officially done with splitting this year!

[woodbooga]

how much info can i pry out of you?

from a cold start... how long before you could boil about a gallon of water?
how do you control temps at the 'burner'?
how do you control oven temps?
how large or small do you need the wood to be for the firebox?
how much heat does it throw in the room (say as a secondary heat source)?
does the stove need regular cleaning besides ash (firebox and smoke areas)?
can you burn coal?
thanks!

I know this question is directed to Z45, but I'll take a stab. My model is a Crawford Century - looks almost identical but about 10 years older.

I can go from a cold stove to cooking hamburgers or pancakes in 20 minutes on the stovetop right over the firebox. You could probably boil water from a cold start in about 40 minutes. The first year we had our son, we went through the usual financial transitions. One month, things got fairly tight and we had to forego hot showers for a week or so. Having the stove was real handy. I'd wake up at 5am, fill up a 3 gallon cauldron and a few saucepans. By 6:15 or so, I had enough piping hot water to dump in the tub for a good bath.

We consider having 3 'burners' on our stovetop. The 2 lids over the firebox are 'high heat' for boiling pasta and sauteing; the 2 middle lids are medium heat for general stovetop cooking; and those furthest right are simmer/keep warm. The intensity of the heat depends largely on the kind of wood and the amount of air let in. Also, the oven heats in proportion to the stovetop.

There are four dampers at my disposal.

The air intake is located on the left of the stove. Just a simple sliding draft. That stays wide open usually for the first 45 minutes.

At the back of the stove is a sliding draft that controls how much air is getting sucked up the chimney. At the start of the fire, it's set to 'kindle' which allows an unobstructed flow of air and smoke up the chimney to establish draft and maximixe the flow of oxygen over the newly lit fire.

After about 5-10 mins (during which time I'm adding bigger pieces of kindling), I slide it shut and the smoke and hot air are redirected to a channel beneath the cooking lids and the oven, down the righthand side, and underneath the oven.

I find that ash tends to accumulate on the oven and a bit of creosote develops beneath it. There is a removable metal plate in the oven that allows me to access and clean underneath

We tend to split much smaller than most AS members. The firebox is teeny. The benefit of the small box is that you can control oven and stovetop temps easier. The obvious drawback is you don't get anything resembling an overnight burn.

Once hot, my stove throws off copious amounts of heat. The only time the oil furnace ever comes on (assuming I bank at midnight) is between 2:30 and 5am.

You will need a lot of kindling. But the great thing about these stoves is that a lot of the real small stuff and even the punky stuff others turn their noses up at all have a role in the heating and cooking.

 

[woodbooga]

Hey, Z - looks like we were responding at the same time. Well, us old timey New Englanders need to stick together.

BTW, how does hackmatack smell once fully baked? I got no bogland near to where I have access so I never get any larch.

 

[Zodiac45]

The sad truth exposed. This pix too this.
My empty barn and for those "From Away" a Fish tote of hatmatack

WB, the fresh baked Hatmatack is kind of nice smelling. It doesn't need much as it was out split all winter. Just getting any ice out of it. Gots too be carefull though. If the oven temp gets up over 350 or so, the sticks start too get a little crispy!

 

[woodbooga]

Z45 has a set up that is eerily like mine. From his earlier posts. I knew he stored his stash in an attached barn. Like me. Big house, back house, little house, barn is the set up in my old connected farmhouse.

I don't need to set foot outside to fetch up my day's worth of wood. Just a sweater as I stroll out the kitchen ell door, out into the backhouse past the rubbish cans and a disused privvy into the barn.

A couple of pics from three weeks ago. Not too pretty. Didn't tidy up for the camera. As I pick through my wood in the morning for the day's supply, I pop in the one's I want to tote in with a laundry basket. The one's that get a stay of execution get tossed off to one side.

Below are a pr. of pics (taken at nite with schootz on the lens) of the stall we've burnt out of this winter. All that's there is pretty much gone in the 3 weeks since the images were captured.

This is the adjacent stall. Just to the right. Behind the post at left is a wall separating the two stalls. Same basic dimensions. But full. The flotsam and jetsam at the bottom is processed kindling and soo-to-be kindling.

 

[darren_nh]

There is nothing better than having an attached barn to store wood! My setup is about the same. I can fit a full 5 cord in the barn and still have an area on the main floor to work out of the weather in the winter. Beats shoveling snow to get to the woodpile.

 

[Zodiac45]

There is nothing better than having an attached barn to store wood! My setup is about the same. I can fit a full 5 cord in the barn and still have an area on the main floor to work out of the weather in the winter. Beats shoveling snow to get to the woodpile.

You betcha! I can get about 4 in that main area, then another 1 in back of that space and another 2 in a space that was the old ....well winter outhouse way back when that's on one end of the garage that's (Of course) attached too the wood barn. All accessable from the summer kitchen.

 

[darren_nh]

You betcha! I can get about 4 in that main area, then another 1 in back of that space and another 2 in a space that was the old ....well winter outhouse way back when that's on one end of the garage that's (Of course) attached too the wood barn. All accessable from the summer kitchen.

I wish I could use the winter outhouse for wood too, but my wife has it filled with garden crap. It is her very small section of my barn. i consider it a fair tradeoff.

 

[volks-man]

ZEE and BOOGA,
thanks very much for the info regarding wood cookstoves.
i have been curious about them for a while now.

it has been a dream of mine to move north of my mid-atlantic location in to a new home, built by me, and heated by wood. i have had some concerns about hot and cold spots in the house and also the occasional 'alberta clipper' taxing a single stove too much. the wood cookstove seems a tidy solution to the problem.

now to convince the wife!

 

[woodbooga]

You betcha! I can get about 4 in that main area, then another 1 in back of that space and another 2 in a space that was the old ....well winter outhouse way back when that's on one end of the garage that's (Of course) attached too the wood barn. All accessable from the summer kitchen.

My stalls are roughly 8' cubed. Technically, I should get about 4.25 cords per stall. But in the one on the left (empty one) I store our old GlenCo cookstove in case we ever need to switch out in the event we ever move. (The Crawford's coming with us.

I also heve about 3/4 of a cord of the real good deep winter stuff off to one side of the barn in addition. I keep it separate so it'll always be handy for those 0° to -25° deep winter days.

ZEE and BOOGA,
thanks very much for the info regarding wood cookstoves.
i have been curious about them for a while now.

it has been a dream of mine to move north of my mid-atlantic location in to a new home, built by me, and heated by wood. i have had some concerns about hot and cold spots in the house and also the occasional 'alberta clipper' taxing a single stove too much. the wood cookstove seems a tidy solution to the problem.

now to convince the wife!

A new construction should mittigate some of the unevenness temp wise. In a house as old as z45's, there were intentionally created cold spots. I've been in numerous old farmhouses where the NW corners of the house were given over to the buttery - basically a naturally-refrigerated pantry where cheese was made, baked goods were stored, and the candle box was kept (old tyme candles were made with tallow - animal fat and they'd melt real easy. Plus the mice liked them.

HistoFact of the day: even though butter was made in butteries, this is not the origin of the term. In estates way back, only the butler had access to this room, which was kept under lock and key. Wine and cider were stored there too. The word 'butlery' eventually evolved to 'buttery.' An alternate origin has it that the room was originally called the bottlery (because of the wine).

 

[Zodiac45]

My stalls are roughly 8' cubed. Technically, I should get about 4.25 cords per stall. But in the one on the left (empty one) I store our old GlenCo cookstove in case we ever need to switch out in the event we ever move. (The Crawford's coming with us.

I also heve about 3/4 of a cord of the real good deep winter stuff off to one side of the barn in addition. I keep it separate so it'll always be handy for those 0° to -25° deep winter days.



A new construction should mittigate some of the unevenness temp wise. In a house as old as z45's, there were intentionally created cold spots. I've been in numerous old farmhouses where the NW corners of the house were given over to the buttery - basically a naturally-refrigerated pantry where cheese was made, baked goods were stored, and the candle box was kept (old tyme candles were made with tallow - animal fat and they'd melt real easy. Plus the mice liked them.

HistoFact of the day: even though butter was made in butteries, this is not the origin of the term. In estates way back, only the butler had access to this room, which was kept under lock and key. Wine and cider were stored there too. The word 'butlery' eventually evolved to 'buttery.' An alternate origin has it that the room was originally called the bottlery (because of the wine).

Funny story WB! Always love the word play. "Nightmare" was always one of my favorites living along the coast .

Quite right about the cold spots too. In my house the northwest corner is like an air conditioned room even in the dead of summer!

Volks-man (aka People Person) I truely hope you talk her into a cooker. Once you have one, you'll never be without again.

 

[woodbooga]

Quite right about the cold spots too. In my house the northwest corner is like an air conditioned room even in the dead of summer!

Ditto here. When plumbing came into the picture, this was the room where the toilet and bath were installed. I wish I could document its use beforehand.

We always keep the bathroom door closed. Enough heat seeps in to keep it a tolerable temp. But you go from the 65° degree livingroom into the 55° bathroom. Works for me. Keeps the wife from tarrying too long in there.

Volks-man (aka People Person) I truely hope you talk her into a cooker. Once you have one, you'll never be without again.

It's a good feeling knowing that the gas stove gets zero use from Oct. 1 through the end of April.

That said, if you get a cooker, it'll take some practice getting used to managing the oven, manipulating drafts and dampers, and using the right kind of wood for the desired application. Little bitsey pieces for baking biscuits and bringing a saucepan up to a quick rolling boil. Bigger chunks of oak or sugar maple for longer fires to provide steady heat when roasting a chicken.

 

[volks-man]

Volks-man (aka People Person) I truely hope you talk her into a cooker. Once you have one, you'll never be without again.

It's a good feeling knowing that the gas stove gets zero use from Oct. 1 through the end of April.

That said, if you get a cooker, it'll take some practice getting used to managing the oven, manipulating drafts and dampers, and using the right kind of wood for the desired application. Little bitsey pieces for baking biscuits and bringing a saucepan up to a quick rolling boil. Bigger chunks of oak or sugar maple for longer fires to provide steady heat when roasting a chicken.

z,
locating one, installing one, and cutting and splitting for the stove will be easier than getting her to use it! (i'm a people person by name only. it was more to imply 'people's car' man )

wb,
the callenge of mastering something so 'old school-gizmo-like' is part of the appeal to me. i like the idea of having to give it a turn here and a slide there and open the damper just right to achieve perfection!

thanks again guys! now all i gotta do is build the house!!!

 

[046]

have not even got started yet, splitting this year....