Big Stove, Little House...

[Dalmatian90]

Considering purchasing this summer a used EPA stove.

I have a 650 square foot house (it's my grandparents old summer cottage).

Currently using a Vogelzang Boxwood stove...does well, burns a hellacious amount of wood -- I'm figuring 4-1/2 cords this year, and a lot of that is green as Kermit. I'm hoping to be under 2-1/2 cords with a used EPA stove.

Just started a regular job after three years of living contract-to-contract, so I was penciling in $800-1000 budget this summer that originally I was planning to buy a load of logs (about 8 cords) to get ahead on my firewood needs, thinking that plus what I normally cut in my woods would give me 8 cords seasoned at least a year by 2012 and buy an EPA stove then.

But now I'm thinking the same budget this summer, but instead spend it $400-500 for a used stove plus one or two cords of seasoned oak for $225/cord. I'll have 2 to 3 OK but not well seasoned red maple and ash cut this spring for next fall.

That should be enough to allow me to get ahead of the curve, maybe need to buy seasoned oak once more in 2012 while I let my own stuff season more.

A Jotul F118 "Black Bear" is probably ideal size BTU wise, and I like it takes longer logs (means I don't have to be religious on cutting nothing longer then 16" or 18" like many of the EPA stoves).

But they don't come on the market very often, especially for my price point of not-much-more then $500.

Vermont Casting Defiants are easy to find, usually 2-3 within an hour or so drive for $500 on Craigslist. And they also take long logs.

But the Defiants can throw a lot more heat then I need -- rated at 2400 s.f.

Is there anything wrong with buying too big of a stove and just not keeping it chock-a-block full all the time?

I'm figuring people with the Defiants have to spend quite a bit of the year not having them cranked to the max anyways.

Or is it a really bad idea for some reason to put such a big stove in such a small house?

 

[komatsuvarna]

I burnt just under 3 cords this winter in a little englander 13. Its in a 1100 sq ft home. I really need a bigger heater, but It does the job for now. We also had a short mild winter, so Id say an average winter would be about 3 1/2 cords maybe.

 

[PineFever]

Year before last I built a 200 sq ft addition on my house.
I installed a new Vogelzang Potbelly stove thats rated for 2000 sq ft.
It works great as long as the fires are small to medium. Any bigger and all the windows and sliding door require opening to cool the room down to a comfortable temp. Good luck with your choice.

 

[Encore]

A Defiant is going to be pretty big for a 650 sq/ft house.

I have a 1600 sq/ft house and my stove (size smaller than the Defiant) and it very comfortably heats the whole house at medium fires even during the coldest months

There is an advantage to having a stove accept longer logs though, but an overheated house is pretty uncomfortable.

 

[sunfish]

A Jotul F118 "Black Bear" is probably ideal size BTU wise, and I like it takes longer logs (means I don't have to be religious on cutting nothing longer then 16" or 18" like many of the EPA stoves).

We heat 1200 sq ft with wood. Our first stove was a little too small, a Waterford. This stove is perfect for a house that's less than 1000 sq ft.

After 8 years, bought a Vermont Castings Acclaim, it was too large and didn't like being choked down at all. Also couldn't really use the secondary burn with a small fire. Really did not like this stove after a couple years.

Got very tired of fighting with the VC and bought a Jotul 118CB 3 years ago. Love this stove! It's rated for 1800 sq ft though. BUT it can be choked down, with a smaller fire and do just fine. We also burn about half the wood per winter and the house is a more constant, comfortable temp. Only burned 2 cords this winter, actually not quite 2 cords yet, but it ain't over.

 

[Dalmatian90]

After 8 years, bought a Vermont Castings Acclaim, it was too large and didn't like being choked down at all. Also couldn't really use the secondary burn with a small fire.

That's the kind of feedback I'm interested in.

I'm just trying to figure out if and why small loads in a big stove don't work so well.

Clearly you can have small loads in an EPA, like the 118.

I also know there's a pyschological thing going on when I look at the Jotul 118 and it's hard to over come that all my past experience is with the big fire boxes -- twice before with the largest size All Nighters (Fisher clones), and now with the Boxwood which has a pretty big firebox compared to most EPA stoves -- and I look at how tiny the 118s look and think, "THAT is big enough?!?"

 

[sunfish]

The EPA stoves are way more efficient. And that little 118 is way
too much stove for 650 square feet. :msp_wink:

 

[woodguy105]

Lopi Answer...non cat...we heat our great room about 20x30 w/14ft cathedral ceiling and the eat in kitchen with our Answer. You can roll pretty small fires or load her up and get blown out.

Overnite burn is just ok, we usually don't stoke the hell out of it at nite anyway. Just enough coals to fire up again in the morning.

 

[myzamboni]

I bet you would be very happy with a Jotul F3CB. Don't go with a giant stove in such a small space, you won't be happy.

good luck finding a used one for the price the OP wants to pay.

 

[Motodeficient]

When you get an EPA wood stove make sure your wood is very dry. I bought a 1200 s/f house last spring and installed a new EPA wood stove in it last summer. I bought 5 cords of tree length in the spring so it wasn't properly dried for burning this season. It wasn't green, I guess I would call it seasoned. With an EPA stove you can have a small fire but only if the wood is really dry. I found that with green or seasoned wood I had to pretty much stuff the EPA stove full to build up enough heat and draft to keep the wood from smoldering out. Then once it does get going, it quickly gets too warm in the house. Even on nights that it was below zero, it would be 80+ degrees in most of the house unless I opened a window. We got by alright and I only used about 25 gallons of heating oil this winter but the seasoned wood just wasn't optimal.

 

[Encore]

When you get an EPA wood stove make sure your wood is very dry. I bought a 1200 s/f house last spring and installed a new EPA wood stove in it last summer. I bought 5 cords of tree length in the spring so it wasn't properly dried for burning this season. It wasn't green, I guess I would call it seasoned. With an EPA stove you can have a small fire but only if the wood is really dry. I found that with green or seasoned wood I had to pretty much stuff the EPA stove full to build up enough heat and draft to keep the wood from smoldering out. Then once it does get going, it quickly gets too warm in the house. Even on nights that it was below zero, it would be 80+ degrees in most of the house unless I opened a window. We got by alright and I only used about 25 gallons of heating oil this winter but the seasoned wood just wasn't optimal.

Maybe you were closing your non epa damper too quickly?

I've found it helpful to go ahead and let the stove heat up to 500-600 griddle temp and then close the damper and leave the epa damper open to get a nice draft going. After about 30 min or whenever the fire looks nice, then I choke it down for the night.

Just an idea, you may be completely correct that your wood was not dry enough.

 

[Motodeficient]

Well I know my wood is definitely not dry enough, it hisses instead of cracking. Also, my stove only has one adjustment lever, which controls airflow and the damper at the same time

 

[JBinKC]

Ideally the small CAT stoves would probably be best for you for better control of minimum heat output. Finding one used in serviceable condition at a good price- good luck.

With a limited budget and time considered I would try to find a year end closeout of an Englander NC 13. It probably would be easier than waiting for the right opportunity for a quality used stove with your parameters.