T-5 performance update

[raybonz]

When I starting looking into a new stove many thought I should get the larger T-6 and I am glad I didn't! I have found that the T-5 easily heats my 1632 sq. ft. home 24/7 and gives burn times well beyond 8 hrs.. Burning hardwood I can get 10 hr. burns easily and my home is warm. Last night it got down to the single digits here and with a constant 30 mph wind and the low temp downstairs was 74 degrees and upstairs was 72 degrees! I found huge coals glowing 8 hrs. later and blower still running. I raked the coals and placed a few splits and minutes later the fire was blazing and secondaries took off within 5 minutes of loading.. It simply doesn't get any easier than this.. As long as my T-5 continues to perform like this I love this stove! I have also found that strong winds have little affect on the stove which comes as a surprise to me and I can't explain that one.. My old CDW would burn like crazy with high winds why the T-5 is so predictable is beyond me.. To anyone considering the T-5 so far I give it 2 big thumbs up!

Ray

 

[Oldhippie]

Great to hear Ray, the T5 is still at the top of my short list.

...although I will admit to planning a Factory Tour of the Woodstock facility in Lebanon, (their stoves have caught my interest too) with a stop-over to my waitress girlfriends at the 4Aces Diner and then a courtesy visit to the Harley dealer up there as they're good folks too.

0F here in Ashby Ma this morning at 6:30 when I got up. The $200 Resolute Acclaim I bought used from a neighbor had smouldering coals from the full box I left after the Pats game at 11:00PM last night. (Thank you Tom Brady!) The Monster in the Livingroom" a 1979 Garrison One also had a nice bed of coals. The house temp was 69F.

Filled both boxes and opened them up for a few minutes while I fetched The Globe for Mama, and fed my birds.

Great to have that 2 and 3 year old seasoned fuel.

 

[raybonz]

Great to hear Ray, the T5 is still at the top of my short list.

...although I will admit to planning a Factory Tour of the Woodstock facility in Lebanon, (their stoves have caught my interest too) with a stop-over to my waitress girlfriends at the 4Aces Diner and then a courtesy visit to the Harley dealer up there as they're good folks too.

I went to Woodstock for their cookout this year.. You will like it and their stoves are well made.. Lots of great knowledgeable, friendly people there that love what they do.. My wife prefers cast iron and I prefer convection heat.. I was concerned that a secondary burn stove wouldn't be as efficient as a cat stove but those concerns have been laid to rest.. I also find this stove can provide fast heat very well too..

Good luck!

Ray

 

[Todd]

Sounds good Ray. Those PE T stoves are good lookers and seem to do the job well. How long can you stretch out the burn on that T-5?

 

[raybonz]

Sounds good Ray. Those PE T stoves are good lookers and seem to do the job well. How long can you stretch out the burn on that T-5?

Thanx Todd! I can get at least 10 hr. burns as I burn hardwood most of the time. The T-5 holds coals a very long time and I have restarted fires after 12 hrs. but 10 hrs. is better and 8-9 hrs. is ideal for an easy restart.. I sit to the side of the stove and the radiant heat is mild with the sides getting to around 300 degrees..

Ray

 

[Oldhippie]

Great to hear Ray, the T5 is still at the top of my short list.

...although I will admit to planning a Factory Tour of the Woodstock facility in Lebanon, (their stoves have caught my interest too) with a stop-over to my waitress girlfriends at the 4Aces Diner and then a courtesy visit to the Harley dealer up there as they're good folks too.

I went to Woodstock for their cookout this year.. You will like it and their stoves are well made.. Lots of great knowledgeable, friendly people there that love what they do.. My wife prefers cast iron and I prefer convection heat.. I was concerned that a secondary burn stove wouldn't be as efficient as a cat stove but those concerns have been laid to rest.. I also find this stove can provide fast heat very well too..

Good luck!

Ray

For me the visit to the Woodstock place is as much for beautiful drive from my house taking all back roads, as it is to see the stoves. But seeing the stoves will be fun too. I'm also thinking one of these guys here that is upgrading to a Progress might sell me their old crappy Fireview or Keystone cheap. (smiling, ducking and running!)

 

[oldspark]

Your house must be fairly tight and insulated well I guess, I think that is the key to making these stoves work to their ability, glad the size worked out for you.

 

[Loco Gringo]

You guys have pics of the finished installs? Im strongly considering converting to one of these T5 units.

 

[Manitoulin Maples]

I have the PE Super 27 - same firebox as the T-5 - and I'm always impressed with the long burns. I loaded the stove last night at 10PM with oak, ash and maple and re-loaded this morning on LOTS of coals at 8:30 AM. It was -20C here last night. Great stoves and like the OP mentioned - very simple to operate. The cast iron on the T-5 would radiate heat longer too than just steel.

 

[raybonz]

Your house must be fairly tight and insulated well I guess, I think that is the key to making these stoves work to their ability, glad the size worked out for you.

The 1st floor of my home is 6" log walls and I got rid of most of the drafts but they are supposed to be about R-11 and upstairs is standard construction with R-19 in the walls and about R-38 in the attic if I remember right.. I have 18 double hung Andersen 400 series windows and an Andersen crankout above the kitchen sink. My front door is wood with a large thermopane window and I have a Andersen Frenchwood slider to the deck. These are large windows, roughly 3' wide x 5' high. I will say my cellar is like a refrigerator though.. My stove location turned out to be ideal by pure luck as I gave that no thought when I decided where I wanted it located.. The stove gets all the rooms warm with no fans needed but I do use the blower on the stove. One more thing, my chimney is an inside chimney located on an outside wall in the livingroom with Stucco stone applied to the cinderblocks and it retains heat pretty well..

Ray

 

[raybonz]

I have the PE Super 27 - same firebox as the T-5 - and I'm always impressed with the long burns. I loaded the stove last night at 10PM with oak, ash and maple and re-loaded this morning on LOTS of coals at 8:30 AM. It was -20C here last night. Great stoves and like the OP mentioned - very simple to operate. I would think that cast iron on the T-5 would keep radiate heat longer than just steel.

Yup same firebox and PE knows how to make a pretty steel stove especially in enamel.. Love the top grate they have on that stove.. I feel they are a very good value in looks and capability!

Ray

 

[certified106]

Good to hear you are enjoying it Ray! I had been thinking about asking you what you thought now that the weather was colder. I couldn't be happier with mine it is a breeze to run and I don't have to push it to keep the house temps up even when it is 8 degrees outside like last night! When we had 50 mph gust the other day my flue probe never budged off of it's normal 500 degree mark and the stove burned like a champ!

 

[begreen]

Your house must be fairly tight and insulated well I guess, I think that is the key to making these stoves work to their ability, glad the size worked out for you.

Well, that leaves out our 84 yr old house.

 

[Ash Man]

This is a very timely post for me. I'm sitting on the fence between a T5 and T6. Yesterday after some PM's with some of you I decided on the T6, but I'm wondering again! I have a 12 year old VC Resolute Acclaim which needs so much work that I'm replacing it. I had it going last night, minus 18F, burning poplar, and had to open a window in the middle of the night the house was so hot upstairs! The VC is rated for 1600sf! Our house is very well insulated, 6 inch walls wrapped in rigid styrofoam, structural panels roof with expanded polystyrene core (true R40, i.e. No thermal breaks). Lots of double pane windows. Above the stove is 25 vertical ft of open area. The back half of the house has an upstairs, but none of the walls extend to the roof.
The heat is circulated with two ceiling fans. I like the idea of the longer burn times of the T6. Others have said that I can just run the T6 with a smaller fire when I don't need full heat. The T6 also has closer clearances for some reason, and I have a corner install. The single wall inside chimney goes straight up, radiating lots of heat. Any final thoughts before before I order either later today or tomorrow!

 

[Ash Man]

Correction, that's about minus 4F! Minus 20C!

 

[begreen]

And your primary wood supply is poplar. Without any doubt I would be getting a T6.

 

[raybonz]

And your primary wood supply is poplar. Without any doubt I would be getting a T6.

+1 I agree Poplar is not hardwood like I burn here.. Not much potential BTU wise.. I burn much heavier denser woods such as Oak, Maple, Lucust, Ash etc. here..

Ray

 

[VCBurner]

Glad to hear from you Ray,
Your T5 sounds like a breeze to operate. What is your loading procedure for an overnight burn? Just curious, is there a bypass damper, primary air, secondary air? I'm impressed with your results so far, last night was very cold. I had to set my Windsor on 4/5 and my wife had to turn it down early this morning, it was a bit too hot. Pellet heat is different than wood heat, it is dry. Almost like a forced hot air furnace (essentially that's what they are.) Not as much heat goes upstairs as I thought was going to be the case. There is very little heat radiating from the stove, so even though the stove is located directly against the stairs, the heat is directed across the room by the convection ports. The top of this stove does get hot, but not nearly enough to heat the second floor properly. During these single digits and teen temperatures, I find myself running a space heater in the boys large room, which is the furthest from the top of the stairs. I keep telling my wife, if we had a wood stove, the upstairs would be in the seventies. Unfortunately, we don't have a choice. I tried putting a fan blowing the cold air out of the boys bedroom, but all that did was cool off the hallway even more. The stove air comes from the OAK, so the air is not pulled from the room, thus the cold air is not being used up in the house. Even the ceiling fan in the stove room doesn't help to get the heat upstairs. It does make the stove room a bit cooler so I would think that helps to keep the house a bit more comfortable. There's plenty of heat on the top end, but I just can't seem to get it across the house.

 

[VCBurner]

This is a very timely post for me. I'm sitting on the fence between a T5 and T6. Yesterday after some PM's with some of you I decided on the T6, but I'm wondering again! I have a 12 year old VC Resolute Acclaim which needs so much work that I'm replacing it. I had it going last night, minus 18F, burning poplar, and had to open a window in the middle of the night the house was so hot upstairs! The VC is rated for 1600sf! Our house is very well insulated, 6 inch walls wrapped in rigid styrofoam, structural panels roof with expanded polystyrene core (true R40, i.e. No thermal breaks). Lots of double pane windows. Above the stove is 25 vertical ft of open area. The back half of the house has an upstairs, but none of the walls extend to the roof.
The heat is circulated with two ceiling fans. I like the idea of the longer burn times of the T6. Others have said that I can just run the T6 with a smaller fire when I don't need full heat. The T6 also has closer clearances for some reason, and I have a corner install. The single wall inside chimney goes straight up, radiating lots of heat. Any final thoughts before before I order either later today or tomorrow!

I didn't see how much space you're trying to heat, but with you location and tall ceiling in the stove room, I vote T6!

 

[raybonz]

Glad to hear from you Ray,
Your T5 sounds like a breeze to operate. What is your loading procedure for an overnight burn? Just curious, is there a bypass damper, primary air, secondary air? I'm impressed with your results so far, last night was very cold. I had to set my Windsor on 4/5 and my wife had to turn it down early this morning, it was a bit too hot. Pellet heat is different than wood heat, it is dry. Almost like a forced hot air furnace (essentially that's what they are.) Not as much heat goes upstairs as I thought was going to be the case. There is very little heat radiating from the stove, so even though the stove is located directly against the stairs, the heat is directed across the room by the convection ports. The top of this stove does get hot, but not nearly enough to heat the second floor properly. During these single digits and teen temperatures, I find myself running a space heater in the boys large room, which is the furthest from the top of the stairs. I keep telling my wife, if we had a wood stove, the upstairs would be in the seventies. Unfortunately, we don't have a choice. I tried putting a fan blowing the cold air out of the boys bedroom, but all that did was cool off the hallway even more. The stove air comes from the OAK, so the air is not pulled from the room, thus the cold air is not being used up in the house. Even the ceiling fan in the stove room doesn't help to get the heat upstairs. It does make the stove room a bit cooler so I would think that helps to keep the house a bit more comfortable. There's plenty of heat on the top end, but I just can't seem to get it across the house.

One lever controls both primary and secondary air.. Just load it up for overnight as long as you have a coal bed the secondaries light off then close the air and go to bed.. It's really easy to operate and puts out lots more heat than the CDW..

Ray

 

[oldspark]

Your house must be fairly tight and insulated well I guess, I think that is the key to making these stoves work to their ability, glad the size worked out for you.

Well, that leaves out our 84 yr old house.

Well you do live in a warmer climate and I am sure my stove for what ever reason does not work like yours. How big is your house?

 

[sblat]

Also my first season with the T5. Very happy with it. My house it 80 yrs old, drafty and it does a very good job for me here in MI. If I do more work with insulation and tighten things up, it will be great next winter. Only had to kick on the furnace for about 90 minutes this winter so far. I too get nice long burns. My house is on the limits of this stove, but it is getting the job done. Wouldn't have even thought about this stove with out the people on this site.

PS. My neighbor and I are picking up our new 22 ton Huskee splitter next weekend!

 

[VCBurner]

One lever controls both primary and secondary air.. Just load it up for overnight as long as you have a coal bed the secondaries light off then close the air and go to bed.. It's really easy to operate and puts out lots more heat than the CDW..

Ray

Wow! No bypass damper, just a baffle, right? And I saw that you get to secondary burns in 5-10 minutes, right? Most impressive. And your time between reloads sound fantastic!

 

[begreen]

Your house must be fairly tight and insulated well I guess, I think that is the key to making these stoves work to their ability, glad the size worked out for you.

Well, that leaves out our 84 yr old house.

Well you do live in a warmer climate and I am sure my stove for what ever reason does not work like yours. How big is your house?

2000 sq ft. and it has lots of extra windows added since the original construction. Point being the key to making these stoves work to their ability has nothing to do with house construction. The flue location however, could have a lot to do with it. Especially if issues are compounded by local topography and prevailing winds.

 

[raybonz]

One lever controls both primary and secondary air.. Just load it up for overnight as long as you have a coal bed the secondaries light off then close the air and go to bed.. It's really easy to operate and puts out lots more heat than the CDW..

Ray

Wow! No bypass damper, just a baffle, right? And I saw that you get to secondary burns in 5-10 minutes, right? Most impressive. And your time between reloads sound fantastic!

Chris there are a few former DW and CDW owners that went to the Alderlea stoves and the reports are similar.. It's easy to light with plenty of air without cracking the door open which many need to do for other stoves.. I think you'd like this stove if you saw how easy it is to run.. At certain times cat stoves will back puff but I haven't seen this with a secondary burn stove so far.. So far so good!

Ray