Propane is a refined energy source that should be used to run refined equipment, like cooking ranges, fridges and high efficiency heating equipment. I’m guilty of owning a regular propane hot water tank, and a propane instantaneous water heater that I use as an alternative to my wood fired boiler to run the infloor heating in my house. I added a water to water heat exchanger to my hot water tank so I can heat the water with wood heat when I fire the boiler. I’ll feel better once I get a solar hot water panel hooked into the system. Then I’ll have hot water from the sun in the summer and from wood heat in the winter. I think heating is a rudimentary use of energy and that we should make an effort to use rudimentary fuels in a clean way to produce heat, especially in our homes. We should save expensive, processed fuel like propane and electricity for other things.

Wood burning often gets a bad rap because a lot of us use inefficient, derilect woodstoves. It is worth getting a good stove. A clean burning stove makes some smoke while it warms up, then it just burns with mimimal visible exhaust. Your neighbours will hardly have time to get pissed off at the smoke belching from your chimney. Golden even has a rebate program that kicks in a few bucks when you buy a new stove and trade in your clunker. I know the current trend is moving away from wood heat, but we should consider the whole picture when we decide which energy is clean and which isn’t. A clean burning stove stoked with some locally grown firewood is a pretty sweet alternative to a baseboard powered by cheap coal and flooded valleys.

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.