What is the very best wood stove. Price no consideration
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In general a LARGE woodstove is better than a small woodstove.
And a large being say 4 times the space inside to place wood to burn than a small woodstove.
You can place larger and longer pieces of wood in a large woodstove. So you have more options when cutting wood. Don't have to cut everything a short size so it will fit!
Also more height inside. You can have several inches of ashes, the wood for a burning fire, and have room to add more wood on top of that!
And a large being say 4 times the space inside to place wood to burn than a small woodstove.
You can place larger and longer pieces of wood in a large woodstove. So you have more options when cutting wood. Don't have to cut everything a short size so it will fit!
Also more height inside. You can have several inches of ashes, the wood for a burning fire, and have room to add more wood on top of that!
Everyone's got their own "value vector" of their valued properties. So there can't be one "best."
For me, based on practical aspects of woodburning and woodstove-as-art, some Danish Rais stoves would be up top. Definitely not the thing for the OWB crowd, or knuckle-draggers. :msp_wink:
For me, based on practical aspects of woodburning and woodstove-as-art, some Danish Rais stoves would be up top. Definitely not the thing for the OWB crowd, or knuckle-draggers. :msp_wink:
howellhandmade
Addicted to ArboristSite
I'd say that's true if you're heating a large space, but a stove that is too big will cook you out of the house unless you have it damped down, making more creosote. Too small and it'll burn hot all the time and be cleaner but it won't keep up with the cold weather, it will fill with coals, and won't burn long enough to keep temps up overnight. There's a perfect size stove for the space -- not too big, not too small.
If you are looking for a good brand, I really like the Quadrafire I have. The size is going to depend on what size space you put it in. This stove burns so clean I never see smoke coming out of the chimney. I went to clean the chimney after 2 years and found it didn't need it. Cleanest burning stove I have used.
Fifelaker
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The one with well seasoned dry wood in it. I'm not being a smart azz but I know people with high dollar stoves that use more wood with more smoke producing less heat than people with cheaper stoves.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Money's no object?
Build a Russian Fireplace, then design your house around it. Efficient as all get out with literally tons of thermal mass to give off constant, even heat from short hot fires.
Build a Russian Fireplace, then design your house around it. Efficient as all get out with literally tons of thermal mass to give off constant, even heat from short hot fires.
Ironworker
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Stoves go from $500 to well over $2000, so if money being of no consideration I would go for the most expensive one, that's what I did and have no regrets and no problem heating my 3200sq. ft. home quite efficiently with long burn times, remember you get what you pay for.
In my experience, the Country Stove line from Lennox is very high quality. I would include a link, but I am a bit unsure of the ad policy.
They are very pricey, but the quality is all there. The guy around here sells Napoleon stoves (which a lot of locals seem to swear by) and the Country stove Line, but claims he's lucky if he sells one Country stove a year due to the high price tags.
I own one, and I am very happy with it and can strongly recommend it as "overbuilt". It includes a lifetime guarantee on the firebrick, door and door latch.
They are very pricey, but the quality is all there. The guy around here sells Napoleon stoves (which a lot of locals seem to swear by) and the Country stove Line, but claims he's lucky if he sells one Country stove a year due to the high price tags.
I own one, and I am very happy with it and can strongly recommend it as "overbuilt". It includes a lifetime guarantee on the firebrick, door and door latch.
of the three that we have had, we liked the quadrafire best- really clean burn, hardly any build up and heated a 2200 sf house- this was the biggest unit quadrafire made and it had a blower on it-was piped to use outside combustion air---great setup but we sold house in Pennsylvania and moved to south.
PA Plumber
Addicted to ArboristSite
What brand/model?
FlyLow
ArboristSite Operative
This thread could be very cut and dry. Make a spread sheet with efficiency numbers, emissions (g per hour,) btu output for sizing, weight for an idea of how much steel is there, and any other specs you feel are necessary to call one best. I found the bigger they are the less efficient they are.
I have a Quadrafire Millennium 3100 rated at 1.1g/hr emissions, 90.2% efficient and output of 51,000btu with a weight of 325lbs. I love it.
I have a Quadrafire Millennium 3100 rated at 1.1g/hr emissions, 90.2% efficient and output of 51,000btu with a weight of 325lbs. I love it.
Turkeyslayer
Smells Great
A friend of mine just bought a Cunningham heater by Suppertime stoves. He looked at the Blaze King as well as the Pacific Energy Summit. The Cunningham has an automatic damper as well as a very large firebox and btu output. He is took out a Regency stove that didnt hold enough wood for the long periods of time he is at work (13+ hours a day plowing snow). The Cunningham is also less than half the price of either the Blaze King or the Pacific Energy.
Cunningham Wood Burning Heater
Cunningham Wood Burning Heater
trailmaker
ArboristSite Operative
If the OP is willing to consider devices other than traditional "stoves" I would agree with the Russian Fireplace idea. They are also referred to as "Masonry Heaters". GARN boilers are also pretty well thought of.
bsearcey
ArboristSite Operative
I recently saw a Woodstock Fireview stove for sale on craigslist for $750. Beautiful stove (soapstone), so I looked it up. Apparently it is rated as one of the best overall stoves. Wish I had an extra $750 laying around.
dparkguy
ArboristSite Lurker
I had a vermont casting Intrepid II when our house was 1000 square feet. We put an addition on and our house is now 1800 square feet. Did a lot of searching and bought a Morso 3610 to replace the vermont casting. It heats our house with no problem. Has an end load door and handles 22" firewood with no problem.
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Tempwood!!! Been heating my butt since 1977. One I have now paid $50 ten yrs ago. Downdrafter is old but IMHO the very best way to burn wood. Ben Franklin worked on the downdrafter principle but never quite got it. Came close though.
logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
Sticking to the OP's "best" wood stove and not whole house furnaces or OWBs, the specs on each heater are only a beginning.
Every stove is like a romance: it takes time to get into the routine of getting the beast to perform on both sides.
We chose NOT to build in a Masonry/Russian Fireplace for a few reasons. Cost of the structure. Experience with varying the heat output in shoulder times. And, the infrastructure cost and space needed. Users also were not all that happy with the overall experience for heating.
We've gone from a coal tent stove from mil use to an Ashley creosote machine, Franklin Fireplace stove, Lange, an old Morso 2BO that "recirculated" the smoke, Tempwood top load which is still used in a workshop, VC Vigilant, to now on our 3rd VC Encore cat with a Jotul Oslo doing the job in a second wing.
I've tried out one of the $$$ cute Rais soapstone stoves that were pretty, but only that; fine if you need only to entertain and love to cut 12" sticks.
There's no best. You have to do some study, play with the stoves at the dealers, talk to owners who use the stove hard. Important is how the appliance looks to you and your boss: if you like the square look of the say BK stoves and not classic cast, fine. You and yours will be spending a lot of facetime in front of the stove.
QC. Does the product have good quality, good backup and parts and advice ? Example: I'd stay away from ANY Vermont Castings' stoves now. Jotul, Pacific Energy, Blaze King, Woodstock, Morso all have good reps for making a good stove and backing them.
Forget all about the cost of the stove: you'll more than get your payback faster than any other product.
Every stove is like a romance: it takes time to get into the routine of getting the beast to perform on both sides.
We chose NOT to build in a Masonry/Russian Fireplace for a few reasons. Cost of the structure. Experience with varying the heat output in shoulder times. And, the infrastructure cost and space needed. Users also were not all that happy with the overall experience for heating.
We've gone from a coal tent stove from mil use to an Ashley creosote machine, Franklin Fireplace stove, Lange, an old Morso 2BO that "recirculated" the smoke, Tempwood top load which is still used in a workshop, VC Vigilant, to now on our 3rd VC Encore cat with a Jotul Oslo doing the job in a second wing.
I've tried out one of the $$$ cute Rais soapstone stoves that were pretty, but only that; fine if you need only to entertain and love to cut 12" sticks.
There's no best. You have to do some study, play with the stoves at the dealers, talk to owners who use the stove hard. Important is how the appliance looks to you and your boss: if you like the square look of the say BK stoves and not classic cast, fine. You and yours will be spending a lot of facetime in front of the stove.
QC. Does the product have good quality, good backup and parts and advice ? Example: I'd stay away from ANY Vermont Castings' stoves now. Jotul, Pacific Energy, Blaze King, Woodstock, Morso all have good reps for making a good stove and backing them.
Forget all about the cost of the stove: you'll more than get your payback faster than any other product.
