stove first choice

[Limestone]

If you could buy any new wood burning stove which brand would it be? Also would you go catalytic or non?

 

[Saucydog]

Personally,I'd look at Pacific-Energy,Regency,and Napolean-all 3 are high-quality stoves with very good warranties to boot.I've heated my home with both cat. stoves and non-cats;as of now,I'm sticking with non-cats-they are just easier to use efficiently and that means the wife ain't scared to put a stick in it.

 

[gtstang462002]

I like regency inserts... just can't afford one right now.

 

[WVhunter]

My mom and dad had a Buck Stove when I was growing up, they used it for years. I would not mind to have one, but kind of pricey.
Tom

 

[logbutcher]

Ease=Non-Cat. Efficiency=Cat.

Summing up: non-cat stoves developed long after cat stoves were designed to meet EPA particulate guidelines around 1989. From experience burning pre-EPA stoves, home-built welded stoves, cat and non-cat wood stoves, catalytic stoves do more with less wood.
Non-cats mommie the user who does not want to learn the simple opcorn: procedures to get cats to work correctly. We use a non-cat and cat heating 24/7 , close to 100% heating.
Our non-cat Jotul burns more wood with less air control than the cat VC, with less control over air. That's how the non-cats control emissions: you can't drop the air way down, or way up.
The catalytic converter needs to "light off" by getting the temperature up over say 500 F ( top of stove thermometer), then the air is damped down. The cat will stay "lit" almost until the fire is out completely.
The preferences of non-cat vs, cat can be read online at hearthnet.com---kind of like Stihl vs. Husky.
Yes, non-cats are "esier" to operate similar to pre-EPA stoves. There is a price for "simple". :jawdrop:
Maintenance of the cat is no big deal: remove, clean, and replace every few years depending on use. Non-cats have air tubes that also need maintenance and replacement after awhile.
JMNSHO

 

[kah68]

I just bought a PE, after much research and advice from 'Mason Place' here in Ontario.

 

[ozarkjeep]

Vermont Castings Defiant Catalytic

big firebox ( 3.2 cu feet)

Thermostatically controlled air intake ( auto adjusts air to wood load, and desired temp)

82.4% effecient

top loading

http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=136

I want one!

 

[Dok]

We had a Quadrafire in our old house. When we moved we bought another one.
Dok

 

[ozarkjeep]

that is somewhat true, I think the "ever burn" thing has tarnished their reputation to some degree.

In the real world, Id buy the englander/dutchwest/ whatever from lowes for $760 great stoves for the money.

My buddy just bought one, Ive been very impressed with it.

I hear and customer satisfaction and build quality are at low points but it may not be true.

Great specs though!

 

[musch]

Ive had Napolean and Regency, and they are very similar, excellent heating, clean, and very high quality.
Kinda pricy, but with the right installation they replace the need for a furnace, so...

 

[ray benson]

Next stove a Lopi Liberty.
http://www.lopistoves.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=211#Specs

 

[wood4heat]

Next stove a Lopi Liberty.
http://www.lopistoves.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=211#Specs

+1 on the Lopi. I bought a Lopi Endeavor two years ago and have been impressed with it. I've put close to two cord of Alder and Doug Fir through it this year and haven't needed to clean the glass yet. Last night I loaded it up and choked it down, seven hours later when I got up there were plenty of coals left to get the fire going again and it was still 73 deg in the house. Thats in a 2,000 square foot ranch and it was 30 deg outside when I went to bed last night.

 

[coppermouse]

I have an England Cat, it was like $600 or $700 at Quality farm and fleet years ago.
I recently started using the catalytic converter properly, and it uses much less wood and is not really that difficult to operate. You just get a probe thermometer (about $20 from Condor). Most stoves have a port for the catalytic temp probe. You open a bypass when you first light a fire in it, and close the bypass when the converter is above 500 degrees. To me that seems very simple.
An added benefit is the cat burns the smoke to you get less creosote buildup in the chimney

 

[logbutcher]

All the above posts are right: it depends on what you need, like, and want. Looks are not a little thing-don't worry about the "glass" ( Corning ceramic), after awhile you're not spending time looking anyhow.
Talk to a few dealers and ask what their customers like and don't like about what stove they use. Ask the users. Operate the stoves on the showroom floor.
My preference for efficiency, and heat is cat from long experience with both.
How large a space do you need heated: 100 % heat or just from 55 F up to room temp or a romantic weekend fire ? Buffalo is winter. Size the stove right.
How do want to load the stove: top ( easy), side, front ?
For appearance and easy care go with porcelain (or enameled) stove finish. For what it costs extra over the years, the added cost is not much per year.
Brands. Look at hearthnet for user experience with makers and models. Does the manufacturer have a good track record, easy customer service ( such as 800#) handling problems, and how is their reliablity and durability over time ?
PE, Lopi, Englander, Morso, Jotul, Hearthstone, Woodstock and some others seem to have good reps with users. The Vermont Castings branded stoves since the buyout from the original company in Vermont by CFM/Majestic in the mid 1990's have gone down in quality from user reports, our experience, and dealers having to handle problems. CFM Majestic was sold to a Canadian teachers' union a year ago. Maybe there'll be some changes.

 

[johnha]

There are reviews of different stoves on ********** if you have it narrowed down.

I use a ca 1994? Regency medium in the family room of my split level (2650 s/f) and if the temp gets below 30F outside my drafty old house I light the Quadrafire 4100i in the living room too.

I like glass
I never tire
of watching fire

 

[infomet]

Buck!

 

[ozarkjeep]

Not all cat stoves lack in the visual entertainment dept.

My Earth Stove has nice secondaries underneath the cat chamber for hours.

the problem with ALL stoves, is that you have to lean down to see the TOP for the best show.

I think they should be mounted about waiste high!

glass is important no matter what stove, like Treeco says, it lets you see whats happening, and its a focal point for MOST people, I watch mine more than the TV now.

You may be a bit jaded about the value and use of the view glass because cat stoves don't have near the 'fire view' of the not cat high tech stoves.


The viewing glass is very important to users of high tech secondary combustion stoves as it allows the user to view how the combustion process in the stove is progressing.

If the stove is not taking off like it should when you started it...you can see it... and do something about it.

If the stove is running like a blast furnace.......you can see it and take corrective action.

If the stove is down to a bed of glowing coals.......and secondary combustion has stopped because all of the pyrolytic gasses are gone......it's a good time to add some wood and keep the stove at the top of it's efficiency curve.

For instance....I just fired up my cold Jotul Firelight CB. I started it with a small pile of kindling and one piece of pine about 25 minutes ago. It is now ready for some larger pieces of wood that are going to take off with ease. My monitoring through the glass in an integral part of operating this stove making it much easier to use......and more efficient, too. It takes at least a season to get a good feel for the easiest and best ways to run these modern EPA wood stoves.

Ditto for cat stoves.

I still have my first cat stove..... purchashed in 1978, it is a Riteway model 37. It's a large welded metal box 7.5 cubic feet in volume with no viewing glass. It is a large, ugly wood stove but it really can crank out the heat. I hope to get it hooked up in the shop in the next couple of years.

 

[logbutcher]

You may be a bit jaded about the value and use of the view glass because cat stoves don't have near the 'fire view' of the not cat high tech stoves
The viewing glass is very important to users of high tech secondary combustion stoves as it allows the user to view how the combustion process in the stove is progressing.
If the stove is not taking off like it should when you started it...you can see it... and do something about it.
If the stove is running like a blast furnace.......you can see it and take corrective action.
If the stove is down to a bed of glowing coals.......and secondary combustion has stopped because all of the pyrolytic gasses are gone......it's a good time to add some wood and keep the stove at the top of it's efficiency curve.
For instance....I just fired up my cold Jotul Firelight CB. I started it with a small pile of kindling and one piece of pine about 25 minutes ago. It is now ready for some larger pieces of wood that are going to take off with ease. My monitoring through the glass in an integral part of operating this stove making it much easier to use......and more efficient, too. It takes at least a season to get a good feel for the easiest and best ways to run these modern EPA wood stoves.
Ditto for cat stoves.
I still have my first cat stove..... purchashed in 1978, it is a Riteway model 37. It's a large welded metal box 7.5 cubic feet in volume with no viewing glass. It is a large, ugly wood stove but it really can crank out the heat. I hope to get it hooked up in the shop in the next couple of years.

Whew, if you need to look at the fire, you got too much time on your hands TC. Wood burners can feel the heat, or glance at the temp of the stoves to know2 when to drop the damper, or air . We have both kinds, and have used too many varieties of stoves over the years to worry about how the fire "looks" : load, wait until the wood moisture burns off, maybe wait more until the cat or in a non-cat the wood gets going , lower the air, or damper, or both. All depends on the stove. Fire viewing ceramic "glass" is just a marketing thing. JMNSHO.
That Riteway was not designed as a cat burner; it used a cat to try to burn off the gases. Nice old block of steel, really a creosote maker like Ashley.
And yes, stoves are like women: it takes awhile to learn how. Many never learn. :rockn:

 

[gtstang462002]

When I want to see the fire in my 1970's something Treemont I scrape the glass clean with a razor blade and that is good for about 2 hours then it starts smoking up again... I watch the fire about once every other week...

 

[Log Splitter]

I've gotta agree with TreeCo. I have an old cast iron, no glass, wood burning hog at my camp. Then I have my Lopi at home with a glass door. I'll take watching the flames any day, and I know I can control the burn better if I can see what's going on in there.