wood furnace caddy epa

[JONSSTIHL]

looking into buying a wood furnace in the fall

thinking about the caddy epa model sounds good on paper and was wondering if anyone had any real life experiences with it.

the shop I went to didn't have one on the floor so I couldn't really get a good feel for the furnace.

what about the shaker grates are they really that great. I currently have a wood stove and I usually just empty out the ashes in the morning when there aren't too many coals. It sounds more like a gimmick that would reduce the burn times because air would always be around the coals.

thanks

 

[JONSSTIHL]

just did a little more research and found out the usstove model 1950 is pretty much the same stove so if anyone has any info on that model as well, I would really appreciate it

 

[aandabooks]

No experience with that stove but shaker grates are used for the burning of coal. They would not be used for when you are burning wood. Has nothing to do with ash removal or handling.

 

[lwalper]

That's a good looking furnace. If it's a true down drafter (air flow goes against nature forcing the combustibles down through the hot coals) it should be quite an effecient burner. If it has a "shaker grate" that's a nice feature. True, it's more of a "coal" thing but also handy for wood burners too -- helps separate the ash from the embers.

I've got a Hearthstone Mansfield that has a "shaker grate" (not really a true shaker grate, but does have a slotted grate that slides back and forth) that's been proven to be a real help separating the ashes from the hot embers with very little ember loss -- as opposed to using the shovel to just scoop everything out of the firebox, ashes, embers, and all. Having a good sized ash pan to shake those ashes into has also been a real advantage.