looking to buy a wood stove.

[celadon]

In our last house we had a old pot bellied stove. I really enjoyed the heat. We moved and are going to purchase another and put it in the livingroom. We do not expect it to keep the whole house warm as toast but would like to be able to keep the livingroom and kitchen pretty cozy. What make and model would you all recommend? And if you knowa site they are advertised please post it. Thank you.

[Cabin Fever]

This topic has come up probably a dozen times over the last couple of years or so. You might want to start out by doing a search of the forum using the word "woodstove."

Generally speacking you have two choices to make: (1) material and (2) air pollution control device type.

The majority of modern woodstoves are made of two materials: either plate steel or cast iron. Each material has it's own pros and cons. My recommendation is plate steel. Plate steel isn't as pretty as cast iron, but it doesn't crack like cast iron either.

The other choice is air pollution device. Most modern woodstoves use either (1) secondary combustion or (2) ceramic catalyst. My recommendation is to stay away from stoves with ceramic catalysts. The catalysts can crack and sometimes plug up. They are expensive to replace. Secondary combustion is trouble free and virtually indestructible.

My recommendation for a woodstove brand is Lopi. These stoves are made in America using thick plate steel and secondary combustion.

[celadon]

Thank you. I will look it up in past posts.

[Hooligan]

One other material not mentioned is soapstone.

It looks great and it holds the heat much longer then cast iron.

"Hearthstone" is a company that makes some very nice stoves.

We have one of thier smaller stoves and it is capable of keeping our 1700 sq/ft home liveable when the power goes out in the winter.

[gccrook]

Just my personal opinion. After looking at multiple brands of plate steel stoves, we went with an Englander. It cost significantly less, and I failed to see any significant difference between the construction of the more expensive ones and the Englander. The Quadrafire had a thicker top, and a different combustion system, but our Englander worked very well this last winter, and was almost half as much as a quadrafire or any other namebrand. Again, just my opinion.

[tinetine'sgoat]

We bought a soapstone by Hearthstone to be installed in the new house and have heard very good things about them. The outside of it doesn't get as hot as metal so we liked that and it will radiate heat for hours after the fire goes out. They sell lots of different models and sizes.

This is the one we went with.
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/wood_stoves/heritage/

[Liese]

If you will be buying cut wood you might want to find out the usual lenghts. We have a small Jotul that we like very much but when we had to buy cordwood we had to ask to have the pieces shorter. Obviously not a problem if you have your own woodlot & do your own cutting. Other than smaller fire box the Jotul has seen 2 winters of almost continuous use and has done well in our small home. I wanted to buy locally but did not like the quality of the plate stoves I saw being sold here in hardware stores, but a lawnmower (!) place was a Jotul dealer, I bought in the spring and got a 15% discount on a floor model.

[canfossi]

I had a Pacific Energy woodstove put in my house, which is about 1200 sq feet. It heats it very well even in the dead of winter, I can cook on it also, but it doesn't really look like a cookstove. Good Luck Chris

[FreeRanger]

We have been using a Quadra-fire for about eight years. Works good, we cut our own wood so 18 inches is not a problem. Burning mostly elm it heats about 1,000sqft of basement and 1,300sqft of first floor in Southern Wisconsin winters. Ranch style house with walk out basement and open floorplan on first floor. We sometime run the furnace fan to circulate the air because the basement get too hot.

http://www.quadrafire.com/products/s...asp?f=3100step

[farmerscotty]

check my signature.......

[fastbackpony]

I got a great stove at TSC - cheaper - and it really works well. I think the brand was US Stoves, and the model was a Magnolia - it is our main source of heat, for around 1800 SQ ft.

I like the glass front, its nice to watch the fire - especially when its "blizzard" conditions outside !

good luck !

[js2743]

northern tool sells lots of stoves they have lots of different ones to pick from

[neolady]

Blaze King would be my choice if I had the $$$.

Personally, I would not recomment Vermond Castings or Drolet and have not been happy with either.

[sugarbush]

soapstone is great, exspensive and well worth every cent. Stay away from Vermont Castings, they are overpriced junk since they sold out to that canadian company. I have been nothing but sorry since we bought our Encore last year......and there is no getting in touch with a customer service rep.