Wood stove heat

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  • #26
woodworkingboy said:
Thanks, Burnham, nice to read you say that.

I see a lot of movement in the steel plate stove. Nothing damaging to the point of dysfunctional, but I would guess one of the possible disadvantages compared to cast iron. The box plate that sits on top was very securely welded at four places along the sides and all across the front edge. Most of those welds have broken, but it just sits on top, so not a problem. The other parts are a little twisted like an old man, but it's ok. The steel definitely wants to move, and age doesn't seem to stop that tendency. New cast iron must move around too?
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That's the potential problem with cast iron...if you heat it in such a manner so that it wants to move, it won't flex like plate, it will crack.
 
Those old pot bellies like a round oak probabley had the best of two worlds .Cast iron base with a sheet steel side and an iron top .Those old hot burning rascals wouldn't creosote either .They'd burn anything that would fit through the door ,wood ,lump coal corn cobs ,the neighbors yappy little dog .Well maybe not the dog .
 
I've got a box in the basement of the new place it's a Lakewood stove. And I've got a open fireplace upstairs in the main living/dining area. I like to run both, the box in the basement gives the main heat and then the open fireplace adds that extra few degrees to those areas to make it real cozy. I can waste hours with a book and a drink sitting in front of that open fire. I like the way the open fire heats too, helps draw air from the rest of the house keeping the bedrooms a little bit cool.

Wood heat rules!
 
Beautiful Jack!
I'm still running my really old Buck, but for the $75 I paid for it, it works very well! I'll try and do the picture thing later.
 
A glass front is neat but the pictures are misleading .They carbon up if they get closed down and you can only see at best a glow .Not a big deal because once you get a good bed of coals in them and lay the air to it it burns it all off and you see the fire again .

The secret is you just don't load them up unless it's for an over nighter .Fact I toss a chunk or two in about every hour during the day if I'm home .
 
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  • #35
The glass on mine only carbons up if I close the air vent completely...even just the tiniest amount of air flow is enough to keep the glass clear on all but the extreme outer edges. Closing it up completely cause the flue cap to carbon up too fast, as well...

But you're right...a perky fire will burn it off pretty quickly if I do let the glass get dirty.
 
That brings up a stove I made in the mid 70's .Patterned after a Vermont downdrafter with the size increased by 50 percent .Secondary air with a bypass damper to burn conventional up draft .

Once a good bed of coals got going you could hardly see any smoke out the stack .Took me two weeks of evenings and week ends to build that thing and it weighed over 700 pounds .Sold that thing at a consignment auction for 50 60 bucks after the former Mrs and myself split apart .That one would about heat a barn ,too big for the 1400 sq feet at the time .
 
I had my head directly in my butt when I built it .Prior to that I had about a 1920 Round oak which did fine .I thought bigger was better .Since I've learned all about heat loss and btu outputs .You think in your late 20's you know it all but you don't .

If that thing were in the center location it could have handled 3500 sq feet .Damned thing would hold a fire for a day ,took about a half a wheel barrow full of wood .In addition to a lot of radiant surface it also had a forced air blower .

It was some what like the picture except it had a top vent and a second chamber above the bypass damper .
 

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I had a small pot bellied coal stove once, heated a cabin with it. Good consistent heat and burns hot. Don't go to sleep with the damper closed.
 
Nice stoves guys. I've got a Vermont Casting Vigilant waiting to be installed. I'll throw a barrell stove in the garage on the cheap when the time comes.
 
One of the best barrel kits made was one that Stotz,Sotz or how ever you spell it sold .It was stamped 10 guage sheet steel and would seal off completly air tight .They made the double kits too .

That same company made the "monster maul" Big solid steel contraption ,weighed about 16-18 pounds.If you had enough oomph to swing it would bust into just about anything .Probabley tough on the foot if you missed too .
 
we have the "resolute" by vermont castings. really nice unit. i like that it has a top feed and takes big pieces. in my opinion, nothing beats wood heat.
 
We wanted a soapstone heater, but after some research, as well as talking to a salesman, decided it wouldn't meet our needs as we like to cook on ours and the soapstone doesn't get hot enough in general for cooking.
 
i learned a little trick a long time ago for cleaning soot and carbon off of stove glass. wad up a bit of newspaper and get it wet, dip it in the ashes in the stove and scrub the glass with the resulting paste. it works great, and its free.
 
Got my new stove in a few days ago. A pacific energy summit. This is the first modern stove I've ever run and all I can say is wow. I can't believe I waited so long to update, I'm going to guess ill burn half the wood or less than I used to, the heat is much easier to regulate and it burns through the night no problemo. All and all I'm quite impressed, the secondary burning of the exhaust gases is quite mesmerizing to watch.
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