Woodstove for house

[MThuntr]

Tell me about woodstoves...I'm shopping around for a replacement stove with hopes of ordering something and having it installed before fall. My experience is with very large furnace style of woodstove with blowers. What I do know is the one in my house is currently too small for the square footage to heat it efficiently as primary heat and was designed as more of supplemental. The previous owner tried to heat solely from wood but admitted it was too small and had gotten it too hot before. I'm thinking I may have to do some reconfiguring of the flooring to account a slightly larger woodstove footprint but that likely isn't too big of a deal as long as I don't got too wild with sizing. My house is right around 1800 sqft with the woodstove located in the NW side of the house (not ideal but that what I'm working with)

Is Blaze King still the gold standard of woodstove or is there a better option? If there is a better option please explain. What should I keep an eye out for while researching?

I'm open to just about any thoughts as I'm not real thrilled about the $3k price tag associated with a BlazeKing but there is currently a 26% tax credit on "EPA efficient" woodstoves (including cost of installation) so that will likely come into consideration for long term costs.

 

[Nameless Range]

I don't know a ton about woodstoves, but I do heat my house with one and have for the last 8 years. It is an Enviro Kodiak - made in Canada. It was cheaper than the BlazeKing model of similar size. It was also simpler, and seemed more stout and came highly recommended. I only burn lodgepole and heat a 3,600 sq foot house no problem. That said, my stove is in the basement, and so in the winter I try and keep the basement about 74 which in turn keeps the upstairs about 68.

 

[Finnman]

Buy an Ashley. Takes wood up to 23 inches. Paid 600 for mine around 5 years ago

 

[BigHornRam]

Napoleon makes a good stove. I heat my house with the Banff model. Make sure the stove has secondary combustion to meet the efficiency and emissions standards.

 

[Hem]

Jotul Carabasset.
Medium size with glass door.
I heat the core of our 2600sq ft house, so roughly 1800 ft.
This stove goes our to next house.
Efficient, stylish. Center piece of the living room.

But the true function of any stove relies on decent insulation.

 

[Cammy]

Have you looked at pellet stoves? Buying them (pellets) by the ton saves money and you don't have to spend days cutting wood. Opt for a multi fuel stove that can burn dried corn (there was a pellet shortage years ago and I used corn because we had to before it was a thing). They have free standing as well as inserts so they can go wherever a wood stove is now.

Left ours in the old house when we sold it and there are days I miss having it around.

 

[hank4elk]

I've had several over the years. Franklins,Royal Oak Dowager(1882),Vermont and now a Lopi.

I lucked out & got the Lopi free and it is perfect for my MH,made for one. Heats the whole place and I can cook on it. American made,high quality too. Airtight.
The Vermonts are very good quality & pretty fancy looking in some models. Ours was a green enamel. Airtight or open front optional with screen.

 

[hank4elk]

Have you looked at pellet stoves? Buying them (pellets) by the ton saves money and you don't have to spend days cutting wood. Opt for a multi fuel stove that can burn dried corn (there was a pellet shortage years ago and I used corn because we had to before it was a thing). They have free standing as well as inserts so they can go wherever a wood stove is now.

Left ours in the old house when we sold it and there are days I miss having it around.

Gotta have back up for power outages for pellet stoves & propane furnaces........................

 

[Cammy]

Gotta have back up for power outages for pellet stoves & propane furnaces........................

Never said it was perfect.

 

[belshawelk]

My whole life growing up we only had a wood stove to heat and another for cooking. I know moire about wood than a guy should. In my cabin I have Napoleon. It will roast you out. We had a barrel stove growing up that took up to 36" It realty not practical in most homes but I would get something that you can put at least an 18" piece into.

 

[hank4elk]

Never said it was perfect.

Yeah, & I wonder how much longer I will be able to go get cords of wood too. LOL
Lucky I've got a small one & house. That is also why I have propane back up,with a back up.....

 

[Slm864]

I have a quadrafire isla royals in my house. Easily handles 2000+ sq feet as a freestanding but doesn’t distribute the warmth worth a damn due to not having a blower. I’ve got it to last 10-11 hours on low fire between reloads.

I honestly hate burning wood anymore after having done it my whole life growing up with my dad and as an adult. Using wood as a primary source of heat is tough work but rewarding at the same time.

using firewood for heat is great as supplemental heat source. Nothing better than sitting by the stove on a cold evening while the gas furnace heats the majority of the house.

 

[BirdManMike]

Have Blazeking. Old one. Heats great, real inefficient. Can be sooty if air clamped down to low, and goes thru a lot of wood otherwise. I burn 24/7, have to clean pipe every two months. All pine, cut, haul and split myself. Will get soapstone stove (with build in pizza/bread oven) in a few years. That’s all I can offer.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I have a Lopi Endeavor, got it going right now. 2,000 square foot house, 76 inches of snow to -5 this winter; burned four cords of fire wood this winter.

 

[mthillrunner]

We had a quadrafire insert in our last house. 3000 sq ft house. It heated the entire house down to -10 outside. Where we lived it got to -30 at some point most winters. Colder than that it heated 2000 sq & furnace kicked in for basement. We used it for 6 months per year & used 5-6cords/winter. I miss that fireplace

 

[Dougfirtree]

Dougfir's rules for woodstoves:

1. Get the biggest one you can afford. It's not about heating the space during the day, it's about keeping things warm and keeping coals overnight. The goal is one winter, one match!

2. You can stuff a stove fuller and keep your house cleaner with one that loads from the top.

I have a big old Vermont Castings for these reasons.

 

[Elkoholic]

Quadrafire & Buck stoves are my only experience, both awesome stoves. I have a Buck 94 right now, its super efficient, and I have the luxury of only white oak being burnt in it, totally different ball game then the guys out west.
Wood stove heat is awesome, but the dang mess & work that comes with it sometimes makes you want just buy propane at times.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Is natural gas an option at your house?

 

[rwc101]

Wish I had gotten a bigger stove. Keep the house relatively cool but my Craftsbury is a bit small.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I did quite a bit of research last year. Ended up getting a Lopi Liberty. I have been very pleased with it. I think stoves may slightly depend on your location, but around me I looked at Blazeking and Napoleon. We have a 3k square foot house, 1500 in the basement finished and 1500 upstairs, stove is on the south end of the house in the basement. It pretty easily keeps the upstairs middle of the house in the 69-71 degree range with the basement door open (cat has to go down for litter box so we always keep it open anyway). Didn’t think I’d be using it at the end of May but here we are tonight nice and toasty. The state of Montana gave us a $1k tax credit so that was really cool.