Stove for 700sqf home

[Dmichigan]

what's the reasoning behind 15' lol I mean is there a reason it needs to be that for draft?

 

[BKVP]

We base minimum requirement for draft of overall e experience. We deal with hundreds of dealers and their customers annually.

You can try 12', but if you feel it doesn't burn hot enough or drafts poorly, you may need to extend chimney.

 

[Dmichigan]

Ok thanks

 

[Dmichigan]

So got a quote of $3,480 for the pedestal and ashpan on the sirocco 30.2, sound right?

 

[Ashful]

So got a quote of $3,480 for the pedestal and ashpan on the sirocco 30.2, sound right?

No experience on that stove, but Ashford 30.1’s ran pretty close to that back when I bought mine, depending on dealer and locale.

 

[Todd]

A large stove and hearth will also take up a lot of space in a smaller home, maybe the Sirroco 20 would be a better fit? I'm going with a Jotul 602 corner install in my 600 sqft cabin mainly to save space but also like the looks, price and reputation as a great heater.

 

[Ashful]

A large stove and hearth will also take up a lot of space in a smaller home, maybe the Sirroco 20 would be a better fit? I'm going with a Jotul 602 corner install in my 600 sqft cabin mainly to save space but also like the looks, price and reputation as a great heater.

This may be the case, but check the clearances. Memory seems to tell me that the BK 30 boxes don't take up much more space than the BK 20 boxes, after all clearances are considered.

 

[begreen]

yes, price sounds about right.

 

[Dmichigan]

So things never go to plan so I need to find a cheaper stove. I found a drolet classic at a farm and home for $700 new, its a floor model and last one for the pre 2020 EPA stuff. I had a HT2000 and it worked good. Anyone have experience with this or think it will work? $1000 is all I can afford now.

For house info I have 2x4 floor walls and trusses, the crawlspace has 6 mill on the ground and walls have 2 inches of closed cells, ceiling is also closed cell and walls are batted.

 

[begreen]

Sure, that will work and the price is good. You can upgrade at a later date if desired. Be sure to honor the clearance requirements. The baffle is vermiculite so treat it with respect and don't cram logs up against it.

 

[Trey1979]

Nope. That's the whole point of a cat stove. You can run the stove dead-cold, just smouldering the wood and producing wood gas. The combustor can stay "lit" or "active" at less than half the temperature of a non-cat, consuming (re-burning) the wood gas, and keeping your flue clean.

Most flue accumulation in a cat stove happens during the initial start-up phase, when you have the combustor bypassed, and ironically you're burning on the highest setting then.

When burning that low are smoldering does it smoke the glass up?

2018 drolet ht2000

 

[Ludlow]

Theoretically a small fire in a big stove doesnt work well because the interior stove temp doesnt reach the temps required for secondary combustion.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Theres nothing theoretical about it.

The only way I've found to do it with acceptable results is to make the firebox smaller. Let the bottom fill with ash or add firebrick to get the fire closer to the top of the firebox.

It's like a top down fire. The secondaries light off fast and you get a cleaner burn.

 

[begreen]

He needs to work with what he can afford. In milder weather he can start a partial fire of 4-5 splits and the stove will get up to clean burning temp. If that's enough heat, let it burn out. Or he can add a few splits on a reload. But this is for Michigan so it won't be too long before he will be doing longer burns and reloads. As it gets colder start burning 24/7.

 

[SpaceBus]

Well, you can start a small fire, within reason. It has to be a small HOT fire. That means running the stove up to full temp, just for a shorter amount of time. I ran maybe 6-8 lbs of balsam fir. I don't think the fire even went for two hours. I struggle to get the same results out of the same weight in maple since there just less volume of fuel. Like Eatenbylimestone said, best results come from reducing firebox volume. I do this by filling up the remainder of empty space in my stove with splitter waste which does a nice job.

 

[Ashful]

When burning that low are smoldering does it smoke the glass up?

Yes. The inside of a BK firebox run on low is a black ugly mess, but as long as you keep your catalytic combustor in the active region, the pipe will stay as clean as if you were running on any other setting. It takes dry wood and reasonably-optimal draft to run at the absolute lowest settings, but in general, cat stoves can run much lower than tube stoves. We also generally run the first 20 - 30 minutes of each load on high, to regularly burn off the build-up that can occcur when shouldering a single load for 30+ hours, it’s really not much of an issue.

As begreen just pointed out, cost may be an issue. BK’s and Woodstock’s are the premier cat stoves, and they don’t come cheap. There’s also the matter of a $200-$300 combustor, which will require replacement every third year (operating cost = $67-$100/year), for most full-time burners.

If you’re always running a lower burn rate, you might get 4 - 5 years out of a combustor in a BK. High burn rates seem to diminish performance more quickly, not due to depletion, but due to flattening of the coating at higher temperatures.

 

[Dmichigan]

Question on the hearth pad. I have wood floors, what kind of pad do I need for the Ashford 20? I have a buddy who is a concrete contractor that does floors to counter tops and will build a hearth for me.

 

[begreen]

It only needs ember protection. Any non-combustible surface will work. This could be tile, brick, concrete, or a sheet of metal.

 

[Dmichigan]

Ok thanks, Hope I can finally get mine next week. It's been a rough 4 weeks of cancellations, delays and total FedEx smashing.

 

[BKVP]

It only needs ember protection. Any non-combustible surface will work. This could be tile, brick, concrete, or a sheet of metal.

If you wood floors are premium, I have seen beautiful installations with the pad being a piece of glass! You can then still see the wood flooring underneath. If you wish, speak to a local glass shop about what might be needed.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

That's an interesting idea!

 

[Dmichigan]

I like the glass idea! We have hand scraped distressed bamboo floors. I'll talk to the local glass shop and see what they have. Never thought glass would support 4~500 pounds.

 

[BKVP]

I know floor has to be perfectly flat.

 

[Highbeam]

I like the glass idea! We have hand scraped distressed bamboo floors. I'll talk to the local glass shop and see what they have. Never thought glass would support 4~500 pounds.

The glass is not supporting the weight. The floor is. Like if you put a newspaper on the ground and drive your truck over it. The newspaper isn’t supporting the weight, the ground is.

glass is flat and effectively a rigid solid. That is the challenge. If the floor under the glass is not flat or if it yields under the weight of the stove then the glass could crack.

Glass hearth pads look cool. Almost invisible. Nice to bevel the edges a bit so that you don’t catch your toe on it!

 

[SpaceBus]

The glass is not supporting the weight. The floor is. Like if you put a newspaper on the ground and drive your truck over it. The newspaper isn’t supporting the weight, the ground is.

glass is flat and effectively a rigid solid. That is the challenge. If the floor under the glass is not flat or if it yields under the weight of the stove then the glass could crack.

Glass hearth pads look cool. Almost invisible. Nice to bevel the edges a bit so that you don’t catch your toe on it!

I feel like some kind of levelers or shims will be necessary for proper fit.