logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
Woodstoves are like women: no 'best one'. It's all a matter of taste--all other things being equal (like heat).
We've heated with wood in northern New England for too damn long, with so many wood stoves that the brain can't remember (CRS).
From early Ashley, Frankin Fireplace, barrel stove, Lange, Fisher, Vermont Castings, Morso, Jotul, Tempwood....used all of them to heat home and workshop usually over 90% of heating. Most wood stoves are just for supplemental (the "up from" the thermostat set at 65 F ) or entertainment for the occasional romantic interlude.:msp_scared:
For the past 10 years we use 2, heating 99% of both equal parts of a well-insulated place in Downeast Maine. One is a cat cast iron, the other a non-cat cast. The stoves eat about 6-8 cords/ year of medium BTU wood harvested from our woodlots ( Paper Birch & Red/Soft Maple). Both stoves are EPA rated and around 6 years old.
The cat stove uses close to 1/4 less wood for the same heat as the non-cat. Cats have a bad rep because of the added minor maintenance of the combustor, the extra step in burning, and the life expectancy of cats, now changing with the new metal cats. It's a user thing.
Best stove is the one that you like the looks of, does the job you want, and has low maintenance. Cast or steel, cat or non-cat, new or used is a user decision.
My bias is quality: Jotul, Woodstock, Pacific Energy. Since we heat with the stoves, the extra log load is burnt before bedtime; who wants to get up at oh-dark-hundred to cold stoves, cold house, cold bodies ?:angry2:
We've heated with wood in northern New England for too damn long, with so many wood stoves that the brain can't remember (CRS).
From early Ashley, Frankin Fireplace, barrel stove, Lange, Fisher, Vermont Castings, Morso, Jotul, Tempwood....used all of them to heat home and workshop usually over 90% of heating. Most wood stoves are just for supplemental (the "up from" the thermostat set at 65 F ) or entertainment for the occasional romantic interlude.:msp_scared:
For the past 10 years we use 2, heating 99% of both equal parts of a well-insulated place in Downeast Maine. One is a cat cast iron, the other a non-cat cast. The stoves eat about 6-8 cords/ year of medium BTU wood harvested from our woodlots ( Paper Birch & Red/Soft Maple). Both stoves are EPA rated and around 6 years old.
The cat stove uses close to 1/4 less wood for the same heat as the non-cat. Cats have a bad rep because of the added minor maintenance of the combustor, the extra step in burning, and the life expectancy of cats, now changing with the new metal cats. It's a user thing.
Best stove is the one that you like the looks of, does the job you want, and has low maintenance. Cast or steel, cat or non-cat, new or used is a user decision.
My bias is quality: Jotul, Woodstock, Pacific Energy. Since we heat with the stoves, the extra log load is burnt before bedtime; who wants to get up at oh-dark-hundred to cold stoves, cold house, cold bodies ?:angry2: