Wood stoves ?

[dustrunner]

ANYONE HAVE A WOOD STOVE THAT DOES'NT REQUIRE A PIECE OF WOOD EVERY HOUR JUST TO KEEP IT GOING ? my old one just eats the 28 " logs rite up.. atleast 1 per hour... ive heard of stoves burning overnite without adding wood and just wanted to know who makes a good one ?

[ATC-Eric]

You should look into a pellet stove! No more cutting wood. I heated my old farmhouse with one. It was a very, very drafty house. Pellet stove did great. Ate about 2 bags a day when you had it turned up on high. Was about $200 a month in pellets verses the $500 in propane. Also saved almost $100 a month in electricity without the furnace constantly running.

If your open to that you wont regret it.

[Jason125m]

We burn wood in my house in the city, cottage, garages. Works perfectly fine, seems to me you are burning soft wood. I throw one or two nice 15" pieces of hardwood in there everynight before bed, I wake up in the morning and there is enough hot coals to start it up with ease. Softwood is alright for during the day when you are home, but if you are not home, or if it is night, hardwood is the way to go.

Pellets sure do seem expensive to me, considering we cut all our own wood off of our bush property for free. But I guess considering the price of propane and gas, its a lot cheaper.

Also, how F'in big is your woodstove to hold a 28" log? Do you live in a 100000 square foot house? Seems way overkill.

[hoosierlogger]

I used to have a wonder wood stove. It would take up to 24". It was firebrick lined. I think it cost $400 about 10 years ago.

[ATC-Eric]

Pellets sure do seem expensive to me, considering we cut all our own wood off of our bush property for free. But I guess considering the price of propane and gas, its a lot cheaper.





Sure in a position where you have the land, and the extra time to cut, split, and haul wood it seems cheaper and easier. With my schedule, and for $150-$200 a month your dammed sure Id rather buy a pallet of pellets. Maybe Im just lazy. I weighed the options when I bought my stove, and ended up not wanting to have to deal with cutting wood.

[whyzee]

I agree with a pellet stove. I have 2 woodstoves and go through around 7 cord of wood a year. I have been burning wood for 10 years now. I used to have access to "free" wood. ( dont forget to figure your time, gas, saw maintenance " and you will realize it's not free. I do enjoy cutting a little wood but honestly the novelty wore off a few years ago.
I buy my wood now and most of the time the quality is fair at best. Pellet stoves are the way to go unless you have access to "free" wood and really really enjoy it. Remember it takes about 2 years of seasoning to burn hardwoods properly in a woodstove.

[dustrunner]

homemade 24" id pipe stove.. 48 " long... heats great but eats it... we have free wood and dont mind doing it .. but want a efficient stove...

[fabiodriven]

I've been burning wood since I was a kid. I'm 33 years old now. Pellets are for the birds.

I heat my house with wood and wood ONLY. I have a oil-fired boiler, but my oil tank is empty. I use the boiler rarely if I'm going away for a day or two, but that's it. I don't even have that option right now because my oil tank is empty, like I said. My house isn't insulated and has the original windows from the 50's, yet it's usually about 75+ degrees in here. I go to my friend's nice, new, insulated houses and I can't take my jacket off because I get cold.

My stove will burn for 8 hours. It is a Russo CW2. It can also burn coal, but I never do. Wood is free.

I'm willing to bet you don't have a chimney liner, 123456q (nice name BTW). I made that mistake for years. Growing up I was just feeding the stove in my parent's house. I don't know how theirs was set up, I was younger and unconcerned. It was just part of the day. When I bought my first house in '05, I put in a Russo CW2. I ran that stove for over 5 years with no liner. It heated the house great, but it absolutely chewed through wood. Then I bought my second house in 2009 or 10, and I again bought a Russo CW2. I ran it for a year in this house with no chimney liner, but then I put a chimney liner in. Let me just say right now, I should have done the liner years ago. I had people telling me to put a liner in for a long time, but I really didn't listen. Then one day my buddy gave me a liner. He had bought one for his house and he only needed half of it, so he gave me the other half. Prior to installing the liner, all I had was about 4' of black pipe going up the chimney. This was wrong for so many reasons and I'm embarrassed I ran the stove that way for as long as I did. The liner goes straight out the back of my stove to a "T", then it goes to the top of a chimney with a cap on it. Before I had the liner, I would rarely shut the intake damper on the stove and I had never shut the exhaust damper even one time. The stove would just die. I used to just run it on full blast all the time. Now, with the liner in, it runs so efficiently that I have to close both dampers all the way just to keep the stove from overheating. I'm sitting next to it right now and it's a little over 700 degrees with both dampers closed all the way.

Two winters ago, I had to take my cruddy old black pipe out of the chimney 3 times during the winter because it would clog solid with creosote. With the liner in, if any creosote builds up, it just flakes off the pipe and falls down to the bottom of the "T" where it collects and piles up and then eventually burns off harmlessly. No more cleaning crappy pipes.

If you don't know how a chimney liner can make your stove burn hotter, longer, and more efficiently, let me explain it like this- Have you ever tried to run an engine with no exhaust? Like, no head pipe, or an open header? It runs like crap pretty much across the boards, aside from maybe wide open, right? A wood stove works the same way. The exhaust (in this case, the chimney liner) is a critical part of the combustion process.

You'll want something like this- http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Flexible-Chimney-Liner-insert-Kits-W-Many-Sizes-and-Options-Available-/250987756380?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3a70093b5c

Another issue you might have is you may have a "loose" stove. The more air you feed it, the more wood it will burn. It has to be air tight or it will always suck air and fry your wood supply.

[wheelsforheels]

I only post when I feel I have something to add, but Fabio already hit upon it. Still I can say that dampers, both chimney and draft dampers are very important to controlling the burn characteristics of your fire. My wood stove is not very big, about 18"x12". When I'm cutting, I cut some of my wood short enough to fit in endwise, the butts facing towards the door. (The door is on the front.) This way I can really stuff it full, like a bookshelf. I don't cut it all that short as it is a real bugger to stack. Out of the usual 14 face cord I use, I'll cut 3 cord short and only use them as night time stockers. The longer legnths just don't seem to fit in there right trying to put them in there sideways. Then they want to roll over and block my intake draft. Doesn't seem to make much sense, smaller wood for a longer fire,but it works for me. Just an idea. I always add the following when conversing about fire, check your smoke detectors and keep a fire exstinguisher handy.
I have been burning wood since I was about 6, I had to keep the inside fireboxes stocked, and am almost 45 now. To me there is no substitute for wood heat. My burner is in the basement and I keep the basement door open and it convects up here quite nicely. I can keep it around 73* up here unless it is super cold out, then my propane furnace, that is set at 68* will kick on 2-3 times a day. Good luck on figuring out your dilemma.

[Scootertrash]

I guess I'm not really sure what a "pipe stove" is, is this a homemade stove using an old 55 gallon drum? (We call them barrel stoves) If that's what it you are talking about, those can only be so efficient. My guess is that your dampering/air feed system is less than adequate, or as Fabio said, you have a stove that leaks a lot of air. You should have a damper on the flue and some type of control for the air feeding the firebox

How dry is your wood?

[dustrunner]

welp, its a 24" round heavy as heck x 48 " long. welded cap on 1 end and has a nice door on the front with a adjustable air inlet. we used to have a damper on it but if we closed it a little bit smoke would blow out the air vent in the door... it has a concrete chimney with the orange virus tile chimney inside ..

[atc007]

I've been burning wood since I was a kid. I'm 33 years old now. Pellets are for the birds.

I heat my house with wood and wood ONLY. I have a oil-fired boiler, but my oil tank is empty. I use the boiler rarely if I'm going away for a day or two, but that's it. I don't even have that option right now because my oil tank is empty, like I said. My house isn't insulated and has the original windows from the 50's, yet it's usually about 75+ degrees in here. I go to my friend's nice, new, insulated houses and I can't take my jacket off because I get cold.

My stove will burn for 8 hours. It is a Russo CW2. It can also burn coal, but I never do. Wood is free.

I'm willing to be you don't have a chimney liner, 123456q (nice name BTW). I made that mistake for years. Growing up I was just feeding the stove in my parent's house. I don't know how theirs was set up, I was younger and unconcerned. It was just part of the day. When I bought my first house in '05, I put in a Russo CW2. I ran that stove for over 5 years with no liner. It heated the house great, but it absolutely chewed through wood. Then I bought my second house in 2009 or 10, and I again bought a Russo CW2. I ran it for a year in this house with no chimney liner, but then I put a chimney liner in. Let me just say right now, I should have done the liner years ago. I had people telling me to put a liner in for a long time, but I really didn't listen. Then one day my buddy gave me a liner. He had bought one for his house and he only needed half of it, so he gave me the other half. Prior to installing the liner, all I had was about 4' of black pipe going up the chimney. This was wrong for so many reasons and I'm embarrassed I ran the stove that way for as long as I did. The liner goes straight out the back of my stove to a "T", then it goes to the top of a chimney with a cap on it. Before I had the liner, I would rarely shut the intake damper on the stove and I had never shut the exhaust damper even one time. The stove would just die. I used to just run it on full blast all the time. Now, with the liner in, it runs so efficiently that I have to close both dampers all the way just to keep the stove from overheating. I'm sitting next to it right now and it's a little over 700 degrees with both dampers closed all the way.

Two winters ago, I had to take my cruddy old black pipe out of the chimney 3 times during the winter because it would clog solid with creosote. With the liner in, if any creosote builds up, it just flakes off the pipe and falls down to the bottom of the "T" where it collects and piles up and then eventually burns off harmlessly. No more cleaning crappy pipes.

If you don't know how a chimney liner can make your stove burn hotter, longer, and more efficiently, let me explain it like this- Have you ever tried to run an engine with no exhaust? Like, no head pipe, or an open header? It runs like crap pretty much across the boards, aside from maybe wide open, right? A wood stove works the same way. The exhaust (in this case, the chimney liner) is a critical part of the combustion process.

You'll want something like this- http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Flexible-Chimney-Liner-insert-Kits-W-Many-Sizes-and-Options-Available-/250987756380?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3a70093b5c

Another issue you might have is you may have a "loose" stove. The more air you feed it, the more wood it will burn. It has to be air tight or it will always suck air and fry your wood supply.


Damn well put Fabio,,this,along with the link,, should be a sticky for ANYONE who does,will, or even thinks about burning wood..

[pipeline triker]

I put in an outdoor central wood boiler and love it. Right now it is 5 below zero out and it is 75 in my house. I burn any wood that I can get, Been heating lately on spruce with a little elm. My whole yard smells like a Christmas tree. I heated with wood for years and my wood stove in the basement would puff back when the damper was closed most of the time that is because of an air leak or to hot of fire dampered down. For me it was air pressure change from inside basment to out side or if the wind would blow just right and go down the chimmny. A liner would have cured that I beleive but I was saving pennies for my outdoor one. Next year my shop will be heated off the boiler also.

[Scootertrash]

welp, its a 24" round heavy as heck x 48 " long. welded cap on 1 end and has a nice door on the front with a adjustable air inlet. we used to have a damper on it but if we closed it a little bit smoke would blow out the air vent in the door... it has a concrete chimney with the orange virus tile chimney inside ..

Is your chimney the proper height above the roof line? Sounds odd that it would backdraft like that, by closing the damper just a little. hmmmmm.....

Is this in your house or in a detached garage or outbuilding? Just wondering about how air tight the building could be....

[wisconsinite]

^^ I' ve got an outdoor boiler also, works great. It holds a lot of wood, I only load it once or twice a day depending on weather. As pipeline said, no risk of chimney fire so you can burn anything. I also heat my hoy water with it. Once my labor force is grown up and moved out, I might get sick of cutting wood though lol.

[wheelsforheels]

No matter what type of chimney you have, short of a piece of single wall pipe sticking outside, requires a period of warm-up, burning easily combustable items, just to warm up the chimney and get the flow going. If you have a masonary chimney, it will take longer than a say, Selkirk or Metalbestos, but still needs to be done before you start throwing the big wood to it. In a perfect world the fire would not go out until spring. The hot/cold process is what causes 10x more creosote than a constantly burning (warm) chimney.

[fabiodriven]

welp, its a 24" round heavy as heck x 48 " long. welded cap on 1 end and has a nice door on the front with a adjustable air inlet. we used to have a damper on it but if we closed it a little bit smoke would blow out the air vent in the door... it has a concrete chimney with the orange virus tile chimney inside ..

You need a stainless liner like the ones I posted.


Is your chimney the proper height above the roof line?

This is a fantastic point as well. Where your chimney is in relation to your roof line is absolutely critical.

I forgot to mention- My stove will burn for up to 8 or sometimes 9 hours, but after that much time all that's left is just embers. It's still usually enough to just put more wood on and not have to light it though.

[dustrunner]

Is your chimney the proper height above the roof line? Sounds odd that it would backdraft like that, by closing the damper just a little. hmmmmm.....

Is this in your house or in a detached garage or outbuilding? Just wondering about how air tight the building could be.... chimney is about 3 feet above the roof on my detached shop....and the building is air tite..

[tri again]

Great thread you guys.
Every new batch of wood has a learning curve for me.
(We burning 'round the clock every winter and heat water too)

My record is one match for 28 hrs of burn time.
I'll pack the stove just like the woodpile, end in first.
Makes everyone wonder about my sanity.."that will Never burn like that".
Well? I really Don't want them to catch just yet.

Then I'll remove one log, say from the upper right corner.
My kindling sits on top of the bottom logs, so when it starts to burn,
the coals drop down and ignite.
The logs on the left will eventually catch and sometimes even roll themselves into the fire.
...a comforting 'clunk' in the middle of the night.
I've thought of getting a bag of coal and put a golfball size or two in the back and see if it lasts but would probably poison myself somehow.

124356q - ? Any chance of gasketing the door with some of that thin ribbon material?

Maybe I'll put a glob of hi temp silicon gasket stuff on the door and see how it holds up and report back.

[Scootertrash]

chimney is about 3 feet above the roof on my detached shop....and the building is air tite..

I believe this is the code that has to be met:

• Chimneys shall extend 3 feet above the high point of roof penetration, and at least 2 feet higher than any portion of the roof within 10 feet, measured horizontally

Sounds like you may be meeting the 3 foot rule, what about the 2 ft in 10 foot rule? These rules are to ensure that the roof line doesn't interfere with the draft of the chimney

Since you say the building is air tight, that tells me why when you close the damper even a little why smoke comes out of the air vent in front, your fire doesn't have enough fresh air to draft when you close the flue damper. Then you need a fresh air intake for your stove. On my wood burners, it's a 4 inch diameter fitting with a flex duct to the outside, and it also has a damper on the interior of the building. This will allow you to adjust the incoming fresh air so your fire will draft properly when you close the flue damper, since your stove is getting very little fresh air from the building itself. You can "fine tune" your fire by adjusting both to get your best burn rate possible. Of course wood type and how dry your wood is affect your burning rate also.

Try this:
When you have a fire burning, try opening a window closest to the stove a bit and then try to close your flue damper. See if smoke still comes out of the air vent in the front of the stove. If it does open the window a bit more. See if that solves the problem, My guess is that it will.

You could open any window, I'm just trying to eliminate too much cold air rushing into the room with the window open to feed the fire by using one close to the stove. ;)

[roostin atc]

One way to look at things is you can't make your own pellets. Wood will always be cheaper. If you don't have much money you can always rub two sticks together for heat. If you did that with pellets they would just fall apart.