainly!

Thanks for the pictures and sharing iunformation about your setup.

Regards,

Ranger

 

[Sawduster]

I like your set up, but I for one would not want to deal with maintaining and feed three stoves. I do however like the idea of a second stove for back up. It does not even seem to get that cold where you live; if you are having to run three stoves when it is a warm 30 degrees, your place must be massive! I run one stove when the temp is below zero here - I have an old poorly insulated farm house with two floors, and I am toasty warm with my P61.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The more stoves, the more work loading and cleaning them.

Not always.

If a stove has a certain sweet burn point you may be able to run the stoves at that point instead of being out of the zone most of the time.

This would lead to less fuel use, less ash generation, there by reducing the cleaning frequency.

In any event the loading rate is a direct function of how much heat you need to keep your place heated and not the number of stoves.

 

[jtakeman]

IMHO the only way to rival the multi-stove plan snowy has is with a forced air pellet furnace and duct work. Or a pellet boiler and baseboards/heat exchangers. With the price of these furnaces it may be cheaper with 2 stoves. Plus the added duct work, If the home wasn't equiped with a furnace like my electric heated shack!

I've managed with one "beast" of a stove, But wouldn't mined the furnace for a little more even heating.

 

[defield]

But wouldn’t mined the furnace for a little more even heating.

j,

You are dead on . . . as always . . .

Years ago when we switched from a wood stove to a wood boiler, tied in to the baseboard hot water heat, the even heating, and warmer bathroom, were very noticible and ENJOYABLE. The boiler gobbles up more wood, ( and a pellet boiler would probably use more fuel that a stove), but has been, ( and would be ), worth it IMO.

Ranger

 

[Turbo-Quad]

I just got a Amaizablaze corn stove to add to my Quad Mt Vernon. I just stumbled upon a steal and couldn't pass by. My quad is in the south east corner and I plan on putting the corn burner in the north west corner. My plan is to burn the corn while I'm at work and have the Quad take over when I get home. Last winter the quad kept the house warm but I had to run it wide open on cold days and it really ran through the pellets. Hopefully the corn burner will provide some relief. The old house isn't insulated so two stoves will probably work out for the better. The northwest interior walls had frost on them last year during cold snaps. I think I have some thermo siphoning going on, as well. I use ceiling fans but the floor is always really drafty and cold. I have hardwoood floors and I think the hot air is going up, drawing cold air through the floors from the basement.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

FAN FANS FANS

I have tried some portables and it just seems to make the place terribly drafty and adds more noise and cost too.

A little more history.

We moved this house in here and set it up in the late summer and fall of 1993.
We got the house setup om the full daylight basement and anchored to the steel/concrete structure by early Sept by late October the basement was all tight to the weather for the winter.

The house came with an electric furnace (YUCK, to spendy)

I bought an Earthstove WP 50 from a fellow I worked with for $500 and installed it in the corner where my Advantage sits now.

We started the winter with the Earthstove only and finally got moved in by late December.

It became obvious right quick that the WP 50 was not the total answer.


I loved the old Earth stove because it would burn the nut shells but, it was too big most of the time and it was necessary to build a fire then shut it off then again and again.

We got through the winter but it was a hastle.

The following summer (1994) we finished the apartment in the basement and my folks moved in (up the hill from the old ranch house about 100yds)

My dad liked the pelet stove idea but wanted an automatic that he did not have to fool with.

We looked over several stoves and finally decided on the Quad 1000


This was a great stove down in the apartment, so I went and scrounged up a demo model for upstairs and its where it was placed in the early part of 94

OK
Now we used the Quad more and only used the WP 50 when it got cold. Hated the cost of the pellets over the nut shells a lot.

I then bought an Avalon Freestanding unit and it was nice, easy to light but a real PITA to clean and service.


Removed the Avalon after one season and sold it for what I paid for it. Reinstalled the WP 50 and ran it until last fall.

Over all this time the cost of pellets is creaping up, up ,up.

Early last winter I decided to explore the possibilty of adding a 3rd stove. Checked out Craigs list and found the little Prodigy II for $200 with the hearth pad too.


Looked all over the house for the perfect spot and finally decided on the place it is now.


This was a perfect choice for a lot of our winter weather of temps in the high 40's F to low 50's F

The little stove runs for a whole day on a 5 gallon pail of shells, needs cleaning every 3 days.


WE run it on the low setting most of the time, seldom even on two.

The little Whitfield was so easy to lite and get going that I began thinking about a larger Whitfield to replace the old WP 50

Found the Advantage on Craigs list for $200 and a 2 hour drive (out and back)

Built the raised hearth and installed the Advantage as it is now.

Things did not come online fully until really late in last season so I did not get to see the performance during a full COLD winter.

Last winter here saw some 8-10 F weather for a week but then just normal to above normal as we had the El nino going.

Overall I was pleased with the srtup.

We ran the Prodigy all the way up into early June off and on .

Winter 08 was a totally different story. The old WP 50 was still in there and ran for weeks on end and the Quad lent a hand when needed.

Over 3 feet of snow came in December 08 and temps in the single digits for a while.

My biggest reason for a lot of the changes were to get 2 stoves that will burn the nut shells and that were very fast and easy to lite.

I like an even warmth. The Quad will heat the place by itself but, its a HOT COLD, HOT COLD cycle as the T stat cycles the stove on and off.

The living room fries and the bedrooms freezes.
The family room would have cold drafts unless the WP 50 was going, then the room would swelter if the outside temps were moderate.

The WP 50 was a 20 minute exercise to get up and going to where I could walk away.

The Whitfields can be up and running to the point I can leave the house in about 5 minutes or so

This morning the outside temp is just above freezing and the house is a lovely 71 F most all the way through.

The two Whitfields are running on the lowest setting with a little Tea cup sized fire that barely gets above the fire pot.

Last eavening we have used about 1 and a half of the 5 gallon pails of shells.

I can't tell you how these stoves would do on pellets as I have never run them on any.

The low setting would likely be the sweet spot as well.

I want to avoid having to run any of the stoves "Balls to the Wall" to keep the place warm.

Really sort of cozy to see the little tiny fires burning and keeping the place comfy.

We are going to see some temps into the low 20's F by Sunday so we will be puting these little critters to the test.

A foot of snow on the roof would really help things (insulates a bunch)

Around here, when we get the cold, the East wind kicks in and HOWLS, at times near 40 MPH here at the ranch.

This long 17 year history is the reason behind why we do what we have done here.

As far as the work goes. its takes very little time to take care of the maintenance.

Takes maybe 15-20 minutes to clean each stove and this includes, a good vacuum job as well as cleaning the windows.

I pack up two 5 gallon pails of shells in the AM and then again in the eavening (cold days)

The biggest job and thats not hard is the filling of the barrels with shells.

Wash out the big rig with a hose, run over to the nut plant and fill the truck box. Come home, rais the dump bed and use the "ditch gate" to fill my barrels.

Use a hand truck to haul them into the basement and store them.

Its not really any worse than handling pellets.

With the shells, I reuse my containers, year after year and dont have any plastic bags to get rid of.

Not quite as easy as just turning up the stat and then paying the oil or gas bill but far cheaper for sure.


Later troops

Snowy

 

[kinglew]

i run three pellet stoves . two in my home and one in my pole barn .one breckwell 2700 downstairs and a new englander summerheat upstairs . large Victorian home . better the zone heating lot cheaper then propane toast warm also . also purchase and installed big easy in pole barn this year . now no need to run high efficiency propane furnace .furnace is for back up only if pellet stove fails to run. to keep water line from freezing now in bathroom in my pole barn workshop .multi stove is the way to go in my opinion . run both breckwell off tsats on off mode they do a great job . the englander model is not capable of on off mode this is the least used stove of the the three also no ash pan those are the drawbacks to the third stove . no open layout in Victorian so two stove work for me.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I think that far more folks could benefit from the multiple stove concept than do.

These are space heaters and can only heat just soo much area efficiently when the temps drop off.

Homes with many small rooms and long winding hallways can present a complex challenge to the task of keeping the place warm.

Our setup was a matter of nearly 15 years of just working with what we had and finally deciding to make some changes.

Like most folks, I never really give the stoves much thought when its 70F and sunny outside.

Last winter I finally got tired of things they way they were and made changes.

Part of my changes were more esthetic too, when I added the Advantage II and the raised hearth.

The heat outlet on the Advantage is about 4 feet off the floor and blows out over the furniture and and into the largest area of the room.


Its a tough call as to what will be optimal unless one has the time to really think it through.

For many folks, the cost of one new stove and the instalation is the limits.

For those of us who are not bothered by an install or refurbishing an older stove, the possibilities are endless (almost)

A friend of ours has a Large Harman on a raised heath and the whole thing is on "crank down wheels"
The vent has a "quick disconnect flange" and they unhook the stove in the summer and roll it off to a secluded corner and cover it with a drop sheet until fall.

This leaves there living room less cluttered (says his missus)

Everybody has a different idea of how to deal with the issues of heating.

I really dont pay much attention to the stoves other than to make sure they work. Just part of the furniture as far as I am concerned.

Works good, lasts a long time, Im happy.

Snowy