New wood burning - trying to "size" a stove - considering the Englander

Hi,

I have been lurking around here on the forum for a little bit and trying to get a firm grasp of the nuances of the current state of wood stoves. I bought some property off in the woods this year and have just put up a pole barn that is about 1200sf. The plan it to frame and enclose a workshop in one half of the barn and we plan to "camp" out in it while we are there on the property working, and eventually building a cabin. Over the years I have lived in homes with fireplaces and an improvised wood "furnace" but most of those solutions really were less than ideal. I would like to get a wood stove in our barn that will be used to keep us warm while we are staying there at the property and later when it is a workshop so I can actually use the shop in the winter. Our budget is pretty tight so my grand and glorious plans to get the stove I really like and want to buy has been put on the back burner and I am looking at the most efficient stove I can buy within my budget. I see on the EPA listings that the Englander is very efficient and affordable. So I am leaning in that direction now. I have seen lots of posts and recommendations for the NC30. However I keep reading posts about stoves beeing too big or too small. So that got me to thinking and I thought I should post and get some feedback.

I am thinking of getting the NC30. However I am wondering if this stove is going to be too big for what we need. The enclosed end of the barn/shop space really is only going to be about 600 SF when finished. The barn has that reflective bubble wrap for insulation in the roof, and I still need to insulate the walls. Am I going to roast to death with an NC30 with such a small space or can I just dampen down the air flow and let it coast on a low burn and still be OK? Or should I be looking at the NC13? And can I get a decent all night burn with such a small firebox on the NC13? Am I going to be wasting a lot of wood by going with the NC30?

I appreciate your feedback and input.

 

You've come to the right place. Welcome aboard

 

I agree with most everything Backwoods Savage (Dennis) just said. To really narrow down a stove for your budget and temporary needs we would probably have to ask a few questions.
My first question would be, is this the stove that will heat your pole barn living space also going to be used to heat your cabin when it's done being built?
What stove, when you have a better idea on funds, is the 'dream' stove you want?

 

Are you saying that the actual part of the pole barn you will be heating is only 600 sq ft? What is the r value on the insulation in the ceiling?

If the 600 sq foot shop area is well insulated the NC30 may be a bit much stove however it would help heat the place up quickly if you got there and it was cold out.

 

Welcome to the forum Longsnowsm.
I'll chime in here.
I have the 30 and for a 600 sq. ft. space with "normal" insulation, it'll blow you out of the place.
If the insulation is lacking, it may be fine. Sounds like the "bubble" stuff won't be up to the task.
Will the stove be on a slab, or some sort of finished floor? The 30 is an economical stove, but has a pretty stiff R-value requirement for the floor, so this is a very relevant question.
Do you plan to use the heat generated to also heat the shop portion at times?
Lots of questions need answers for us to give gooder responses.
Get a mid-sized cat stove that can be run low and slow, then move it to the house/cabin.

 

Also, as Dennis mentioned, the fuel is the most overlooked part of the woodburning experience.
Get some now......we'll wait.
Seriously, get about 3-4 full cords now.....now. I'm trying very hard to not sound bossy, but you'll possibly have a very difficult time trying to stay warm unless the wood is at least partially dry.
Water doesn't burn, and freshly cut wood has a lot of water/sap. A lot.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think this stove will stay in the barn once we get a house/cabin built. The manufacturer says that bubble wrap stuff in the roof is good for R14, but I am not quite believing it so as we frame in the shop we will be putting some insulation in the rafters and in the walls to button it up in the workshop side, and I will see what I can do in the barn/storage side. For now it is for all intents and purposes "a barn". It was built last week, and the concrete floor goes in next week. So it is all a work in progress.

My ideal stove right now that appeals to my geek is the Woodstock Ideal Steel. But I think that will have to wait until we are building the house, and hopefully they will evolve the Ideal Steel even further by the time we are at that point to make that purchase. However I question if that also will be too big a stove for what I need. I will cross that bridge when I get there I guess.

What I was thinking with the NC30 is that since this is a barn and it isn't exactly what you would call well insulated(LOL) that the stove choice should probably be oversized for the space. However we do hope to button up the workshop the best we can and make it somewhat livable as we continue or projects. What do you think? Am I over thinking this? Under thinking it?

Thanks for bringing up the wood situation. I have been reading and seeing that the moisture content needs to be below 20% and that we are talking 2 or 3 years seasoned wood. Most of the wood on our land is oak so I will have a good supply of hardwoods for fuel, but like you said it needs to be drying now. So I will be buying some seasoned wood to get my supply started and will invest in a moisture meter. I don't plan to be full time on the property for probably a year or two so we have some time to build a supply and let it dry.

 

One thing that may help you is your climate. You should able to season oak, or any wood for that matter in CO much faster than we can in the east.

 

I am definitely open to a small stove idea if I know it will easily do the all night burns. I kept reading that larger fireboxes were the key to the all night burns so that is what sent me in the direction of the NC30 with the large firebox.

I have already started calling around to local firewood suppliers in the area and will be taking your advise and getting a few cords stored as soon as we get the floor poured next week.

 

Oh, I should add that our property is in the Ozarks in MO. :-D So no fast drying wood there! LOL

 

That's good news.

 

Do you have plans to insulate under the slab?
My suggestion........do it. At least put a good vapor barrier down.
What the climate like?

 

I would love to go with the CAT stove, but right now I don't see any that are in my budget with everything I have going on... That is what sent me looking at the most efficient non-cat stoves I could find in the bargain price range... I tend to look at the efficiency numbers pretty closely and that is where my focus has been. When I realized I couldn't afford the Ideal Steel this year I went looking for alternatives and found the NC30 that fit the budget constraints, but if you guys have some suggestions that would fit the bill I am all ears. I need to keep the price of the stove below $1000 for this application. Thanks again for all of the great input!