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[NCredneck]

    Hi all, love the info this site has. Let me start off by giving a few details of my situation. I have a 2370 sf home with 9 to 10 foot high ceilings (17 foot in the LR). I also have two fire places that I considered putting wood stoves in but really don't think I would like the mess indoors. One is in the unfinished basement, middle of the house basically but understand that not alot of heat would make it to the upstairs via the stairwell so I have been looking at every wood boiler and review known to man.
    Let me also say I first looked at a Shaver owb. Looks like good design to me...thick as heck and all but too many negative comments and reviews so I looked at others. I love the Portage and Main build (looks like very good craftsmanship) and design but a little pricey. I now have sorta settled on going with either a Woodmaster or Heatmaster. Here are the questions....
1) I know they make gassifiers now (higher cost up front) but I really don't think I will burn the best dry would consistantly, probably lots of pine and mix of hardwoods that may not be optimally dry. Shoud I still consider gassifiers?
2) I still love the Portage and Main design. Anyone own one that can honestly say they think they would burn 1/2 the wood?
3) I have even looked at Garn. Wow....looks awesome and could put it in basement I guess but very pricey? right?
4) I see in every forum..Dealer...Dealer... Dealer...Any suggestions on best for central NC?
5) I have seen the heatmaster in person and right now its my favorite...considering all the aspects (design, cost, etc) any comments?

[yoderheating]

To be clear, I am a Heat Master dealer in SW Va.  I would go with the HE model Heat Master. I have burned almost every model including the gasifaction furnaces and for the money I would go with the HE.  The standard stoves are a little cheaper but the HE makes up for it with efficiency. The gasifacation furnaces also will give you good efficiancy but they are much more particular on wood type and dryness. If you have a furnace with a ash pan and grates you can burn almost anything.

[gspren]

   I have the Portage and Main ML 30 and I am amaized at how little wood it uses but I never owned anything else, I am just going by what other people with other brands told me they use. With the long horizontal passages you don't see any sparks out the stack and that was important to me and my location. I have only been running about 2 monthes but I can already say I am impressed. Good Luck with what ever you decide.

Gary

[NCredneck]

To be clear, I am a Heat Master dealer in SW Va.  I would go with the HE model Heat Master. I have burned almost every model including the gasifaction furnaces and for the money I would go with the HE.  The standard stoves are a little cheaper but the HE makes up for it with efficiency. The gasifacation furnaces also will give you good efficiancy but they are much more particular on wood type and dryness. If you have a furnace with a ash pan and grates you can burn almost anything.

So the HE is not a gassification unit, but does have the 2nd pass thru burn chamber right? Whats the price difference on average between the HE and the gassification unit then?
I think you mentioned in another thread that the HE burned pine pretty good or was it the g200? which I assume the g200 is the gassification model, the HE for double pass thru and then they have a regular one as well?

[NCredneck]

   I have the Portage and Main ML 30 and I am amaized at how little wood it uses but I never owned anything else, I am just going by what other people with other brands told me they use. With the long horizontal passages you don't see any sparks out the stack and that was important to me and my location. I have only been running about 2 monthes but I can already say I am impressed. Good Luck with what ever you decide.

Gary

Thanks for the info..I heard they have had some creosote buildup issues with the gassifiers. Have you heard this also. The ML30 is the line they have before the phase 2 gassifier stuff right? I would love to see one of these but the dealer information is not real available on the P&M website. I can enter the info and find out if there is one around NC. Anyone out there reading a dealer or owner near central NC?

[yoderheating]

To be clear, I am a Heat Master dealer in SW Va.  I would go with the HE model Heat Master. I have burned almost every model including the gasifaction furnaces and for the money I would go with the HE.  The standard stoves are a little cheaper but the HE makes up for it with efficiency. The gasifacation furnaces also will give you good efficiancy but they are much more particular on wood type and dryness. If you have a furnace with a ash pan and grates you can burn almost anything.

So the HE is not a gassification unit, but does have the 2nd pass thru burn chamber right? Whats the price difference on average between the HE and the gassification unit then?
I think you mentioned in another thread that the HE burned pine pretty good or was it the g200? which I assume the g200 is the gassification model, the HE for double pass thru and then they have a regular one as well?

The HE is not a gassification unit, although it does burn really cleanly. I know some companies with similar designs call them gassifiers but that is in my opinion a little misleading. Heat Master doesn't call theirs this unless they pass phase 2 EPA testing.  The only true secondary burn chamber I have seen in a wood only furnace is in a down draft furnace.
 The HE models have air injected both below and above the fire which make for a really clean burn. The exhaust then exits through a double bypass which pulls more of the heat out of it. 
 You can burn pine in the G200, it doesn't do as well as hardwood but I have never had any problems. The HE models burn pine really well, especially if you mix a little hardwood with it. 

[wood nut]

I also live in central NC. I bought a legend stove last spring this was my first season so i am still learning how to feed it. It is a nice stove similar to a taylor. I have used about 5 cords so far but wasted a lot to start with (learning curve) but have not burned a drop of propane!!

[NCredneck]

wood nut, for the winter we had which was pretty dang cold, I think 5 cords sounds good....course I don't know what size house and all but sounds good for any size to me. Can you share who you ended up going through on that and are you happy with the dealer?

[wood nut]

NCredneck i bought the furnace from setliff&company out of danville Va. They are real nice folks to deal with. I am heating around 1800sf.

[Bull]

Yoder, where can I get info on the HE model? I didn't see anything on your site.
Thanks

[yoderheating]

Its on there, the HE models are the same as the standard MF series but with the additional uper air intake and extra bypass added to the furnace. 

[scissorbill]

Heatmaster is total junk and the warranty is not worth the paper it is on.

[Bull]

Heatmaster is total junk and the warranty is not worth the paper it is on.

Sounds like you had a bad experience with one, could you elaborate please?

[lvdavidson]

He doesn't need to elaborate.  He already has under the Heatmaster section of the forum.  If you would like to see what he has to say head over there.

[bruey]

i agree, what ever stove i would not get a gasifier, to much ongoing things to do as far as cleaning, i know i am lazy, i toss in my logs, some soft, some hardwood, some dry,some not so dry, clean out the ashes once a month, easy...