What is the best inside wood burning stove

[atvguns]

Just wondering what everyone thought about wood heating stove for inside the house and which brand/kind was the best as far as efficency and convenince. I like the looks of the stoves with the glass front but how do you get the ashes out without putting out the fire. I am currently using a King wood circulator to heat 1300 square feet. I know a owb would be the best but I just can't justify that much right now

 

[fiasco]

Just wondering what everyone thought about wood heating stove for inside the house and which brand/kind was the best as far as efficency and convenince. I like the looks of the stoves with the glass front but how do you get the ashes out without putting out the fire. I am currently using a King wood circulator to heat 1300 square feet. I know a owb would be the best but I just can't justify that much right now

That's almost like asking "what's the best chainsaw?" over in the saw forum!!!

I have a Vermont Castings Encore non-cat, and I love the top-load feature. That said, I think Jotul stoves are better-built nowadays. Don't know much about the non-yuppie stoves, it has to be pretty if it's in the living room!

 

[rmount]

Your choice of best probably depends on if you drive a Ford, Chev or Dodge. I have a Pacific Energy "Alderlea" and can't think of anything that needs improving on it. Stoves burn front to back so when the fire has burned down a fair bit you can easily shovel out ashes from the front without disturbing the embers in the rear. We heat 1200 sg ft with no problem.

 

[shelbythedog]

Here I go singing the praises of my QuadraFire 4300, again. Like the above post I can't think of anything I would change on the stove or wish to improve. North-South loading is my preference, and being lined in firebrick is a definite bonus. It has an ash drawer that I have never used, I just scoop the ash out twice a week with a small shovel. Easily heats 1400 sq. ft. with 10 hour burn times. I too wanted an OWB, but couldn't come up with the $. The indoor stove has advantages of its own and does a great job meeting my 24/7 heating needs.

 

[Ronaldo]

I am heating 2000 sq. ft. w/a Pacific Energy Super 27 free standing stove and think it does a great job. Glass front(easy to monitor fire) and it has an ash pan too, so clean out is easy and clean.

Ron

 

[CTYank]

Ditto what Ronaldo said about the ash pan. Then, some folks have no problem removing ashes with coals still glowing, without ash pan.
To me, firebrick lining is an absolute necessity, for clean-burning, efficiency, and longevity of iron. :msp_biggrin:

 

[atvguns]

One more question Does the stoves that load from the front pose a risk of wood rolling out when you open the door say you decide to throw one more stick on just before bed and the thing is still pretty full

 

[shelbythedog]

One more question Does the stoves that load from the front pose a risk of wood rolling out when you open the door say you decide to throw one more stick on just before bed and the thing is still pretty full

Stoves that have a door in the front and open like a conventional refrigerator are generally loaded with the wood sitting front to back. Think of it as the ends of the wood at 12 and 6 o'clock. The only way wood can roll is to the sides of the stove, leaving little chance of a log rolling out the door toward the person loading.

 

[Iron man]

My stove has a front glass door.Its wider than it is deeper and the inside top gets higher from rear to front so I fit more in loading it sideways.The squarest ones are the base and the rectangular pieces go on the top to fit the most in because the top slopes.It doesn't have an ash removal try but I'm not sure its something that would benefit me because I noticed when there's a layer of ash the coals tend to burn slower so in the am I can just throw some in and it re fires.

 

[727sunset]

I have the medium sized Pacific Energy stove. PE has a convenient trap door feature where ashes fall into a drawer underneath. The following day you can safely pull the drawer and dispose of ashes. The stove is well built and easy to operate.
Stoves that load from the front are most common. Loading the stove is easy when wood can be shoved straight in from the front. The sides of firebox will support the logs allowing wood to be stacked right to the top.
For best efficiency look for an "EPA" type stove. They have some sort of baffle in top of firebox that burns your smoke a second time, minimizing emissions as well as providing burns that will continue thru the night. They will also provide more heat/use less fuel.
What brands are sold in your area?

 

[atvguns]

So you guys are telling me that on a glass front stove you load them to where the end of the wood points to the door not the side of the wood

 

[shelbythedog]

So you guys are telling me that on a glass front stove you load them to where the end of the wood points to the door not the side of the wood

Yes

 

[046]

OWB would NOT be best!

in fact it's probably the worst for you. not enough sq ft to justify
then factor in hostility towards OWB in general.
lots of areas are outlawing OWB due to a few folks that's smoking out others.

don't think you could go wrong with only 1300 sf to heat. most any new EPA rated stove would do the job nicely.

Just wondering what everyone thought about wood heating stove for inside the house and which brand/kind was the best as far as efficency and convenince. I like the looks of the stoves with the glass front but how do you get the ashes out without putting out the fire. I am currently using a King wood circulator to heat 1300 square feet. I know a owb would be the best but I just can't justify that much right now

 

[Iron Head]

Give Lopi a look.
Don't let the house sqf be your main rating.
You need to consider where the stove/insert is placed and it's position with respect to the house.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Loaded question

I know of no one that owns or has owned a Jotul that has anything but good things to say. I have wood customers with 25 and 30 year old 702s that get a coat of stove black every so often but burn beautifully. I have a Jotul 118, and previous to that a Dover. Both have long 24 inch fireboxes and this one feature i really, really like. It allows you to get a good charge of wood, with the associated longer burn time, in without using a shoehorn.

Another stove that seems really well made with great reviews is Morso. Worth a look.

All that said, my first stove was a used All-Nighter Little Moe that I used for 15 years with no complaints. Really liked the blower feature that pulled cool air back to the stove and forced it through the heat pipes in the firebox.

There are a lot of good stoves out there, it's best to just get out, shop, and find what you like. Be sure to ask the dealer(s) about delivery.

Take Care

 

[Ronaldo]

atvguns,my Pacific Energy stove does load so the end of the wood is facing out to the glass window (door).It burns from front to back,has the secondary burn technology and really throws off the heat when needed.I load at night-around 9-10 o'clock-and there are nice coals at 6-7 0'clock in the morning and the fire starts very easily too. I looked into Regency,Quadra-Flame,Lopi,Vermont Castings and more but decided on the P.E. Price was one factor,had a dealer close by and I like the stainless steel baffle sec. burn design better than a catalyst.From my research and experience the cats can be finicky and are not as durable and need replaced occasionally.The final selling point on the P.E.was the Floating Firebox design-the framework that holds the firebrick inside the stove is not directly fastened to the outer steel plate shell.This allows them to expand and contract during heating and cooling cycles independently and causes less stress on the whole unit.I have had mine for 12 years or so now and it works as well now as when new.

 

[slowp]

You can load wood either way in a square shaped stove. I do both. Yes, if you opened it up, a chunk could roll out, but you don't just yank open the door when it is burning--you crack the door open for a few seconds first.

I have a new house with a whole house fan that is on a timer. I found out that I also need to make sure the fan is off before opening the door on the stove, or the smoke comes out.

I just went with what the local dealer sold. They sold Quadra fires, which is a brand that has been around for a while.

You live in Missouri, so maybe have a milder climate than most. I live in what is usually a mild winter climate--temps in the 30s and 40s. I find that I can't burn a fire all the time because my house gets too hot.
I usually light a fire in the morning, and maybe one in the late afternoon. Your ash cleanout question may be a moot point.

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Ford or Chevy?

I love my Jotul Oslo. We opted for the blue/black finish instead of the more traditional black. The blue/black is like an enamel but without the chipping that comes with enamel. We couldn't be happier - our oil man no longer likes us though...

Shari

 

[zogger]

25 buck yard sale special

that's what we use. Loads from the front, or the top swings back and you can drop a mambo big chunk in for "all niters".

I ain't spending a grand on some woodstove. It's a box, air comes in one side, combusts with the wood gases, then exhausts the other side.

You are much better off doing a REAL analysis of your home for air leaks and so on and adding insulation and tightening cracks, etc with that extra money, and adding in planned air in and out with a heat exchanger. You'll get permanent better "mileage" from your wood stack that way. I used to be in the retrofit biz and did a lot where the homeowner claimed they "had good insulation". Well, our "before and after" infra red photography showed that that isn't the case, and the severe drop in energy bills the following month further proved it. Most homes in the around 2,000 square foot size have around a three foot by three foot total area opening to the outside world, if you add up just the air leaks. That is a HUGE hole in the wall, but they don't see it because it is in the form of cracks and pipes going in and out, etc. Plus, vast majority of insulation that is installed is done incorrectly, plus it isn't enough. Then windows..double pane ain't enough, real insulated windows are triple pane argon gas filled, and/or tight fitting quilted indoor shades.

Spend the money on more insulation once, it pay thereafter forever. Then get a fancy ambiance glass front heater. Priorities. You don't go outside with just a light jacket in the winter when it is zero out..well, neither should your house.

I simply can't get across with words how well this tech works, and just how much it drops heating and cooling costs, you got to see it to believe it. I'll give you two examples, heating, then cooling, from jobs we did. Try a house in Maine, less than one cord for the whole winter. Try a house in central missouri, the air conditioning in the middle of summer only cycled once every day and a half. That's after retrofit to super insulation standards.

Superinsulation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[JimmyT]

I,m been heating a 4000 sq. ft. log home for 25 years with a mid seventies Fisher Stove that will take 31 inch firewood. If I ever upgrade to a new stove I will probably go with a Isle Royale made by Quadra-Fire.

http://
www.
quadrafire.com/Products/Isle-Royale-Wood-Stove.aspx