I'm looking to buy a wood stove to heat my 2300 sq ft house. I live in southern Virginia and have been strongly advised by a friend who used to sell wood stoves up north to buy something rated in the 50-60,000 BTU - 1600-1800 sq ft rating range so I can run it hot enough to minimize creosote formation. Since I don't live in a very cold area that makes some sense. BUT, I'm having a hard time finding one of those that meets my other desired criteria. I really need it to accept 20 inch logs and keep a bed of coals through the night. I already have 2-3 cords of split and seasoned wood to feed it, but lots of the stoves in this size seem to want 16-18 inch logs and I'm getting conflicting information if they will keep a bed of coals going all night. Plus, some of what I've cut and split is up to 20 inches long. Many of smaller stoves don't have a lot of reviews and I'm not very comfortable buying one that only has a half dozen reviews from people who just bought it.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.