Seeking advice on purchase of Equinox

[FireWalker]

We both (Wellbuilt home and I) went from the same DW to the Eq. and my experience is the exact opposite

Any idea why?

He has a flue damper......I burned nearly 90% locust although I did burn other wood with no difference in performance. Without a response on his loading technique, I don't know. All I can say is I was worried about lack of btu output also until I started loading NS thru the front on the colder nights. Once I learned this, and to not overly worry about the magic 600* thing I was heating the way I believed the stove was advertised......a powerhouse.

Every installation is a little different, I'm suprised we have results that are this far off.

 

[SolarAndWood]

What does the NS accomplish? More BTUs in the box or is it an airflow thing? Do you keep a pile of shorter splits for this?

 

[FireWalker]

NS thing is all about airflow getting in, under around the ends of the splits exposing more wood to combustion. I should also mention with a 4 cu ft firebox, loading from the side has it's limits. When going in thru the front as long as your wood is not too long, it's amazing how many pieces will fit in there.

 

[Highbeam]

Amazing. Two fires in one stove, now that's some volume.

 

[SolarAndWood]

NS thing is all about airflow getting in, under around the ends of the splits exposing more wood to combustion. I should also mention with a 4 cu ft firebox, loading from the side has it's limits. When going in thru the front as long as your wood is not too long, it's amazing how many pieces will fit in there.

Thanks for the feedback...it would seem I take my top load for granted. Any hesitations on recommending the Equinox? It would sit in a 50x22 room and I already run 8". I burn 24/7, usually 7-8 cord a year now in the VC.

 

[Wet1]

To the OP, I would also consider the Blaze King "King". It's not as pretty, but it should be more efficient and have longer burn times. Being steel, I wouldn't have as much fear of over-firing the BK either. I'd worry about cracking stone on the EQ if it really needed to be pushed on the coldest nights. And with the thermostat and SS cat on the BK, it should be able to be run both lower and require less daily maintenance keeping it adjusted. In fact with the BK, you'd probably spend far less time tending to the fire and working the stove.

With that said, the EQ is a fine looking stove.

 

[wellbuilt home]

I forgot, on page 19 of the manual it says I should run my stove at full throttle for 35 to 45 minutes daily. This makes for a hot fire and some very hot rocks......it's kinda scary to let the fire get this hot but the book says do it so I do and it works well. It gets the glass clean, burns up connector build-up and warms the house up nicely. Hope all this jibber jabber helps keep you warm this coming winter, keep us posted.

Hi FW , No i have not tried NS burn yet . All my wood is 24" long for the old DW . I have some small stuff ready for this season .
My DW would burn 3 1/2 cord a season
the EQ burnt 4.5 or more. I did get more heat from thinner splits 2x4 2x6 size , but i would need to fill the stove 3 times a day = 12cub foot per day 1 cord every 2 weeks or so . 6 1/2 cord = for the season .
I know Ive read that there is a max temp of 650 on the EQ and 600 on other modals but i cant remember where ?
I think it was with the same info that tells you where to put the surface thermometer . ( place surface thermometer on center stone of stove etc)
Im not really thinking wood stove now , its hot tonight and im hitting the A/C button .
Ill try to find the max temp info and post it . One of the guys cracked a stove and had a thread running on it last winter . I think it was Jeff with a HS tribute.
John

 

[SolarAndWood]

My DW would burn 3 1/2 cord a season
the EQ burnt 4.5 or more. I did get more heat from thinner splits 2x4 2x6 size , but i would need to fill the stove 3 times a day = 12cub foot per day 1 cord every 2 weeks or so . 6 1/2 cord = for the season .

6 1/2 cord doesn't sound unreasonable for a 120K BTU stove? Did the DW heat the whole house or was it just a supplement?

 

[FireWalker]

To the OP, I would also consider the Blaze King "King". It's not as pretty, but it should be more efficient and have longer burn times. Being steel, I wouldn't have as much fear of over-firing the BK either. I'd worry about cracking stone on the EQ if it really needed to be pushed on the coldest nights. And with the thermostat and SS cat on the BK, it should be able to be run both lower and require less daily maintenance keeping it adjusted. In fact with the BK, you'd probably spend far less time tending to the fire and working the stove.

With that said, the EQ is a fine looking stove.

The BK King is one heck of a stove, what it can do with a load of wood places it in a catagory all to it's own. Push it hard or let it cruise, what a heater! I'm not crazy about the looks.....kinda utilitarian but that is just me, in my setup the stove is a focal point and with all the antiques and knick knacks my wife has colledted over the years, the Eq just looks amazing.

Reguarding pushing the Eq. on cold nights.......not once have I ever got the feeling I was even close to what this stove can do, the damper settings I use are just to low. Although this is just a feeling, based on the spec. btu numbers and having a 12 year relationship with my old DW (I used to push that stove pretty hard), I just can't help thinking there is more in reserve. I typically run out of the need for more space heating, my hot runs are only bursts that last a few hours at the most sometimes twice a day. My cold night system is to run a big full load hot fire at 6pm when I get home......by 8 or 9 the house is warm, the stove will take more wood but the sides are sill packed and burning, surface temps have fallen from my precieved high end range. By 11 I fill up again and adjust, either full off or just a hair open at the damper for overnight. Mornings are easy and depending on what the sun is doing that day (passive solar home), I adjust my load EW, NS and damper setting accordingly.

WBH, The specs. say a 25" log thru the front door, get out your tape measure.......you won't be able to fill it like this though, you will need some shorter pieces. Trying to fill the box with pieces kitty corner in there won't do well but if you do have some shorter pieces and want a hot fire fill NS on the bottom then lay a few long ones EW on top, this works well. I'm back to cutting regular size firewood at 18" or so but I'm leaving my splits big and I'm not splitting rounds smaller than 8", less work and they burn long.

 

[FireWalker]

NS thing is all about airflow getting in, under around the ends of the splits exposing more wood to combustion. I should also mention with a 4 cu ft firebox, loading from the side has it's limits. When going in thru the front as long as your wood is not too long, it's amazing how many pieces will fit in there.

Thanks for the feedback...it would seem I take my top load for granted. Any hesitations on recommending the Equinox? It would sit in a 50x22 room and I already run 8". I burn 24/7, usually 7-8 cord a year now in the VC.

My Eq. sits in a room 35 x 15 with a ton of 7' high glass (most of the 35' length). When I read about the Equinox I did not hesitate and my DW could have been used for at least a few more years, maybe more.

7 to 8 full cords is a lot of wood! That's 3 or 4 full feedings a day?

 

[SolarAndWood]

It sounds like we have very similar rooms, one of my 50 foot walls is all glass as well. We are in the middle of an extensive rebuild of the house. Once the shell is done and tightened up, our wood consumption will go way down.

 

[FireWalker]

It sounds like we have very similar rooms, one of my 50 foot walls is all glass as well. We are in the middle of an extensive rebuild of the house. Once the shell is done and tightened up, our wood consumption will go way down.

Very similar indeed, I see by your sig. line your planning on some radiant floor heat? I have R.F.H. on my entire 1st floor......i'm wood/metal floor joists, 3/4" plywood subfloor and oak hardwood. The reason I mention this is our house is first of all passive solar and on a sunny winter day things warm right up from the early afternoon sun, not the best for radiant floor heat as overnight the floors get warm and during a sunny day the furnace does not call and the floors cool down but before they do they release what they have stored and the house overheats. When the sun is set, the house temps fall because of the lag in establishing heat in the floors again, kinda like soapstone.This is all coplicated with the use of our stove, ideally we would like to have the floors be warm all winter because it's just that nice but it's hard to get a good balance without wasting oil or it just being too warm. I suggest if you go this route, have the floor loop controllable at the furnace so it can be turned on and off seperately from other heating loops. If I were to do it over I would have gone convectors/radiators but who knew. What I want now is a HW solar system that I can store and release into my floor loop for winter and make domestic HW in the summer or maybe all year.

 

[SolarAndWood]

We are on a ridge with great southern exposure. I designed the overhangs to give us winter sun/summer shade. So, sounds like I will have to deal with that same control issue you have. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[FireWalker]

We are on a ridge with great southern exposure. I designed the overhangs to give us winter sun/summer shade. So, sounds like I will have to deal with that same control issue you have. Thanks for the heads up.

Another consideration will be placement of your thermostat.....don't put it in the same room as the stove, put it in a back room somewhere that wood stove heat has trouble getting to.

 

[doug60]

I may try the N/S loading this year.
Ashes droping out when the front door is opened could be a factor.
t.he side door is better at that.
doug

 

[wellbuilt home]

My DW would burn 3 1/2 cord a season
the EQ burnt 4.5 or more. I did get more heat from thinner splits 2x4 2x6 size , but i would need to fill the stove 3 times a day = 12cub foot per day 1 cord every 2 weeks or so . 6 1/2 cord = for the season .

6 1/2 cord doesn't sound unreasonable for a 120K BTU stove? Did the DW heat the whole house or was it just a supplement?

The DW was my only heat for years I miss the cast stove out put , and the speed it could heat the house. If my EQ gos out it takes all day to get the house warm .
Don't get me wrong I do like the stove and it has lots of nice fetchers. It just doesnt seem to heat 3000+ SF at my house any way . I want to add a 500 sf addition to the house and use just one stove . I will just get a second EQ for the addition. John

 

[runandjump]

I love all this info!! I'm in the prosses of installing an EQ myself. I have no intention of a thread take-over but I have a question about the stove. The top stone on mine has a gap all the way around the top edge. I saw in a picture somewhere on the net of an EQ and its gap looked filled in. How are yours set up? Can some one post a close-up pic of the top?

 

[FireWalker]

I may try the N/S loading this year.
Ashes droping out when the front door is opened could be a factor.
t.he side door is better at that.
doug

Ashes do fall on the front lip, how much depends on how long your wood is......if I have the right length wood like 16-18 inches I can stuff the box and have very little ash spillage.

 

[FireWalker]

I love all this info!! I'm in the prosses of installing an EQ myself. I have no intention of a thread take-over but I have a question about the stove. The top stone on mine has a gap all the way around the top edge. I saw in a picture somewhere on the net of an EQ and its gap looked filled in. How are yours set up? Can some one post a close-up pic of the top?

My only complaint regarding the looks of my stove is this gap around the top perimeter between the stone and the cast iron. On mine I can see some cement or something down in there.....not the nicest thing in the world but it's the way it is. I looked a couple others and they were all the same. I don't see a good fix, and once installed you only see it when looking closely.

 

[doug60]

I filled the gap with fine ash. Looks better than the gap & if you don't like it just vacuum it out.