Wood Heater?

[big rockpile]

Ok I had a Cheap Cast Iron Heater would run you out of this place.I thought I would get a Better All Welded Steal Heater suppose to be more efficient.

Ok the High $$ Heater does pretty good,like the Glass Front but it takes much shorter smaller pieces of Wood,it will not burn any wood that is not fully Seasoned.

Just wondering if I made a mistake? Anyone else understand what I'm dealing with?

big rockpile

[paintboy]

Did you save the old one? Might be worth putting it back in.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by paintboy

Did you save the old one? Might be worth putting it back in.

My Son has it he made comment today how much better it heats.

big rockpile

[gone-a-milkin]

The shorter wood, yes that takes planning.
Seasoned wood? Well, that is always the safest kind to burn, especially in a dwelling.
The thing I love about my fancy woodburner? No more cutting kindling! It never goes out.
The house never gets completely cold overnight.
I love the galss doors on it too.

Sounds like you just need to get used to it. Old ways die hard, etc.
If it burns less wood and keeps the fire longer, that seems better to me.

[wind power]

Cast Iron holds heat longer, and is much more temperature stable and far less prone to warping or flexing. However its brittle...Yet it can sustain far greater temps, thus less likley to "burn out" like thinner steel stoves would

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by wind power

Cast Iron holds heat longer, and is much more temperature stable and far less prone to warping or flexing. However its brittle...Yet it can sustain far greater temps, thus less likley to "burn out" like thinner steel stoves would

The Steal heater is Heavy and Brick lined.

big rockpile

[Cascade Failure]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Ok I had a Cheap Cast Iron Heater would run you out of this place.I thought I would get a Better All Welded Steal Heater suppose to be more efficient.

Ok the High $$ Heater does pretty good,like the Glass Front but it takes much shorter smaller pieces of Wood,it will not burn any wood that is not fully Seasoned.

Just wondering if I made a mistake? Anyone else understand what I'm dealing with?

big rockpile

Your post is missing some info.

Makes and models of both stoves wood be a good start.

If your new stove is a catalytic model the use of properly seasoned wood is much more important than the construction material.

I love my old Shenendoah but I know I can get the same heat using less wood with a newer stove.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Cascade Failure

Your post is missing some info.

Makes and models of both stoves wood be a good start.

If your new stove is a catalytic model the use of properly seasoned wood is much more important than the construction material.

I love my old Shenendoah but I know I can get the same heat using less wood with a newer stove.

The Higher $$ Heater

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...3569_200393569

The Cheaper one

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too..._346054_346054

big rockpile

[Cascade Failure]

Thanks, that helps.

Keep in mind that the Higher $$ employs secondary burn tech. Translation...your wood better be REAL dry.

What kind of wood are you burning and how long has it been stacked AFTER you split it?

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Cascade Failure

Thanks, that helps.

Keep in mind that the Higher $$ employs secondary burn tech. Translation...your wood better be REAL dry.

What kind of wood are you burning and how long has it been stacked AFTER you split it?

Oak and its dry,been cut 2-3 years all bark is falling off.

big rockpile

[Dutch 106]

So your problem is you need to be better prepared and split and dry your wood better. with the new stove. Well if its more efficent, that sorta balances. unless your trying to come up with an excuss to get Your lady to peel down to her t shirt in the depths of winter?
Dutch

[HermitJohn]

I am still using an airtight Sotz barrel kit I bought for $30 back in like 1982. I never did like non-airtight stoves, you have to literally babysit them to keep any kind of constant temp, though tricks like mixing in some green wood to slow combustion does work, not efficient, but helps keep you from blistering the paint on the back wall cause you didnt want to constantly babysit/feed a small fire.

I dont get the big deal with having a window on your stove. But guess its worth it for some folk. Rather have cast iron, but my small barrel stove has worked fine over the years, just have to replace the barrel once in a while. Using a thicker walled tank this time around, should last longer. I'll eventually have to replace door itself, but not going to buy a kit, just weld up my own new air tight stove door out of scrap. The Chinese kits on market now arent airtight and are too big for small barrel/tank.

[HermitJohn]

You know I wonder if one of those old cheapie box stoves could be made airtight. Designers went out of their way to not make it easy with that sliding plate thing under the door. But Jotul had a simular style airtight stove back in 70s and 80s that worked great if you didnt overfire it.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

I am still using an airtight Sotz barrel kit I bought for $30 back in like 1982. I never did like non-airtight stoves, you have to literally babysit them to keep any kind of constant temp, though tricks like mixing in some green wood to slow combustion does work, not efficient, but helps keep you from blistering the paint on the back wall cause you didnt want to constantly babysit/feed a small fire.

I dont get the big deal with having a window on your stove. But guess its worth it for some folk. Rather have cast iron, but my small barrel stove has worked fine over the years, just have to replace the barrel once in a while. Using a thicker walled tank this time around, should last longer. I'll eventually have to replace door itself, but not going to buy a kit, just weld up my own new air tight stove door out of scrap. The Chinese kits on market now arent airtight and are too big for small barrel/tank.

Was just talking with my wife about Barrel Stoves and was wondering why a person couldn't line the Bottom with Fire Brick? But I know you can get a chunk of wood in one.

Yea thats one thing about my Newer Heater I can get it closer to the Wall.

I'm not Unhappy with my New Heater,its not really New we've used it about 4 years without any problem.I thought the Glass Front would be a problem but its nice at night just to watch the fire which I do enjoy.

Just it don't put all its Heat out at once like my Old heater.We use to use them Cheap Light Metal Heaters,suckers would get Cherry Red at night but they didn't last long.

big rockpile

[Stephen in SOKY]

Your new stove is EPA phase II compliant. EPA Phase III goes into effect in 2012. The prices will soar. The stoves will be harder to run. Great isn't it?

[cbcansurvive]

Originally Posted by Stephen in SOKY

Your new stove is EPA phase II compliant. EPA Phase III goes into effect in 2012. The prices will soar. The stoves will be harder to run. Great isn't it?

If you have good dry wood (which you should always have anyway) and you bother to read the instructions you'll get much more heat out of much less wood. Funny, all you need to do is stamp "EPA" on something and everybody starts hollering about the government stepping on their toes. I have a non-EPA add-on wood furnace and I supply 99% of my heat with wood. The oil furnace is only used as a backup when we're away for extended periods. In order to keep my 1960s era two bedroom ranch (decent insulation, but could be better) at a constant 70 degrees from October to April, I have to source (I don't pay for wood and don't have my own woodlot-I scrounge), buck, split, stack, and store 4-5 cords per year. With an EPA furnace I could probably get by on 3 cords per year. Sure, I don't pay for wood, but what that would save me in time alone-not to mention fuel for the saws, bar oil, chains, etc...would be priceless. This is why when we build new I'm looking into a gasification boiler-the most efficient wood heat you can buy. With enough hot water storage I could heat the house for 3-4 days between firings, and with a large enough woodlot we could easily have enough heating fuel to last the rest of our lives without ever buying a pound of propane or a gallon of oil. Work smarter-not harder.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Was just talking with my wife about Barrel Stoves and was wondering why a person couldn't line the Bottom with Fire Brick? But I know you can get a chunk of wood in one.

Yea thats one thing about my Newer Heater I can get it closer to the Wall.

I'm not Unhappy with my New Heater,its not really New we've used it about 4 years without any problem.I thought the Glass Front would be a problem but its nice at night just to watch the fire which I do enjoy.

Just it don't put all its Heat out at once like my Old heater.We use to use them Cheap Light Metal Heaters,suckers would get Cherry Red at night but they didn't last long.

big rockpile

You can line barrel stove with firebrick, though really dont see the point unless you are going to overfire it. A couple inch bed of ash left in stove protects the bottom from overheating by fire. And lot easier to clean stove out without having all those loose brick in there.

What destroys barrels is overfiring the stove (getting walls of it red) or leaving ash in it over summer which draws moisture and will rust bottom. Think how lye is made, by trickling water through wood ash. Well by leaving ash in there you are exposing metal to lye which is very corrosive.

If you dont overfire, just clean all ash out in spring and oil insides down generously with some used motor oil. Amazing how easy it is to not do this basic maintenance though. This is whats destroyed barrels I've used, simple neglect to clean out ash in spring. My Sotz kit is air tight and I got the optional autodraft so I get nice even output of heat, stove doesnt get red hot.

Its not the stove I would worry about replacing, its the auto-draft. That thing is worth a lot. Sotz made it universal fit for any stove, not just their own. Now however Sotz is long out of buisiness and nobody else makes one. Probably couldnt sell it thanks to EPA and them not wanting people to modify anything from the official factory way of doing it. Only way to get one now is to get a stove that comes with one built in. Or be creative and make your own.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

You can line barrel stove with firebrick, though really dont see the point unless you are going to overfire it. A couple inch bed of ash left in stove protects the bottom from overheating by fire. And lot easier to clean stove out without having all those loose brick in there.

What destroys barrels is overfiring the stove (getting walls of it red) or leaving ash in it over summer which draws moisture and will rust bottom. Think how lye is made, by trickling water through wood ash. Well by leaving ash in there you are exposing metal to lye which is very corrosive.

If you dont overfire, just clean all ash out in spring and oil insides down generously with some used motor oil. Amazing how easy it is to not do this basic maintenance though. This is whats destroyed barrels I've used, simple neglect to clean out ash in spring. My Sotz kit is air tight and I got the optional autodraft so I get nice even output of heat, stove doesnt get red hot.

Its not the stove I would worry about replacing, its the auto-draft. That thing is worth a lot. Sotz made it universal fit for any stove, not just their own. Now however Sotz is long out of buisiness and nobody else makes one. Probably couldnt sell it thanks to EPA and them not wanting people to modify anything from the official factory way of doing it. Only way to get one now is to get a stove that comes with one built in. Or be creative and make your own.

Ok yelp makes sence.Yea know all about Wood Ash Lye lost Skin and some meat off all my fingers beause of it.

big rockpile

[HermitJohn]

I was wrong, Vogelzang does make both an airtight barrel kit BK150E and a non-airtight kit BK100E. Here is link to airtight one: http://www.vogelzang.com/browse.cfm/...l-kit/4,5.html

However I found some reviews that say this door doesnt seal air tight if you follow instructions in assembly manual. You have to be meticulous to also get the back plate sealed and the little draft plates also arent necessarily tight. So take some experimenting and tube of that stove caulking.

Its shame Sotz isnt still in buisiness, their kits just worked without lot extra hassle. And they had mechanical seal, didnt have to deal with fiberglass rope.

[cbcansurvive]

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

I was wrong, Vogelzang does make both an airtight barrel kit BK150E and a non-airtight kit BK100E. Here is link to airtight one: http://www.vogelzang.com/browse.cfm/...l-kit/4,5.html

However I found some reviews that say this door doesnt seal air tight if you follow instructions in assembly manual. You have to be meticulous to also get the back plate sealed and the little draft plates also arent necessarily tight. So take some experimenting and tube of that stove caulking.

Its shame Sotz isnt still in buisiness, their kits just worked without lot extra hassle. And they had mechanical seal, didnt have to deal with fiberglass rope.

Instead of fooling with the barrel stove kit why not buy one of the cheapie Vogelzang stoves like the Boxwood? It's less than $200.