None of my wood stoves have a blower, so I can’t comment on that. I would not consider a wood stove that you could not cook on. The wood stove is our primary means of cooking during our long winter months. If cooking is an important consideration for you, I would look for one that has a cooking surface.

Looking at the US3200E from your list, that one certainly has ample cooking space.

Edit: call your insurance company and let them know you are considering adding a wood stove. When I added a wood stove on a previous home, they said they would only insure with proof that it was professionally installed. I am sure there is variation between insurance companies on how they manage wood stoves as they do increase their insurance risk.

 

None of my wood stoves have a blower, so I can’t comment on that. I would not consider a wood stove that you could not cook on.

+1

 

Thanks AJ. Cooking isn't the primary concern but by nature I like to extract every ounce of utility from any purchase, especially something that costs as much as one of these units. As for the blowers, I have a bigger 2 story home to heat and need a bit larger unit and thinking the blower(s) will make it more efficient.

 

The blowers might help distribute heat, but I don’t have any personal experience. I had a three story home with the wood stove on the bottom floor. We were able to keep the top floors from freezing by keeping the doors open. Heat rises, so if your house is efficient with insulation, and depending on home design, this might be the case for you. If you loose electricity, then you would not have the blower, but with radiant heat and with heat rising, you will still be better off.

Which model were you considering? The 3200 certainly has adequate space for cooking. Some of the smaller ones had some. Having space to put a pot of water on to boil would be the minimum space I would consider. We have gotten pretty good at cooking food inside the wood stove as well as on the surface.

 

We put a Great wood stove in our new house. The stove is a heritage model built by Hearthstone. What I like best is the stove body is built from soap stone which absorbes heat and remains hot to the touch 6-8 hours after the fire burns out. We also purchased an insulated floor plate, the heat shield and blower on the back, and we paid the stove dealer to install the stove and pipe.

Three days ago we had record low temps here in Oklahoma. My heat pump stops working at about 20F, and we saw a low temp of -9F. I kept the stove burning all day, and loaded a big oak log when I went to bed at midnight. When I got up at 7am, that oak log was still burning, and the house was 73F.

If you prefer cheap, I will be selling our old wood stove (Pleasant Hearth sold by Home Depot). Asking $500, and I will help load it in your truck.

 

We put a Great wood stove in our new house. The stove is a heritage model built by Hearthstone. What I like best is the stove body is built from soap stone which absorbes heat and remains hot to the touch 6-8 hours after the fire burns out. We also purchased an insulated floor plate, the heat shield and blower on the back, and we paid the stove dealer to install the stove and pipe.
. View attachment 355099

When I replace our huge old Valmort woodstove a few years ago I also went with a Hearthstone Heritage and agree that in many ways it is a great stove but not for cooking. We pulled our flue out of the back to make flue cleaning easier which means we have a heavy iron plate on the top of the stove where the top flue hole is (these stoves allow you to set up the flue either way.. But while you could cook on it because of the fiberboard on top of the firebox even with the iron plate that looks like a nice cooking surface it rarely gets above 375 degrees.

 

Yes Sir, the 3200.

 

Check with your homeowner's insurance before you install it. They have a tendency to jack your rates way up if you report it and deny your claim if you don't.

 

Thanks Guys. Hick appreciate the offer but I checked out the home depot brand but its not EPA certified for the 26% tax credit. Plus, I'm a bit to far away to do that. I believe they carry the Ashley Hearth line, not covered for the tax break.

 

Can you get the tax credit if this is the first wood burning stove in your house, or do you have to be replacing an older, less efficient wood burner?

 

I just put this one in in the fall from home depto ,
it burns real good and has a tall fire box .
It’s better then the stove from tractor supply magnolia model I heat a 3000sf house with a hearth stone equinox .
you don’t need a plowed they are junk any way .
Just use a ceiling fan in reverse to push the air.
ive never lived in a house with heat 👍

 

I just put this one in in the fall from home depto ,
it burns real good and has a tall fire box .
It’s better then the stove from tractor supply magnolia model I heat a 3000sf house with a hearth stone equinox .
you don’t need a plowed they are junk any way .
Just use a ceiling fan in reverse to push the air.
ive never lived in a house with heat 👍
View attachment 355095

WB

Did you have to build a chimney for it ? I have a fireplace on the first floor but want to install the wood burner in the basement. Building a chimney is a pain in the back side because of regs and such.

 

If the power is out, use a Sterling engine powered fan

these have been on the market - forever....

 

My in laws had, what they called, octopus heating ducts. They had the standard propane heating and ductwork and they had an oversized jacket that went around the wood stove that was in the same room. The jacket was piped into the other heating ducts and the heat was distributed by just the hot air rising. No electricity needed and was in their basement so heated the basement too. My last place had a wood stove and it was in the center of the main floor and piped through the floor/ceiling and out the house via the roof. We put a box fan behind it when it was cranking out the heat to easier distribute the heat. Horse hair and plaster walls (1886 built house) and it held the heat great. My parents installed a Vermont castings encore with integrated thermostat controlled blower. Their geothermal has gone out (yes currently out and the live in Michigan) and the stove alone heats their house (helped bring wood in from the wood pile and it is currently 79* inside. They are in their late 79’s so they love the heat). We get a lot of free logs from sawmill work and the cut off sections get stacked and dried as well as logs that are bent to much or to small. I cut lots of wood and love every minute of it.

 

I mentioned our Defiant on the other thread and I see it is on the list you attached. Ours is over 40 yrs old. It is set up in the basement near the stairway. It has kept the house over 60 deg when out of power during severe winter weather.
Very pricey but all on that list probably are. You probably can't make a mistake on any of them. It will probably come down to what looks the part for you.

 

Here is the outside chimney my daughter it running the pipe up , it’s stainless steel pipe from Lowe’s.
The stuff is The most reasonably priced flu out there , you have to make sure you are getting SS pipe they sell cheep galvanized pipe but I would not put that in
Meatelspestos sells better pipe for double the money , I have that at home and it’s been burning 30 years 24/7
One thing it’s much better to run the pipe up in the center of the house so your flue stays hot .

 

 

I’m making some dinner on my magnolia wood stove , my cabin is 2800 sf and this heats it when it’s below 0 I have no kitchen yet and I’m still building it .
The place is off grid .

 

harth stone equinox heats over3000 sf if you could swing a better $$$ stove I would buy a soap stone or a cast iron Jotel the one problem with these newer stoves is the wood needs to be bone dry Or they don’t make good heat .
This stove has a 8” flue pipe and it’s expensive to buy compared to the 6” the stove is 13 years old and the chimney was put in in 1995 when I built the place .

 

IMO,
If you want to get the most out of your wood stove configure the stovepipe in a dog-leg so there is some horizontal in the path. more of the heat will be dissipated in the lower portion of the pipe rather than all going up the pipe as with strait pipe configuration. I secure my stove pipe using sheet metal screws, and since I don't change the configuration it is easy to dismntle and reassemble for cleaning.
Hardwoods do not usually require the pipe to be cleaned as much as softer woods because they burn hotter and more thoroughly.
Though the stove may have a damper, I put one about 18" -24" in the stovepipe just above the stove, It gives me more control.
I take my little cookstove everywhere I"ve moved to, and even in this 3 bedroom house it maintains 60 or better in freezing temperatures outside. The firebox in it is 7"X7"X16". I cut 20" biscuits to roughly 12" long and maybe burn equivalent to 2 biscuits from 6; PM till 12; PM or when I go to bed, sometimes more sometimes less depending on the wood.

 

By putting two 90* bends in the pipe to make a horizontal section your cooling the smoke and allowing creosote to build. This is what causes chimney fires.
Go vertical. No draft issues, no bends to clean and less creosote. It's also cheaper. If you want to get more heat out of the same stove put an outside air kit on it or insulate better.

 

I don't have a blower built into the woodstove. I do have a 10 dollar box fan that I use from time to time.

 

Two homes, two Hearthstones. Newer models suffer from Obama administration of efficiency. Not only do they need to have super dry wood, it may take an exchange of stoves till you get one that can sustain a burn. Be sure that is understood in your purchase contract. That said, they will carry overnight. The model posted above has the advantage of self cleaning glass. Still using one we purchased in 1980.

 

We are leaning towards the US Stove brand . My concern is that we may not be able to cook on the unit. Also assuming electricity goes down, how do I keep the blower going without a generator ?

When I saw you wrote that you are leaning toward the US Stove I thought that is what I have and my best newest wood stove. But I suppose you are going to the almost $1,700 one? Mine cost me $300 four years ago and I see they are going up. Mine is Not 2020 compliant and I made it even less compliant by removing the white fiber glass filter in the top when I was putting it together.

I don't need to be compliant since my place is very remote and I just need a good wood stove which it is strong and cast iron.
I also burn pine and fir which burns fast and hot. I cook, mainly boiling water which is one of the main ways I cook. Here is a pic of mine which is larger than it appears in this pic. I don't have a blower either. I may get another one or an Earth stove which is very large and burns a lot of firewood which is what I need to do with my over abundance of dead wood. I think my US stove is a great stove for heating and simple cooking >

 

Also assuming electricity goes down, how do I keep the blower going without a generator ?

Here is the main item I have seen a neighbor with a cabin almost a mile away but he has used this for 20 years and it seems to work in distributing the heat from a wood stove. This takes no electricity, simply sits on top of the stove and the following with a photo tells much more from this link > https://www.amazon.com/PYBBO-Improv...9&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029280&hvtargid=pla-844529193522

I think Walmart and some other stores also sell these. And no more than $54

• No batteries or mains electricity required, the moelectric module acts as a small generator to power the fan's motor. The fan base and blade are made from anodized aluminum which is rust-proof, wear-resisting, with good thermal conductivity
• Silent operation, spread heat around room and increase temperature with low noise, improve warm air circulation results in greater comfort and reduce wood consumption from your stove.

 

As for a stove fan I've been using thermoelectric stove fans on top of my stoves for 35 years. They require no electricity instead running using electricity produced by a thermocouple that uses the heat from the wood stove to create the power. There are many different models on Amazon but EcoFan has made a good one for over 35 years.

 

As for a stove fan I've been using thermoelectric stove fans on top of my stoves for 35 years. They require no electricity instead running using electricity produced by a thermocouple that uses the heat from the wood stove to create the power. There are many different models on Amazon but EcoFan has made a good one for over 35 years. They cost between $50 and $90.

 

Our insert is Lopi brand, named for an Indian tribe. It really heats. We appreciate it during long cold spells like this one.

 

A buddy told me about a fan that runs off heat. Good for when power goes out to use at a wood stove. I never knew what he was talking about, but must be the fans Mtnman and John G are referring to. My bud called them Amish Fans...so maybe something different. Not sure.

I have a small insert, and without the blower it would put out some decent heat and hopefully keep the place above freezing, but would definitely lose quite a bit, especially in the extremities of the house.

When we put in the gas and wood inserts, I told our insurance company and all they said was "ok" and they didn't care. I was surprised.

 

A buddy told me about a fan that runs off heat. Good for when power goes out to use at a wood stove. I never knew what he was talking about, but must be the fans Mtnman and John G are referring to. My bud called them Amish Fans...so maybe something different. Not sure.

A few years ago I ran a little experiment. I hung a thermometer half way down a hall about 25' from the woodstove. and a thermometer in the living room 10' from the wood stove and over a few weeks measured the difference in tempature between the livingroom and hall. Some days I'd have the EcoFan on the woodstove, other days I pulled the EcoFan off the stove.

I found that the EcoFan raised the tempature in the hall 25' away by 6 degrees. Not a huge difference, these little fans don't move that much air but still a significant increase in comfort in the house. For us this is important because the master bedroom is at the end of that hall and we prefer to not use the woodstove in the master bedroom unless the outdoor tempature gets below 15 degrees because the Elm Stove (look it up) in the master bedroom can easily overheat the room.

 

Our civil war era family homestead has a Franklin stove. The flue runs horizontally across the kitchen ceiling the horizontal run definitely radiates more heat. Usual code and practice the flue vertical rise must be more than the horizontally run.

 

Ya that’s what I started with I can’t believe we did not burn the house down .
Our stove sat in the corner of the dining room.
and up till thanks giving the dining room table was in the center of the room under the lamp .
As soon as desert was over the table slid to one side and the smoke dragon came out .
The pipe went up about 7’ high and then it shot thru a hole in the wall down the hall way and then up to the second floor and thru 2 bed rooms and into the chimney above the dining room and out .
There must of been 50 or 60 feet of pipe it was a old house there was a well in the garage next to the kitchen and a second well underthe kitchen cabinets with a hand pump
In the bacement there was a concrete cistern and the roof leaders ran into the foundation .
I have not thought of the old house in a long time .

 

Other than a dog leg configuration of my stove pipe, I also use an electric fan below the stove to push the cold air on the floor against the stove and it heats up the room very fast. I also have one of those heat-powered fans as well on top of the stove.