Wood Stove Dealer / Installer
 

We are contemplating installing a wood stove in our Island home. Any recommendations on local dealers and / or installers?

my wife and i purchased a Regency Wood stove from Woodmans in Wakefiled. i would recomend them heres the link http://www.woodmansforgefireplace.com/

good luck

wood v pellet?
 

Is there an advantage to wood v pellet? We're looking too - on the Wolfeboro side of the lake.

thanks

Pettet stoves
 

I purchased a Harman "Accentra" Pellet stove from Fireside Living in Laconia last year and they installed it in our house in Wolfeboro. Both the stove and the service has been great.
When I purchased the stove the dealer included a ton of pellets for no cost. We used the stove all of last winter and used only 1/2 ton of pellets.
Their web site is www.firesidelivingnh.com

I know that Mr. Fireplace is gone, but am not sure if they have resurfaced under a different name as I have not been in the market for anything. If so, avoid them like the plague. They trashed my floors, did a lousy install which had to be ripped out and redone, and I had to sue them to settle it. Absolute nightmare.

I don't really know of or heard of a real advantage of one vs the other. I think it really depends on what you are looking for in the way of material handling. The pellets being in bags, you can control the mess of loading. Clean up seems to be about the same and you still have to handle lots of material at the beginning of the season.

I do believe the pellet stove offer slightly more flexibility in the way of installation and locations of installations. I have seen them vented directly out the wall behind them with a double wall flue pipe. A woodstove cannot do that and needs to be tied into a chimney.

I have never really looked into the material cost differences but I am sure a quick search would yield results of a comparison.

Good advice above and I'll add my 2 cents. I burned wood for years in a Vermont Castings woodstove. 12 years ago I converted to a pellet stove, a Harman (the best) and I've never looked back. I use 2 1/2 tons of pellets a year and heat my entire home. Do a search on pellet stoves here and there a a few threads that offer loads of advice and personal experiences.

BT

Chichester's Abundant Life...
 

Eleven years ago, I bought at "Abundant Life" of Chichester—which is still (!) selling stoves and hot-tubs on route 9 to Concord.

Three installers :eek2: showed up to install a Waterford "Trinity II" wood stove. At 600-pounds of iron :eek2: it is built heavy to hold the heat.

It's got a white-blush porcelain finish to match our pine interior :cool: but an engineer friend says that any color other than black loses some heating efficiency. :rolleye2:

Probably more important than considering an individual model is how easy it is to load firewood. The Waterford loads from either front or side doors, and the doors are made like vault doors!

We are on Barndoor Island. When you combine a good wood supply, no desire to lug pellets & short heating season a pellet stove doesn't make sense for us.

That is where we are at. Converted to a pellet stove at home 4 years ago but still burn wood on Welch Island. In fact, had a wood fire last evening and split some wood this morning. As the heating season is very short on the island, we use only a little wood each year. The normal cutting of almost dead trees plus limbs that come down keep us in a good supply.

Watching the sunset over the lake in the fall with the wood stove going is just fine.

Definately look into Woodstock Soapstone woodstoves. They are a small company located in West Lebanon, nh. I just bought a stove from them, the Fireview.

They only sell soapstone wood and gas stoves so if you definately want cast iron then they aren't an option.
Check out www.hearth.com and go to their forum section, you will be amazed at how good of a reputation this small local company has throughout the country. People recommend them over Hearthstone (huge company) all day long. They make a great stove and have excellent customer service. I know it sounds like I'm a sales man for them or something but I'm not, just a happy customer.

Google "woodstock fireview site:www.hearth.com" and you will come up with a lot of responses. Also check out their webstite www.woodstove.com You can even call them and ask questions and not feel like your talking to a salesman!
There is also a lot of useful info on their site for people who already own woodstoves.

I recommend looking at soapstone woodstoves as an option if you aren't too familiar with them.

I don't have any experience with pellet stoves, however www.hearth.com will give you more than you need to know.:D

Soapstone vs cast iron
 

We had a Fisher Momma Bear cast iron wood stove for years, going back into the early 1980's. About 4 years ago, we got a Hearthstone wood stove (soapstone).

The Fisher would heat up faster, and give a higher amount of heat, but would cool down, causing a wider range of temps. The soapstone is slower to get hot, doesn't get as high a temp, but the soapstone holds the heat longer with a lower range of temp changes.

With one person in the house that would wear a coat in an oven, the heat by the soapstone stove is better for us, and the glass door allowing a look at the flames is very soothing on a cold winter night.

+1 For Abundant Life
 

We have purchased and had "Abundant Life" in Chichester install both a wood and propane stove in our home and camp. They were great to deal with and very professional with the install. They had no issues working out on the islands and apparently do it quite often.

Good Luck!

Dan

Soapstone Stove Question
 

I have been concerned about the time it would take to heat a room. Arriving at the lake on a cold night or morning, my old steel and cast iron stove heats up very quickly, but does have that quick cooling effect.

upthesaukee, How much longer does it actually take to warm the room? Can you open the glass doors to heat more quickly like a fireplace or is that a fire hazard?

Thanks
IG

Don't open doors
 

If I had the need to heat up a totally cold place, I would not have the soapstone. Cast iron definitely heats up much faster.
Once we start burning wood full time, I normally fire up the stove in the morning, filling the firebox, and getting a good burn going. I then adjust the vent to have the chimney temp "in the white" so as not to build up creosote. I can be gone all day, and still have good embers to start the fire when I get home. Temp in living room may be down near 60, and will take at least an hour to get up to 70. Our ceiling fan does help (set to blow up to ceiling) by circulating the hot air at the ceiling, which is over 8 feet tall. Then it is add wood at bedtime and back to morning again.

I really can't quantify the time difference, but my wife definitely likes the warmth created by the soapstone stove. She keeps a cardigan type sweatshirt at her chair and it will go on and off as necessary. Hope that answers your question, IG.

Eased Edges
 

We had a fireplace insert installed by Eased Edges in Laconia. They did a good job.

http://www.easededges.com/

I echo the sentiments on eased edges. They did some work for me late last year and were great. Not sure if they deliver to the islands but they are definitely worth a call.

I think if the main goal were to heat a room up quickly you would be better off with the cast iron as stated before. For something like a weekend getaway on the island that you only use once in a while or you want to bring a cold cabin up to 70 or 80 then the cast iron will do it noticeably quicker. :D

I know fireside living does lots of island work. The owners live on the lake making it easy for them to service and deliver products to islands. They are new to the union ave spot but have been in the business for over 35 years. They used to own all the Fireplace village locations in NH. Only sold to retire to the lake. The store was opened by the son and his father to fill the void of Mr fireplace.

Energy Savers, Inc., 163 D W Hwy, Meredith
 

No one has mentioned them as a dealer, installer. Anyone have any experience?

We are leaning toward a wood burning insert and understand they are the dealer for Quadra-Fire (recommended insert) in the area.