I LOVE my water stove

TSYORK · #1 02/10/10, 09:59 AM

I finally have my water stove up and running, and it is DA BOMB! I put three sticks of wood in it in the morning and three sticks at night. My house is toasty, my water is hot, and I'm paying the power company a lot less a month, so life is good!

TheMartianChick · #2 02/10/10, 10:13 AM

Do you have a picture? Is this something that you were able to buy or did you build it?

Helena · #3 02/10/10, 10:15 AM

Ok..I'll bite..what is a water stove and what do you mean by 3 sticks..??I remember a family years ago that heated hot water with very little wood..explain please ??

Tarheel · #4 02/10/10, 10:22 AM

TS, congratulations, on the stove what brand ? Sure has been cold in Carolina this year!

TSYORK · #5 02/10/10, 10:38 AM

My uncle actually built it; and it's a BEAST!

For those inquiring, I'll try to explain it, as best I can.

The stove has a huge fire box, which is double insulated two deep with fire brick. Welded on top of the stove is a 550 gallon tank, which I filled with water. Inside the tank there is a huge copper coil in which water runs through it, then it is pumped to a heat exchanger in my basement. The heat exchanger blows across the coils extracting the heat from the water and sending it into my duct work, thus heating my house.

When I said "sticks" of wood; that's just a term we use here in NC for a piece of wood. It may mean pole, quarter of a log, a log, etc. However, I meant three sticks as 3 quarters of a log. The stove will accomodate wood up to 31 inches long.

So far it has done really well; I'm tickled to death with it.

Although mine is homeade; you can see a comparable product that is sold commercially at www.heatmore.com.

TSYORK · #6 02/10/10, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarheel

TS, congratulations, on the stove what brand ? Sure has been cold in Carolina this year!

It sure has! Been colder than a well diggers lunch. What part of NC are you in? I'm in the foothills, about 30 minutes west of Winston-Salem.

mosepijo · #7 02/10/10, 10:43 AM

All I get using www.heatmore.com is about cell phones and vacations. ??

TSYORK · #8 02/10/10, 10:47 AM

I'm sorry, my flub up!

Here's the corred addy:

www.heatmor.com

rean · #9 02/10/10, 10:49 AM

Very cool!

rean · #10 02/10/10, 10:50 AM

Question for you, is you stove outside of the house? Our farrier took one and put it in the storm shelter by his house, and ran the piping underground to the main house. It works like a dream. Explain some how yours is set up?

Pony · #11 02/10/10, 10:52 AM

DETAILS! Please and thank you.

TSYORK · #12 02/10/10, 10:57 AM

Poured a concrete pad and built a 16x16 outside building. I made it look nice with a black metal roof, vinyl sididing, etc; so to match the decor of the house. I dug a 18 inch wide, 2 1/2 foot deep trench from my building to my house, then I used a 6 inch insulated pipe to run the hose that run to the heat exchanger, the dometic hot water, the wiring harness for the circulation pump that's in the tank.

Pony · #13 02/10/10, 11:14 AM

Wait.

A 550 (five hundred fifty) gallon tank? Heated by three sticks of wood?

That doesn't sound right...

TSYORK · #14 02/10/10, 11:25 AM

I usually put three to four sticks in the morning and the same in the evening. Once you get the water hot it maintains temperature pretty well. For example, yesterday morning before I added wood to it the water was on 164 degrees. I put two small sticks, one medium stick and a larger stick in the stove yesterday morning. At about noon my Dad just came up and checked on it and the water was on 211 degrees. At ten o'clock last night it was setting on 196, so I put one stick in the stove and went to bed.

In the door of the stove I have a draft with a fan/blower that is welded into the door, which is on a timer. When the water get 165 or below the blower will kick on and blow air into the stove to help it burn better. Once the water temp is back up past 180, then blower will kick off and not come on again until the water falls below the 165 again.

TSYORK · #15 02/10/10, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rose2005

I'd love to see some photos. This has got me interested!

DH has a plant near you and heads that way about once a week. We are about 2 hrs from Winston Salem

Rose

I'll try to take some pictures of it this week and get them posted.

TSYORK · #16 02/10/10, 11:42 AM

This company is about thirty minutes north of me; they have an exceptional product!

www.hickswaterstoves.com/

foxtrapper · #17 02/10/10, 11:45 AM

I love how the claims of efficiency go wildly high by enthusiastic wood boiler owners.

Amazing, you can get more BTU's out of those three sticks than anyone in the history of the world has ever been able to achieve. Physics and thermodynamics be ----ed, you've got a wood boiler!

I'm glad you're happy, but you aint heating with three sticks of wood.

Pony · #18 02/10/10, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSYORK

I usually put three to four sticks in the morning and the same in the evening. Once you get the water hot it maintains temperature pretty well. For example, yesterday morning before I added wood to it the water was on 164 degrees. I put two small sticks, one medium stick and a larger stick in the stove yesterday morning. At about noon my Dad just came up and checked on it and the water was on 211 degrees. At ten o'clock last night it was setting on 196, so I put one stick in the stove and went to bed.

In the door of the stove I have a draft with a fan/blower that is welded into the door, which is on a timer. When the water get 165 or below the blower will kick on and blow air into the stove to help it burn better. Once the water temp is back up past 180, then blower will kick off and not come on again until the water falls below the 165 again.

And it is really 550 gallons???

TSYORK · #19 02/10/10, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

I love how the claims of efficiency go wildly high by enthusiastic wood boiler owners.

Amazing, you can get more BTU's out of those three sticks than anyone in the history of the world has ever been able to achieve. Physics and thermodynamics be ----ed, you've got a wood boiler!

I'm glad you're happy, but you aint heating with three sticks of wood.

In the words of my grandpa, "I can show you better than I can tell you." Just who are you to say what folks are and aren't able to do? You're idea and my idea on the size of a "stick" of wood may be two totally different dimensions. However, right now I AM heating the stove with 3-4 sticks in the morning and 3-4 sticks at night, contrary to your idea.

TSYORK · #20 02/10/10, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pony

And it is really 550 gallons???

Yes, it's a 550 gallon tank. The stove is approximately 6 feet long, 4.5 foot wide and 8 to 8.5 feet tall.