Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

On my house it's Cladmate SM , no drainage plane in the actual foam but BC building code requires a 10mm (3/8") rainscreen drainage plane between the back of the siding and the building paper or housewrap

http://building.dow.com/en-us/produ...c_itemid=e24ee39e-0fde-4c20-b61c-e5c07b483cf8

 

Yup, we used seasoned oak in our pot belly & twice a month I'd burn some extremely dry white pine thru it to burn out the creosote....worked like a charm...

 

Use a pellet stove myself. Put in a bag every day and a half (bag a day when its really cold) and that's it. Shop Vac it out about every three weeks and clean the stove pipe out once a year. I love the thing. We use it about 6 months a year. Maintenence wise, Ive changed the door gaskets a couple times in 8 years, and gone through three electric igniters until I figured out how to extend their life.

 

We burn about a bag a day when it gets cold. Clean it about once per ton (when the ash pan is full). One door gasket in 6 years. I use a propane torch to light it. I was told when I bought it that the igniters were less than reliable, so no igniter in mine. Torch brings it up to temp. it will start feeding pellets in 2-3 minutes

 

I'm kind of new here, here is my wood processing and storage area from last spring when I was just finishing up some splitting and stacking. I burn about 3 cords a year and stay three years ahead so I know my wood is seasoned properly.

I took the picture with my DJI Phantom.

 

Nice

 

Use a Harmon pellet stove myself for the last 4yrs. Havnt touched it other than clean it out when its full of ash and clean pipes out every spring. 1 bag a day and it keeps me toasty thru the whole winter

 

Nice organzied setup. The DJI photo is cool too.

 

Well its come time to pick a stove for my new house and I want to run this by you experts in the matter. I have 750sq feet to heat and I'm considering the Jotul F 602 after talking with the local dealer. I am not sure however, how much I will depend on this stove for my primary heat source. I have hydronic radiant floor heat in my slab too.

Having never owned a home with either of these type heat sources I can't say for sure which one will end up the primary source but I'm guessing it will be the hydronics. I live in the southeast where winters aren't so bad you can survive with a simple heat pump. That is all I've ever known.

My original plan was to consider the stove as back up in case of power failure and also for its ambiance. However I want the right stove in case that changes.

The Jotul dealer says the 602 is designed for 800sq feet and so answers my needs. The problem I see is that it's so small and with only a 5hr burn time, it would not last through the night where as a bigger stove would. Bigger might run me out too. What do you guys think?

http://jotul.com/us/products/stoves/jotul-f-602

 

I'd vote go with the Jotul 100 rather than the 602. The 602's are rated for up to 800 square feet which means that it'll heat that footage on a full burn. At that pace you won't get 5 hours out a load, and if you set the damper for a 5 hour burn it won't be effectively heating your square footage.
The F100 is rated for 1000 and will heat your place comfortably at a low or medium burn, which will get your more time out of the burn. You won't have to run it at full-bore so you'll use less wood and it'll be more even heat.

Just my $.02; I've never tried heating that far south, so your mileage may vary.

 

Hmmm, sounds like maybe a better choice. I just looked it up tho and it says "non- catalytic", isn't that gonna be less efficient? Also I thought the industry standard now was catalytic?

 

Not necessarily. Catalytic converters are a pain in the balls, if you'll pardon the language. Especially on stoves that aren't being run at high temp regularly. The new reburn systems on a lot of modern stoves are just as efficient as a cat stove, lower maintenance, and there's less that can go wrong with them.

 

I love my Pacific Energy Alderlea T5

 

I have a Harmon too, just keeps cranking away. You have to shop vac the blower motor out once in a while and lube the slow moving chain. I just do what the manual says. I have nothing against wood stoves, but a ton of pellets takes up a lot less room and I can keep it in the garage. The price of pellets Vs. wood varies depending where you live. Woodsy area, cheaper wood. City, spendier wood.

 

Seems to get consistent positive reviews here:

http://www.hearth.com/talk/ratings.php

A couple of negatives here mixed in with the positives:

http://www.wiseheat.com/wood-stoves/pacific_energy_alderlea_t4_classic

 

Your 2nd link is for the T4

 

If you read the reviews you'll see it's a mixed bag.

 

Well whatever , best stove I've ever used

 

Not bad for 3 wks of continuous burn, minus removal of ash from the as box every 2 days. Cleaned firebox, ash box and the 8 heat exchanger tubes.