How I manage to heat my entire house with a "Smoke Dragon"

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I looked up the Blaze Kings and they look pretty decent. A bit cumbersome but I like that look (duh look what I have)
Rated at 88% efficiency. Pretty dang good. I suppose if I had an unlimited wood cutting area then I could sell off about $2500 or so in firewood and buy one. I was selling 1/4 face cords for $15 at the end of the driveway last year to pay for my new chimney and could not keep up with the demand.
That is only 166 racks full!
I just don't have the wood. I have to hoard what I have or face the propane man!
Yes I know another good reason to have a more efficient stove!
Damn, I'm hanging myself here.... or talking myself into it. LOL
 
Bushmans said:
Controlling air flow on this stove is a bit different. It has no door seal so there is always some air entering the firebox.
Perhaps with door seal I could control my air intake without using the flue damper and manage my firebox that way but everything I have read recommends not using door seal on this stove.
6 of one half dozen of the other.
As long as the airflow is restricted somehow.
But.............there is always time to fool around with it for sure. I still wonder about a cold air intake piped in from outside as well as secondary air tubes.
I need more experience and knowledge first. Another 1000 posts maybe????
Click to expand...

Not sure if mine ever had gaskets but it don't now. I can pretty well stop it down with the intakes, damper might be handy right now with the 40 mph wind but I have wood that will go bad if I don't burn it so I'm a little casual about my setup
 
nice setup...
i have an All Nighter and a "newer" VC Dutchwest non cat with a secondary burn chamber. and by far the all nighter is way more efficent!
i can load up the dutchwest with oak in the morning before work, i come home and theres just enought coals to get the fire going again but the stove is only maybe 100 degrees. just the other day i only had 2 small (3.5" dia.) black cherry splits left in the house and i didnt feel like bringing wood in before work so i just put them in the all nighter and left for work.
i got home 10 hours later and the stove was still hot and there were pleny of coals to get it goiing again...
i only burn the allnighter if its below 10 degrees out, as running the Dutchwest is a bit easier and more controlable, and it has a grate and ash pan which make cleanout sooo much easier, i just wish it heated like the all nighter!
 
My friend has an all nighter or should say. " had one .. He got. 6 hr burns loaded up with oak . He got tired of playing Boy Scout every time he came home after work relighting the stove again each day. ..t's great the older models are doing what you expect and heating the home ..but it could be better it still doesn't change the fact your going through more firewood compared to a EPA unit your still burning dirtier and your burn time is still less than you'd typically see on a EPA unit and your still sending heat out the flue instead of the house if you like it keep using it but you should realize your missing out on several key. benefits
 
By that logic I should drive a horse and buggy to work hey it starts right up and gets me there usually if the horse listens
 
Bushmans said:
I am also missing out by not driving the new Lincoln MTX so.......should I buy one? It gets better gas mileage and has lower emissions.


Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

No,because as soon as you drive it out of the showroom the car depreciates dramatically in value. I think a stove will hold its value better than a car.:D
 
great video and story bushman..
thought it was funny that i grew up cutting, hauling, splitting, stacking, the firewood for my family's house, and tending the exact same stove you have..
i moved outa moms house many years ago.. they did'nt heat with wood much after that.
my brother used the stove in his new house for a year or two, then i got it back about two years ago........it's sitting under my rear porch...
as soon as i clicked on your video and it came up i said to myself "hey, he got a schreader",,,,,had to laugh, takes me back 30 years or so...
also, your running that stove perfectly (for what it is), just the way i did when i lived at moms house...
many thanks,
chuck
p.s. think i'll give mom a call tonight, it's been awhile...
 
flotek said:
My friend has an all nighter or should say. " had one .. He got. 6 hr burns loaded up with oak . He got tired of playing Boy Scout every time he came home after work relighting the stove again each day. ..t's great the older models are doing what you expect and heating the home ..but it could be better it still doesn't change the fact your going through more firewood compared to a EPA unit your still burning dirtier and your burn time is still less than you'd typically see on a EPA unit and your still sending heat out the flue instead of the house if you like it keep using it but you should realize your missing out on several key. benefits
Click to expand...
Did your friend have nice dry wood, did he run it correctly, never had a problem getting over night burns with my old stove and I can burn it fairly clean done correctly.
One of the key things I am missing out on with my EPA stove is a warm house under all weather conditions.
A very good thing about the EPA stoves is you have to tighten up the house and insulate it to make the stove work well, I am in the middle of that process now.
 
The wood that provides my heat would be burned in a pile to get rid of it if I didn't turn "waste" into heat by running it thru an old "inefficient" stove. If I were to get a new one how much more damage to the air quality would the smelting of the iron, the manufacturing, and the shipping of the new stove add? There would still be the same amount of wood burned.
I have never cut a tree for the purpose of making firewood.
 
Last edited:
Whitespider said:
Likely true...
But the horse would likely increase in value before it declined...
*
Click to expand...

In my mind, the ONLY time a horse has ANY value is after it has been turned in to dog food.

Years ago I had a friend who had a Ski Do brand sled. It was the best thing made. Any one who drove something else was a fool. Then he got an Arctic Cat. He had the best thing made. Any one who drove anything else was a fool. Then he got a Polaris. He had the best thing made. Man, he thought those other things were good until he got on his Polaris. We all know guys like that.

Seems to be the same thing with wood stoves. Guys who blew a gazillion dollars on them fancy stoves have GOT to believe in them or they spent their money foolishly. Guys who haven't bought one HAVE to believe their stoves are working wonderfully. And that's all great! I wouldn't have such entertaining reading if it was any other way!

At the end of the day, if your stove gets you to your destination, which is a warm home for your family, and you are happy with it,well, then life is good!

Ted
 
great vid Bushmans.the best part was the "cold canadien"lol. i'm sure that stove had a gasket at one time but not positive. i have an old baker woodstove aka smokedragon that i use in my shop 70* all day long.
 
I forgot to add the picture of my cold air return vent upstairs. The one that the vent downstairs is connected to. Just to give you an idea of the temps blowing through that little vent.
It works very well and is another great place for the cat to take a nap.

photo (7).JPG
 

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