Wood burning stoves

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I'm not an alarmist and I think it is wise to make decisions on solid information and not be reactive to short term conditions.
That being said, Americans have long enjoyed access to relatively inexpensive energy. I'm not sure that will be the trend going forward.
I am NOT talking about next week, next month or even the next few years. I'm talking about the next 20 years plus.

Short term high energy costs, like some of us experienced in the oil crisis' of the 1970's (there were two); can be rode out with a little short term adjustment.
You don't make big decisions based on the cost and availability of energy over a year or two. You make decisions on the cost of energy over 10 to 20 years.

There was a push for "all electric" houses in the 1960's and 1970's. I can remember when electric baseboard heating systems were very popular. That form of heat turned out to be hideously expensive when the cost of electricity went up.

In the Northeast there was a shift from oil to natural gas. That trend seems to have slowed and even reversed in some cases.
During the second 1970's oil crisis, everyone and their brother wanted a wood stove.

From the early 1980's to today, oil prices have fluctuated considerably. Propane prices are tied to oil prices, so they go hand in hand. I don't see super cheap oil ever being available for long stretches of time.
U.S. production of natural gas has increased dramatically and it has become far more abundant on the east coast (particularly in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast)
There's not much more hydroelectric sources to be exploited in the U.S.
Nuclear has peaked and seems to be falling out of favor.

SO, if we assume the above is accurate, or at least reasonably reliable; the cost of energy will continue to rise relative to buying power. That doesn't mean it will be obscenely high or critical. It just means it will take a larger portion of your available money.

If natural gas is available where you live, that is an attractive fuel. However it makes you very dependent on a distribution network (often a government run system) that you have NO control over.
Propane is an option where NG isn't available but the cost is tied to the cost of oil.
If you live in an area where firewood is abundant and cheap, that makes a wood stove attractive.

Thinking LONG TERM and not short term - an EFFICIENT, high quality wood stove, makes good sense.

When making a purchasing decision for something you are going to own and use for 20+ years, you should amortize the initial cost of the device AND consider the cost to run it; over that entire 20 years. An extra $500-$1000 dollars in initial cost becomes insignificant over 20 years. An extra $200 PER YEAR becomes very important over 20 years.
 
Last edited:

Ian

Notorious member
Ours is a Wonder Wood Automatic. I paid 50 bucks for it 18 years ago. It came out of a deer camp that the majority of hunters no longer wanted to mess with wood and went with propane. They now miss it a lot. A heavy wire strung over the old stove dried their clothes. It has a blower fan that blows out near the bottom and across the cold floor. I keep the little motor oiled up and it has been just flawless for us. I replaced the fire brick when I got it, and the rope gasket around the door about 10 years ago. I worry about the grate because it developed a hump in it but has not cracked so....View attachment 19693

I'm glad you posted that. Every household in central Texas had one of those from the 70s until the late 90s and they were excellent. I asked my Dad what brand they were a few years ago and he couldn't remember.
 

Bisley

Active Member
That's not alarmist at all, P&P. When Dad bought the Blazeking insert in 1978, it made the fireplace much safer, more efficient and easier to clean. The intangibles are important also: two young boys prone to idleness and bickering now had a supervised role in maintaining the home -- heh, heh. We cut oil baseboard heating costs in half, and Mom had an auxiliary slow-cooking surface: roasts, Thanksgiving turkey warmer, and so forth. During the aperiodic power outages in Anchorage, we had a standby heat source.

But Dad's observation about the stove described its limitations: It's great but it does not heat the edges. You needed moist baseboard heat for that.

My stove backs up the gas heat to keep the core of the house warm. Next to that is the natural gas standby generator mounted on a pad in the back. I worked for ServiceMaster a number of years ago and know what happens when a failed sump pump results in "letting the insurance handle it." The generator weighs about 400 pounds: stealing it would require a team of four men at least half an hour. I know what systems will have power when a storm takes out the power in our neighborhood. In the 22-hour winter outage in Chesterton last month, it made up part of its cost in frozen groceries alone.

Not every independent, nonstandard system in our homes is premised on a Collapse of the Republic Event (C.O.R.E. for further reference). Routine and even banal events can become the most expensive. Preparation is part of maintenance, and vice versa. My $.02.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Ok I got one for you. It's a Cannon coal stove, yeah I know it's not a wood stove. But remember we even have a thread on "Thread Drift" on this Fourm. I can see drifting is going to become an Art form here.
Besides I have burned wood in it when I could not get coal, but it cruises through the wood fast. I even used it in my auto shop office with a oil drip pot in it for constant heat.
Mostly it was in my home shop and burned lump coal in it. It work great not as good as the old Warm Morning 100 pound Stove but when that stove burned out I put the Cannon stove in. Would burn 6 to 9 tons per winter. Saved a lot of money. Anyway, good stove.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
These are decisions that should be carefully considered.
Do your research. Pick a direction. Make LONG TERM plans.

If the direction is wood heat, do you have an adequate chimney? How much stove do you really need ? (bigger isn't always better) These are systems best installed in summer so there's plenty of time time get everything right before you must rely on it.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Ok I got one for you. It's a Cannon coal stove, yeah I know it's not a wood stove. But remember we even have a thread on "Thread Drift" on this Fourm. I can see drifting is going to become an Art form here.
Besides I have burned wood in it when I could not get coal, but it cruises through the wood fast. I even used it in my auto shop office with a oil drip pot in it for constant heat.
Mostly it was in my home shop and burned lump coal in it. It work great not as good as the old Warm Morning 100 pound Stove but when that stove burned out I put the Cannon stove in. Would burn 6 to 9 tons per winter. Saved a lot of money. Anyway, good stove.

View attachment 19704

View attachment 19705
There's some heavy duty fishing tackle there. Salmon trolling or do you have them just for the halibut?
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Both. Most of those rods are halibut. We would lower ourselves to fish for round fish from time to time, but, hanging into a couple hundred pounds of butt, Now that's fishing.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Both. Most of those rods are halibut. We would lower ourselves to fish for round fish from time to time, but, hanging into a couple hundred pounds of butt, Now that's fishing.
On our trip to Alaska a couple of years ago I ate Halibut every chance I got. Best fish I ever shoved in my pie hole.

Thorne's Lounge, (in Seward), could easily become my hangout if I lived up there. The bar tender and I both like John Prine and Iris Dement, and the Bucket of But was outstanding.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Only fish better then fresh halibut is Yelloweye or China rockfish filets still wiggling when you put them on the BBQ. Had a BBQ on the upper deck and you could throw the filets from the cleaning station on the cockpit to someone running the BBQ.

Is that Thorn Bay?
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Only fish better then fresh halibut is Yelloweye or China rockfish filets still wiggling when you put them on the BBQ. Had a BBQ on the upper deck and you could throw the filets from the cleaning station on the cockpit to someone running the BBQ.

Is that Thorn Bay?
Thorne's Showcase Lounge. As we walked up to the door, "In Spite of Ourselves was playing on the juke box. Bucket of But on the menu chalk board and a local Micro Brew. I remember that to this day.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
We lived in a house that had been a restaurant/bar and several tourist cabins originally. They all got strung together over the years and there was an enormous cast iron and concrete oil fired boiler in the basement with hot water heat piped throughout the place. We had those big old sheet metal radiators and some newer lower profile baseboard units. IIRC we had at least 2 275 gallon tanks in the basement and the local oil company was filling them at least every 2 weeks all winter long. All was well until the Oil Embargo in '72 (? I think). Suddenly fuel prices shot up horribly (Gas went up to 35 cents a gallon!!!!!!!). All the sudden we had a wood stove and a coal stove in the house. It took my folks a while to figure out that having a wood stove in the living room where the thermostat for the furnace was would result in the rest of the house being about 32 1/2 F! Insulation was more a suggestion in that house than a fact. Frozen pipes under the uninsulated crawl space was a common occurrence until they got that figured out a few years later. The coal stove was an old coal fired water heater and was a horrible little thing to use. My grandmother had the knack for keeping it happy, but I could mess it up bad. So I've been involved in wood heat since then. I've had people tell me I'm crazy to use wood, but I have 342 acres here I'm paying taxes on. Much if it is covered in wood, lots of dead wood. I think I'd be crazy NOT to use it for heat!
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Having lived in an old, poorly insulated house as a kid, I learned a LOT about frozen pipes !
1. They will always freeze when you have somewhere to be that morning.
2. They will always freeze and Split on: Thanksgiving morning, Christmas morning and New Years Day !
 

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
Ok I got one for you. It's a Cannon coal stove, yeah I know it's not a wood stove. But remember we even have a thread on "Thread Drift" on this Fourm. I can see drifting is going to become an Art form here.
Besides I have burned wood in it when I could not get coal, but it cruises through the wood fast. I even used it in my auto shop office with a oil drip pot in it for constant heat.
Mostly it was in my home shop and burned lump coal in it. It work great not as good as the old Warm Morning 100 pound Stove but when that stove burned out I put the Cannon stove in. Would burn 6 to 9 tons per winter. Saved a lot of money. Anyway, good stove.

View attachment 19704

View attachment 19705
Those things were used by the Army to heat all kinds of spaces, up through WWII. They are "dual fuel" and can burn coal or wood.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I'm glad you posted that. Every household in central Texas had one of those from the 70s until the late 90s and they were excellent. I asked my Dad what brand they were a few years ago and he couldn't remember.

We had one of those. Looks like the exact same one. Ours was from Sears - when Sears was worth something, and was supposedly a knock-off of a popular Ashley. The Ashley was what dad wanted but they were always out of stock. As was stated, everyone wanted a wood stove back then and there were many which were in particularly high demand. Fisher was another popular one that was hard to find.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I have been very pleased with my small Jotul.

100% THIS^^^^

Mine is a 602N - a tiny thing, and can run you out of a 16' x 20' room with 9' ceilings. I've run this stove for 20 years and all I've had to do is repace the door gasket about ten years ago. I get a CUP of dry, black, sparkly residue out of the chimney each year when I clean it.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
We got a tiny Jotul this past summer, I still haven't found the model number, but it's very small. $25.00. I jumped on that so quick it scared my wife! We also got a Kalamazoo wood cookrange, a very nice one actually that hasn't seen a lot of use. Where we'll finally put it I'm not sure, but the price was right and I've wanted a nice porcelain finished wood cookstove for decades. I also managed to get the old black Astor cookstove brazed up. It sits in the garage minus a chimney. I keep thinking I might run one as I've got some 6" insulated left over. Maybe. I'd like to get an idea of how to use one as it was 1974 or so last time I really used one and it seems each has a personality of it's own.

I'd love to get an outdoor boiler. It makes so much sense for me here. Maybe if I can work back up to a couple years of selling 100 head of lambs and save every penny! Ha!
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
We got a tiny Jotul this past summer, I still haven't found the model number, but it's very small. $25.00...

If it's a 602, they're $1k now. I paid $500 for mine twenty years ago and I fell over myself getting my wallet out. Then I stopped and aske why it was so cheap. Apparently, the old man who ran the shop had periodic tiffs with Jotul and would sever ties for a few years. I came in on the tail end of that tiff and it was clearance-priced.

The 602 is marked in the upper right corner, right on front. Someone bought me a book on Jotul and apparently that stove has been around for a long time and is their most popular model.
 

Cadillac Jeff

Well-Known Member
I had an out door boiler in that last home we sold , 7 year's ago that thing was a wood eatin SOB ---- but had all the heat & hot water you could ever want, went through 30 to 40 fasecord a year----all northern Mi. red oak. No wonder I had back surgery!!
Dad had a central boiler & used 1/2 as much, that would be the one to look at.