First wood stove - looking for guidance

BearClaw500

BearClaw500

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We currently have a free standing propane fireplace that we're planning to swap out for a wood stove. It will be used when we want to get a fire going to get a chill out in the earlier winter/late fall months. It won't be our primary source of heat however. In the dead of winter when temps plummet, I'll probably use this to aid in the heating, or supplement the propane. This is my first wood stove so I know little. I've had the Jotul F100 recommended to me but I can't find a good review on the thing! I'm not wondering if the F3CB will be a more suitable stove. I'm open to all suggestions for stoves, will try to answer any questions that may need to be asked, and appreciate any help.

About the house:
-Western MA
-stove on first floor
-slab foundation
-just under 2000 sqft**
-very well insulated. Its in the 30s and our house is comfortable at 65-68 and the heat doesn't kick too frequently.
-low ceilings, low windows. the areas its going in, we dont want anything too large. Basically small enough to not be in the way, capable enough to be used as a main heat source if we had to.

**we won't be looking to heat the entire house. Its just me, the lady and the puppy (name: Ruger). Its only the three bedrooms upstairs so the majority of the space used is on the first floor.
 
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We have an old Timberline in our house now. Same size as yours, on first floor. It heats the entire house full time. Huge box, 24x26x24.
 
Don't get an insert. Get a free standing stove. Inserts you lose a lot of heat up the Chimmney. I'd suggest a pellet stove. Wood is nice but it's work. I have both and did prefer the pellet stove
 
I have a lopi freedom insert. Was expensive. Well worth it. Once you get it down it heats my whole house (2400ft) and is very stingy on wood. Has s built in blower. Remember to factor in a new steel himney or chimney liner as most flues may be too big, and if the company recommends one, many fire depts require it... dont forget your permit and to tell your home insurer about it. Your rate may change but its better than them telling you they wont cover a fure because they didnt know about the stove!


Edit... about the 'no' inserts from others... mine has a built in blower... throws the heat far, and it allows me to use less wood. Even with the blower off it radiates a ton

Ps.. slab floor? Too bad you cant do a wood stove/furnace and do a radiant floor set up...if $$ was no object

P.p.s... if you do a free standinh do it right and brick up the fireplace and cut in a thimble? In the upper wall. Looks better and you get more heat off the stove pipe
 
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My qualm with pellet stoves is power dependency and inability to store pellets long term. Might be worth it to the OP as a best option if he's got the money for one.

I second no doing an insert. What you want is surface area to throw heat. The smaller the stove, the more heat you lose up the chimney.
 
goodlife30 said:
Don't get an insert. Get a free standing stove. Inserts you lose a lot of heat up the Chimmney. I'd suggest a pellet stove. Wood is nice but it's work. I have both and did prefer the pellet stove
Click to expand...

xtry51 said:
My qualm with pellet stoves is power dependency and inability to store pellets long term. Might be worth it to the OP as a best option if he's got the money for one.

I second no doing an insert. What you want is surface area to throw heat. The smaller the stove, the more heat you lose up the chimney.
Click to expand...


Insert isnt an option anyway. No fireplace, no chimney, stove will exit the house through the wall where the current propane stove is. Pellets are nice. I dont have a garage to store them in and I dont want pallets of pellets in the yard. I prefer to have heat if we lose power for a longer period of time as well, so wood trumps pellet for me.

I agree wood stoves are work. Im young, I enjoy working out and getting exercise and my favorite work out is an outdoors workout. I know... you're probably thinking "you like it now, wait until its something you have to do rather than want to do". I accept that. But when and if we lose power long term, whos house will be warm? The guy with a wood stove or the guy who can't light the pellet stove without relying on battery backup? We have quite a few trees I will be taking down over the next year or so, so the supply is there. I enjoy cutting, splitting and stacking... for now. But it helps keep me fit, which is an added benefit should I ever need to hoof it. As an added benefit for lady of the house: "I cant go buy ammo or that gun today... I gotta split wood"
 
The absolute first and foremost question is " how much are you looking to spend", and then head towards new or used, and whether your current chimney is ok to use, or do you need double walled stainless pipe etc.

My buddy has a large Dutchwest catalytic hes selling thats in excellent shape, PM if interested. But remember, like already mentioned, they weigh alot, and you need to make some sort of platform for it to sit on etc. I had the small sized Dutchwest Catalytic, and it was ****ing awesome, I had to get rid of it due to an in law addition. I loved that stove more than my wife and kids lol. I have a pellet stove now, which is all fine and well, easy direct vent etc, but its not the same lol

Just saw your last post, sorry.
Exiting the wall like your current propane setup isnt gonna fly dude, and if you dont have a chimney, youre looking at the added cost of the proper stainless double walled pipe (I didnt have a chimney, I believe I spent about 3k on the ss pipe and accoutremants alone in 1997 to make my chimney). A wood stove throws real heat, real creosote, real temps dude. Pellet stoves are a joke in comparison.
 
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I had a Lopi freestanding woodstove in my old house. I loved it. I liked stacking wood and cutting kindling. Nothing beats the feeling of having 2+ cords of stacked wood. I used it as my primary heat source during the day, but when I went to bed I'd have the thermostat set for 60. When the stove died out, the furnace kicked on. This was in northern NH, where we got some seriously cold temps.
 
GPP said:
The absolute first and foremost question is " how much are you looking to spend", and then head towards new or used, and whether your current chimney is ok to use, or do you need double walled stainless pipe etc.

My buddy has a large Dutchwest catalytic hes selling thats in excellent shape, PM if interested. But remember, like already mentioned, they weigh alot, and you need to make some sort of platform for it to sit on etc. I had the small sized Dutchwest Catalytic, and it was ****ing awesome, I had to get rid of it due to an in law addition. I loved that stove more than my wife and kids lol. I have a pellet stove now, which is all fine and well, easy direct vent etc, but its not the same lol

Just saw your last post, sorry.
Exiting the wall like your current propane setup isnt gonna fly dude, and if you dont have a chimney, youre looking at the added cost of the proper stainless double walled pipe (I didnt have a chimney, I believe I spent about 3k on the ss pipe and accoutremants alone in 1997 to make my chimney). A wood stove throws real heat, real creosote, real temps dude. Pellet stoves are a joke in comparison.
Click to expand...

I should have clarified what I meant by exiting the house the same. The stove will be placed where the current stove is. In my previous post, I meant that the piping will exit through the existing whole in the wall. New piping will travel up the side of the house. I obviously wouldnt plumb it through the same nonsense piping thats there now.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure about a wood stove pipe exiting out the wall. Where there is no chimney I usually see heavy duty pipes going straight up through the roof with the appropriate flange thingy to go through the roof. I'm no expert though, just telling you what I've seen so check around.

As far as stoves I bought an All Nighter Mid Moe about 18 years ago used for $400 at a local wood stove store. It had just been re-blacked and new firebrick put in. I have replaced a few bricks over the years, no big deal but it's due for a re-blacking again. It has the blower and throws a lot of heat.

My house is a small raised ranch and the stove is downstairs. It is my primary heat source but when it's really cold the back bedrooms upstairs still get chilly so I will let the wife and kids put the electric baseboard heat on a tad just so they don't get too cold but that isn't necessary that often. I also have a ventless propane stove upstairs that helps take the chill off in the morning before I get the stove fired up again.

If it where just me I'd only use the wood stove but my wife and one of my daughters are always cold no matter what I do. Me and my other daughter tend to throw heat like human furnaces and always feel too hot when they are comfortable.

This isn't my stove but it's exactly like it except they don't have the blower that mounts on the side like I do. Also my handle is the coiled chromed metal type, not wood like that one.
 
get the biggest stove you can. Small stove is like small Richard, you can please some but not all

We got a stove this year, the house has very little insulation (if at all) and I still keep it at 80+ degrees with free wood I find in ... woods.

Pellets are for homoes and AR shooters, when you run out of pellets you are ****ed, when you ran out of firewood, you can burn your neighbor's trees, crack, glocks, weed, evidence, those hookers you stashed in the freezer from the last year's xmass party ... in short, just about anything.
 
IMG_0795_zpsff7iakqz.jpg


This is our current setup. I believe some furniture may have to move, but this is where the stove is planned to go. If it cant go through the wall, I'm not sure a wood stove will work as running it up through the ceiling would mean also running piping through the bedroom before getting to the attic. Not sure thats something we want to do. But we're at the beginning stages of planning as well.
 
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In general.

Get a big stove, as Boris (interesting alternative fuels, BTW) suggests - you can always put smaller stuff in a bigger firebox, not so much the other way.

My stove has a glass door - I like that, 'cause I like the view of the fire.

If you have a local stove shop, go talk to them they often have remans/refurbs that may be better than new production.
 
Don't get the F3CB - It's way too small - Think small interior and constantly cutting down wood to fit both lengthwise and height. I'd start with the F400 Castine (I have the F400 stove as well as the F602 which is in my kitchen) The F400 can take a 20+ inch log and longer if diagonally. It's Beautiful stove that will throw a TON of heat. The F602 is a great little stove you could cook on if you wanted that capability for preparedness purposes. If you plan on actually using the stove then get it Flat Black painted vs Ceramic. The ceramic will eventually chip off. I'm not a fan of pellet stoves as they require electricity.... and of course pellets

Boris can I use this as my sig?
"Pellets are for homoes and AR shooters"
 
I have a 1970s Sears stove that looks just like an Ashley.
These stoves have a sheet metal surround that can help save some skin on kids, or even yourself.
The pipe comes out low on the back that makes it easy to run into an existing fireplace or piping. They're not terribly expensive,but do the job.
No fire viewing, just a nice stove that takes big logs through the side door.
This one is too much $$$.
I've seen them on Craigs L for $400 and under.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/h...aVQinnoIGs3ysP2u9DKajZXjezCFYyo2KpRoCxWvw_wcB
 
xtry51 said:
My qualm with pellet stoves is power dependency and inability to store pellets long term. Might be worth it to the OP as a best option if he's got the money for one.
Click to expand...

I felt the same when last year when the house we bought came with a pellet stove installed. I remedied that issue by installing a small solar setup (similar to the link below) to charge a couple of car batteries so I didn't need to rely on the generator to run the pellet stove. Key point with this is that most of the electronics with the pellet stove will need the higher end inverters to run properly. Yes, the solar and inverter added a few dollars but its worth my piece-of-mind and far cheaper than replacing the whole pellet stove with a wood stove and new chimney.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monoc...TF8&qid=1480979082&sr=8-1&keywords=renogy+200
 
I have a Harman 300i insert in MA, and an old school Vermont Castings Defiant in NH.

Both have their strong points.
The Defiant will drive you out of the house, but it eats wood in 50 pound loads and you get maybe 7 or 7 hours out of each load. Maybe longer if it was tighter/better gasketed.

The harman has longer burn times, but the vertical blowers only last about 2 seasons and then the bottom bearing fails, and it's not much good without the blowers. The blowers are stupid (>$200/ea) expensive.
 
As others said get the biggest stove you can fit in your space. A buddy got a new Vermont castings stove it is nice but it only takes 14" logs which is a pain.
Every Stove is different they all take awhile to figure out and run.
I have a homemade stove that will get the house to 80 but it uses a lot of wood. I have no experience with the new style stoves. Start browsing Craig's list to get a idea what stoves go for if you can wait till next summer I think that would be the time to buy a stove
 
Make sure your stove circulated the smoke through an upper chamber the most heat out. If your chimney is real tall you might need to put a damper in the exhaust.
 
BearClaw500 said:
We currently have a free standing propane fireplace that we're planning to swap out for a wood stove. It will be used when we want to get a fire going to get a chill out in the earlier winter/late fall months. It won't be our primary source of heat however. In the dead of winter when temps plummet, I'll probably use this to aid in the heating, or supplement the propane. This is my first wood stove so I know little. I've had the Jotul F100 recommended to me but I can't find a good review on the thing! I'm not wondering if the F3CB will be a more suitable stove. I'm open to all suggestions for stoves, will try to answer any questions that may need to be asked, and appreciate any help.

About the house:
-Western MA
-stove on first floor
-slab foundation
-just under 2000 sqft**
-very well insulated. Its in the 30s and our house is comfortable at 65-68 and the heat doesn't kick too frequently.
-low ceilings, low windows. the areas its going in, we dont want anything too large. Basically small enough to not be in the way, capable enough to be used as a main heat source if we had to.

**we won't be looking to heat the entire house. Its just me, the lady and the puppy (name: Ruger). Its only the three bedrooms upstairs so the majority of the space used is on the first floor.
Click to expand...

On my upstairs I have a fireplace insert an old better n bens wood stove and let me tell you this thing gets the house toasty and hot enough that I can walk around in undies. Downstairs I have a dedicated wood stove, an old Vermont castings I think, all cast iron. Years ago I added a heat reclaimer (basically a fan the blows some of the hot air going up the chimney into the house. It heats up so well, that i can comfortably work on my cars over the winter in the garage where it will often hit around 75 degrees inside.

All in all, I love wood heat. In 2011 when we had the freak blizzard that caused me to be without power for 10 days, I had reached a point where I was cooking on the upstairs fireplace insert. It worked great for that. I was probably one of the only people in town eating a hot meal. It made me rethink about a SHTF life if it ever happened.
 
I have a pair of Nashuas from the 70s, a smaller one and a massive one, they are excellent stoves, bullet proof. You can find them used still but they're worth $ in good shape. Im burning the big one now and i agree with what others said, bigger the better, if i load mine up it will burn overnight easily, when i run it hot ive had nights in February where i cracked a window in the bedroom.

Both of mine have blowers built into them, that will really make a difference. I also have registers i built in the floor with electric blowers rigged up under them to push air up to the 1st floor. Its all about circulation.
 
Duxprep said:
Don't get the F3CB - It's way too small - Think small interior and constantly cutting down wood to fit both lengthwise and height. I'd start with the F400 Castine (I have the F400 stove as well as the F602 which is in my kitchen) The F400 can take a 20+ inch log and longer if diagonally. It's Beautiful stove that will throw a TON of heat. The F602 is a great little stove you could cook on if you wanted that capability for preparedness purposes. If you plan on actually using the stove then get it Flat Black painted vs Ceramic. The ceramic will eventually chip off. I'm not a fan of pellet stoves as they require electricity.... and of course pellets
Click to expand...

I agree with the above. We have a pair of F3CBs (long cape with odd clearances). They are great stoves but they heat about 1300 sqft, max, so two would be needed unless your house is very vertical. You can rear-vent a 3CB and cook on it, too (and it's considerably bigger than the F602). But if you need just one stove for 2000sqft, you want something a pinch bigger - the F400 or F500, or if it'll fit your space better, the F118CB.

Now, I disagree with the people who say get the biggest stove you can. You can't get a good overnight burn in a half-filled stove damped down. There's too much air space - and if you run it full, it'll give off too much heat for the space. So you really want to right-size the stove. I think you'll be great with an F400 or 500, or F118 as a prep item. One thing I do like about having two small stoves (while I don't like HAVING to have two) is we can pack one and damp it down for an all-night burn while we let the one at the far end of the house settle down overnight, also damped. Both usually will have coal left for a matchless start in the AM but we're not trying to heat what we don't need to heat at the time.
 
BearClaw500 said:
Insert isnt an option anyway. No fireplace, no chimney, stove will exit the house through the wall where the current propane stove is. Pellets are nice. I dont have a garage to store them in and I dont want pallets of pellets in the yard. I prefer to have heat if we lose power for a longer period of time as well, so wood trumps pellet for me.

I agree wood stoves are work. Im young, I enjoy working out and getting exercise and my favorite work out is an outdoors workout. I know... you're probably thinking "you like it now, wait until its something you have to do rather than want to do". I accept that. But when and if we lose power long term, whos house will be warm? The guy with a wood stove or the guy who can't light the pellet stove without relying on battery backup? We have quite a few trees I will be taking down over the next year or so, so the supply is there. I enjoy cutting, splitting and stacking... for now. But it helps keep me fit, which is an added benefit should I ever need to hoof it. As an added benefit for lady of the house: "I cant go buy ammo or that gun today... I gotta split wood"
Click to expand...

You can always get a small Honda generator to power the pellet stove. That's what I did. Worked great.
 
I got a big quadrafire and compared to my older stove (made in 70s, big, heavy, works good still) it's crazy more efficient. Newer stoves have merit. Cat loves it, wife loves it.

For a big stove there is no mechanics to work or break. Fully loaded stove can keep you warm long time. If you can't get free firewood, subscribe to more junkmail. Nothing burns hotter than free shit.

73685179.jpg


also quadrafire and some local dude in MA make add-on temp controller for wood stoves that restricts airflow to keep target temp. It's the convenience of burning dinosaur juice without the mess of pellets.
 

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