Hello and thanks for your input and advice. I intend to upgrade from an old 1977 Vermont Castings Vigilant. It would be nice to use the 26% tax credit with an approved new wood stove purchase and install.
Current stove is a Vermont Castings 1977 Vigilant. It uses lots of wood and is not efficient. Requires too much babysitting and frequent reloading can't go thru the night without needing a reload. It has an amazing draft but not sure I can deal with it much longer.
House details:
2800 ft², two-story, south facing, vigilant stove sits in a centrally located "great room" with 18 foot high cathedral ceilings and large south facing, floor to ceiling windows. Stairwell is located right behind the massive "fireplace". Mezzanine openings behind and next to the fireplace lead to upstairs bedrooms. Local Architect designed the house, as a so called "passive house", to take advantage of solar heat gain through south facing windows and to be heated by a wood stove in winter. House has double pane windows and is 2x6 construction with fiberglass insulation. Back up heat is from propane furnace and in floor ducts. Propane is expensive so I want to maximize my use of a new wood stove. We have lots of tan oak on site, been drying for years, but have access to Douglas fir, eucalyptus, madrone, almond and other woods.
The Vigilant wood stove is located on a purpose built, massive concrete block and flag stone structure...like a giant "fireplace" but without an opening, except for the 8-inch stove pipe. The "fireplace" is roughly 24' high by 14' wide by 42" thick. Basically it's a giant concrete/rock heat sink to absorb all the heat from the wood stove and release it over time back into the house. Please see attached pictures.
The single wall 8" diameter stove pipe extends 7 ft up from the top outlet of the vigilant stove before it goes through a 90° elbow and then extends horizontally another 2 1/2 feet where it punches through a concrete tube exiting into the chimney. The draft is amazing. The chimney is smooth walled fire brick that extends from the floor level clean out, on the back side of the fireplace, up to the top where it opens up to a concrete cap. Please refer to photos attached.
Main questions are:
1) Do I hunt for one of the relatively few 8 inch flue stoves or go with the more abundantly available 6 inch flue stoves?
2) Do I go with a more convection based stove or more radiant heat stove or some combination? Thinking soapstone Mansfield versus Manchester or Green mountain 80.
3) Is beautiful view of flames, hybrid capable stove a better choice than a Blazeking catalytic?
4) Should I get fan option on the stove if available?
5) I definitely plan on using two 45° elbows instead of the 90° elbow.
Ideally I'm looking for a more "hands free" stove, better heating with less wood than vigilant, longer heating at least 10 or 12 hours if not more, good looking stove and fire would be nice. Basically the looks and fire view of the Mansfield, with side load door of Manchester, with 8 inch flue, and thermostat of Blazeking....lol
Stoves I'm thinking about:
1) Hearthstone Mansfield, not sure about reliability of new models, skeptical of soapstone being good choice for our home since we have huge "heat sink" fireplace already, Only 6 inch flue, skeptical of fragile parts at top of stove and latch issues in various YouTube videos.
2) Hearthstone Manchester, convection & radiant, like that it has both front and side load doors, only 6 inch flue, is it too small of a stove for our home?
3) Hearthstone Green Mountain 80, like the 8 inch flue, but not sure about other benefits of this particular stove over others. Seems very basic but with high price.
4) Lopi Liberty, Not sure if all steel stove is a better choice than Soapstone, or cast with stone liner.
5) Progress Hybrid, not sure I like the look of it versus the Mansfield or Liberty, 6 inch flue
6) Blazeking King 40, 8 inch flue, seems like great stove, not sure about lack of view of the flames though. Is this giant stove necessary in our relatively mild Winter climate?
7) Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 LE, don't know much about this stove, do the slide out warning shelves help the convective heat from the stove, would not really cook on it unless in a power outage.
Any recommendations, insight, things I have missed, or other stoves to consider would be much appreciated.
Thank you for your time
Scott
Current stove is a Vermont Castings 1977 Vigilant. It uses lots of wood and is not efficient. Requires too much babysitting and frequent reloading can't go thru the night without needing a reload. It has an amazing draft but not sure I can deal with it much longer.
House details:
2800 ft², two-story, south facing, vigilant stove sits in a centrally located "great room" with 18 foot high cathedral ceilings and large south facing, floor to ceiling windows. Stairwell is located right behind the massive "fireplace". Mezzanine openings behind and next to the fireplace lead to upstairs bedrooms. Local Architect designed the house, as a so called "passive house", to take advantage of solar heat gain through south facing windows and to be heated by a wood stove in winter. House has double pane windows and is 2x6 construction with fiberglass insulation. Back up heat is from propane furnace and in floor ducts. Propane is expensive so I want to maximize my use of a new wood stove. We have lots of tan oak on site, been drying for years, but have access to Douglas fir, eucalyptus, madrone, almond and other woods.
The Vigilant wood stove is located on a purpose built, massive concrete block and flag stone structure...like a giant "fireplace" but without an opening, except for the 8-inch stove pipe. The "fireplace" is roughly 24' high by 14' wide by 42" thick. Basically it's a giant concrete/rock heat sink to absorb all the heat from the wood stove and release it over time back into the house. Please see attached pictures.
The single wall 8" diameter stove pipe extends 7 ft up from the top outlet of the vigilant stove before it goes through a 90° elbow and then extends horizontally another 2 1/2 feet where it punches through a concrete tube exiting into the chimney. The draft is amazing. The chimney is smooth walled fire brick that extends from the floor level clean out, on the back side of the fireplace, up to the top where it opens up to a concrete cap. Please refer to photos attached.
Main questions are:
1) Do I hunt for one of the relatively few 8 inch flue stoves or go with the more abundantly available 6 inch flue stoves?
2) Do I go with a more convection based stove or more radiant heat stove or some combination? Thinking soapstone Mansfield versus Manchester or Green mountain 80.
3) Is beautiful view of flames, hybrid capable stove a better choice than a Blazeking catalytic?
4) Should I get fan option on the stove if available?
5) I definitely plan on using two 45° elbows instead of the 90° elbow.
Ideally I'm looking for a more "hands free" stove, better heating with less wood than vigilant, longer heating at least 10 or 12 hours if not more, good looking stove and fire would be nice. Basically the looks and fire view of the Mansfield, with side load door of Manchester, with 8 inch flue, and thermostat of Blazeking....lol
Stoves I'm thinking about:
1) Hearthstone Mansfield, not sure about reliability of new models, skeptical of soapstone being good choice for our home since we have huge "heat sink" fireplace already, Only 6 inch flue, skeptical of fragile parts at top of stove and latch issues in various YouTube videos.
2) Hearthstone Manchester, convection & radiant, like that it has both front and side load doors, only 6 inch flue, is it too small of a stove for our home?
3) Hearthstone Green Mountain 80, like the 8 inch flue, but not sure about other benefits of this particular stove over others. Seems very basic but with high price.
4) Lopi Liberty, Not sure if all steel stove is a better choice than Soapstone, or cast with stone liner.
5) Progress Hybrid, not sure I like the look of it versus the Mansfield or Liberty, 6 inch flue
6) Blazeking King 40, 8 inch flue, seems like great stove, not sure about lack of view of the flames though. Is this giant stove necessary in our relatively mild Winter climate?
7) Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 LE, don't know much about this stove, do the slide out warning shelves help the convective heat from the stove, would not really cook on it unless in a power outage.
Any recommendations, insight, things I have missed, or other stoves to consider would be much appreciated.
Thank you for your time
Scott