Anyone have experience with these small wood stoves (Portland: how much, houses)

[MAINEr]

My house is small, 960 sq ft. and we have one of these sitting in our shed, never used, and I wondered if it would be good to install for heat in my house. I know it is not long burning like a nice tight stove and usually people use them in cabins but since we already have it and the price of oil is not getting any cheaper and I can get free wood pieces at the dump if it would be good as supplemental heat?


http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...211672_300.jpg

[MAINEr]

Can a mod delete this one, it posted twice for some reason.

[Kiwiluver]

I don't know why you could not. Be very careful when installing it and make certain you have adequate distance from anything combustible. Make sure that where the pipe exits the wall is insulated from the wood or whatever material the wall is constructed from and the pipe has enough height to draw properly (you may already have a chimney in place, if so get it cleaned and inspected by a professional). When you talk about "getting wood from the dump" be aware some wood burns much hotter than others, in particular kiln dried wood and this could be dangerous in certain instances, such as an unattended stove. Never burn any kind of treated wood or you may wake up dead from the vapors and gasses produced. I don't know about in your particular environ, but where I reside I watch Craig's list all summer as people are happy for you to come haul away downed trees usually for the best price, free! I watch for the hard wood and go get it. It does not take much to amuse a retired guy!I may be stating the obvious. and am apologizing in advance if this is the case.

[American girl]

I'd err on the side of caution and go to a wood stove dealer, discuss your options and have your stove professionally installed. Jotul makes terrific small stoves. I've owned two, both professionally installed. I'd also be careful about burning dump wood. A small miscalculation in this case could mean loss of home, or God forbid, life.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

That is commonly called a "box stove". I have used them for years and many Maine people use these economical stoves. You can cook with them or just use them for heat. They may not go all night, but they will provide quicker heat than most stoves. As mentioned above, follow the rules regarding clearances from combustible surfaces and make sure your stove pipe is screwed to the stove outlet, not just set on there. You can buy ten of these stoves for the price of one exotic stove and these heat just as well.

[MAINEr]

Originally Posted by American girl

I'd err on the side of caution and go to a wood stove dealer, discuss your options and have your stove professionally installed. Jotul makes terrific small stoves. I've owned two, both professionally installed. I'd also be careful about burning dump wood. A small miscalculation in this case could mean loss of home, or God forbid, life.

Well the dump wood is really trees and limbs, it's amazing how much wood you can get in the "brush" section.

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by MAINEr

My house is small, 960 sq ft. and we have one of these sitting in our shed, never used, and I wondered if it would be good to install for heat in my house. I know it is not long burning like a nice tight stove and usually people use them in cabins but since we already have it and the price of oil is not getting any cheaper and I can get free wood pieces at the dump if it would be good as supplemental heat?


http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...211672_300.jpg

Unless you have a professional install it, I would have someone inspect it. If your town doesn't have an inspector, many fire departments will do it for you. We have lots of houses burn down in Maine every year because of woodstove/chimney issues.

As far as how well it will heat your house, how open is your house? Heat moves vertically well, horizontally poorly. The thing about these stoves is that most burn fast, so you get a lot of heat, then it burns out. Putting tons of heat into a room where it can't go anywhere will just waste most of it.

[Zarathu]

Make sure its an air-tight stove with gaskets at any place. You can't control one that isn't. Since its old you may have to replace the gaskets. And since its old, I would put a manual flue damper in the pipe out of the stove. you need to be able to control both the air intake and the exhaust out, to adequately control the fire in these old stoves.

You also need to get your chimney checked. You should probably put a stainless steel liner in it, or an insulated liner. Since these stoves burn very hot, and since you will try to stop them down, your creosote build up could be very fast, and you could easily burn your house down. The pipe out of the house is more important than the stove.

[maureenb]

Nice little stove. I still miss my Portland Foundry # 224 Atlantic. It was a peach. It reminds me of the box stove you have.

From the photo, your stove has a damper in the cast part of the flue, but I would consider adding another in the stovepipe. Just me.

[Zarathu]

Originally Posted by maureenb

Nice little stove. I still miss my Portland Foundry # 224 Atlantic. It was a peach. It reminds me of the box stove you have.

From the photo, your stove has a damper in the cast part of the flue, but I would consider adding another in the stovepipe. Just me.

I would agree. Woodstoves can "take off". Even if you think you have it completely sealed, the suction of gases up the flue can be intense, and if you have too much wood in the stove or some other kid of volaties like you put pressure treated wood in it , or even wood that is too dry, it can start burning very very fast.

You have to have some way of stopping the air both from intake and from out going gases. These stoves are not designed to burn at the temperatures of the modern stoves. with their secondary burning chambers.