Stand Alone Wood Stove Experience

[samandothers]

 8)

Thanks!

Had considered Mansfield too,

[Pulphook]

If you like basements for your stove, great. Matter of taste....and efficiency.
If you spend time down below, and you insulated the %$#@& out of the concrete foundation, more great.
Most cellar walls of older houses are uninsulated, and the cellar is for utilities not a room to spend time in.
So you're heating dirt and the mass of concrete. Sure some heat "rises", but most that goes out to nature.
Just one opinion for stoves that heat a space where we spend time.
Besides, cellars aren't romantic. :-\
Would have a Woodstock stove if the loading was right for the space and the boss.

[ButchC]

We run both an outdoor boiler and a Jotel  stove to heat our century old farm house. We dont need all that capacity but due to how the place was built and how it was added on to it was kinda necessary top keep the entire place cozy. Anyway the Jotel is non-catalyst secondary combustion unit. It works VERY well. They are an upper end unit, you pay well for one but we are happy with it. Almost forgot we also have an old Sears pot belly in the front room which we burn just every now and then mainly for giggles, efficiantcy isnt real good but if you need BTUs on a cold windy day an old pot belly will certainly provide them, .

[Pulphook]

Sorry that there are too few up to date EPA wood stove users on the site with experience using the recent advances in wood stove technology.
The OWB is a viable option for those liking the tech. It has problems and technical issues and expense.
Frasnkly some of us don't want to load the heat outdoors, or have neighbors complain about creosote production found in too many of OWBs here.
Many of us heat 24/7 with wood stoves in New England and have for decades without central heat or with some backup.
Unfortunately, the main site for wood stove users, hearthnet has a definite political bias and strong opinionated bloggers unlike here.

[thecfarm]

Buy a Heatmor and you won't have creosote problems. ;) Had my since 2007,even when I experimented with green wood I did not have creosote problems.
As my FIL told me,outdoor wood furnaces smoke all the time. You should of asked me about them before you bought one. : I point out the smokestack of my OWB when he comes over and ask him if he sees any smoke? ;) 
Hard to know much about one if a person has never owned one. Goes with alot of things in life too.

[John Mc]

Sorry that there are too few up to date EPA wood stove users on the site with experience using the recent advances in wood stove technology.

Huh?

[Pulphook]

Don't need to own an OWB to see and smell and drive through the creosote smoke of OWBs burning too often. One friend even brags that he can burn anything--green sticks, trash, tires, PT lumber. :
Most posting here sound like you do burn clean. But the reality out there is not.
As for using up to date wood stoves: not much posted. That's why I asked. Cat. Non cat. Stoves engineered in the past decade or so. Brands.

[John Mc]

Woodstock stoves were among those mentioned earlier. One of their prototype models won the grand prize in the International Wood Stove Design Competition held in Washington DC 2013. It went into production in 2015. If my Hearthstone Phoenix ever needs to be replaced, it will likely be with the Woodstock Ideal Steel Hybrid (unless I come across something better in the mean time).

[Pulphook]

Right John. Toured the Woodstock plant a few years ago; fine, high quality stoves and exceptional customer service.
Unfortunately their stoves don't have what the boss wanted: top loading, porcelain/enamel finish ( so the stove looks pretty for years ), classic looks for her.
I wanted their Hybrid Progress one, but orders are orders here.
So in spite of past deadly problems with Vermont Castings, we got one of their latest "dual" 2in1 stoves. Most of us have had VC stoves in the distant past when they were a quality and service firm ( original Vigilant and later Encore )...not the 3-4 past owners who really screwed up the name. The latest rendition of owners ( and also dealers BTW) say that there is a big change in product and service. We shall see.

McCain will be missed.

[John Mc]

Everyone has their preferences, I guess. I absolutely can't stand top loading wood stoves.

[thecfarm]

 

[Pulphook]

Everyone has their preferences, I guess. I absolutely can't stand top loading wood stoves.

Hey John. When rolling out of the sack, 1/2 awake with an armful of wood for the stove the top load is just right. One hand to open the beast, the other to drop the 4-6 sticks onto live coals to get the place warm before the boss awakes. Easy. No bending, no special wood carrier, quick, simple.
With the side load stove in the other part of the mansion , the armload needs to be set down first. The open the side load door. A PITA.
Same for an older front loader. A second PITA.
It is my mission to do the morning stove ritual since there is no central furnace to keep the mansion at the usual +/- 65 F like most. In winter the rooms can get easily in the 50's F overnight; no big deal. Besides, where is it written that homes need to be kept at +65 F  24/7 ? And, why do most heat unused space all day ?

[John Mc]

As I said, we all have our preferences. If it works for you, that's what is important.

[samandothers]

We hope to get a Woodstock Progress in the next year or so.  Seems like a great stove.

[Pulphook]

Preferences.
The Woodstock Progress hybrid was in the running to replace an older, abused stove. Why not ? It only loads from a side door. She demands top loading for ease ( I tend to agree) of loading.
The look to her is clutsy, not classic .
Didn't like the soapstone covering that sometimes has cracked.
In well used Woodstock stoves, the cast iron needs touching up; it's not porcelain or baked on enamel.
No doubt about the quality, guarantee, engineering, and customer service of Woodstock.
Preferences II:
OWBs need power. Need pumps. Need below frost line water pipes. Not cheap to install.
Some OWB users don't clean burn affecting many wood heaters in many regions that now mandate out certain wood heating. It takes only a drive around in northern New England to smell too many creosote smokers laying down the haze in neighborhoods.
Who wants to go outdoors to load ?
The good is central heat 24/7 and keeping firewood debris out of the house.
Preferences are mine.

[thecfarm]

Need below frost line water pipes.

When you start saying things that are incorrect I can't be quiet. Been since 2007 with my water lines no more than 18 inches below ground. Mine circulators ran all the time.
Not that it really matters,there has only been 2 days in all that time,I did not want to go outside,oh the horrors of it all,to fill the OWB

[Pulphook]

That's why we have Husky and Stihl, Subaru and Ford....maybe J'red.
Going outside in the middle of January at zero dark hundred to load a heater isn't fun for this one when half awake.
With power those pumps at 18" down  have to be circulating constantly in northern NE or they'd freeze. When the power goes down in
a winter storm, then what ? Most don't have standby gens; maybe a pull out gen.
So, preference is for me, a couple of interior, high efficient wood stoves where we spend the time when home. For 24/7 heating
a +/- 2000 sq ft house, we burn 6-8 cords/year of mixed soft and hardwoods cut from the woodlot here. The softwoods ( spruce/fir ) are blowdowns used in shoulder seasons fall and spring.
Yes it's a PITA loading stoves a few times/day when home. It's a lifestyle.
All have a choice.

[John Mc]

Going outside in the middle of January at zero dark hundred to load a heater isn't fun for this one when half awake.

I had always assumed that that is one of the reasons to have an OWB: if you are operating it with a bit of foresight, there is no need to go out to load it at "zero dark hundred". If I can manage my 60,000 BTU woodstove to avoid that, I would think an decent OWB, with it's much larger firebox could do the same.

[thecfarm]

Last time I knew most wood sheds are not heated either.  ;)  I have been out getting wood to bring inside the house.
And I may have power that comes in one way.but for years I did not even own a generator. Did not need one.If the power went out for 2 hours,that was a long time. Than it started to go out for 2 days and more each time. I have a generator now. With a chest freezer,it's kinda of a good idea.
Mu OWB will go an easy 12 hours,and that's burning dead wood.
You sound like my FIL. :(

[Pulphook]

To each his own.
Morning firewood is from the 'indoor' 1/2 cord shed next to the back door; no going out. Fill it at times from the storage sheds.
An inconvenient truth ( thx to AlGore) however is that the ashes need emptying from the two stoves at least in winter each morning. The so-called lawn loves the fertilizer.
There have been times when in wind and/or snow I have been known to throw ashes against the prevailing wind. :'( That zero dark hundred awareness again.
Still love the romantic close heat of a INDOOR wood stove.
Do your dogs curl up near the OWB ?

[thecfarm]

yep

[ButchC]

Well Mr pulphook since you came here apparently to avoid the non factual bias (kind words for BS) over on the liberal wood burner's site  maybe you could knock off the OWB trash burner rhetoric and just promote how you like to do things? Trash, treated wood and old tires and green smokey wood will (and is) burned  in a indoor stoves also, just have to cut it up into smaller pieces.

Yes,my hackles are up, I dont like woodstove snob types lumping me into a lower order because I run an OWB, it isnt needed here,,,

Apologies to the forum and the moderator. Understand if you toss me I  just couldn't leave that one alone.

Butch

[doctorb]

Sorry I haven't chimed in....been out of internet range for a few days, which is a good thing.

ButchC-  I hear your frustration with the dogma.  Apologies accepted.  Just to remind ALL....please refrain from criticizing the poster, and criticize the post in a civil manner.  ButchC, I know you get that.

Pulphook -  The irritation expressed by ButchC and others is understandable.  You are correct, some OWB users do not follow the best burning practices and the emissions from their units demonstrate that.  However, as somebody who has used a gasifier OWB for 9 years and who has benefitted immensely from information gathered from the FF readership experience, a discussion of indoor versus outdoor woodburning stoves is interesting and educational.  This discussion has taken place in one fashion or another for years on the Forum.  There are plusses and minuses to both forms of heat, and both will have their proponents.  Neither side is wrong and neither side is crazy.  As in life, we never deal with pure absolutes.  

You will get called out when information is posted that is not factually correct.  Take your statement regarding the depth of the thermal lines connecting an OWB to a basement.  It is simply untrue.  Think about it....those lines could be 40 feet under the earth but they still have to rise above the frost line and above ground to enter the OWB.  As long as the water is circulated, freezing is not an issue.  Heck, Central Boiler advertises in their brochure that you can install the OWB in winter and leave the thermopex pipe laying on the ground until spring, when you no longer need a jackhammer to bury it.  The Forum is too big to read all of the information stored here, but I can assure you that, questions like this have been dealt with here multiple times.  Use key words in the search engine and you can read entire discussions on many woodburning topics.

So I'll weigh in....

I burn indoor during the "shoulder" months, where you don't need a constant heat source due to the fluctuating ambient temperatures, and I'll burn my OWB from Thanksgiving though mid-April.  I like them both.  The amount of work for both ends up being about the same, IMO.   I don't store wood inside my house as it makes a mess and brings in the dreaded Stink Bug.  I have to cart that wood from my shed and store it again on my porch and then fetch it periodically when needed.  Yes, it's romantic, but while not needing hourly attention, I seem to play with it pretty often.  The OWB saves me $$ as I do not burn any oil in the winter.  The wood is stacked right there so I only move it once.  I feed it before I go to work and once again in the evening.  Yes, I clear air passages and mess with the coal bed, just like I have to empty the ash tray every other day when I heat indoors.  I am not outside after midnight working with the stove.  Cleanout of the OWB every 2-3 weeks is a pain, I'll admit, but that free hot water is worth it.  For my specific situation, the OWB has been an excellent heat source choice.  My neighbors did not know I was heating with an OWB until I showed them.  In answer to one of your previous rhetorical questions, "Who wants to go outside to load?"  The answer, from December through April is. "I do!"

So, as someone who has done both indoor and outdoor heating for many years, there is no perfect answer.  It's up to your situation and your personal preference.  Oh, BTW, while my last dog has left us, he went wherever I was, regardless of whether I was inside or out.  Labs don't mind a little cold or moisture.

[stratton]

Dr B, +1

[Pulphook]

To all of you using your OWB and stoves the right clean way, apologies.
Our experience here in northern New England is what was said and fact based : OWBs have a poor rep HERE for burning creosote. It does not take much of a drive to go thru dark smoke that gets peoples' "hackles" ( whatever they are :-\ ) up. Some of the boiler burners here brag about being able to burn anything ( green wood, rotted wood, tires, trash) . Yes, some stove users also burn dirty.
The ready-fire-aim post is uneeded ( You can call me "Sir" thou its been awhile, not "Mr" ;D )
Fact: if your circulation pipes are running 24/7 or filled with antifreeze , sure they don't need to be below frostline. Our water pipes NEED to be +3' down for protection outside . They're protected where they enter the building.
I don't sleep with my wood stoves....yet . No emotional attachment to them other than decades of use. We have no central heat, using 6-8 cords ( the actual cords ) every year harvested from this woodlot.
So, anyone is welcome to comment on their wood stove use. Let's have polite, experiential talk....no (admin language edit)