Wood burning stove options

Presently building a new house 1200sf. The house is well insulated and an open floor plan. I’ll have a propane furnace but try to heat as much as I can with wood. We don’t have terrible winters but it can get pretty cold at times. So you seasoned wood stove guys have any recommendations. I’ve searched the web and haven’t found what I’m looking for. Thanks

Look into floor heat they say that is the most comfortable way to go, I like my outside boiler the fire/mess stays outside and it's not as dry of a heat!

I love my Jotul. But my needs are likely more than your's would be. Very efficient stoves.

I just built a 1400 sqft and looked and looked I was going to go with the hartshorn castleton but ended up with the lopi endeavor. I like the lopi stove.

Even better than a wood burning stove is a Masonry heater.
You'll burn less wood for more heat.
The heat is much more even.
Light a fire, let it burn with the air wide open, when the flames are gone (about 2-2 1/2 hrs) shut the air off.
Thats it. you may have to burn 2 fires a day in really cold weather.

Much safer, you never open the firebox once the fire is lit.
Burns much cleaner, you'll never have to worry about creosote.

Downside is cost. But like all things in life if you want something better expect to pay more.

I have a masonry heater that heats our 2800 sq ft house with about 2 1/2 cords of wood/yr.

Our house is very well insulated and very air tight.

Before you get too concerned about insulation levels make sure that your builder is doing everything he can to make sure the house is air tight.
Doesn't matter how much insulation you have if your house leaks air excessively.

White 17- What model of Jotul do you have and how many sq. ft. are you heating. Can you give a synopsis detailing the features of the Jotul.

Dirty D where does one get one of those Masonry Heater and what can one expect to pay for one.

This is a masonry heater I built for a guy to heat his 1850s farmhouse. The homeowner loved it. They tend to be pricey.

Masonry heaters are very nice and efficient but since you live in Texas keep in mind you can't turn them off and they heat for a few days before they cool off. Also it takes along time to heat up all that masonry before you even get heat. It's a hot fast fire to warm the core then it slowly radiates outwards through a few thousand pounds of masonry.

You would be better off with a high end efficient wood stove that is more controllable. Masonry heaters are designed to heat through long cold winter's and be fired daily.

My stove is the Oslo 500. I heat about 1200 sq. ft.

I also have a Stanley Waterford wood cook stove in the kitchen. I can heat the whole house with the the cook stove down to about minus 10.Then I light the Jotul.

There is nothing like wood heat (inside the house).

No matter what woodstove you get don't get caught up in the ratings per SQ FT. Pick one that the box is the size you want it for the logs (diameter AND length) you want. Yes, you'll pay a bit more for a larger unit but it's worth not having to shove toothpicks in it.

And get a blower. Well worth the extra few bucks.

Don't spend the money on the ash cleanout tray thing though. I have them on both my stoves and NEVER use them. Waste of cash.

I got a Quadrafire 4300. I like it good. My dad has had a blazeking with catalytic converter for around 30 years, it's a great stove as well.

I would wait a year and keep a close record of how many days or hours a day you would need additional heat and or additional heat and go from there. Also figure in what it is going to take to get wood I know folks that go miles to cut wood then there is a saw a truck trailer splitting wood hauling it in and ashes out. Oh forgot to mention bad back bugs and bark. Not sure what you would pay for propane but I gave up on wood years ago just not worth it. Also figure your insurance will be higher in most cases if your burning wood in the house. Dont get me wrong nothing like a fire for quick heat and to get back to nature but it isn't free.

Sure love the Jotul , and Blaze King.

Nothing in this world like wood heat.

I just put in a Drolet Myriad II. Burnt a bunch of junk unseasoned wood this winter and need to clean my pipe. I have to unhook stove to clean pipe out correctly. I would not buy another Drolet for this reason alone. I should add - no complaints about stove and performance - but unhooking to clean is a bad design in my opinion.

a gunny sack with sand in it, lowered up and down on a rope from the roof works good if you have a straight pipe chimney . shut the doors on your stove and you wont get soot all over the room the stove is in

Somewhat true.
Yes they store heat and if you want instant hot it's not the way to go.
And yes, I'd say you want to light a fire everyday to keep the masonry hot/warm.

If we have a stretch of really cold (below 0F) I'll light an extra fire the day before and run 2 fires/day during the really cold weather.
However in the shoulder season, more like Texas weather, in temps of 20-40 I still light one fire/day but use less wood.

If I keep up with one fire/day in all but the coldest weather the house never gets too hot. I keep the house 72-76 all winter long.
The heat is much more even than a woodstove. It releases faster in really cold weather and slower in warmer weather.
Anyone who is used to running a traditional woodstove has a hard time believing how little wood I use and how warm the bricks stay even a day after a fire.
When you walk by the heater its like standing out in the June sunshine, that nice warm radiant heat. I can lean up against the heater and never get burned,
Its always nice and warm.
And it heats the whole house, all 2800 sq ft,

Cost, yes they are not cheap, alot depends upon how fancy you want to get with one. Like a fireplace.
I spent approx $25K on the whole thing when it was done. But mine is rather large, 2 stories high and has a white oven on the back side that I can cook in.
If used properly they will last your life time, need no electricity and have no moving parts to wear out/replace, they will use less wood and burn it more efficiently so that creosote is never a concern.


I would argue they are the best value in wood heating.

Vermont Castings makes high quality cast iron stoves here in the USA...

I for got about Vermont castings that was another I looked hard at

Any stove should have this ability.

Woodstock soapstone makes beautiful wood stoves with soapstone panels on the outside. They won the Popular Mechanics wood stove decathlon a few years ago.

I have two Quadra-Fire 3100's, One at home and one at camp. They are older models, pre-Automatic Combustion Control (ACC). They are good, efficient stoves and, at one time, were rated the cleanest burning non-catalytic stove.

The first one was given to me by a customer I was doing a remodel for. He said, "If you can get it out of here you can have it."

The second one I found on Craigslist after searching for over a year. The are tough to find, most folks don't want to give them up.



The only thing harder to find is a used Jotul.

I vote for Blaze King, find an older one if you can, with 8" flue,

Been heating my house with a Timberline or over 40 yrs.

I've been using a Baker double eagle since 1983, and still going strong!

It would probably be hard in Texas to get your hands on an antique coal stove but you never know. This is a Glenwood Oak cast in 1899. I refurbished it and used it to burn coal before the wife got a parrot and banned its use. The 'Oak' stove was designed as a multi-fuel burner. It can burn hard or soft coal as well as wood. The aesthetics are second to none and they are as an efficient a heater as you will find. These stoves have to be tight to burn coal. If they can burn coal, they can burn wood.

I have two more in my garage awaiting restoration. Get to them before the hoarders do.

I also have the Quadrafire 4300 steptop in my house....and a Drolet Austral in my shop. Both great stoves with large fire boxes.

I'll second the Woodstock stoves or any modern woodstove that uses secondary or catalyst combustion. Went through my first winter with an Ideal steel stove. More heat and burns half the wood as my old vintage Fisher woodstove. check out Hearth.com for tons of info.

I bought my 4300 back in 2007ish. At the time the government had a tax rebate or something going on for EPA approved stoves. IIRC, the 4300 listed for $2400 and I got it for around $1800. Quadrafire even had a still rebate of $150 bucks for buying it. I'm happy with it. To clean my flue, I just remove the burner tubes with fire boards in the inside top, go on the roof, drop a rope with egg sinker on it down to the fire box( I have two 45s in flue), attach a 6 inch brush and pull out. The hardest part is climbing the 8x12 roof!!! I do it in January the at the end of burning season. But I'll tell you, I believe Dad's Blaze King holds a fire better. You shut that thing down and it's very air tight. But, can't complain with the Quad!