is this woodstove any good?

[husky455rancher]

heres a link http://www.vogelzang.com/bx42e.htm

they had one at tsc i likda like it. they had a much smaleer one for $130 i think it was.


i was planning on putting it in the cellar for occasional useage. i also like the idea if the power goes out i can cook off the top of it, as i cant with my fireplace insert. when i lose power i use an inverter to power my blower on the insert to heat the house. but for cooking im screwed cept for the grill lol.

anyway whats your thoughts the stove is $209.00 they had 2 left i had em put one aside for me while i thought it over tonight. feel free to point out anything as ive only had an insert not a true woodstove before. thanks, Mike

 

[Richard_]

harbor freight has what looks to be the same one for $149.00

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32058

 

[Rookie1]

My old boss has one in his wood shop. He loves it. About ten years ago his eldrly father lived with him before passing and would cook on it. Mostly in the winter though.

 

[PA Plumber]

1st thing that comes to mind is efficiency.

106,000 btu and only heats 1200 sq. feet?

Since it is for occasional use, it might be just fine.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I've been hearing a lot of bad stuff about the newer Vozelgangs. I'd do some research before I plunked down any money.

 

[mtngun]

I have the horror fright version (made by the same company) in my shop.

It is not intended to be an air-tight stove. Plus the damper does not damp much even when fully closed. Nor does the stove have firebrick. So it tends to burn quickly and not hold a fire very long. Has to be stoked about every 30 minutes, and it is pretty fussy to stoke, too -- the fire will go out unless you keep it revved up. Puts out lots of heat, though.

After 2 years of daily use (9 months out of the year) the original damper disintegrated. I made a new damper out of 1/4" steel plate and made it fit fairly tight. With the homemade damper, the stove has a completely different personality. Now it can be adjusted to burn slowly. Now it will hold a fire for several hours. Still not as good as a "real" stove, but good enough for shop use.

So to answer your question, yes, the stove is fine for occasional use. It puts out lots of heat. It is not as efficient or as user friendly as an airtight, firebricked stove, however.

 

[husky455rancher]

good to know guys. hopefully ill get more thoughts tonight. it sounds like i should make my own damper right off the bat then. i sure as hell dont wanna stoke it every 30 mins.

 

[husky455rancher]

oh that harbor freight one is the next one down. its 130 at tsc i think. its substancially smaller than the one i was looking at.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

oh that harbor freight one is the next one down. its 130 at tsc i think. its substancially smaller than the one i was looking at.

I have one of the smaller ones to heat 1200 square feet. I could have built a bigger better wood eater but the price was right (next to free) for this one.

Someone mentioned that it isnt intended to be an airtight. When I first put mine in, the best burn time I could get was 3-4 hours. That was stuffed to the gills with green Oak or Mullberry. Anything that was seasoned would last just over an hour. It did make enough heat though for that hour we had to open doors and windows to keep it under 100* in the house. The BX46e has the same shortcoming as the BX26e in regards to the draft control not sealing well.

The problem with the draft control was an 1/8" gap across the front. On mine, the door wasnt gasketed and the stove cement had disintegrated from under the top. Anything dry in there was a runaway fire. I took it all down and filled the leaks with new cement. It was still on the verge of runaway heat but much better. I figured out a way to cover the air draft on the front with some aluminum flashing that is easily removable and now get 6 hour burns from my BX26e with seasoned wood.

We cook with ours most of the winter. Anything that has to simmer is perfect for on top of it. Frying eggs and sausage in the morning isnt a problem either. The BX26 has a removable top that makes it easier to load instead of through the small door. I like the heat I get from it, but wouldn't mind the bigger firebox and door of the BX46e. I havent had any trouble with creosote buildup in the flue, I was up there a couple of weeks ago and couldnt tell I had knocked any down.

One way to get longer burntimes and more even heat from these is to light the fire in the back of the stove and let it burn forward. Google "top down fire" the articles explain why it works, better than I could here.

 

[bore_pig]

I had one of those Vogelzangs. Very hard to control. I would never put one in my house. I used it in my garage only. The original damper that failed on mine was the chimney damper.

 

[johnnylabguy]

I have one of the smaller versions for heating my 18 x 22 workshop and it works well enough for the price. I wouldn't be out there long in the winter without it. I does need fed a lot but thats partly because of the small firebox,too. I wouldn't buy one for my house if I was going to use it regularly but if you have as an occasional burner and backup I think it would be fine.

 

[johnnylabguy]

Oh yes, I have the same version thats in your pic, its just an older model.

 

[wdchuck]

That Vogelzang was our first woodburner, $95 new at Menards, we needed cheap since our household income dropped by 45%.
I piped it with single wall, to the chimney, and put a box fan at the bottom of the basement stairs, and boy did that baby cook, every 3hrs for a refill, BUT, we were trying to keep a two story farmhouse habitable, and it did the trick, and max heat output was our goal around the clock. The house was chilly in the morning, but didn't take long to get warmed up, and putting a tub of water on top for humidity worked fine.

Since it ran full bore all the time, the smoke pipe was clean as brand new all the time.

We still have it, in the event of an extended power outage in winter, I can hook it up and we will stay plenty warm.

Some of the other folks in the area have them to heat their shops, some put cinder block half walls around for thermal mass, acts like great big radiator, works really well.

Yes, for cheap, its hard to go wrong with one of them, and you can cook on it too if so needed. I'll always have one around.

We upgraded to a fancy Daka that we bought on clearance at the end of that first winter.

Just make sure you have your clearances to combustibles proper, and well protected/shielded .

 

[Moss Man]

I have bought all my stoves out of "Uncle Henry's", the local swap and trade magazine here. You can get a better quality stove for around the price you are talking.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

:agree2:

Just make sure you have your clearances to combustibles proper, and well protected/shielded .

Mmmmmhmmmm

 

[avalancher]

I have that same exact stove in my house, and this year it is going out into the shop. As was mentioned in previous posts, it isnt anywhere close to being airtight. The biggest problem is the slide out damper in the front. There is a huge air gap between the door and that damper under the door. With that large air gap the fire is a run away with drywood. Forget an all night burn.
We bought if for a reason, it was cheap. We had run through a ton of money remodeling the living room and kitchen a few years ago and added the rock mantle to allow a wood stove. it wil kick out some heat, but if you are like us you will quickly ramp the heat up into the mid 90's, throw open the doors until it cools off, and then start the process all over again.
I plan on taking care of this problem as soon as possible. If we end up using this stove again this year, I will weld a few beads along the top of the removable pan and grind it down to take care of some of that air gap. Hopefully eliminate all of it. I hate the idea of welding on cast iron, seems that even with preheating a guy runs into problems sometime.
We burn a lot of hickory, and it takes only minutes with a roaring fire to quickly heat the living room and kitchen area with this stove. If I could solve the air gap problem, it wouldnt be so bad.
Another consideration, the paint that they put on the thing it trash. On ours it burned off completly the first couple of days, and I ended up repainting it.
On the plus side, it does look kinda antiquey, a look that my wife appreciates.

 

[husky455rancher]

thanks for the replies guys, i definatly dont want a stove that chews through my hard earned wood. turns out i think im gonna get a big old stove from my buddys dad. he used it to heat his house last year. i guess it has a wicked burn time if you load it down. he went with an indoor wood burner this year, so i get a benifit too ill post some pics when i get it prolly a weekend in the near future.

 

[Andyshine77]

My cheep a$$ BIL bought one last fall from TSC and it's a peace of Chinese junk. They used led paint on it, and within a week the whole thing turned white.

 

[husky455rancher]

wow lol

 

[myzamboni]

My cheep a$$ BIL bought one last fall from TSC and it's a peace of Chinese junk. They used led paint on it, and within a week the whole thing turned white.

It went white because you BIL overfired the bejeezus out of it.