The Word from Mount 7

This week I ordered a Pacific Energy Super 27 airtight wood stove from Parky’s Heating in Golden, BC.  The guys are Parky’s are good to deal with.  i like their prices and service.  You have to be specific about what you want; make sure it gets written down.  Other than that, they will deliver to your door, help you out with installation and give you good advice on the equipment and associated items you might need with it.  I’ve bought a number of products from them including a wood fired boiler and propane heaters.

The Super 27 is an awesome little stove.  It is well designed and well built.  The look is also versitile, you can add cast iron legs, gold trim, ash take out tray, fan, whatever you like.  I bought the basic model, black, no frills; its a thing of beauty.   The whole set up is easy, everything fits, the firebricks actually fit in the stove without having to figure out the location for various odd sized bricks.  Once you have the little beast set up, the burn is sweet.  It is hard to over fire the stove, yet it pumps out the heat.  Once it is warmed up, it burns long, slow and clean when you shut it down.  plus it burns the wood right down to the nub.  I can often spark up a fire from the embers after i haven’t put a stick in for almost 24 hours.  The Super 27 looks like it will last for a lifetime.  It have thick stainless steel parts in the firebox that are easy to replace which, coupled with the steady burn style should last for 20 years anyway.

I had a similar sized Regency airtight in the house.  This thing was a dog.  I think I bought it for the classic look with the little cast iron legs, which are available on the Super 27.  Anyway, the infernal thing overfires easily, it doesn’t burn all the wood to ash when you choke it down and the baffle just inside the door is half burned away.  It looks good but performs on a much lower level than the Pacific Energy stove.  I moved the Pegency stove into my sauna to replace an old cast iron box I had in there.  This is a big improvement, but that old stove was almost like having an open fire.

One feature that I would love to see on the Super 27 is an attachment for a stainless steel water heating loop.  I modified the Regency stove and added a copper loop that heats a tank of water for the sauna shower.  This works really well.  I’m reluctant to drill into my Super 27 though.  Its not a good way to keep the warranty even though I doubt I will need it.