max caddy vs vaporfire vs blazeking apex vs IWB

[Wisneaky]

So the wife and I are going to start looking for a new house. All she cares about is a big kitchen and all I care about is heating it. So I've narrowed down some options and I'd like some input from you all. I live in Wisconsin and it gets damn cold here in the winter. I'd like a furnace that can heat my house for a minimum of 8 hours to 70 degrees when it's zero or below outside. We are going to be looking for a house under 2,000 sq ft.

max caddy: I like that it's a close design to my Tundra, but has bigger fire box and and there is an optional electric backup.

vaporfire: I read a lot of good stuff about this furnace on here and I am planning on stopping in to check out their factory soon.

blazeking apex: I like that this one has a catalytic burner on it and produces long burn time.

Indoor wood boiler: I honestly don't know a lot about them, but if anyone can chime in with some good ones I'd consider them also. I think it would be nice if I could pipe it into the garage to heat that also.

 

[newyorker]

well i would say the obvious choice would be an indoor gasser with storage but its the most money also

 

[brenndatomu]

Max Caddys sound cool. You kinda have a feel for that one already with having run the Tundra.
A boiler system will be the most up front money by far! But having the ability to have radiant heat in the floors...wow, nice!
But if you are looking for opinions, the Kuumas are hard to beat from what I hear! There is a guy that has one near where my inlaws live, I want to go see him sometime when I'm there, just curious, I wanna see if all the hype is for real, and nothing better than actually seeing things in person, get your hands on it and all..
My 2 cents...

 

[president]

If I were to change out my blaze king, I would look at a large ( quadrafire ) ,made in pacific northwest
someplace.I saw one in a showroom some years ago ,and for a non cat they had max reburn tech and
seemed heavy and really well built with great asthetics,

 

[Oldman47]

If you are the one in charge of heating, start by insisting on very good insulation and air infiltration control. Once you have those optimized almost any large modern wood burner will do just fine. The BKs and Quads each have their own fans but the key to being comfortable with just your wood burner is good heat loss control.

 

[Wisneaky]

Max Caddys sound cool. You kinda have a feel for that one already with having run the Tundra.
A boiler system will be the most up front money by far! But having the ability to have radiant heat in the floors...wow, nice!
But if you are looking for opinions, the Kuumas are hard to beat from what I hear! There is a guy that has one near where my inlaws live, I want to go see him sometime when I'm there, just curious, I wanna see if all the hype is for real, and nothing better than actually seeing things in person, get your hands on it and all..
My 2 cents...

yah, I'm just looking for opinions. If we can find a house in the summer I want to make sure the heat is all set up come winter. If I did the indoor boiler I think I'd use an air handler.

 

[zogger]

Ya'll need two heaters, one for you, the main house heater, the other guys will advise you on that, and one for the bride. She wants a big kitchen, fine! work this to your advantage! Along with a conventional stove, get a wood cookstove.

I miss mine from years ago, it was just soooo slick.

 

[Wisneaky]

Ya'll need two heaters, one for you, the main house heater, the other guys will advise you on that, and one for the bride. She wants a big kitchen, fine! work this to your advantage! Along with a conventional stove, get a wood cookstove.

I miss mine from years ago, it was just soooo slick.

Those wood cook stoves sure are nice. An Amish family down the road has one in their house and I got to check it out one day.

 

[Del_]

I'd be looking a the biggest Blazeking they make with an ash pan.

 

[laynes69]

A tight, well insulated home especially under 2000 sqft should have a low heat load. The Max Caddy would run you out of the home. A Caddy or a Kuuma would be a good choice for the square footage and offer long burn times. It's been at least a couple years since I've heard of any users on the BK Apex. The last thing I heard was they were having problems with the bypass warping and the cat not seating from the heat. The owners seemed happy, but at the time they were new on the market. If the home had a good layout, a stove would be hard to beat, but a good woodfurnace is nice for the even heat.

 

[brenndatomu]

If I did the indoor boiler I think I'd use an air handler.

There's no way I'd personally go the the expense of a boiler only to end up with forced air. Like i said, I REALLY like warm floors

Ya'll need two heaters

Agree, I have a small stove in the living room to run on the warmer days instead of idling the furnace along. Works good in addition to the furnace on the coldest days of the year too, don't hafta run the bag off the furnace that way.

A tight, well insulated home especially under 2000 sqft should have a low heat load. The Max Caddy would run you out of the home

That's probably true. If you insulate well, you could probably use a mini caddy! Were you lookin at the max for it's dual fuel capability? Probably better off adding a wood furnace to a standard oil or gas HVAC system. Or you could just install electric baseboard heat just to satisfy the bank and/or the insurance company. Depends on if the Mrs needs central A/C or not..

 

[newyorker]

you can burn oil or electric with the regular caddy to, and if you had a air handler you could still have lots of storage

 

[brenndatomu]

and if you had a air handler you could still have lots of storage

That's true, could do both. Mmm, spendy!