Struggling On A New Stove Decision

[Jway87]

So some background.. I purchased an old Firelight 12, without doing proper research, and fell in love with the beautiful design and had big plans to restore it as a primary heat source for our home in central Oklahoma. I made a hearth to accommodate this stove and will have roughly 14-15ft of chimney and black double wall stove pipe combined to vent it. The hearth is located near the return air intakes for our 1800 sqft single story home with a crawl space.

All that said, my project to restore this stove has gone quite badly. Bolts holding flue collar broke, with a piece of cast iron that broke off with it. Bolt for combustor cover/plate broke off with no success of extracting. Took the top off to remove the back plate to get easier access to extract the combustor plate bolt and one of the two top bolts broke with with no success of extraction yet. So, not good. My wife, and myself, decided this was not a project worth continuing, and after researching on this forum, I was reassured that this was the right decision. I have since spent many hours researching trying to come up with the right new stove to replace and I'm at a loss. We want cast iron, my wife much prefers the look, and our budget isn't great since this was not planned. I believe I've narrowed it down to the PE T5, the Jotul F45, and the Drolet Cape Town 1800.

The Drolet is what I want to work because it fits our non planned expense the best with it being $2000k shipped to my house. Apparently it is being liquidated, hence the good price. I have struggled to find any real good reviews or feedback on this stove, and the fact that it's being clearanced out doesn't give me the warm fuzzies, but I've read good things about their support and stoves overall. It seems both the Jotul and PE are well liked on this forum and I can get the F45 shipped to my house from a dealer in PA for $2900 total. Haven't got great quotes on the PE yet, but I'm wondering if it's out of our price range from what I've gathered from a local dealer.

I'm looking for a low maintenance, long lasting stove. I do currently have a propane furnace that I will use as needed for backup, but would like to use it very little as propane has gotten quite expensive and I have access to lots of oak and ash wood. Looking for any direction and advice on this. Thank you in advance.

 

[begreen]

The Drolet is not common. It didn't seem to sell well, possibly due to the price. It sold for about $1000 more than their regular 1.5 cu ft stove.

1.5 cu ft is a bit tiny for 1800 sq ft in Oklahoma unless the stove room is somewhat closed off from the rest of the house. Actual load volume will be more like 1.2 cu ft due to E/W loading. The F45 may be a better choice. A sketch of the floorplan would help us see how well heat will circulate.

 

[stoveliker]

With any of these new stoves, you need dry wood. Dry dry.
As in below 20 percent moisture content.

You won't like how the stove burns otherwise.

If you don't have wood split and stacked (top covered and off the ground) already it won't be dry enough this winter. Oak generally needs two years to dry, ash might be done in one year. But the best days of this year are already behind us ..

So get your wood split and stacked now and maybe you can burn it the winter of 25-26. For this winter,. maybe pine still gets dry enough. Or buy a pallet of sawdust logs.

 

[Jway87]

The red box is the hearth/stove area and blue boxes are the main air returns for my house.

 

[begreen]

The far rooms will not get much heat. Nor will a room that is closed off by a doorway. Note: Mechanical code says that the returns must be at least 10 ft from the stove.

 

[Jway87]

Yeah. The master is at the top of that picture and it stays pretty cool as is. We have to supplement with space heater occasionally. 3 exterior walls, 3 windows, and a door don't help that room. The stove should be 10 ft from the returns. I definitely didn't draw to scale.

 

[Jway87]

At this juncture, the F45 seems like the best bet I guess? Any reason to jump to the F55?

 

[Jway87]

@begreen and anyone else with experience with small stoves. We purchased the F45 and installed it in the above location (floor plan photo) this past fall and have been extremely happy with it. Have solely heated our house this winter with it other than the week we were out of town. That said, if you reference the floor plan, the master bedroom at the very top of photo runs about 10-12 degrees colder than the rest of the house. This was expected and was about the same, maybe 8-10 degrees, with our central heat. The room has 3 exterior walls, 3 windows, and a door. Plus it is the furthest from the heat source(s). That said, we had a cold snap a week ago where lows were around 0 degrees and the F45 struggled a little to maintain the house above 65 in the main area, I think partially due to trying to heat the far areas with fans and HVAC circulation fan running as well. Also, my wife doesn't spend much time in our room in winter, that also serves as an office area, due to being too cold. All that said, we are considering adding a small stove to the bedroom in the NW corner of that drawing. This stove would be heating roughly 400-500 sqft if you include the bathroom and laundry room that are attached/neighboring, and assisting the F45 on those really cold days/nights. This is the unfortunate reality with a ranch/single story floor plan.

I've been looking at the Jotul F602 v2 and the VC Aspen C3. I can find both on sale right now for around $1600-1700 with shipping. I line the simplicity of design and tried and true aspect of the Jotul but the clearances on the Aspen would help out with space and I like the idea of the auto air control, but it also worries me as there are obviously more moving parts and less controllability. After reading through posts on here a while, the Aspen seems more risky, reliability wise, yet helpful with the clearances and leave it and forget it aspect, along with greater burn times. The Jotul is obviously proven and we love our current one but it will take up more space in the room with the greater clearances and has claimed shorter burn times. Any insight from users of both or one of these stoves would be appreciated.

 

[stoveliker]

I thought stoves were not allowed in bedrooms per code.

What about a cold weather minisplit in there?

 

[Jway87]

I thought stoves were not allowed in bedrooms per code.

What about a cold weather minisplit in there?

We've considered that but like the energy "cost" of wood. Is that due to a certain size of room, or just sleeping quarters in general?

 

[stoveliker]

sleeping quarters in general, I believe.
It's not great to have CO emitted in a bedroom rather then elsewhere with a CO detector in the hallway towards the bedroom. Later warning this way.
Or if fire (outside the box) happens, there's much less time to get out.

I guess in the past too many issues where things went (horribly) wrong. As with many code prohibitions.

 

[EbS-P]

How does the master bedroom doo in the summer? Is it warmer?
Running two stoves seems more than twice the work.
How many days a year does it get that cold? 3-5?
Does running HVAC fan actually help?

All things to consider.
I personally would rather have a mini split in there. The cold weather ones heat at rated output down to 0F or lower. Then you can regulate the temp in the summer independently from the rest of the house.

Have you done any air sealing?
$50 of caulk $100 of can foam and a $300 FLIR camera and $600 of insulation will make a huge difference summer and winter.

 

[Jway87]

How does the master bedroom doo in the summer? Is it warmer?
Running two stoves seems more than twice the work.
How many days a year does it get that cold? 3-5?
Does running HVAC fan actually help?

All things to consider.
I personally would rather have a mini split in there. The cold weather ones heat at rated output down to 0F or lower. Then you can regulate the temp in the summer independently from the rest of the house.

Have you done any air sealing?
$50 of caulk $100 of can foam and a $300 FLIR camera and $600 of insulation will make a huge difference summer and winter.

That's the odd thing, in summer it cools and stays the same as the rest of the house. It's only in winter we have the problem. Even with the HVAC/Furnace.

It depends on the year, but I'd say it gets that cold a few times a season. Either way, the room stays 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house regardless of how cold it is outside.

My wife hates the look and idea of a mini split and doesn't want to take our wall/cabinet space.

The room is well sealed, air-wise, but the windows (3) are cheap non gas-filled, and the three exterior walls and also a door don't help this problem.

 

[EbS-P]

My wife hates the look and idea of a mini split and doesn't want to take our wall/cabinet space.

There are low wall mounts (like hotels) and ceiling cassettes.

Could you have a 602 installed for under $3k. Electric baseboard is cheap. And it it would take a several of winters to burn through $2k of electricity.

3 walls and windows is hard heat when it’s cold and windy.

What is the flooring? We had radiant electric (under tile) installed in a master bathroom . It’s amazing. I’d do that under LVP for any master suite ever redo in The future. It’s Not efficient but it supplemental heat. Meant for smaller spaces.

 

[stoveliker]

If the bedroom is only used for being in bed, an electric blanket (or a fancy heated water bed) is another option that does not look like a minisplit.

Also, there are minisplits that sit above the ceiling, and you only see a register, just like ducted air.
I may have seen something in a wall too (though it might stick out on the other side). There is a bit of an issue with the attic as the water needs to drain, and it's best if access can be fairly easily made to the equipment (filter changes etc.). Don't want water leaks in a location where you can get to.

But it's a thought.

 

[Jway87]

Yeah, we have some considerations. The whole house is a crawlspace and we have wood floors. House built in 1965. This room and attached laundry room and bathroom are an add on.

Attic space above this room is pretty small and not easily accessible. Honestly, we sleep great back there. Just bad once you get out of bed. My wife wants to use the room more during the day but it takes hours of running a space heater to make any noticeable difference.

We'll keep brainstorming and considering options. It's not time sensitive.

 

[stoveliker]

Another option could be a through the wall fan near the floor. Push cold air out of the bedroom to a warmer space and it will be replaced by warmer air.