Requesting Small Stove Recommendation

[Woody Stover]

It sounds like your climate is pretty mild, your 1000 sf home well insulated. You say that you don't mind letting the stove go out at night and can tend the stove during the day. That's a scenario for a quite small stove like the Englander 17VL and similar.

a cat will burn longer and at lower settings so it wont over heat you in the room your in. The soapstone stoves also absorb the spike in the heat cycle and stores that heat and lets it off after the stove has died down giving you heat over a longer period.

With a well-insulated home I think you'll be able to use small fires to maintain room temps, and the ability of the house to hold heat will smooth out the spikes.
Is the floor plan open? If not you may want to use a small desk fan on low, on the floor, blowing cooler air into the stove room and distributing the warm air throughout the house.

We went to the local stove store, and they cater to folks who don't worry about money.

this is not like driving around in a strange area. When in doubt, stop and ask for directions

Good stuff, keep 'em coming.

 

[HDRock]

For reference Auzzie Gumtree Just got a Country Hearth 2000, Country Hearth 2000 - New install - possible burning issues.
Good video in the thread to

 

[HDRock]

Another reference Home Depot sells the APS1100B Wood Stove for $813.00 ,I don't know how Tractor S, can sell it so low at $349

 

[Shadow&Flame]

Welcome Aggie

You will find all the information and good people here you could ever want. Hope you find a good stove that fits your needs.
I think at this point its better to spend your money on a good chimney set up and get a cheaper steel stove for heating now.
After you get the kinks worked out with wood and what you want out of a stove...then you might look for another stove.

 

[Aggie]

What a price on that Vogelzang in Shreveport, but 90 mi each way. Tractor Supply has different stoves this year, nothing I recognize. However, the Mt. Pleasant Home Depot delivers free, and has a good selection of the cheaper stoves, and I think it qualifies for 10% off as a home appliance.

US Stove APS1100B $813
Englander 17-VL $549
Englander 13-NC $649
Vogelzang Shiloh $799
Vogelzang Defender $799

I have to look them over more carefully tomorrow. Is the 17-VL really preferable to the 13-NC for our situation?

I will try to have the hearth be the right size for the keystone, in case our business takes off.

It looks like we can pick up enough limestone for the hearth for about $20 from a nearby quarry. Wouldn't that be beautiful.

Thanks for all the welcomes and support.

 

[BrotherBart]

I think you will love the 17-VL. Designed by a forum member and he did a really good job of it.

Don't ask my wife how many times we made the 180 mile run from Dallas to Shreveport and back for me to throw money at horses on the track.

 

[Sprinter]

Tractor Supply has different stoves this year, nothing I recognize

A lot of stoves get rebranded for certain retailers. They may actually be carrying something well known.

The 17 seems like a good fit, especially if you have another heat source for the unexpected cold days. But if you want a little extra cush, you could go a little larger and just build small fires most of the time. Consider R value requirements for the hearth on some models. That could add to expense.

 

[Aggie]

Ok. We will order the 17-VL as soon as we get together the rest of our order. I looked at some install pics, and read in the annals about Corie. This is an amazing place; so glad that I stumbled onto it.

The guy we talked to yesterday is a firefighter (teaches some at A&M) and sells wood as well as doing stove installations. He and my hubby saw eye to eye on the installation overview.

I have read a lot, now that I am finding my way around, and realize that most of this info is in the old posts. I may disappear for awhile. I am super busy with other things, but will return. I can't thank you enough for your generous assistance.

Aggie

 

[Aggie]

This is what we built with your help, for around $2500.
1. Englander 17-VL, $700 with shipping from Home Depot.
2. 777 lb of river rock and 8 bags of mortar, $200. Lou laid the stone with me as hod carrier. I cleaned the stone and applied two coats of mineral oil.
3. A couple of red cedar boards, $15, that Lou used to build the trim.
4. Duravent pipe and chimney, $1000 from efireplacestore.com.
5. Local builders installed chimney and provided flashing for $650.

We made three minor mistakes that we know of.
1. We didn't check the efireplacestore representative's recommendations carefully, and ended up paying shipping and restocking fees to return stovepipe that we didn't need.
2. We paid $96 for a Duravent chimney support system that included only two legs. We added a third for stability. We could have done the whole thing ourselves for less than $25.
3. Our installers used a flexible flashing that cost less than $50, and looks much more suitable for waterproofing our corrugated metal roof than the $220 Duravent metal flashing that we had ordered.

Fuel:
1. Stihl MS-290 with 20" blade, on sale for $400, to replace the ancient Craftsman.
2. 5 ton splitter, $300.
2. Free standing dead wood on the property. Cured standing up in northeast Texas.

We've done our break in fires, and it is burning clean and drafting hard, even with the windows wide open. I don't have to tell you how much we love this hearth, and how much it makes this place our home. To you members who helped us so much to get started on this project (particularly this thread, but also others): We can't thank you enough.

Aggie & Lou

 

[mellow]

Nice install! Glad to see it all worked out for you in the end. I can foresee many a conversation being had sitting in front of that englander.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

SWEET! love the hearth. welcome to the ESW family!

 

[begreen]

The hearth looks great. It's a nice setting for the stove. The factory designed roof brace is correct with two legs. It is supposed to have the two legs on the upside of the roof. This is quite strong as it triangulates with the chimney. Most of the forces against it will be downhill, not uphill.

This is our chimney brace. It has dealt with multiple heavy snows and 60 mph wind gusts with no problem.

 

[Aggie]

The factory designed roof brace is correct with two legs. It is supposed to have the two legs on the upside of the roof. This is quite strong as it triangulates with the chimney. Most of the forces against it will be downhill, not uphill.

This is our chimney brace. It has dealt with multiple heavy snows and 60 mph wind gusts with no problem.

Thanks, begreen. Your experience is worth a thousand words. This is the part of the DuraTech catalog that led us to believe that installation should be done with the supports pointing downward.

I'm guessing that either installation will work, but this opens up a discussion.
a) How about considering the direction that the roof is facing, and prevailing winds?
b) Is it better to have the prevailing wind pulling on the screws, or pushing them into the roof?
c) What about crosswinds?

 

[begreen]

Yes, I can see why this could be confusing. That is just a catalog photo. Parts are not always shown in their installed position, but rather what illustrates them best. Their installation manual goes into greater detail. Wet snow and ice is the big concern I think, like with this unbraced chimney. I wouldn't undo what you have. This is for future reference.

 

[Aggie]

Oh, thanks, begreen. We didn't receive installation instructions of any kind, and I didn't notice this manual online. Snow shouldn't be an issue here.

mellow and Mike, thanks for the compliments. Mike, we were happy to be able to buy a made-in-USA stove.

 

[begreen]

(broken link removed to http://www.duravent.com/Product.aspx?hProduct=1)
under the literature tab look for DuraTech installation instructions

 

[Aggie]

Thank you, begreen! Love your signature thoughts, BTW... Now the problem is that the stove is working too well for this mild weather- he's heating me out of the house!

 

[MaintenanceMan]

The stove and hearth look great! I think you'll be happy with your 17. I know I love mine.

 

[begreen]

Thank you, begreen! Love your signature thoughts, BTW... Now the problem is that the stove is working too well for this mild weather- he's heating me out of the house!

Now that is the kind of problem that's good to have! I think you folks are going to have a good time with this stove. It's perfect for a small space. You and Lou should be quite proud of the nice job you've done at creating a hearth for it. Enjoy the warmth and keep us posted on how it's working for you when those icy blasts come rolling down across the prairie from Canada.

 

[ddahlgren]

Welcome to the forum.
Woodstock also offers refurbished stoves. Most are returns from their 6 month satisfaction guaranty that have been rebuilt, look new inside and out, new cat, with a full structural warranty. I got my refurb Keystone delivered last year for ~$1800. Its perfect for my situation. 12 hr burns that don't overheat the house on mild days, 8 hr reloads during single digit nights. Cat maintenance is a breeze. Customer support is awesome. Parts are cheap.
How is your wood supply? If you've read may posts, you know that DRY wood is very important to EPA stoves. Depending on species (oak) don't plan on your standing dead trees to be DRY.

Yes and does not season until split either! Bark is very good at holding moisture in that is the whole point of it being there..

 

[ddahlgren]

Be aware that insurance companies can be very insistent about professional installations if that is a concern.

True, it can be done DIY, but I think doing it right is just too important and having a certified sweep/installer wouldn't be that much more expensive.

That might be right where you are but in SE CT the sweep wanted 250 to brush a 15 ft metal chimney with a one story flat roof. My laughter was close to uncontrollable tears and all...

 

[ddahlgren]

If you decide to look at steel stoves, some people here have the EPA certified Vogelzang stoves and like them. Sutherland's over in Shreveport advertises the Vogelzang Shiloh for $499.

http://sutherlands.com/products/product.php?item=8323313#.Uh38dn_y2KI

That looks a lot like my Avalon Pendleton with a 1.3 cu. ft. fire box. Small but works well though i have no ash pan. I paid 400 for mine used a few years ago and had to put some money into it so a real buy in my eyes. Saying that the link offers little about clearances and that is a big deal too.

 

[Aggie]

Yes and does not season until split either! Bark is very good at holding moisture in that is the whole point of it being there..

I tried to generate interest in cutting and splitting wood back when I started this thread, so it would get at least a couple of months of late summer sun, but was unsuccessful. I don't know how to use the chain saw yet. To be fair, we had to clear brush to get to the wood, get some acreage ready for planting and were overwhelmingly busy with the new place... There is no smoke coming out of the chimney, but there is soot on the glass. Don't know yet if this is due to low burn temps while we learn to use the stove... Thanks for the ominous warnings Will heed them as best possible.

 

[Log farmer]

Nice hearth! Hope the stove works well for you. Friends of ours has the same stove and they seem to like it!