In pursuit of even heat

In a cat stove maybe a BK princess or king large fireboxes and noted for low and slow, but a bit pricy. ( note the King is an 8" flue). I am a little bit more than 1/2 of the state south of you, but it gets cold here ( -31 deg.F in Feb.2019) with pretty good winds most of time ( farm fields all around) . On My current home I lucked out, it is just about as good a layout as possible for whole home heating with a wood stove on main level centrally located . I just have a simple NC30. ( steel stove but will not fit your requirement of even extended heat) Big plus is this place was built with 6" walls and is well insulated(1990 build) and does not leak like a sieve.

 

Thanks Rich L
While looking at specs of different stoves, I was considering (among other things) models with the largest firebox that support a 6” flue. So far, that’s been 3 cu/ft.

One thing that I am trying to figure out is how hot each model will be when set to burn at it’s slowest rate. I think that’s min BTU? The stove is in the living room and I don’t want to sweat, if possible.

 

J.A. ROBY 4.7 cu. ft. Firebox
(not sure if these are still available in USA, EPA 2020)

 

I cannot speak for all stoves with soapstone but the Ideal Steel, yes, absolutely. The first half- load of wood is 'for the stove', and the splits after that are for you and the house. It takes a while and a pretty fair fire for the I.S. to start putting heat into the room, at least in my experience. A plain ole' steel box begins to heat immediately. The upside of the soapstone is the long, even heating it provides, even as the fuel is nearly consumed.

And that fuel load for the stove is only applicable for an empty, cold stove- once the stove is warm, even if it is down to a couple of handfuls of embers, adding fuel will get heat going in the room again pretty quickly.

I do not consider this situation a problem, merely a characteristic.

With good fuel, the I.S. throttles wonderfully and will run the lowest while still burning extremely cleanly of any stove I have ever used or seen. I believe this is due to the well insulated firebox combined with the combustor being located right in the center of the stove, directly above the firebox. It is also almost unbelievably efficient with exhaust temps that are amazingly low- generally around 350F, inside the flue temps (not outside the flue pipe) during most of our winters here in RI.

Brian

 

I think a Woodstock with a 3 cubic ft. firebox or larger would be good.Also the new Mansfield from Hearthstone with it's 3.2 cubic ft. firebox would work.You haven't said anything about your winter temps and your house insulation if any.For a non soapstone option at 6 inch flue a Blaze King Princess should be looked at.If it's as cold up there as I think it is you won't be sweated out. Anyway these stoves are very controllable.