Looking for a new wood stove....

[Rudedog]

Are you a Blaze King employee or distributor?

 

[Whitespider]

I might ask you the same question when you use words like...

Yeah... ya' might... but I asked you first Relax man, this is the Internet.

Listen, I owe you an apology. I was using your nativity for my own personal amusement. No one who's been here long would bite on my comment, they've already been 'round 'n' 'round with me on that subject (some several times). My disdain for the new-fangled modern EPA certified stoves (and the EPA in general) is well known in this neighborhood... the argument is so old it went stale.

You're a new member, I'd rather welcome you here rather than pizz you off (I'll have plenty of time to pizz ya' off later ).
So... Welcome aboard‼
If'n ya' stick around for very long you'll figure-it-out... just do a search for bias-ply tires.
If ya' look under my user name on the left you'll see the words "Lost in the 50s"... I had to earn that one
*

 

[BrianK]

I'm looking to spend $2000-2500 or so. I would like a stove to heat about 1200 square feet or a little more- basically a large, open, living area where we spend most of our time when at home. I would also like the stove to have some cook top ability if possible.

I was a Beta tester for Woodstock's new Ideal Steel stove last winter. (No, I do not work for them.) It has a cook top option, is a hybrid with both secondary air and cat, and has a 3.2 cu ft firebox.

I really liked the stove and ponied up the cash to buy a production model this summer. Base price is around $1900, with options around $2300. My prior stove was a used 2000 model Woodstock Fireview I bought in 2011. It didn't have quite enough heat output for my drafty old house with its 2.2 cu ft firebox. The Ideal Steel stove will put out an enormous amount of heat but can be dialed back for a long low slow burn for shoulder seasons. Not as long a burn as the big Blaze Kings, which are superb stoves, but highly efficient and very easy to use and control, and a little more affordable than the big Blaze Kings.

Photos of my new stove below. Mine shipped yesterday and will arrive Tuesday. They will custom design the andirons, side leg covers and stove top pieces and do custom color combos.

I did a thread here last year about a long shoulder season burn in the Beta unit I tested:
24 hour burn in the new Woodstock Ideal Steel stove

In real world burning during cold winter days, we typically reloaded every 12-14 hours with oak or locust, 10-12 hours with cherry.

And two time lapse videos, just for fun, first of locust, then lodge pole pine:

 

[Idahonative]

It's time for me to consider buying a new wood stove. Here in Texas wood heat is not as much of a priority as it is some places but we have cold enough weather for probably 6 months out of the year where at least some heat/fire is needed or appreciated. My old stove is over 20 years old at this point and was not a very expensive stove when the previous owner had bought it though it has served pretty well all things considered.

I'm looking to spend $2000-2500 or so. I would like a stove to heat about 1200 square feet or a little more- basically a large, open, living area where we spend most of our time when at home. I would also like the stove to have some cook top ability if possible.

I've looked at several different stove review sites and it's very confusing. It seems like EVERY STOVE has at least 1/3 of the people commenting saying it's an absolute piece of junk....Seems hard to pick something....and it's not a small purchase.

Suggestions?

Counselor, I will direct my response to you since you are the one who is looking for a new stove and originally asked the question. These forums are a funny thing. There are people on here who amuse themselves by playing games with other people. Does it irritate me? Not at all. You see, I'm taking time out of my day to help you (and others) by giving you some of my real world experience. Having thousands of "likes" and "messages" doesn't add much to the conversation. It just means you are bored and spend too much time on the internet. I won't waste a second of my valuable time with condescending people who talk down to others and pretend they know everything. In reality, the opposite is true.

Here in Idaho, many people burn pine, red fir, or larch. Our needs for a stove may be different than someone living back east because the characteristics of the wood we are burning is different than burning hardwoods. Pine burns much faster and has less btu's than most any hardwood and so owning a wood stove that can make the fire last as long as possible is very important. Anyone who has a job and a family leads a busy life. I think a big reason why more people don't heat their homes with wood is because of their busy schedules. They just don't have time to stoke the fire every 6-8 hours. Wood heat for most is just not convenient.

In 1979 my family installed an Earthstove in our home. This was a big stove capable of swallowing big pieces of wood. After a 12 hour burn, there were enough coals to start the fire back up which (at the time) was darned good while burning red fir. But the real beauty of that stove was the air control. I believe Earthstove was the first to come out with the "auto" damper which would open and close depending on the output needs. All in all, this made for a stove (like I said, at the time) that was capable of producing serious heat but you could also turn it down to make the fire last. The only problem is when you turn a fire down, it smokes a lot and this smoke is wasted fuel.

Twenty years later (1999), I needed a stove for my new house and what do I do? Yep, I look at Earthstove. The only problem was that the original Earthstove had long been dissolved and they were now owned by Lennox. They were not the same stoves but I was young and stupid and didn't do my homework. The new Earthstove was cast iron (nothing wrong with that) instead of steel but the biggest difference was the air control. It had a manual adjustment on the front of the stove...NO AUTO DAMPER. At the time, I really didn't know better but I would quickly realize my mistake. There are many factors that go into making a good wood stove but I believe nothing is more important than the air control system. You can have the fanciest most well built wood stove in the world and it will be just mediocre without a great air control system. I didn't get that off the internet...that is real world experience.

Now, 15 years later (2014), I'm tired of trying to keep fire in a small stove with crappy air control. I decided to buy a new stove only this time I would do it right and make an educated decision. Above all else, I wanted a quality stove capable of long burn times. You see, I am not a Blaze king rep or employee as some have questioned on this forum. I own a wild game processing business here in Idaho and work 7 days a week four months out of the year. I don't have a lot of time to build or tend fires during the season.

The original Earthstove was a great stove for it's time. I've been told that one of the original owners of that company split off back in the late seventies to start his own company which is Blaze King. They both had/have great air control but what are some of the other differences? The original Earthstove had the air intake (inside the stove) down at the bottom where the fire burns. The problem with that location was when you get ash accumulation, it can start to block the air from coming into the stove. Blaze King redesigned this by pulling the air in and running it through steel tubes (inside, top) to heat up before dumping the air at the top front. This is a much better location because it "washes" the window with air and you don't have the ash interfering with the air intake. Blaze King also redesigned the firebox to make it less susceptible to warping. The old Earthstoves were notorious for this.

Another major change is the cat. I mentioned how the old Earthstove was capable of being dampened down to extend the burn times but this produced a lot of smoke. The cat in the Blaze King burns most of that wasted fuel and the result is more heat in the home and less being wasted up the flue. Since it is recovering more heat, you don't have to run the stove as high which makes for some amazing burn times. It is possible to get 24 hrs out of a load of pine. Some will get on here and question everything. Do I have proof of this and that. The proof is in the flue temps. They are much cooler which means you aren't sending your hard earned wood pile up the flue. The heat has to go somewhere and if it is not going up your flue, it is going into your home.

Take my experiences as you will but I will tell you this: My parents have been heating their home with strictly wood since 1979. I have been heating my home with strictly wood since 1999. That's 50 years combined. The only wood we have ever burned is pine or red fir and have NEVER ONCE cleaned or had someone clean our flues. I have read many times on this forum and others, people saying how burning pine is dangerous and you need to regularly have your flue cleaned. If you know how to operate your wood stove, these statements just aren't true. Burn nice dry wood and once a day let your stove rip for 15-20 minutes (pine or fir) and you will never have a problem.