woodstove question (what type/brand?)greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread |
To begin with I did do a search in the archives and haven't found a difinitve answer.we need to get a new woodstove as the Fisher we have is inadequte. We have a poorly inulated house and we need to be warm. (insulation upgrade when the funds for it come in as we need to do the whole house, top to bottom and a stove is need so we are going this route first) What kind would be best? thanks, jonathan
-- jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002
It's far less expensive to have six inches of cellulose insulation blown into the attic ceiling than replacing a wood stove.
-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.
Up until the past 2 years our house was one of those very old and very drafty farm houses. You could sit in the livingroom and feel the wind blowing through the walls so I do understand what you are talking about. We used and still use a Coalmaster stove. They are just "ugly" brown boxes/stoves but sure do the job. You can purchase them also just to burn wood but I would buy the Coalmaster incase you want to use coal too. We also use a 55 gallon drum made into a wood burning stove in the basement. It does get very, very hot to touch but it does a wonderful, wonderful job in throwing heat into a house. I would be careful if this type of homemade stove was used in a living area with children...it gets HOT !!! The drum stove is very inexpensive to make...get a 55 gallon drum..buy the door equipment and legs and you are in business. We put sand in the bottom to keep it from burning out quickly. The Coalmaster is nice because you have a drawer to empty without letting the stove to go out to clean out the ashes. You wouldn't want to do that if that is your only source of heat as our wood stoves are since we can't get gas heat run to our house and can't now afford oil. So I hope this helps some in your choice of stoves !! Good Luck !!!
-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), January 18, 2002.
I dont have insulation in my place either.. so the woodburner is going as long as IM here. I should have got the insulation instlled,, have to get the expanding foam kind,, (long story),, but I have a LOPI wooodburner,, wish it was larger, ,but is works well
-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 18, 2002.
We have a Vermont Castings stove and that send out a lot of heat, but they can be pretty expensive. We bought ours second hand and it still cost us $700. Check around and see if you can find something that way. Just be sure to check the stove over carefully. One time years ago my hubby was in the hospital and we needed a stove bad so I went and bought it second hand, and when nephew went to install it he found it was non usable. We took it back. But, you do have to be careful with second hand.
-- Irene Burt (renienorm@aol.com), January 18, 2002.
Well, I don't know where you'd buy one, but we lucked into a free Warm Morning woodstove. It is large and brown and ugly and old, but all we had to do was haul it off. I've never been happier. Our uninsulated farm house is warm. When you come in the door after being out of the house for seven hours and the warm air hits you at the door...ahhh. If you can find one I'd highly recommend it.
-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), January 18, 2002.
I don't know if any of this will help but here goes. The barrel stove is an idea maybe it could be used in another one with the pipe out the window or something. You can get the kits from northen tool catalog for about 50-60 dollars. I use a fisher stove and have to be careful that it didn't run me out of the house but then my house is small and insulated. This year i added a porch as a bedroom so I bought a magic heat unit which fits in the stovepipe so that the heat going up the pipe heats tubes in the unit which has a blower. This might help to make your present stove work better. hope some of this helps as it is really nice to come in after chores and have a warm place to go. Good luck. gail
-- gail missouri ozarks (gef@getgoin.net), January 18, 2002.
I highly recommend an " Ashley ". They are great!!!...My parents still use the same one they bought 30 years ago...My hubby and i found one at an auction for ( you wont believe this ) $35. They have a built in ash tray that is easy to empty and they have a thermostat so you can adjust the temperature...( just like a forced air furnace). New they run 500 or 600 dollars...but if you look around you may stumble onto a deal like us...Happy heating..!
-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.
If you are looking for "serious heat" get the 30 or 55 gallon Sotts stove kit (Tractor Suppy Company sells that for 20 bucks and Northern Tool, well, I have never bought anything from them Ive been happy with). If you want more heat off the Sotts kit, get the optional Heat reclaimer and use a 30 or 55 gallon drum reclaiming chamber above the woodstove- all totalled, the Sotts kit, plus the reclaimer kit runs 50 dollars or so. You will also be wise to buy a stove thermometer and NEVER EVER run that 55 gallon stove red hot. Make sure you have a suffient pad beneath the stove- I suggest those flattish cinder blocks, and make it a bit wider than the stove 'just in case.' Oh, and if you are wondering what a reclaimer kit is, it it another drum suspended above the first that helps dissapate 'chimney' heat. A good addition to the sotts stove is this: a flat piece of heavy sheet metal that is about as wide as the door that has a small (under 1 inch) lip at one end- sit the metal on the door frame and slide the log firewood on in, you can burn BIG ole chunks with no burns or hassel this way.
-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), January 19, 2002.
We have a Lopi that we just purchased last month and are really happy with it. They are not cheap, but either is a monthly bill from the power company. Have you checked in to a weatherization program? We have one here in our area that is based according to your income. Your local power company may have info about what is available. They completely insulated our attic and caulked our windows etc. for free.
-- Mamafila in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), January 19, 2002.
The wood stove that I have now is a wonderwood. I don't like it. It seems like I have to continually stand at the door and throw wood in it and it doesn't seem to warm the house up real good.The woodstove I had before was a Ashely. It was good. It seemed like I would have to control the temperature by how wide I would have to leave the front door open. I could fill it up before bedtime and would still have plenty of hot coals left in the morning to start the next fire with. I fill my wonderwood up before bedtime and will have to get up sometime through the night and put more wood in it. If I don't I will have to build a whole new fire the next morning
-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 19, 2002.
Ashley stoves are a very good stove. You also can lift the top and cook on it. We used one for years when we lived in the country. I can remember the kids bringing their cloths down and dressing around the stove. Our old house was not insulated and we had some cold weather. Happy Future, jim
-- Jim Raymond (jimr@terraworld.net), January 19, 2002.
We have a large 2 story home. We use a Pioneer Maid cookstove to heat the entire house. It keeps it cozy warm. It is an airtight cookstove made by the Amish. It is one of the lowest priced wood cookstoves, but it DOES the job.
-- Mike & Marci (TheBlubaughs@amazinggrazefarm.com), January 19, 2002.
correction; we now have a heartwood stove, not a wonderwood.
-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 20, 2002.
As with most things, there are always tradeoffs. LIghter weight sheet metal stoves will wear out much sooner than heavier stoves. We are installing our third Lopi stove next week. Not because we wore them out but we moved and they are a bit too heavy to be toting from place to place. We tried a few cheaper look alike stoves but they didn't function nearly as well as the Lopis. The glass on the Lopis stay remarkably clean which is a real plus for us since we like to watch the fire. Another great feature is the bypass damper which makes starting a cold stove much easier. None of the Lopis have catalytic converters which are a pain, in my opinion. They are constructed of heavy guage plate steel and weigh from 270 to 470 # . If you can afford it, I feel they are a longterm investment but well worth it.
-- jz (oz49us@yahoo.com), January 20, 2002.