beerbelly
Mouth breather
Dogs love heat!
The time has come!
- Thread starter Steve NW WI
- Start date
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Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Almost forgot, Fyrebug, I know you're out there! You need to send me a hat. One was not included, and as a born and raised farmer. pretty much any purchase over $100 requires a free hat. It's WI law I think 
I do have one complaint so far, but it's the same with pretty much all the new stoves: It's too freakin low to the ground. I have to stand on my head to watch the secondaries do their thing, and even filling is a down on the knees proposition. I'm thinking it's gonna get put up on a 8-12" pedestal of concrete or steel this summer. Anyone want to talk me out of that?
I do have one complaint so far, but it's the same with pretty much all the new stoves: It's too freakin low to the ground. I have to stand on my head to watch the secondaries do their thing, and even filling is a down on the knees proposition. I'm thinking it's gonna get put up on a 8-12" pedestal of concrete or steel this summer. Anyone want to talk me out of that?
beerbelly
Mouth breather
Almost forgot, Fyrebug, I know you're out there! You need to send me a hat. One was not included, and as a born and raised farmer. pretty much any purchase over $100 requires a free hat. It's WI law I think
I do have one complaint so far, but it's the same with pretty much all the new stoves: It's too freakin low to the ground. I have to stand on my head to watch the secondaries do their thing, and even filling is a down on the knees proposition. I'm thinking it's gonna get put up on a 8-12" pedestal of concrete or steel this summer. Anyone want to talk me out of that?
Do it! You've got concrete walls & floor. Piece of cake. Make it comfortable for you. Mine is low too. Every morning before my knees wake up, I crash to the floor just to fill it up...royal PITA! I think all stoves doors should be at least 3' high for old fa*ts like me! Do it! I want to live vicarious through you!
Here's my warm dog:
View attachment 276325
Almost forgot, Fyrebug, I know you're out there! You need to send me a hat. One was not included, and as a born and raised farmer. pretty much any purchase over $100 requires a free hat. It's WI law I think
I do have one complaint so far, but it's the same with pretty much all the new stoves: It's too freakin low to the ground. I have to stand on my head to watch the secondaries do their thing, and even filling is a down on the knees proposition. I'm thinking it's gonna get put up on a 8-12" pedestal of concrete or steel this summer. Anyone want to talk me out of that?
I have thought of raising mine, too, just never have done anything with it----yet anyway. I will wait and see what you come up with and maybe that will give me the inspiration I need.:msp_smile:
Ron
shelbythedog
ArboristSite Operative
A few things to think about before raising your stove way up:
Watch out for the minimum clearance from stove top to ceiling if you really consider raising the stove up. I had issues with the house install, couldn't put the stove in its originally proposed location as I did not have the required 49.5" of airspace.
Also, if you raised it up would you have to drastically modify your stove pipe wall exit in order to keep vertical rise in your chimney pipe?
I agree 100% that most stoves are too close to the ground, I've often wondered if I'll be able to bend down to load the thing in 20 years. Below is the pedestal I built for the shop stove. I'd never claim to be a skilled mason, but it seems to be holding up well and raised the stove 23" from floor level.
Watch out for the minimum clearance from stove top to ceiling if you really consider raising the stove up. I had issues with the house install, couldn't put the stove in its originally proposed location as I did not have the required 49.5" of airspace.
Also, if you raised it up would you have to drastically modify your stove pipe wall exit in order to keep vertical rise in your chimney pipe?
I agree 100% that most stoves are too close to the ground, I've often wondered if I'll be able to bend down to load the thing in 20 years. Below is the pedestal I built for the shop stove. I'd never claim to be a skilled mason, but it seems to be holding up well and raised the stove 23" from floor level.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
That's a good looking pedestal that doesn't look like it was too much work. I like it.
On your thoughts, the manual only gives a floor to ceiling clearance, no stove to ceiling clearance. It does allow for a 50% reduction in height with a shield installed, I could go that route if need be and be fine.
Stove pipe currently has 20" of rise in a little over 2' of run, it's working well as it is. It could become an issue if it gets too close to level I guess, maybe a test sitting on blocks is in order before I do anything permanent.
Save you money. Looks like you dont need an OAK.
Almost forgot, Fyrebug, I know you're out there! You need to send me a hat. One was not included, and as a born and raised farmer. pretty much any purchase over $100 requires a free hat. It's WI law I think
I do have one complaint so far, but it's the same with pretty much all the new stoves: It's too freakin low to the ground. I have to stand on my head to watch the secondaries do their thing, and even filling is a down on the knees proposition. I'm thinking it's gonna get put up on a 8-12" pedestal of concrete or steel this summer. Anyone want to talk me out of that?
PM me you address. I'll see what I can do.
Also, not to put a wet blanket on things but concrete floor and walls are a huge heat sink. If you feel after a few weeks the thing doesnt put out all that much heat, it's prob because it's going in the ground.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
PM coming!
On the block walls, they're not totally uninsulated, there's 1" foam around the outside up to ground level. Not great by any means, but good. I've got a couple more places that need insulating and some windows to replace with decent ones, but overall I'd say I have average insulation, not great, but not a drafty old farmhouse either. Stove keeps up quite nicely on low right now, I'm not expecting to be disappointed when I have to open er up some. I might come home to a stove without a fire in it after 12+ hours, but that's no different than my old Woodchuck was.
I will say that it's a "slower" heat than the old stove, meaning it takes a while for things to start warming up appreciably, but it seems to be more even from start to near the end of the cycle, and I like that. The old stove had very little brick, and probably 1/8" steel though, so it should have warmed (and cooled) faster.
What's your opinion on raising this thing up?
Well... It seems like a lot of work if all you want to do is admire the secondaries. In practical terms it will not do anything for you except maybe bending over and save you knees.
However, if your still chopping wood your knees are already takin' a beating!
Like the other guy said, watch out for your clearances if you do. The manual explains how to work the clearances if you raise it up.
stihly dan
Addicted to ArboristSite
With the new furnace a foot higher than the old stove, loading is so much easier on the back, Also to stop the concrete floor from sucking the heat that comes of the front of the furnace, I put down a 1 inch foam rubber insulation pad. No heat loss thru the floor, and nice and soft for the knee's. Loading is so much better now.
Raise that stove...
Raise that stove...
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
1 PM Wed, loaded the stove with what was left on the rack - a full load. It should be good till I get home around 2 AM. That's dang near 4 full days of burn time. I probably won't get that mileage out of the next rack with cold moving in today and hanging around till Friday, but impressive to me none the less. Using that for an average, 4 months or so of 24-7 burning will now cost me about 3 1/3 cords, dang near half, maybe a little less even than the old Woodchuck went through. 5 cords should last a season pretty easy for me.
Guess I'm now almost 2 years ahead!
cmsmoke
ArboristSite Operative
Steve, My stove is not the same as yours, but I did raise it 7" with 2 layers of 3-1/2" square tubing under the legs. Makes a huge difference! Like others said...make sure the stove to ceiling clearance is in spec. or add a heat shield with an airspace above it.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
I've had a few guys ask how I'm liking this stove so far, and rather than retype everything in multiple PMs, I'll give my end of season update a little early, as I think I've got everything down pretty well now.
I'm gonna sound kinda negative here, but I'm not. I'm happy with the stove and would likely buy it again if I had to do it over. I'm just listing all the things I don't like to give others a better perspective, and maybe some improvements will get made along the way.
Overall, give it a B. The stove itself is built well, and it puts out about 90% of the heat the Woodchuck did on roughly half the fuel. When I'm gone 12+ hours, it's not quite enough to keep up in cold (below about 10°F) weather. Not the stove's fault, and likely fixable with better insulation (on the summer to do list).
The air shroud and base around the back made it difficult to get into the house on the dolly, and I bent the shroud a little doing it. With wider stairs, bringing it in on the pallet it came on would have avoided this, but it could be designed a bit better.
In my opinion, the ash pan is useless and unneeded. It's easier to shovel ashes out through the door than it is to fish out the plug, move coals around, and push the ashes out the little hole on the bottom.
The optional blower on this stove really helps with transferring the heat off this big stove, in my opinion it should be stock. I know it's done that way for "price point", but it really does make it a much better performing stove and if I were selling it, it'd be bolted on at the factory. The thermodisc kit to control the fan is pretty unnecessary, and I wouldn't put one back on if this one dies. The blower runs pretty much full time from as soon as the stove is up to temp till the coals are just a small heap in the back of the stove. Also, the kit that's sold for $20ish for these stoves is a pretty rudimentary kit, that requires cutting into the power cord. I learned later that Drolet offers a plug in unit, for closer to $50, that I would have preferred. I hate wiring.
The air control is a little finicky, as already mentioned. Some of it could be unique to my setup, but most anywhere above half open is only for a fast warmup, or to get more air to the coals at the end of a run. Regular burning is done anywhere from full closed to around "1" on the slider. If there were a more gradual control at the low side of this, setting it where I want it would be a little easier. I've gotten used to it with time though, it just aggravated me at first.
Now for some likes:
It does burn clean. No smoke 95% of the time, just when loading. I still check the chimney weekly out of habit, but haven't cleaned it in a month and a half of steady burning. With the old stove, that would have been done once, maybe twice by now. There's a thin layer of ash there, but none of the heavy black creosote.
The big glass is nice to look at, and stays clean for the most part. It gets a little cloudy when burned low for a while, but unless I'm in a big hurry and throw wood in, damp it back right away and leave, it doesn't get the heavy buildup. If it does, a hot fire burns it off pretty quickly.
I don't think there's another stove in this size/price range that will do significantly better. A big Blaze King might be an improvement, but not for the more than double price tag.
The bottom line is that if you're looking for a bigger stove that will keep a lot of space warm, this stove does the job pretty well. I'd have been disappointed, I think, if I'd bought a midsize stove that was rated for 2,000 sq ft. Like the old saying goes, "there's no replacement for displacement". I don't have to fill this one if I don't need to, but I couldn't pack more into a smaller stove.
This summer, I'll be making some tweaks - adding a lift to the base and lining my chimney, and possibly adding a little bigger blower.
Just shout if you've got questions.
I'm gonna sound kinda negative here, but I'm not. I'm happy with the stove and would likely buy it again if I had to do it over. I'm just listing all the things I don't like to give others a better perspective, and maybe some improvements will get made along the way.
Overall, give it a B. The stove itself is built well, and it puts out about 90% of the heat the Woodchuck did on roughly half the fuel. When I'm gone 12+ hours, it's not quite enough to keep up in cold (below about 10°F) weather. Not the stove's fault, and likely fixable with better insulation (on the summer to do list).
The air shroud and base around the back made it difficult to get into the house on the dolly, and I bent the shroud a little doing it. With wider stairs, bringing it in on the pallet it came on would have avoided this, but it could be designed a bit better.
In my opinion, the ash pan is useless and unneeded. It's easier to shovel ashes out through the door than it is to fish out the plug, move coals around, and push the ashes out the little hole on the bottom.
The optional blower on this stove really helps with transferring the heat off this big stove, in my opinion it should be stock. I know it's done that way for "price point", but it really does make it a much better performing stove and if I were selling it, it'd be bolted on at the factory. The thermodisc kit to control the fan is pretty unnecessary, and I wouldn't put one back on if this one dies. The blower runs pretty much full time from as soon as the stove is up to temp till the coals are just a small heap in the back of the stove. Also, the kit that's sold for $20ish for these stoves is a pretty rudimentary kit, that requires cutting into the power cord. I learned later that Drolet offers a plug in unit, for closer to $50, that I would have preferred. I hate wiring.
The air control is a little finicky, as already mentioned. Some of it could be unique to my setup, but most anywhere above half open is only for a fast warmup, or to get more air to the coals at the end of a run. Regular burning is done anywhere from full closed to around "1" on the slider. If there were a more gradual control at the low side of this, setting it where I want it would be a little easier. I've gotten used to it with time though, it just aggravated me at first.
Now for some likes:
It does burn clean. No smoke 95% of the time, just when loading. I still check the chimney weekly out of habit, but haven't cleaned it in a month and a half of steady burning. With the old stove, that would have been done once, maybe twice by now. There's a thin layer of ash there, but none of the heavy black creosote.
The big glass is nice to look at, and stays clean for the most part. It gets a little cloudy when burned low for a while, but unless I'm in a big hurry and throw wood in, damp it back right away and leave, it doesn't get the heavy buildup. If it does, a hot fire burns it off pretty quickly.
I don't think there's another stove in this size/price range that will do significantly better. A big Blaze King might be an improvement, but not for the more than double price tag.
The bottom line is that if you're looking for a bigger stove that will keep a lot of space warm, this stove does the job pretty well. I'd have been disappointed, I think, if I'd bought a midsize stove that was rated for 2,000 sq ft. Like the old saying goes, "there's no replacement for displacement". I don't have to fill this one if I don't need to, but I couldn't pack more into a smaller stove.
This summer, I'll be making some tweaks - adding a lift to the base and lining my chimney, and possibly adding a little bigger blower.
Just shout if you've got questions.
Thanks for the update, Steve, I have been wondering how you were getting along with the new stove and what your thoughts were!
Glad you are satisfied and all is working well.
Ron
Glad you are satisfied and all is working well.
Ron
Jakers
Owner - Arbor Jake's Tree Service, LLC
Had a user asking for a review on this stove so i dug it out to bring it to the top
stihly dan
Addicted to ArboristSite
Nice, stove was so nice he left us for the chainsaw group. Trader!
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Tis true, I spend most of my online time at SH, I enjoy the people there - most started here. I do still check here once in a while tho.
RE the stove, still going well, and have not needed to clean the chimney since the install. I do need to replace a few firebricks this fall.
