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My new to me home has a Napoleon stove.
Seems to be high rated.
I just can’t start worthwhile fire to save my life.
I could do rip roaring blazes in a fire pit, chiminea, whatever, but this?
Nope. Guess I need to work on my technique.
I was raised using woodstoves, best heat there is in a cold climate like mine in Montana. Coal is good too, but you can have a woodlot anywhere, coalmines are harder to come by.
If your stove looks like the one pictured, it should be a good heater.
Woodstoves don't act like a forced air heating system. The fan moves the air to distribute heat through the living space so you have a whole house heat instead of just close to the fire. Since woodstoves normally don't have ducting, a fan is used instead of a blower like you would find on a gas heating system for example.
Keep your chimney clean, and burn quick hot fires or use a commercial cleaner like Red Devil to keep the creasote from building up. Banked or low fires have incomplete combustion so creasote tar can build up and ignite giving you a chimney fire. But if properly maintained, a woodstove is a great addition to your home since they don't need electricity to work, if a storm takes out your power, you still can be warm and well fed with a woodstoves.
Personally, I love them. My work home is only 980 sq ft. and my primary heat is wood. I cut my own wood from my own property, so aside from some sweat and a few gallons of chain saw fuel, my heating bills are basically non existent.
Good luck. I'm sure you will grow to love your new stove once you learn to use it.
How do you regulate the heat? Seems to me you would wake up to a house in Montana that was 40 degrees until you get the stove heating up again.
How do you regulate the heat? Seems to me you would wake up to a house in Montana that was 40 degrees until you get the stove heating up again.
To quote the one guy on his second year of coal after using wood for 25 years, "I wish I knew about this 25 years ago". Coal has roughly 3 times the energy density of wood assuming seasoned hardwood, it's even more compared to softwood. Typical schedule is to shake the ashes out and completely fill the firebox in the morning and evening. The amount of fuel is irrelevant to the heat output and is controlled entirely by the amount of air. Some can be idled down for almost 2 day burns on a single fill but you won't be getting much heat from it that low.
Something I have mentioned here before since this is the "prepper" forum. Coal can be stored anywhere......forever. You could literally bury if you wanted but you obviously would want to tarp it to keep the dirt out. If it's anthracite there is no smoke. A truck load might cost you about 6 grand but in small house like MTSilvertip describes you might be good for 10+ years, much longer if you were conserving.
Throw in a thermosiphon loop and you are good to go on the hot water, you can do this with wood also:
How do you regulate the heat? Seems to me you would wake up to a house in Montana that was 40 degrees until you get the stove heating up again.
You don't let the fire die out, you bank so you have a low fire all night, or during the work day, and build it up when you're up or at home. A well insulated house goes a long way to keeping an even heat, and having thermal mass like masonry or stone backing the stove helps too. A stone accent wall will absorb heat while the fire is burning hot, then releases the heat back when the fire is low. The wife and I will throw a couple pieces of wood in during the night too, when we make a bathroom run.
Wood heat isn't the same as gas or oil where you have a thermostat and set a precise temperature and forget it until the bill comes in, but it works well.
When we leave for the weekend and can't be there to tend the fire, we have propane backup to keep the house at 60 degrees. Well above freezing, and when we get back, it doesn't take long to build the fire and bring the temperature back up to cozy.
I'd love to use coal, but where I am, we don't have anthracite coal available unless it's shipped in from Pennsylvania or West Virginia, so wood is our go-to fuel choice.
We do have a lot of natural gas reserves here too, but not private wells, so you use what you have.
Wood is more work than electric or NG, but its a hell of a lot cheaper :
When we leave for the weekend and can't be there to tend the fire, we have propane backup to keep the house at 60 degrees. Well above freezing, and when we get back, it doesn't take long to build the fire and bring the temperature back up to cozy.
Yep, we have propane backup as well. It sure comes in handy when you settle in for a long winter's nap! I'm outside or on the road most of the day, and the wife is usually off socializing, so the stove gets wood on a less than regular schedule. The propane comes on automatically once it gets below 65F, so that saves the day. I usually keep the wood box full for my wife, but she knows where the woodshed is! We use surprisingly little propane for heating, considering we use it exclusively in early fall and late spring, when it's not worth starting a fire.
I love wood heat, too, but as MtS posted, it's labor-intensive, so I'd always recommend a backup. Most propane heaters don't use electric power, so that's what we use.
I'd love to use coal, but where I am, we don't have anthracite coal available unless it's shipped in from Pennsylvania or West Virginia,
Anthracite is shipped to West Virginia, not from it. From Northeastern Pennsylvanian to be precise, most of the coal mined in PA is soft coal from the western part of the state.
What does the fan help do? Other then making a LOT of noise I can't tell any difference in the heat that comes from it.
Our wood stove doesn't have a fan and doesn't need a fan...the stove heats the house just fine without one.
As others have mentioned, having a window to view the fire is fantastic. I'd be very sad to have a wood stove without being able to see inside. Watching the fire is one of the best things about having a wood stove.
Yes, the one in the link I posted is as close to the Ranger as I could find to show everyone. I can't tell myself how good of shape it's in, that's one thing that concerns me the stove might be as old as this house lol. Yes, something that takes up less space and is more efficient might be in the near future.
Thank you for the info about getting a cast iron stove.
Ignore the stove. They are immortal. The thing to be concerned about is the flue. If you can't do it yourself, have it cleaned and inspected. Flue fires burn down houses all the time.
Around the stove the big concern is combustibles in front of the door. You will have live coals rolling out of the stove from time to time. There should be nothing combustible within 18" of the door. You can buy fireproof mats or hearth extensions if you need to.
The stove you linked is what is known as a "boxwood heater." It is designed to burn scrap wood, and attain a quick, hot fire. As long as there are no holes rusted through, it will be fine.
Here is a link to minimum clearances around wood stoves. If it's too close to combustibles, you may want to add a heat shield.
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Coal has roughly 3 times the energy density of wood assuming seasoned hardwood, it's even more compared to softwood. Typical schedule is to shake the ashes out and completely fill the firebox in the morning and evening. The amount of fuel is irrelevant to the heat output and is controlled entirely by the amount of air. Some can be idled down for almost 2 day burns on a single fill but you won't be getting much heat from it that low. 
:
From Northeastern Pennsylvanian to be precise, most of the coal mined in PA is soft coal from the western part of the state.
