recommendations on a good insert

[EbS-P]

The buck model 91. Seems like it has a huge firebox, is tax credit eligible unlike the obsurn, about 1200 cheaper than the blaze king. But I haven't seen much on them. Should I be considering it?

The 91 requires an 8” liner. Will that work for you?

 

[begreen]

More complicated than the blaze king how?

More air (L&R) controls instead of a thermostat regulating the air. The BK is pretty much set it and forget it. Based on the description it sounds like the Princess will suffice without having to run it wide open most of the time. And if it needs a little help you can add more insulation in the attic. By doing that the stove may run on low most of the time.

 

[BKVP]

So I don't see that anyone mentioned fuel and chimney. The dealer is correct that the turn down rate can result in lower surface temperatures. However, if you line up 6-10 stoves, set them all at the same kg/h burn rate (above 1.2+ kg/h because most secondary combustion stove have close to that as a minimum burn rate) surface temperatures may not very different at all.

What needs to be included in consideration is "what is low?" for any given stove.

Then m/c of fuel and chimney plan a big part. If you run two or more stoves on the exact same chimney, at the same burn rate, with same m/c & surface area of fuel, the temperature differences will be negligible.

Lastly, some stoves need more (or better insulated) chimneys in order to perform properly.

It's possible to run two (or more) completely different stoves on the same chimney and if one of those requires more draft than the other, it could translate to different temps as well. This is applicable across all burn rate but stands out in low or medium low if the two stoves feature different combustion technology.

 

[BKVP]

Proof is in the pudding....when in these forums folks have commented how much a difference a "proper" makes a difference.

The 91 is a proven performer. Buck makes some very nice 2020 units as do many other companies.

 

[stoveliker]

The OP has 26' of insulated flex liner.

 

[BKVP]

Perfect install...

 

[rdust]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but I find with my BK I don’t need the high surface temps to maintain house temps. When you’re not chasing large temp swings in the house you don’t need to dump a lot of btus in the house to warm it back up. Slow and steady wins in my house.

My non cat had virtually no turn down, it was up to 700 then down, a roller coaster ride. I assume there are some non cats that turn down better than my Lopi but I was done with the ups and downs. Started burning my BK in 2011 and can’t imagine any other stove in the house.(most happy stove owners say this about their brand).

 

[begreen]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but I find with my BK I don’t need the high surface temps to maintain house temps. When you’re not chasing large temp swings in the house you don’t need to dump a lot of btus in the house to warm it back up. Slow and steady wins in my house.

My non cat had virtually no turn down, it was up to 700 then down, a roller coaster ride. I assume there are some non cats that turn down better than my Lopi but I was done with the ups and downs. Started burning my BK in 2011 and can’t imagine any other stove in the house.(most happy stove owners say this about their brand).

That was the way with the Castine in our house. Part of the problem was that it was undersized. This totally changed after putting in the T6. No more temp swings. The mass of the castiron jacket acts like a big flywheel absorbing the heat peak and releasing it later on.

 

[1990dtgl98]

The 91 requires an 8” liner. Will that work for you?

That may have been why it was not on my radar. 6" liner here. Scratch that one off and thank you for the info!

 

[Peter.]

So I looked into the princess and 3500 at local dealers. Both seem like nice stoves. The osburn concerns me with its "up to 10 hours" burn time claim for longer burns. If I run it hotter for those high of 10* weeks, am I not going to get an overnight burn out of it?

Conversely the dealer my way was pretty honest and open about limitations. He said the princess inserts are awesome but on low you can damn near touch the top of the stove its so throttled down. So if I have to run it 3/4 open on 40* days, can it even handle the weeks we get down to 10-20 highs? He was saying the osburn you could run at 500-600 stove top temp vs the blaze king that might stay cooler at 300-400.

(Preface this with my wife likes heat. She'd have the house face meltingly hot if she could)

If I have to run a princess wide open all the time except shoulder seasons....is it worth the long burn times?

Also found a new stove that might combine the best of all the stoves. The buck model 91. Seems like it has a huge firebox, is tax credit eligible unlike the obsurn, about 1200 cheaper than the blaze king. But I haven't seen much on them. Should I be considering it?

Hello there, the Buck Stove Model 91 is a solid unit and you should definitely be considering it. Buck Corp has a very good reputation, they make them right here in the US. Some old Buck Stove models like the 26000 and the 27000 have been around for decades.

 

[stoveliker]

If I have to run a princess wide open all the time except shoulder seasons....is it worth the long burn times?

One more remark, triggered by the quote of your original post above: BKs have a good market in Alaska (too). I don't think you'd need to be concerned about not being able to heat your home in the winters you are experiencing.

 

[EbS-P]

Hello there, the Buck Stove Model 91 is a solid unit and you should definitely be considering it. Buck Corp has a very good reputation, they make them right here in the US. Some old Buck Stove models like the 26000 and the 27000 have been around for decades.

91 takes an 8” flue. (Could be wrong)Can’t think of another insert off the top of my head that does. Do you have space for an 8” I insulated liner?

 

[Solarguy3500]

Regardless of what stove you get, improving the attic (and windows, but $$...) seems like a good idea.
The attic could be done by yourself - I did. Moving (a section of) the old insulation to the side, foaming all seams around top boards and outer walls, and caulking around electrical boxes (no combustible foam protruding inside them...), putting back the insulation and either adding batts (I added R38 on top of the original R19) or blow-in insulation greatly helps. (Make sure if you have soffit and ridge vents to keep a channel for the air to move from vent to ridge top.) For my 1000 sqft attic the total cost (I used batts) was about $1000

This is excellent advice and will make a noticeable difference.

Check to see if your state or utility companies have any programs to help subsidize the insulation/air sealing work. Here in MA there is a program called MassSave sponsored by the utility companies, where they do an energy audit of your house then send a contractor to do attic insulation and air sealing as well as rim joist insulation in the basement, and the program pays 70% of the cost.

We just had this done and I can definitely tell the difference already. It knocked over 1000 cfm off the blower door test with the work they did.