Alaska Kodiak vs. Hitzer 30-95

Hello All,
Great forum! I've read and reread every post about the two stoves in question and I'm leaning toward the Alaska but...
Let me tell you what I'm trying to heat. I have a 2 story colonial with atotal of 2060 sq. ft. not including basement. I have heated with wood for the last 10 years with a Jotul #8(45000 btu)
It heats the whole house with it centrally located on a hearth on the first floor. This house was built to be heated with a wood stove. It has a very open floor plan and I get great circulation up the stairwell to the bedrooms. My first question is this. Is the Kodiak too big? Is the Hitzer (30-95) too small? I want to burn a little wood spring and fall so these are the only two stoves I want to look at. The last question is the round grate system on the Kokiak. Are there any owners of this stove that would like to comment on there actual performce.

Thanks

There are a lot of hand-fed stoves that you can burn wood in, how did your narrow your choice down to these two? The hitzer model 354 will happily burn wood or coal, as well as the Harman mark series coal stoves. Also, keep in mind that the heat output of a coal stove is controlled the air entering the stove, not the amount of coal inside.

markviii,

I guess I should have said I want a top loader too. Yes I understand about the air. I was wondering if I can run the Kodiak low enough to still be in the same room with it .

If you have a strong drafting chimney,, that doesn't depend on hot air flowing up it to maintain a strong draft,, then you can throttle the air down to create a very managable heat output...

The 'catch-22' comes when you have a chimney that stops drawing when the amount of heat is very low in the flue.. then you have to keep the stove burning hotter just to keep the chimney drawing.. or the fire goes out..

What is the height and size of your chimney?

Greg L

Lsfarm

The chimney is a 8"x8" clay liner in the center of the house, it exits the roof at about 30 ft with 4 feet protruding above the peak. I have never had any problems with draft for burning
wood but coal is different. I always thought the reason the wood stove ran so well was the great chimeny. I do notice that the previous owner added about a foot of extra length at the top.

How about the Hitzer 50-93. Right between the 30-95 and the Kodiak. I have never heard a bad thing about either manufacturer. I love my Hitzer

dbev wrote:markviii,

I guess I should have said I want a top loader too. Yes I understand about the air. I was wondering if I can run the Kodiak low enough to still be in the same room with it .

Not to confuse you but b4 you buy, you may want to consider a Harman TLC-2000 which is a top loader & a great coal/wood stove. http://www.harmanstoves.com/callouts.asp?id=7

It is my 3rd & best coal stove. Easy to control, huge ash pan....just a great stove!
(you can buy them new for around $1500.00 & I heat my 2200sf home totally with it)

Thanks for the reply Devil5052 and Grizzly2. The reason for the 30-95 is the removable hopper. My wife and I would like to burn a little wood early and late season. Well, as of Saturday we are now the proud ownwers of a Hitzer 30-95! Devil the Harmon did rise to the top of the list but I couldn't locate one anywhere in my area and beyond( North Central Massachusetts) and I called all over looking for a Hitzer, only one dealer had them in stock. We went late Saturday morning the place was packed as was the dealer in New Hampsire last weekend where we looked at the Kodiak.
It turns out Harmon underestimated demand and can't ship some units until January. That story was confirmed by all the dealers. Guys it's crazy out there, the dealerI purchased from said last year at this time of year he sold 2 units, he has already sold 40 this year. And prices are rising, I got quoted prices $200 to $400 more than what I read about here in the forum. Steel
has gone up fuel, delivery etc. I'm just happy I got a stove as I had not laid up any wood for next winter- well a little.
Just a quick note about the Kodiak. It really isn't easy to burn wood as the hopper is bolted in and takes up the fire box. I almost bought it anyway but my wife really wants the ability to build a quick wood fire on those chilly late April days and nights like we had this year. If anyone out there reads this and is on the fence about picking up a stove I would say DON'T WAIT.
Now I have to find a coal dealer. I have a list of dealers from Blackshack and I'm going to start calling around today.

Dave