Wood Burning Stoves

17257 Views 256 Replies 46 Participants Last post by lasers, 2 mo ago

hoplite59

Discussion Starter · Feb 19, 2021

All, starting this thread in order to draw on prodigious Community knowledge we have access to. We are looking to purchase and install a wood burner in our home to have a secondary heat source. In the Generac thread I posted the backlog/shortage of product that manufacture is experiencing so plan B (which was going to be tertiary option) of a wood burner jumped to th front of the line.

In researching wood burners I came across the info of a 26% Tax Credit for the unit (from an approved EPA list) and install. If your unit meets efficiency guidelines you can reduce your outlay by a chunk.

We are leaning towards the US Stove brand . My concern is that we may not be able to cook on the unit. Also assuming electricity goes down, how do I keep the blower going without a generator ?

Woodstove Database | Burnwise | US EPA

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Stwood

· #76 · Mar 22, 2021

Alaskajohn said:
None of my wood stoves have a blower, so I can’t comment on that. I would not consider a wood stove that you could not cook on.

+1

Stwood

· #78 · Mar 22, 2021

Steve_In_29 said:
We have an old school Fisher stove. The Grandpa model. It keeps our 1452sqft log house plenty warm even when temps are below zero. Exterior walls are just 8" logs with no insulation. Roof has 6" of foam insulation between the 1x8 T&G ceiling boards and roof sheeting.

Not sure where the original owner of our place got it as I believe production had stopped by the time he built the house.

My stove is close to identical to yours. Except I built mine from the manufactures parts. I knew a welding shop that had been putting them together for the manf/co. I bought all the parts except for the back plate that they didn't have, for $10.00. Welding shop had shut down. Took the parts home and built a stove. This was in around 1980 and I finished it in 81 after moving to another house.
We've used it for 40 years. Replaced the bricks once, and the inner fire direction plate.
If I remember there was three different size stoves in the Fisher line. Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.
Mine is the mid size, with the Papa Bear top.

Stwood

· #80 · Mar 23, 2021

I remember seeing 3 sizes in that shop, so assume the small was Baby.
I put the baffle plate in when I built the stove. 80-81
After I started it quite some later, I had no reference to build it by. Just memory
My doors have a mountian/tree design on them. with Timberline name.
I heard long ago Fisher had 2 different lines of stoves. My FIL had a Fisher, and I think that reference came from him.
I don't know if that shop was putting both together or not.

Stwood

· #86 · Mar 24, 2021

Much depends if you leave your current system off.
Whether you buy or cut your firewood makes a difference in your cost savings also.
We burn wood probably for 90% of our heat.
Our backup is LP. We use about 400 gallon per year. LP runs a backup heater in the kitchen for chilly mornings or when we have to leave. It also runs 1 of our hot water heaters. We also us it for our gas range, cooking and canning.

I cut my own wood, on our acreage. Average around 7 cords per year, house and shop combined. I cut a year ahead to always have dry wood. Sometimes I might have to burn some green, but that gets stacked in the shop wood pile.

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Stwood

· #91 · Mar 24, 2021

hoplite59 said:
Thank you, that's the info I was looking for. I anticipate having the furnace set low . Already have started cutting my own wood with my Boy. I love the workout from it but tough on the rotators.

Sounds good. If you don't have an old, drafty shed to store your wood, consider building one down the road.
Doesn't need to be much. 3 sides with a roof. Think airy....and wood can be stacked upon used pallets. Keeps it from burying itself into the dirt and rocks. Termites can munch on the pallets instead of your wood.

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Stwood

· #93 · Mar 24, 2021

Yes. Tarp will definitely work. Leave the ends open as it needs air flow.
Locust makes nice firewood.

Stwood

· #103 · Mar 26, 2021

Steve_In_29 said:
If you tarp, just cover the top of stack and a tiny bit down the sides. This keeps water from soaking down into wood yet allows air to flow.

Exactly. Just cause you don't have used tin handy and run down and buy a china tarp, you don't have to cover the whole pile.
Just keep it folded up to the width of the pile and cover the top only. And use firewood to hold it down. No need to nail it down.
Poor people have poor ways. 😁

Reactions: 1

Stwood

· #105 · Mar 26, 2021

roseman said:
I posted a photo of my woodshed yesterday and it disappeared so here it goes again. This is what it looks like before heating season starts.

Awesome. Good looking woodshed. Lots of air flow.
Mine isn't completed yet, but on the same order.

Reactions: 1

Stwood

· #122 · Apr 15, 2021

No. I'm not up to date on stoves. Bought a new, small stove in Kansas in around 74, packed it around and finally set it up in a garage (77) after we moved to Missouri.
Then in 80, I built our present stove. For the life of me I can't remember what we did with that small stove.
We found one like it at a flea last year and bought it. Heck it may be the same one. Lol.

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Stwood

· #148 · 3 mo ago

Must be due to the kiln drying.
Guess they don't want it stacked around taking a year to dry on it's own.

Yea, wow

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Stwood

· #149 · 3 mo ago

See if they will sell it green like most everyone else does. It can dry at your house for much cheaper. 😁

Reactions: 2

Stwood

· #157 · 3 mo ago

hoplite59 said:
Here's some my Cuz gave me. Learning to Id wood types. Anyone help out what these wood types are ?

Very rough bark on the larger pieces, smoother bark on the smaller, upper tree pieces.
I'd say cotton wood. It will burn up fast, don't fill a stove with all cottonwood, just mix it in.

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Stwood

· #161 · 3 mo ago

I've always used paper/cardboard with bark or limb sticks. Or kindling from wood cutoffs from the shop kindling barrel.
And yes, there has been some pizza boxes included. 🤸‍♀️

Neighbor down the road uses diesel fuel and burns a lot of green wood.

But he has an outdoor wood burner that heats water for the house radiators.

Reactions: 5

Stwood

· #166 · 3 mo ago

PromptCritical said:
And don't burn pizza boxes and other garbage in a wood stove.

Is this a Karen/Ken alert?

Reactions: 4

Stwood

· #178 · 3 mo ago

ForestBeekeeper said:
My house has a wrap-round porch with roof overhang going out 8 feet on all four sides. Our firewood is stacked under this roof, where it is not exposed to rain or snow, and all winter long we can access it without stepping into snow.

We keep two years worth of firewood stacked.

A full cord of hardwood costs me $190 cut, split and delivered. My wife and I spend the summers hauling firewood from where it was dropped, to stack it neatly on our porch.

This winter, my wife re-arranged our living room. So we now have 8 racks that can each hold about 1/8th of a cord of firewood. In our living room. Which gives us one cord inside. So at night she does not need to step outside to feed her cookstove.

We have had the cookstove for a couple years, but this winter has been our first for cooking every meal on it.

Do you have a timber bug problem on the porch and in the house?

Reactions: 2

Stwood

· #196 · 3 mo ago

We clean out when the ashes reach the bottom of the doors, about 3 inches deep. Move the coals over and remove ashes, move coals to the clean side, then remove ashes again, never shutting the fire down.
We use a 5 gallon bucket. A "metal" bucket

, no plastic bucket.
Ashes go in our huge compost pile to it's own corner, and use as needed.

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Stwood

· #199 · 3 mo ago

Possibly hickory or ash looking at the bigger pieces of bark.
If hickory, which is in the walnut family, there is over ten species of hickory, which includes pecan that is in the hickory family.
So, fairly smooth lower bark, very smooth upper bark, very white wood inside with light brown center, Im guessing ash.

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Stwood

· #201 · 3 mo ago

Yes

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Stwood

· #203 · 3 mo ago

If you stack it for airflow, in the all day sun, cover top with used sheet tin or even a dark tarp, it should be possible.

Reactions: 2

Stwood

· #214 · 3 mo ago

SAM 2021 said:
I use junk mail, Kleenex/Paper towels, cardboard. -- and the carcasses of door to door salesmen, that's what will clog up your chimney...

Ah man, we never get salesman out here. I've never had the pleasure of burning one.

Reactions: 5

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