Small House; Big Question

[True Believer]

My wife and I have a 950 SF, one floor, ranch home in Western CT - 200 SF living room leading into 200 SF kitchen; bedrooms down the hall. When we moved in five years ago, it had a big, old Earth Stove in the living room ... it's got to be at least 30 years old. We burned in it for two years (years three and four). It blew us out of the living room (temps in mid-80s). Try to back it down and burn low and slow, it's a creosote monster (my last load of delivered wood was questionable on moisture). We had a cast iron Comforter wood/coal stove in our first home (early 80s); and purchased a used Ashley box in the Albany area in the mid-90s. So this is not our first rodeo. Our home is well insulated and has central A/C so we can move the hot air around the home.
I've got nearly two cords of two-year-old ash/oak stacked in my driveway. I may be 75, but with oil prices obscene, we're ready to get back into wood.
We need a smaller, cleaner, more efficient stove. But we don't want another sterile black box. Aesthetics are important to us.
So, what stove? We've just begun our research and need some wisdom. We've considered a Lopi Answer NextGen (not the most attractive, but it's available). We like the look of the Hearthstone Castleton (may be too big) and the Craftsbury (may be too small) but have heard concerns about Hearthstone's availability, the company's (non)responsiveness and challenges with soapstone. I've just started looking at Jotul Oslo today, so I don't know much about Jotul.
For us, it's a new world of wood stoves out there. We would appreciate any shared wisdom and direction.

 

[EbS-P]

In a 200 sq ft room it’s going to be warm even with a smaller stove but look at steel stoves that have a cast iron jacket as they are more convective.

Look at the T4.

https://www.pacificenergy.net/product/alderlea-t4-classic-le/

 

[moresnow]

May also be time to replace the venting? Any appropriately sized modern stove will require 6 inch. Food for thought. Nice looking corner install. Looks very familiar!

 

[True Believer]

In a 200 sq ft room it’s going to be warm even with a smaller stove but look at steel stoves that have a cast iron jacket as they are more convective.

Look at the T4.

https://www.pacificenergy.net/product/alderlea-t4-classic-le/

Thanks for the suggestion. PE stoves were also new to me until today. The T4 is a unit we will investigate. Has a nice look.

 

[True Believer]

May also be time to replace the venting? Any appropriately sized modern stove will require 6 inch. Food for thought. Nice looking corner install. Looks very familiar!

Yeah ... the existing pipe has got to go. One of the reasons we stopped burning the stove. The pipe unites were installed upside down, so it weeps at the joints. Even if we stick with the old stove we need to get the pipe replaced.

 

[EbS-P]

On the cheaper end. Check out True North (the value brand of PE) and Drolet. If the tax credit is important to you that can change things.

 

[True Believer]

On the cheaper end. Check out True North (the value brand of PE) and Drolet. If the tax credit is important to you that can change things.

Thanks. My head is already spinning, and we've only just begun. But there is an affordable solution out there for us.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

Watching also, as someday I'd like to replace my "fireplace" stove with something small output that could be used to supplement my living room temps. Of course, I'd like it to burn the same normal size (at least 18") wood my furnace and other stove uses, and I'd like it to be able to go very low for 8-10 hours on softwood before needing a cold-start, so I may be looking a while.

Since you want this for this winter, I'm thinking you better hurry. With energy prices the way they are, I bet stoves will soon be like toilet paper in the pandemic.

 

[Ashful]

I have a BK Ashford 30.1 in my 190 sq.ft. office, it burns from early October straight thru to early May. Yes, it's warm in here, particularly with some of my high-power computers cranking out additional heat, but it's a great place to sit in a comfortable desk chair or catch an evening nap on the couch. It is NOT a place where I'd want to prepare dinner, or do any other work on my feet.

I have the advantage of a million (actual estimate, not a generalized exaggeration) pounds of stone house surrounding my small home office, to help keep things leveled. But if I were heating such a small place, I'd not even consider any non-cat stove, as you'd likely have to spec one so small that it'd have useless burn times. They rely too much on a house with thermal inertia, to level out the power/temperature curve, and a small place has little to offer to inertia. I'd be looking at a cat stove with very low heat output capability, so you can keep reasonable burn times without blasting yourself out of such a small space.

 

[begreen]

The Oslo is too much stove for this space. A Woodstock Fireview would be a good fit heating-wise. It can run at very low BTU output. In non-cat, a cast iron jacketed, steel stove would work.

 

[Todd]

Woodstock Keystone would be a good fit for that space, also look into the Blaze King Ashford or Sirroco 20. These stoves can be run low and slow cleanly when you don’t need as much heat.

Also check out the Jotul F45, it’s what I’m burning to heat 600 sq ft but I also have a loft and high ceilings so it’s more like heating 1000 sq ft. It does fine for me, long overnight burns are no problem and the cast iron shroud evens out the heat keeping that searing radiant heat blast down that your probably used to with your earth stove.

 

[DBoon]

I own a Lopi Answer and it is a well-built, solid stove, and double jacketed also, so the clearances are good for a small space. It should heat that house in that climate with no problem (unless the house is very poorly insulated).

I am going to be taking delivery of a Woodstock Keystone in the fall for a new house. That stove is worth looking at also for your space, for reasons already mentioned. I think the Woodstock Fireview would be too large for your house.

 

[begreen]

I own a Lopi Answer and it is a well-built, solid stove, and double jacketed also, so the clearances are good for a small space. It should heat that house in that climate with no problem (unless the house is very poorly insulated).

I am going to be taking delivery of a Woodstock Keystone in the fall for a new house. That stove is worth looking at also for your space, for reasons already mentioned. I think the Woodstock Fireview would be too large for your house.

The Answer is a nicely made, small stove. It would work. EPA output 12,129 to 59,527 BTU/hr
The Fireview actually has a lower bottom-end heat output than the Keystone or Palladian. The top end is about the same.
Per EPA testing:
Keystone = 9,989-46,437 BTU/hr
Fireview = 7,606-46,460 BTU/hr

 

[mikey]

look at a jotul 602 or a morso box stove both cast iron, jotul is smaller than the morso, the jotul says it will take 16”logs and the morso 18” I think they are both pushing the limits.