Help choosing wood stove (Sandpoint: house, to buy, price)

[family first]

Hey folks, taking a survey to see what stove I should go with. Looking at a wood stove for a single story, 2000' house. Been into many dealers and they say 'theirs" is the best. Can you recommend a mfg and model that you have had success with. I really want a reliable, non fussy well made stove that isn't an arm and a leg to buy. Still in between steel, cast or enamel finishes...does the finish effect the performance of the stove? Any insight would be helpful

[Clark Fork Fantast]

We've got three great threads about wood stoves, two newer ones and one older:
The newer threads:
//www.city-data.com/forum/idaho...rs-garage.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/idaho...ood-stove.html
The older thread:
//www.city-data.com/forum/idaho...ace-stove.html

Also notice that there are EPA regulations which you may want to/have to pay attention to.

[family first]

Saw a Kuma stove today and the store said they were built in Idaho...family run business. What is their reputation?

[kukl]

When I first set my house up here in Idaho, I took friend's recommendation of a locally produced wood stove. Basically a fire in a box. Not very happy.

Later, I bought a Blaze King catalytic stove. Very happy with it. My home was best sized for the Princess model, although there are other models that may better fit your situation.

These are well designed catalytic stoves with long burn times. And they are equipped with a thermostatic damper mechanism.

They are not cheap, however....
And, if you have never installed a wood stove before, get ready for sticker shock when you price out the chimney stack. That Metalbestos stuff is very spendy...

I load mine twice a day (with red fir, mostly - oak, etc. would burn longer but cannot get that here) and set the temp control to the appropriate setting. Holds the house at a steady 70 degrees all day and night. A load of wood (3 to 5 typically sized 16" pieces) burns for 10-16 hours, depending on how cold it is outside. And the temp stays steady the whole time. (OK, a little cooler when I get up in the morning.)

I can load up the stove in the morning, go to the 'big town' for the day (2 hours each way) and still have a warm house (and lit stove) when I get home.

My home is smallish (under 1200 sq ft) and I use between 2 and 3 cords of wood each winter. (Again, softwoods like red fir, tamarack, white pine.) Compared to my neighbors who are in he 5-6 cord range.

[Stepney]

We just had All About Chimneys/Sagle Stove Shop install a Kuma Tamarack in our house in Sandpoint. I am no stove expert but the Kuma lights easy and really heats up the house. We spent a little extra to get the blower which seems to help circulate the heat. We haven't done any pots of soup or beans on it yet but we do put a pot of water on it to keep some moisture in the air and, that gets to a rolling boil pretty quick (20-30 minutes). We are very happy with the Kuma.

[family first]

Looks like I am down to the following...any thoughts?

Pacific Energy Super Step Top
Alderlea T4
Lopi Endeavor
Jotul Castine

[Hp1167]

Those are all good brands... the Lopi and Jotul are better than the PE and Alderlea, though.

[lazyboy]

Lopi and Jotul are both good stoves. I would get an ecofan to go with it. It runs off heat from the stove,no elec.required.

[mistyriver]

One brand we had in the past was Vermont Castings. It was beautiful and well made. Does anyone up here have one?

[family first]

Vermont castings is one brand I have not seen. What Non Cat, small or medium size would burner models would you recommend on?