Thinking about a new stove but need some help

Ok we live in north east Texas not a super cold winter but does get chilly. We have an old farm house 1700sq' old windows that are drafty as heck. Now with that being said. I have at this point a aplachain wood stove insert. Now I have no clue on the model number it was there when we bought the place. OK so this year I checked to see inside the stove if it has cats in it and no it does not. Now I would say I burn close to a wheelbarrow load a night I have replaced the gasket around the door and around the ash tray. I still burn what I feel like is way too much wood. With that being said if I go with a new insert what kind should I get? Or style. The reason I ask if the casts burn out so quickly why buy a stove with them in it? Why not just go with one that does not have cats?

 

Really, I would address the window problem first. Would help with cooling in the summer too.

 

The windows will be fixed this spring.

 

Yep, stop the air leaks around windows and doors, then you'll be able to get a smaller (cheaper) stove. What is the layout, classic two-story frame farmhouse? Floor plan or a sketch would help. It's an insert in an existing masonry fireplace?

 

House is single story ranch style with a wood insert.

 

The fire place is on one end and our bedroom is on the other end

 

With the stove not centrally located, you'll need to tighten up the house to be able to get heat to the other end without a lot of loss (bedroom will still be cool enough for sleeping.) Some blowers are louder than others, so that's something to consider. As for cat vs. non-cat, depends on a lot of things. If you're gone all day, you might want the longer burn of a cat stove. They will also use a bit less wood. But most inserts out there are going to be tube stoves, not cats, and they are less expensive if that's a consideration. You should install a stainless liner as well. It will be safer, and stove performance will be much improved. A liner may cost as much or more than the insert. There are lots of considerations that go into heating with wood. The more you read the forums, the better-informed you'll be to make a decision that you'll be happy with. In the meantime, tighten up the house and get a bunch of wood split, stacked and drying. The new stoves absolutely must be fed dry wood (two years in the stack) to perform to your expectations.

 

You make the statement that the cats burn out so quickly.....where did you get that information ? If a cat stove is fed well seasoned wood that is not the case. Now there is some expense with replacing a cat that you do not have with a tube stove but the long slow burns in my opinion are worth that little extra cost. As Woody and others have said get those drafts sealed and get busy hoarding wood so you have 2 to 3 year old split and stacked wood and any new stove will probably do you justice.

 

Yeah, I'd be looking to correct that too. For reference, I burn 4-5 splits per night and wake up to a warm house and plenty of hot coals for a reload. This speaks to air sealing/insulation and a cat stove. Blaze King makes the Princess in an insert, the only cat insert I can think of.....

ETA: Regency CI2600
Buck Model 91

 

I Too can go all night (9:30 - 6:00 ) on 4-5 splits of wood, Last night I did it on 3 large ones. Stove front temp was still above 300* and the cat was still active. If I stuffed it full it would go longer.. I'm happy with it cause I don't have to get up in the night to feed it...

 

How big is the wheelbarrow?
We've got an old, small one that wouldn't hold much, then we've also got a larger one. I'd not want to burn as much wood every night that the large one holds.
Air sealing and insulating is going to give you returns you won't believe, unless you've done that before.
Good thing you'll be fixing the window situation. I just did that and it's helped a ton (17 more, and I'll be all set).
Most manufacturers guarantee their cats for several years and might pro-rate at some point. I think BK recently changed to a 10 year. $150-200 every few years is only a couple bucks a month over the long haul.

 

If you get the place sealed up a bit, you may quite often be able to get away with just burning one load overnight, and won't need to burn 24 hrs, as daytime temps will often be moderate. In your situation I might be inclined to go with a simple tube stove which would get up and cruising quick with a minimum of fuss, since you will probably be doing a lot of cold starts. You might even be able to put a top-vented freestanding stove in the fireplace, it it's tall enough, provided you had enough room to insulate the fireplace with Roxul and put in a block-off plate to keep the heat in the room. If you have a hearth which extends out in front of the fireplace, you may not be limited to an insert; You could have a rear-vent stove sitting out on the hearth, like I do. A lot of the cheaper plate-steel stoves do not rear-vent, however. Of course, you could top-vent up 3', then have a 90* elbow and thimble to go into the chimney, if your stack will be tall enough to still get good draft with the 90* turns. Some stoves do not require a lot of hearth protection (R-value,) but only need ember protection. Instead of providing an easy choice, I'm giving you more to think about, sorry. But if you're like me, you want to know what the options are...there's a learning curve if you wanna do it right.

 

It is one of the big wheelbarrows big blue all metal ones.

 

So the best I can figure is my stove is a BW-32 from Appalachian stove. Does any one have one like this? Or know any thing about them? On another note I was talking to one of the stove guys on the phone the other day and he told me my wood was too dry. That it should not be stacked for 3 years I am waiting too long to burn it. That is why he said I burn so much wood!

 

That stove was built with a cat, if yours is missing that's part of the problem.

 

http://c284818.r18.cf1.rackcdn.com/appalachian_32-BW_manual_08.pdf

 

Ok, so it's the big one.
That's too much to burn.

Man, I had a big old response about the stove guy and firewood.......decided not to post it.
Suffice to say, the firewood needs to be 20% or less moisture content to burn well, no matter how long it takes to get it there.

 

Good info fox9988.
Go to page 11 for cat info.