The only comment I have is, it takes a lot of time to set them up, and if you have a SHTF situation and your stove is in storage, good luck with that.

 

Storage = my basement. I would pre-install it, just not use it. If the SHTF no one is going to care about HOA regulations regarding wood burning stoves.... So I'm not worried about the install or set up. Everything will be "in-place".

I'm more interested in peoples experiences with particular brands or types of stoves. For instance "stay away from anything pre-1980 because..... " etc...

 

They don't allow wood stoves in Montana because of pollution? Or is that a town ordnance. I'm really surprised to hear of a place known for such bitter cold not permitting any off grid heating at all like a fireplace or wood stove. What a huge hazard that would be to have no alternate to electric or gas.

 

Basically just look for a snug fitting door and a couple adjustment knobs on the front to control air intake. A larger firebox is not always a good thing, since it just makes it more hungry for wood. Even a small one can heat a large area.

 

Excellent point - thanks!

 

Homes built after a certain year and in some private communities - yes, no wood burning stoves/fireplaces allowed. It is a city thing, not a state initiative. Our HOA does not permit wood burning stoves. It is a shame but the other bennefits out weigh this issue...

 

If it is cast iron it might be a Franklin wood stove, they are not airtight I would stay away from them, a good heavy steel air tight is best. JT

 

Perfect, this is exactly the type of information I am looking for - thanks!

 

You may also look for one with a Catalytic Converter. In the research I have been doing it seems this cuts down on the smell considerably. There is still going to be some and the less distance it goes the less people you are going to have to worry about know you have heat when they don’t. I also believe the type of wood you have stocked will make a difference also. You are also going to have to be wary of creosote buildup if you are doing a low burn.
Like was pointed out trying to put one in while all you know what is breaking loose may not be the best idea.
I have been struggling with this since I am in a small town and if no one has power they are not going to be able to have heat either. The smell of a fireplace is going to carry for blocks and you are going to be surrounded.
So far I am working on a multi layer approach. We start out with the regular furnace. I have a backup garage heater that requires no electricity, That way we have heat as long as the gas is still on, Then I have kerosene heat for when the gas goes off. Then once the Kerosene gets low I am putting in a wood burner in the next month or so as a final stage. I am going to try and mask it with a out door kitchen that will have a fire place and light it while the other is heating the house so if they walk by and don’t look too close all they will see is us standing outside by the fire.

 

I agree with all your points and concerns. The thought of the smell/smoke crossed my mind too. The only hope is when it is negative 10 out those who are still here probably have some heat source of their own, but you never know..... Certainly a play-it-by-ear scenario!

 

Check out my wood burning stove with an oven...brand new! I found two of these on Ebay! bought both of them! I remember my grandmother used to cook on one of these!

By mm30004 at 2010-06-29

 

nice find, what did you pay if I may ask

 

paid $1300 for two with free freight...they were an odd color and the fellow said he had them for awhile so he cut me a deal. He normally charges about $900 each for the plain jane models like this! He had some that were up about $2400 that were real nice!

 

We have both a wood stove for heat and a wood stove for cooking. :thumb:

The heat stove is
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs..._sku=202245276&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D28X-_-202245276&locStoreNum=6349

The cook stove is
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wood-Burning-Co...e-Warmer-Cabinet-Chrome-/220792125799?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33683c7967

The cook stove has gone up in price by $100+ since we got ours last year.

 

Thanks that heat stove looks exactly what I am looking for....

 

If you live in such close proximity to others that there is an ordnance on pollution, you will likely have much bigger things to worry about than a wood stove post SHTF. The very smoke from your stove will be a beacon that screams "HERE IS WARMTH AND MAYBE FOOD"!

Your location is a poor choice for bad times.

 

It has nothing to do with proximity to others but the fact that if every home in the valley burned wood it would (and did) cause smoke inversion layers.

Many rural areas now have clean sky (pollution) and dark sky (light pollution) ordinances in place. When the power grid is up and natural gas is flowing it makes for a nicer area...

Post SHTF I don't see any other options in a colder climate. Where it is cold (half of the US) those who stay warm will be burning something to stay warm. I don't think it is realistic to think you can stay warm and completely hidden from others. We'll just deal with that when it comes... Sure you can move south where it is warmer but there will be tons more people. Id rather stay here where it is -10 those who don't have heat will leave, it will clear the place out pretty quick!!

 

I put an ad on Craigs List stating I was looking for a wood burning stove (for a prep) and I have been contacted about 3 of them, all not being used with a small amount of surface rust. The most expensive one was 75 bucks, I bought one in the town I live in for $20!
P.S.-I was able to score a nice working upright freezer for the garage yesterday for $20, Craigs List rules!!!

 

the craigs list nearest to us rarely has any bargains when I looked for wood stoves the cheapest one was 175.00 and it was a pile of rust.

 

If you want a heat source from wood, and you cannot use a cast iron wood stove, I have a homemade woodgas stove that can burn wood pellets, or solid wood with no smoke whatsoever.

It took me about twenty minutes to make it out of an old discarded propane tank. I am a teacher, and the students here have been making their own for a couple of years.

I have cooked whole chickens over it, and also used it as a fire pit. It weighs little, so easy to put away and take out. It is not a fir pit. It boils the wood, turning it into a gas, and then burns the gas, for a completely smokeless odourless fire. Both smoke, creasote, and odour are there because it the wood is not burning efficiently enough. Aside from one or two minutes of odour from start up, there is not odour.

If you are interested, I can tell you more.

 

I would like to hear more about this smokeless stove.

 

Okay,
I will make a video and post it soon.
I am not saying it doesn't have emissions but it does have a less noticeable footprint for the neighbours to see than a fire pit or non-airtight wood stove.

 

I actually prefer the cast iron stoves for their simplicity. I've never had a problem with smoke or smell inside the home when using these.

For the most efficient heater... you would want something with airtight doors, and you would ideally be able to purchase or fabricate an air intake that draws air from outside the home and has a damper on the intake to control between completely closed and full open. Wood stoves pull a TON of air up the flue, and if drawing from inside the home, will suck all your warm air right up and out!! Same thing with fireplaces. To make it worse, the negative pressure it creates will pull outside-temperature air in through any and all cracks and imperfections in your home's walls and joints. A wood stove in a leaky home will be warm right near it, but the rest of the home will probably not benefit much. The drawing of external air would significantly boost your home's internal temperature and the amount of heat you are able to effectively use per amount of wood burned.

Edit: In a place like Montana, I would not use a woodstove, but rather a masonry heater. I understand that something as extensive as that is not practical for you at your current location, but if you ever decide to move or are able to purchase some land elsewhere, think about building your house around one. They burn clean, almost no soot or nasty smoke, use a TON less wood than a woodstove, and you only have to throw wood on the fire once a day.

 

I've lived in AK most of my life, over 35yrs, I've heated with wood for most of it. Some areas I've lived here (like interior) it gets unbelievably cold, like -65f in the winter for long stretches. Heating with wood is sometimes the only way to heat.

These are the things that are a PITA:

Heating with wood makes the air in your house very dry, you must add moisture to the air.
Heating with wood is messy, always having to sweep up around the stove and tracking in debris from the wood lot.
Heating with wood can be a fire hazard if you dont maintain your stove and pipe properly.
Heating with wood is a burn hazard to small children, pets and even some adults.
Heating with wood creates ash waste stream that can become a PITA over the course of a long winter.
Heating with wood is a lot of work espesially if you harvest your own fuel.


Those are the main things i can think of.

Where i live now (south central AK) i go through 4-5 cords a winter and try to burn mostly birch but some spruce. I like to stay at least a year ahead on my wood supply which means i am constantly harvesting trees, this is my exercise, i dont go to no gym, i like to get something for my labor output not to mention i like the feeling of knowing i can at least keep warm in the winter if all else fails.

Right now i am heating a 1800sqft house with a Pendleton Avilon fireplace incert with a blower. It still amazes me that this little incert can keep my entire house above 70f when its -40f outside. Of couse this unit is not cheap but all good stoves aren't. I paid $3500 for the stove and the pipe about 4 years ago, i figure i save $1500 a year heating with wood so the stove has paid for its self already.


DS

 

Here is a great forum on wood stoves, fireplaces, etc.

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/

 

I know a secret that few if anybody knows in this area. There are entire hills of overburden coal dirt just couple of miles from my house from old coal mines. There is a lot of coal in them. Fifteen minutes of picking yields bucket of pure coal. That is more then one day of heat with little sweat to get it.

Now. All I need is stove that burns both wood and coal. I have one that was made in early 1900. Bough it on Craigslist for $150.

Does not seem like a big deal but when everybody will be trying to get every scrap of wood to stay warm all I have to do is get to the overburden piles for few minutes. Good luck trying to burn coal in your wood stove. Melt it and set house on fire.

 

I was gonna post 'don't overlook a kitchen range'
they are cast iron also so along with the Franklin Fireplace (which can be set up to do fine) look for rotted/rusted bolts/nuts and screws - loose panels too. use heavy gauge pipe to exhaust with.
you will be surrpised with what you can find that's made after 1980. welded construction. lots of cooking area atop or on the 2-level flats.
remeber that 'hobo roasts' can easily be layed upon the coals to slow cook.

 

I'm just surprised that it's against the law there in Montana to burn wood

Maybe your right in town in Billings or something but that shocks me, I thought Montana was always a freedom loving State

 

I'm mid 50's and have burned wood all my adult life. Airtight with firebrick lined. Make sure you have a good chimney preferably double lined stainless or insulated masonry. Burn it hot once a day briefly to avoid chimney fires.

 

Wow can't imagine you can't use a woodburning stove in Montana---how times have changed!!

 

I have two woodstoves in my house, a wood furnace and wood cookstove in my shop. They announce air quality warnings from time to time when there is an inversion, but they don't enforce any restrictions. But then again I don't live in town. The idiots in town can announce anything they want, but it doesn't mean a thing. When they start paying my utility bill, I will stop burning wood for heat.

 

You better check your local wood stove outlet that installs woodstoves before you buy one. I know that around here the woodstove must have a certain efficiency rating for it to be legally installed. So you are not supposed to even intall an old used one, that's why they sell for real cheap. I was looking around for a video that compared an efficient one to a typical one, can't find the video right off but it was amazing the difference in the amount of smoke put out. The old ones belch tons of smoke, and the new ones reburn it somehow by recirculating it and put out very little smoke, pretty amazing.

A wood stove is definitely more enjoyment than work, just make sure you move your wood in and out of the house in a (metal) bucket. My wife was really opposed to the idea but now after it's installed she just loves it. I bought a soapstone wood stove, it's real slow to heat up and doesn't get real hot like the metal ones, great for supplemental heating but some days I wish it got hotter and heated faster. It does have one metal round spot on the top where you can cook a pot of stew if needed. There's pros and cons to a soapstone stove. You can burn it just about any day without worrying about overheating the room/house and you don't get huge swings in temperature like a metal stove. I wouldn't trade my stove for anything and I may get a metal one for the basement in case we need to heat up things in a jiffy. I think we paid about $4000 with installation.

 

We bought a small used Buck stove a couple of years ago for a $100 and we love it. It's probably saved us more than $1400 in propane in the last two years. I had to buy new pipe and I installed it myself. We live in a 14'x85' mobile home and it keeps the living room and kitchen area plenty toasty with the residual heat keeping the other areas comfortable enough. A ceiling fan helps distribute the heat.

We have a lot of cottonwood, so that's what we burn the most. As long as you keep your stove pipe clean, you can burn about any kind of wood. All wood provides heat... some types are just better at it. I've found that free wood is the best.

If you've found a good deal on a wood stove of any kind, I would buy it. After a true SHTF event, no one is going care whether you're violating some silly HOA rule. They'll be trying to survive just like you will be.

 

The problem is that if you install the woodstove yourself and it burns the house down your insurance may not cover it unless it's a professional installation. I'd spend the extra money and get it done right. It's not worth losing everything in a fire.