Please help us plan the heating of our home

[begreen]

Ah, then I understand the caution. I was presuming this was a proper masonry fireplace. The Summit or a PE Alderlea T6 may work out fine for you. They are excellent for burning softwood (made in BC, Canada) and have nice long burn times. The Alderlea has more mass, so it burns a bit more like a soapstone stove. But both are very good stoves, with close install clearances and work well for folks way up north. You might want to read reviews by Roospike, Willhound and myself to learn more about the stove.

 

[Sophie]

I don't know if you could do it, but this looks like a PERFECT setup for a masonry heater - go to http://mha-net.org/ and check it out - I would give my right arm to install one in my house.

 

[dpecota]

Hi Joss,

I installed a Kuma Sequoia as an insert last year. I burned a little over 7 cords of hardwood. I am really pleased with the stove. The stove is a simple straight forward design. It has four approximately 1/4 inch holes across the top above the door and two adjustable air controls for user control below the door. There are no internal thermostatic controls for air like some stoves. After getting a full load up to heat with the cat engaged (600deg on the thermo I have) I can shut down to almost no air and the stove will still be over 525 deg five hours later. The stove weighs 500 lbs and has a lot of surface area. It puts out a lot of heat during this five hour period. After 9 hours it is usually still near 400 deg and you can use 2 inch splits and wide open air to get it back up to 600 in about 15 minutes. The stove actually reaches its peak output somewhere after several hours. It peaks near 650+. I think the stoves with thermostatic air controls try to control the peak and get a move even output.

The stove has a five sided convection shell of ¼ plate steel. The front does not have a convection shell. It only has a mild radiant component due to this. It pulls air in the bottom opening on the front and throws a hot column of air out the top opening in the front. The air quickly rises up. The glass does get dirty if you fill it up, get it up to heat, and shut the air down. However the smoke out of the chimney is virtually none existent during the entire 9+ hours. This is basically the way I use it. It does leave the top ½ inch of the door clear so you can always peek at the cat and see it glow. The stove looks really good installed. The lines are elegant and it has nickel spring handles on all movable parts. I also got the nickel door. I would purchase it again. It does need an 8 inch chimney. The cost of the 8 inch liner with insulation was $250.00 more than a 6 inch set up.

I bought the stove on from Zoobler last year it was a little under 2200.00 delivered to my driveway. I suspect with steel prices and demand it would be more this year.

Good luck,

Dean

 

[Jimbob]

Jimbob,
Thanks for your input! The Summit looks great. How long burn times do you get with softwood? I am in the Parkland area, west of Dauphin. Like your avatar! :-D

Thanks.
The Parkland area is very nice.

Burn times, the definition of that is a hot topic of debate on here....
If I fill the stove right up with fairly large pieces of poplar on a good bed of coals and turn it right down shortly after, I'll still have lots of coals 10 hours later, and the stove will still be too hot to touch.

Hope that helps.

 

[Joss]

Thank you all for your help and input!
Thanks for pointing out Pacific Energy for me - I've been reading reviews and researching it and it looks really good. Jimbob's, I much appreciate your info about burn times as we live in much the same harsh conditions and burn the same type of wood.