Wood Burning Stove Reviews?

[Kev]

I will be building a house in the near future and I am looking to add a wood-burning stove. Any opinions on makes/models?

I've been looking at Napoleon and Vermont Castings so far.
There is a new 2-in-1 version.. anyone try that yet?

Go with a CAT or Non-CAT version?


Looking for best heat, efficiency, and ease of use.
Will be heating a main floor, approx 1700 sq/ft.
Thanks!

 

[TheDude]

Im interested too.

 

[gmcman355]

Not sure about the CAT stoves but I would definitely recommend one that has the integrated blower and draft inducer for efficiency. I have an older Johnson Energy Systems that I put in 2 years ago and my heating bill has been cut in half or more every month and I dont burn it round the clock

 

[CountryBoy19]

I will be building a house in the near future and I am looking to add a wood-burning stove. Any opinions on makes/models?

I've been looking at Napoleon and Vermont Castings so far.
There is a new 2-in-1 version.. anyone try that yet?

Go with a CAT or Non-CAT version?


Looking for best heat, efficiency, and ease of use.
Will be heating a main floor, approx 1700 sq/ft.
Thanks!

First off, check out www.hearth.com and then check out their forum, its like the INGO of wood-burners, furnaces, boilers, fireplaces, fireplace inserts, free-standing stoves.

From my understanding of the CAT vs non-CAT high-efficiency stoves CAT's work great for long, slow fires, and non-CATs work better for faster, hotter fires. I have a non-CAT and given extremely cold weather I can run 4 burns/day through mine. I can't run much more than that because my coal load builds up and I can't fit anymore wood in until the coals burn down some more. Now, that's not to say you can't have a long, slow fire in a non-CAT or a hot, fast fire in a CAT, their just not specialized for it.

As far as which you should get it sort of depends what your goal is. How large your house is, and how your stove is sized.

For me, my goal was to get off electric heat. The only electricity I use for heat is fans to circulate it. I run a non-CAT stove that is actually undersized for my house. I burn it hotter and more frequently than some people would do, but it's still within the design limits of the stove. Running like I do I get "heat-waves". When I wake up in the morning it's chilly in the house, but not terrible. I open the primary air control to get the coals going, stir them up a little, add wood, and leave the air open while I get dressed. By the time I'm ready for work the fire is going good and the secondaries are lit and going so I start to close down the primary air and watch it as I get my lunch ready. By the time I'm ready to leave the primary air can be shut all the way and the fire will burn hot with secondaries for a good 1-2 hours. By the time my wife gets up the house is toasty and she can shower etc without feeling "cold" (that's important for the women). The fire continues to burn down slowly until there is no more volatile gasses to keep the secondaries lit; the primary flame will slowly dance until it flickers out and from there the coals just smolder a bit and burn. By the time my wife gets home from work (go figure, she goes in later and gets home earlier than me) the coals are mostly burned down and she can stir them and add wood again. The process repeats and is ready for 1 more load right before bed. What this means is the house is warm when my wife gets up, while we're around in the evenings, and it's in the process of warming up again when we get ready for bed. That's fine for me and it has seemed to work great. On particularly cold days my wife has the option to drive home on her lunch break and light another fire (a very rare occurrence) or if one of us is home from work already we can light a 4th fire mid-day. With my stove I can re-load after about 4 hours if I need to but I have to break that cycle to let the coals burn down at some point.

With a CAT stove I would imagine I would need a much larger stove that I wouldn't have to load as often. This would make managing the fire a bit less work, but it does add to original purchase expense and maintenance costs (replace the CAT every few years). I can't say for sure, but the only real difference I see between them is that with I CAT I think you can close your primary air down more and "smolder" the fire longer. The CAT will combust the gasses released by the "smolder" and turn them to heat. With a non-CAT you have to maintain a significant amount of heat to keep the secondaries lit so you can't choke it down as tight, and therefore your load of wood doesn't last as long.

I wouldn't change a thing about my wood-stove purchase. I went with a slightly cheaper model that still qualified for the tax-credit (30% tax credit when I bought mine) and in 2 winters the total intall has paid itself off and I've saved money with it; even after you factor in my wood-cutting expenses (bought 2 chainsaws and some other misc. for burning wood). I believe the install has improved my property value as well. It is in our living room and it adds to the ambiance of the room.

If/when I build a home I will not go this route again. My home will be designed around burning wood as the primary mode of heat. I would like to have in-floor radiant heating which means boiler. I haven't completely settled on indoor vs. outdoor boiler yet. If I do an indoor boiler it will be located in an attached garage for ease of use. My reasons for wanting an indoor boiler are cheaper, more efficient (less energy escapes to the outdoors), and I don't have to get dressed to go out and load it. I could go on all day long about different options and the reasons I prefer one over the other. Ultimately, everybody has different goals and reasons so I recommend you do your research.

From my understanding Vermont Castings is not a good stove to purchase. They are antiquated cast iron stoves that are cheap. If you're adding a stove to a hunting camp that your primary factor is cost then they work ok. If you're adding a stove to your house for efficient wood heating, they are cheap cast-iron stoves; you get what you pay for. (that was my impression a few years ago when I was looking into wood-stoves)

Not sure about the CAT stoves but I would definitely recommend one that has the integrated blower and draft inducer for efficiency. I have an older Johnson Energy Systems that I put in 2 years ago and my heating bill has been cut in half or more every month and I dont burn it round the clock

I'm not sure I follow what you're recommending here. What do you mean by "blower"? Do you mean blower to feed air to the fire? IMHO, that is not necessary from an efficiency standpoint. If you mean a blower to help circulate the heat then that depends on the individual goals and the setup involved.

I also contend that draft inducers are not necessary unless you don't have a proper chimney. Draft is dependent on a proper chimney. 99% of properly designed/installed chimneys have enough draft on their own. If you have problems with not enough draft look for the cause, don't treat the symptom.

 

[grunt soldier]

I was in this same boat a year or so ago. I went with pacific energy wood stove. they have a lifetime warranty and are pretty awesome for the money. I got a 1700 square foot home w/ a unfinished basement. I didn't get a blower on it but I put it in the main living room with a ceiling fan. I didn't run my propane at all last year and I only burned about 2.5 cords of wood. granted last winter was a weak one so even if I double that it's not a problem especially if you have access to wood. my stove would burn a load of hard wood for about 10 hours plus on low which puts out decent heat. it will burn a load of hardwoods on medium for about 7-8 hours and that will keep the house at 69-72 degree's

definitely check out the hearth forums. they have some great info.

 

[1946]

From my personal experience I would definitely look into a stove with a CAT installed.
Heating 2000 sq. ft. it cut my wood consumption by one third.

 

[Kev]

Great ideas and recommendations so far! Please keep them coming. I'll check out that site and continue my research.

 

[Stschil]

I installed a Volzgang Performer stove a year and a half ago. Cut my electric bill to less than half the first full month of heating with it (March 2011).

Last year, I burned 6 cords of wood and the upstairs of the house never dropped below 65 degrees. I even shut off all the breakers for the baseboard heaters.

I have a 1 1/2 story with a full walk out basement. At one point in the houses history, it had a forced air gas furnace. I put a small desk fan in the old trunk line duct in the basement to push heat upstairs. I plan to install at least two of the old fashioned through the floor register grates (like were used with the old gravity furnaces) before the heating season this fall. It should help distribute the heat a little better as the basement tends to get a bit toasty when I have a full bore fire going.

 

[rem788]

I used a Buck air tight stove for about 10 years. It had a blower and heated an 1100 sq. foot house without any problem. You might want to check with your insurance company to see how they feel about the wood stove, some will not insure a house with a wood stove and some require an inspection. Good luck.

 

[atvdave]

Like CountryBoy said Check out Hearth.com - Information on Fireplaces, Wood Stoves, Pellet Stoves, etc. .

I have a Lopi non-cat & my brother has a Buck CAT.. we bother like our stoves, and both do great..

 

[DanO]

Kev - If you are going to build, you REALLY REALLY need to acquaint yourself with Masonry stoves. They are super efficient, almost no creosote and will heat your house in a bad winter with 2 one-hour fires a day. Google is your friend.

 

[Stschil]

Kev - If you are going to build, you REALLY REALLY need to acquaint yourself with Masonry stoves. They are super efficient, almost no creosote and will heat your house in a bad winter with 2 one-hour fires a day. Google is your friend.

I really wanted to put one in, but the changes I would have had to make to the house and price of soapstone turned me away.

If I were to build, I would definatley consider one.

 

[Indy317]

I have a Regency installed in my fireplace. It is cast steel, which some claim is better than cast iron...I really don't know. My box is the same as the free standing model, mine just doesn't have legs on it since it is an insert. Here are a few things I like about my Regency and things in general about wood stoves:

It is non-catalytic. I don't want to have to replace a catalytic every few years. I have no idea what happens if these things become unavailable. Does the stove not work as well? Is there a fire hazard?

My stove is an I1200. It only heats up to 1,000 sq. ft. with the blower (an extra $300). It is on one side of my 1,350 sq. ft. home, and the bedrooms on the other side are chilly, but could be slept in and would be fine so long as you used a good blanket and wore PJs or something similar. My chimney is half in the home (my hearth) and half in the garage. I don't get hardly any radiant heat until the entire chimney heats up. Even then, I lose a lot of radiant heat benefit, and my next home will have a free standing stove or the hearth heater model (sits way out on the hearth and isn't shoved into the existing fireplace opening).

Also, my stove is only designed for heating 1,000 sq. ft., so parts of my home should be cool. This is a big factor in what stove you purchase. The main key is a hot fire. It doesn't matter if you have a large firebox and small hot fire, or small firebox that is filled with wood that is burning hot. Wood stoves emit heat from one area, and blowers just push the air around so much. You will need to consider fans if you want the entire home, all bedrooms, etc. warm. Some folks position the stove under the return intake for the central heat/AC unit. The chimney is ran through the duct work via a connecting piece. The fan part of the unit is then used to cycle air from the home through the return duct work. Since the chimney will be hot, it will heat the return air and it will cycle back out the vents inside the home. I hear this works well, so you may want to look into this.

I also like the concept of freestanding due to the ability to cook on it. You can use cast iron to cook on the stoves surface. Direct contact might be too hot, and there are some set-ups that allow for a gap between the bottom of the pan and the stove surface, which limits how hot the pan will get.

Cleaning isn't too bad. You will want a metal ash bucket because embers can stay red hot for days after the fire has died out. Also, if you want to keep the fire constant, you will have to wake up at night to toss on another log or two. That is what a night fire is for most stoves: You wake up, stir the hot coals from the log you put on at 9-10PM, and toss in more wood. When you wake up in the morning, you will then have a bed of hot coals to make it easier to get the fire going for the day.

Some cautionary advice: Remove all bark. If it is too hard, position the wood so the bark faces away from the door. Bark will sometimes separate from the wood due to the heat. If it faces the door, it could fall onto the door/glass, making a mess when the door is opened later. Also, sometimes wood will fall against the door/glass, and hot embers falling out can be dangerous. Try to position wood so this doesn't happen. My Regency is designed with the blower being installed under the stove. It sticks out about 4" from the door face. This is nice because the few times embers fall out they land directly on the top of the blower. I have a metal piece I can quickly scoop them up and throw them back into the fire box. In addition, I have a hearth that extends another 12" from the blower which is additional safety so these embers don't fall directly onto the carpet. Related to this, consider a wide clearance area that is farther than recommended from the door. There are also carpet sectionals/runners that are flame retardant made specifically to be placed in front of a stove. Do that or tile out (fireproof tile) farther than recommended. Sometimes sparks do fly, but it is rare. When you open the door and allow in the air, the heat will rise. Open the door a crack, let all the popping (some wood pops really bad, most doesn't in my case) take place, then when things quit down on that end, you can open the door as much as needed. Get a vase and fill it with water. I have about a gallon of water standing in a vase every winter. Also get a fire extinguisher, a good one, not some cheap tiny thing.

Best advice: Do research on cast iron, cast steel, and soapstone. Don't let $1,000+/- be a deal breaker. Get a local company that has been in business a while to do the install, have them work with the builder. Avoid a brick and mortar chimney, just have them use a stainless steel chimney. You will avoid leaking flashing issues, crumbling stone, etc.. Free standing is best, it will let you take advantage of radiant heat. Try to get it in the middle of the home if possible, to help spread the heat. Ceiling fans on low, blowing the air up to the ceiling, work wonders with the radiant heat..consider installing them, or at least running the wiring, while the house is being built.

Final safety note: It is amazing how hot the stove can get. Sometimes you can't get within 10" of the glass, the radiant heat coming through the glass is that hot. We don't have children, and if I did, I would physically build some barrier in front of the stove while they were young. If anyone ever falls upon the stove and reaches out to catch themselves, it will be unforgiving. A couple times a year I babysit my nieces. I use the furnace if they are staying over here.