Does anyone have a link to some fact, not opinion based wood stove reviews? Got to buy a new wood stove for my new house after my separation. Really need a reason to hit something with an axe. Cheers Fulltang
Winters coming...you're a firewood hoarder...sounds like good enough reason to me! Sorry to hear about your separation...that sucks...hope y'all can work it out...
Just buck to 16" lengths and split all you can. I have never seen an unbiased review site for stoves. Heck, you can't even find one for washing machines but consumer reports tries. If you give us some parameters we can give you some options. Budget, new/used, 6" pipe, square footage, looks, top vent or rear vent, heat needs, burn time needs,etc.
Sorry to hear Fulltang, I'm told splitting by hand is cathartic and echo hopefully you can work it out too. I can comment on two companies customer service I've used. We had a BK King insert for awhile, I was VERY impressed with the quick answers, everyone seemed to know all models inside out and they were friendly. Now I have a Drolet pellet stove too, they more corporate and harder to get a hold of, but once on the phone they were great, a language barrier with a couple people that were difficult to understand, but maybe you speak French too. Drolet parts however are another story, 4 week timeline between ordering and receiving.
IMO, too many of the "fact" based review sites are sponsored and biased. I'd rather have the user/owner personal reviews. doh
Before you go through all the searching, Many of us can help you narrow this down. Give us 3 things; How many square foot of area/house your heating, Do you want new, used or pre EPA, and how much do you want to spend? You can go from $250.00 to $4800.00 real fast! I see your in New Brunswick so BTU's are something you gonna really need. Give us something to work with and we'll do our best to put you in the right direction. Also side note, what wood would you "most" be burning/availability?
Thanks for the words of advice guys. New house is about 800 sq/ft. (small) Looking for a high efficiency EPA stove, new or used depending on what I can find. Budget ------- I am thinking about 4 grand cdn , installed. It would be a straight pipe up through the ceiling , through the roof close to the peak of the bungalow. Wood is normally in the 18 -21 MBTU/Cord range. Maple, birch, some ash, Also the whole unpleasant experience of separation has been offset by my new smoking hot girlfriend. oh well.
Smoking hot girlfriend=nice Get a stove that fits your schedule. Be sure it burns long enough to span your time away from home. Install your pipe/hearth so it will accommodate a different/larger model. You never know! Your budget has many options. I heat 750sq ft with a small car stove . Zero complaints.
One word of caution on sizing of the stove. Most times when people buy small stoves that will heat x number of sq ft, they find that it will heat it. However, it heats it for a short period of time. That works okay in spring and fall but in the winter months, they find it really lacking for heat during the nights or even if they need heat all day long and nobody to fill the stove. Of course the key to this is to get a larger stove and keep it dampered down so you don't roast everyone but then if your wood is not perfect then creosote problems can creep up. Longer burn times and slower burns is one big reason I like a cat stove. For your needs, I'm betting something like the Woodstock Keystone would work very well. Good luck with both the stove and the hot one. May they both stay smoking hot.
Web site but I can't link from phone United States Environmental Protection Agency. (USEPA) certified wood burner. I started thread on titled "woodstove efficiency .." Unfortunately not near computer and service here stinks.. Congratulations on the smoking hot girlfriend part.
Thanks WeldrDave !! Unfortunately for Fulltang that just gives efficiencies and not quality of build and ease-of-use data. So in short depending on what's available in your area.. A lot of good stoves. Woodstock (mail order), Blaze King and KUMA are high efficiency and have many fans. Also the Englander NC -30 many members have and enjoy at a lower price point.. Good luck and ask questions
Buy the correct size stove for the house it will be used in for the same reasons you size correctly for any other heating system. Too small and it won't keep up on the coldest of days and too big and you'll be short cycling, overheating and wasting wood. Little tiny fires in a huge cavern of a stove that's designed to push large amounts of air thru it to generate large amounts of BTU gets old real quick. With a small house you might be better off with a small stove and supplemental heat for the rare cold days (if they are rare cold days) and use your resources and equipment efficiently and wisely.
Great input Team, Thanks for all of the information and encouragement. I will keep you all updated on the Stove and girlfriend. Side note: When you are single again and in your 40's......... there is plenty of attention given, oh yes. There is a lot of lonely ladies out there.
