I need to start thinking seriously about a woodstove for my new house, anyone have a brand or model to recommmend. I have ruled out a pellet stove for various installation and placement issues at this point but still want a high quality medium sized woodstove for supplemental heat to backup a hydronic radiant system.
Any ideas or at least manufacturers to avoid? Thanks!!
We've got a lopi that we installed about 10 years ago. It's a great stove. We have the smaller model and it's very efficient. I always look forward to the first cold snap to get it going! ty
We have a Kuma Tamarack. It holds 18" logs, has an ashbox (mandantory IMO), and heats our 1800 FT2 home very well. I think if I was going to buy another woodstove, I'd get the next size up, though.
I have had a Lopi Leyden for a year or so and it chose it over a very similar Harman that was a bit more expensive. It's pretty good - one disappointing thing about it was that it's made in China and the Harman is US made. I couldn't tell until I uncrated the box at home - but the Lopi website strongly implies it's US made. Also, the "airstream" system that's supposed to keep the glass clean doesn't work well. Frankly, my coal stoker stove works so much better than wood I rarely bother with the wood stove.
I tried one for a short while (very short). The one I tried was very small and didn't have much for a firebox. In short, I was very disappointed and ended up buying another woodstove within 24 hours.
I've looked into the Scandanavian stoves (Rais, Wittus, Jotul) and haven't found a Western US distributor that has any inventory. I have also visited Sweden during winter and although the stoves are really nice looking, they are under-sized for most US homes and hard to get shipped to the West coast.
Apparently the heating oil prices have translated into a literal scarcity of wood and especially pellet stoves. It is interesting that the Kuma stoves while made in ID don't have an ID or NV distributor.
I think we have pretty much settled on the Lopi Liberty or Republic woodstove and glad to hear some real feedback on them. Hopefully the radiant system and the ICF basement make for a cozy effecient system that doesn't break the bank to operate
I have a blaze king. It is really efficient and keeps my1800 ft house heated 24-7 in the winter. Only drawback is the fan can be a little loud. A local contractor sells them and puts them in his spec. homes.
We use a Jotul up here in Vermont, many friends use Vermont Castings and like the models with soapstone. The used stove market is a bit soft up here....the conventional wisdom is that you get what you pay for. Used stoves can be abused....or heavily filled with creosote. Be safe...
I the beginning I looked at all of them and ended up w/a Harman. I'm sure I made the right choice. I've been running a Harman Oakwood cast iron stove for the past 3 yrs, it supplies 100% of my heat when lit w/no complaints. Burn times on a load is approx 8 to 10hrs. My house is 1400 sq ft and the stove is rated @ 1800 sq ft IIRC. You do want a stove rated for more than your sq ft'age. Burning a stove wide open is not good. The stove loads from the top or front, heat is very controlable(air control),easy to light, ashpan and the best part is you can drop the grill into the top and cook steaks or whatever. They do make a larger steel stove w/the same options(w/smoother operations) if you need a larger stove. A friend purchase this model for his 2000sq ft home and gets the same results. They're not cheap, but IMO well worth it.
I would not consider any stove unless it could be loaded from the top.
well..i would recommend a Pacific energy stove....i worked there for a while and they put out good stoves....i quite because i couldnt do the assembly line stuff...%100 made in canada. Pacific Energy Fireplace Products Ltd. : Home im not sure where the cast stoves are made because we didnt make them in house where i was...i think my parents bought a regency and vermont castings are also very good stoves as well
I've used wood heat for over 25 years and have gone through a few stoves. I've had a Quadrafire for the last 10 years and really like it Living in the Tahoe Basin the stoves had to be air quality approved and so most of them had catalytic combustors and those were a pita. The Quadrafire was one of the first approved stoves without the catalytic combustor. Not that it matters where you live but it is a good and very efficient stove. Both my neighbors have the same stoves.
BTW: took a road trip this spring that included going from Eureka to Elko via Ruby valley and the east side of the Diamond mtns. Is that Diamond Valley? Sure do like Ruby Valley area, wish I owned some land there.
Just noticed this thread is kinda old, you probably already have your stove.
I have a Pacific Energy Summit model comfortably heating a 2000 sqft house in a climate that routinely gets to the minus 30s and occasionally to the minus 40s, with about 4 cords of spruce/pine/poplar per year. Best stove I've ever owned, and I've heated with wood for decades. The wood glassifying system they use burns very clean with almost no creosote.
I've used wood heat for over 25 years and have gone through a few stoves. I've had a Quadrafire for the last 10 years and really like it Living in the Tahoe Basin the stoves had to be air quality approved and so most of them had catalytic combustors and those were a pita. The Quadrafire was one of the first approved stoves without the catalytic combustor. Not that it matters where you live but it is a good and very efficient stove. Both my neighbors have the same stoves.
BTW: took a road trip this spring that included going from Eureka to Elko via Ruby valley and the east side of the Diamond mtns. Is that Diamond Valley? Sure do like Ruby Valley area, wish I owned some land there.
Just noticed this thread is kinda old, you probably already have your stove.
Thanks for the info - we are going to look into the Pacific Energy Fusion stove and have a deposit in on a Lopi if it ever gets delivered to the dealer
The valley you drove through is Newark Valley, we are on the west side of the Diamond range. Did you come in to Jiggs and then to Elko or over Harrison Pass to Secret Pass and River Ranch Rd back to I-80? Not much out here but that's okay with us
The valley you drove through is Newark Valley, we are on the west side of the Diamond range. Did you come in to Jiggs and then to Elko or over Harrison Pass to Secret Pass and River Ranch Rd back to I-80? Not much out here but that's okay with us[/QUOTE]
I figured there was too much snow (mid May) to go over Harrison pass as I had not gotten very far in trying to go over the Diamond range so I took the pavement through Secret pass and then turned s.w. and went through Lamoile. It had been 20 years since I had been to Ruby marsh and Lamoile and there are a lot more people now. That long ago trip I went through Jiggs and had a couple beers at the only joint in town (then) and went over Harrison pass. Didn't see Jiggs this time. Not much in Newark Valley, is Diamond Valley more settled? I went through Bourne cyn to cross over the south end of the Ruby mtns (just south of Little Bald Mt. which has a large above ground mine on it) and ended up in Ruby valley.
Thought I should update this thread since you were all very helpful. We went with the Fusion by Pacific Energy. Picked it up midweek but haven't got it installed. Looks like it will work well, a little more complicated than the plain, huge steel box i grew up with. The main selling point for me was the concealed outside air intake option. It draws through the base of the stove and also has a cool little kindling/wood storage area in the pedestal.
Does anyone understand why exactly there is a outside air requirement on manufactured housing but not on stick built construction? Seems very counter intuitive based on the typical building practices and materials common to each type but it must be some CO level issue or some arcane mobile code thing. Anyway, this lets me hide the air intake in the basement joist bay and not try to pull air through my double panes. We'll have to see how it does once we get the tile set and a fire lit!
