Looking for a new stove

I'm currently heating my home with a Fisher Grandpabear in the basement. My house is 1950 sq ft including the basement and main floor. I have vents in the floor to the basement and also leave the basement door open. The Fisher does a great job at heating the entire house, too good of a job actually. However the stove is just too big for my house. I'm looking for something a little smaller that will have decent burn times and be more efficient on wood consumption. I'm new to EPA style stoves. I understand they require low moisture content wood. That is not a problem for me. I'm currently 5 years ahead on my split and stacked wood. I appreciate any input.

Fred

 

Hi Fred...what brand, or type of stove are you looking at?
Price range? Cat stove, or non?

 

I’m unsure of which brand to look at. Is there any benefits of a cat Vs non cat stove in terms of burning performance? I’m completely new to EPA style stoves so I have a lot to learn. I would like to have a stove that has long burn times and will leave a good bed of coals. I’d say $2500 would probably be the high end of what I’d like to pay.

 

Cat stoves are known for their "low n slow" capabilities...which means a lot longer burn time if you can actually heat your house that way...which since you are heating from the basement, a cat stove is not going to be as beneficial since the stove would have to be pushed a lil harder.
Basement heating also means you'll need a lil bigger stove than you would otherwise since there is some heat loss to the lower level before it can get upstairs...also, modern stoves have an "insulated" firebox, so that they can burn clean, the heat is largely transferred through the stove top, whereas your old Fisher transfers heat more so through the whole stove (which means they can heat better with just hot coals in the firebox than a modern stove can.
Which with all that said, if you buy the right stove you should still be able to save some on wood usage, and certainly will see a cleaner chimney too!
SBI makes a nice selection of basic steel stoves that are made in Canada and are known to be good stoves for the money...I'd stay away from "off shore" stoves...which it can be hard to determine sometimes, some companies really jump through a lot of hoops to make it seem like their stuff is made a lil closer to home.
Here is the website for what is basically the SBI company store.
Wood, Pellet and Camp Stoves

 

His stove is not in the basement, so totally different scenarios.
You guys should be fine as long as you are not going with a tiny stove...or your heat load is insane.

 

another vote for an Ideal Steel, but I am biased...

 

It's not contrary to what I believe...I said less heat to the house (main level) not from the wood (which means the load lasts longer, but that means nothing if you are heating from the basement and aren't making enough heat to warm the main floor to the level that you prefer)
It depends on the house as far as how well basement heating works...some (mine) it works very poorly, some it works perfectly.

 

In my opinion; and certainly not as old and wise as Dennis. Heating from basement can be difficult; depending on climate, if basements walls insulted and how well air moves in your house..

so many people blame stove when 8” poured concrete has R value of 1.1

 

If you do get a new stove I’d keep the old one just incase….My Drolet HT3000 thread

I have an drolet HT 3000 I’d give you a deal on.

 

I wondered when you'd check in here...

 

If I were in your situation, I'd be looking at either Woodstock or Blaze King. Both seem to get great reviews as far as quality, and length of burn.

 

I've heated with a coal stove in the basement then replaced it with the Fisher. I have zero issues with heating from the basement. If I maintain 75-80 in the basement the main level will be around 70-75. The issue with the Fisher is the stove is too large for how small my house is. If I try and keep my stove pipe temp at 300-400 the basement will be 90 degrees. I'd be a lot happier with a lower but longer burn rate. Do EPA stoves require an induction blower? I'm curious what happens when the power goes out.

 

Because when heating from the basement, it serves itself first...if you are trying to run a cat stove on low in the basement, most of your heat will go to the earth, not the second level of the home...YMMV as I said earlier, some homes work better than others when heating from the basement, most don't, mine does not work well at all, hence why I installed the wood fired forced air furnace...that heats the whole house easily, and evenly.

 

I'm not saying a cat stove won't work here, just that you'd better not expect to get 18 hour load times running on 1 (or less) all the time (unless maybe in the shoulder season)
Cat stoves can make just as much heat as any other, but will also use just as much fuel too (as long as we are talking about a similar size stove, that is well designed, and run properly)
Where cat stoves shine is where they can be run at a fairly low burn rate.

 

blaze king for the win!!!

 

I have both cat and noncat. Only the cat stove has the ability to burn lower with longer burn times and be clean burning. I like the ability to choose heat output, and the directly related burn time, to match the conditions in a house stove.

My non cat is easier to run and has a prettier fire view but it chews through wood and gets short burn times since it has to run hot in order to run clean. Not great in a house but great in a big cold shop.

No fan is required for any woodstove. Power outage is no problem.

Basement heating sounds ideal for a wood furnace. Would that work for you? Even a couple of new ducts or run ductless!