Maintain those temps, boys

[Whitespider]

Sounds to me like you used one of those secondary burn type stoves. I'm eventually going to try a cat stove...

Yep... secondary combustion stove.
I have no experience with a CAT stove... I don't even know anyone who has one.

I've personally seen the benefits firsthand between several true forced air furnace designs to know the difference and see the benefit ..To each his own...

Advantages and disadvantages for any type... it's a matter of personal priorities.
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[Whitespider]

I'd like to see the grate and inside of your stove if possible.

Hmmmmm...
I'll need to take a picture for ya' when the fire is burned down sometime here in the near future.
My grate is rectangle and somewhat larger than yours (like maybe 12x20)... and the furnace has a draft blower controlled by a wall thermostat when demand requires it. I reckon that blower help keep the ashes stirred and falling through when it does kick on??
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[Marshy]

Oh, we're talking apples to oranges somewhat. I didnt realize your firebox was forced air combustion. That sounds like the cats meow. Mine is natural draft free standing stove.

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Oh, we're talking apples to oranges somewhat. I didnt realize your firebox was forced air combustion. That sounds like the cats meow. Mine is natural draft free standing stove.

Blaze king builds a forced air furnace also.... never seen one in person but hey..... I love my BK, zero dicking around required. @Whitespider Your stove with a forced induction is not a normal smoke dragon. I bet that thing burns wayyy cleaner than any others.

 

[Marshy]

I'm preparing to get a King. It's on the Xmas list.

 

[Idahonative]

Wrong??
Not wrong, I just don't like the way they operate.

I don't like...

• the way it makes extremely high heat while the secondary is active, but heat drops way off when it ain't... I'd rather have a relatively even heat output throughout the entire burn cycle.
• the need to adjust the combustion air during the burn cycle, or every time fuel is added... I'd rather have "set 'n' forget".
• the way it tends to fill up with coals when continuous high heat output is required, and screwin' 'round raking them, piling them, leavin' the door open, and all the other little tricks people suggest just further pizzes me off... I'd rather be able to just toss more fuel in when required and slam the friggin' door.
• the need to let the fire burn near completely out to shovel out ashes... my box heats my entire home, letting the fire go out in January/February is ridiculous. And I don't wanna' shovel them anyway, I wanna' pull the ash drawer, dump, and slide it back in, even when the fire is burning full-tilt... a 10-second job.
• cleaning baffles, heat tubes, glass doors, and whatever else... my maintenance routine is emptying the ash drawer, period.
• the sensitivity to draft and the need to get it "just right" with some sort'a gadget... screw that, I use a key damper, and simply change its setting two or three times during the heating season as winter progresses.

It seems that many like their new-fangled boxes... that's a good thing, they paid for 'em, they should like 'em.
But at the same time they list a bunch of complaints about the "older" boxes... such as short burn times, plugged chimneys, cold houses, massive wood consumption, and more. The thing is, I don't experience any such things, and there's a few others on this board that don't experience them either... at the same time, some of those same few others have the same dislike for the new boxes as well. This tells me there's a whole lot more to it than simply the box... it may be operator error (with both types), or it may be something more than that.

I believe making firewood should be the hard part, burnin' it should be the easy part. I walk downstairs twice a day (sometimes three if it's nasty cold and windy), open door, toss wood in, slam door, walk away... empty ash drawer as needed... the house stays a constant 70°-71°... it don't get any friggin' easier than that.
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Spidey, we are DEFINATELY not talking about the same stove.

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

I'm preparing to get a King. It's on the Xmas list.

Cool then you can join The Elitist Blaze King Brotherhood also.

 

[chipper1]

Cool then you can join The Elitist Blaze King Brotherhood also.

Guess I may have to sell my stove to get one to, I've always wanted to be in a club and not the one getting the club

 

[PULLINmyPOULAN]

I scored this beauty off Craigs list and lovin it

 

[PULLINmyPOULAN]

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

cant beat a woodstock either. That soapstone should pump out heat for hours after the fire dies out.....

 

[PULLINmyPOULAN]

cant beat a woodstock either. That soapstone should pump out heat for hours after the fire dies out.....

Yah it ROCKS got it lookin like new again steel wool ,paint, gaskets replaced top soapstone piece that was missing.Previos owners only used it in there summer retreat from Florida Keys.

 

[PULLINmyPOULAN]

Have a woodchuck in basement needed a stove to put put in fireplace got lucky with the help of others that let me no of the add.Also have a ecofan on it (spins forever) that the wife pickup in town friday sale half off .

no electicity reqiured pretty cool

 

[chipper1]

Man talk about the elitist club.
Gotta love craigslist .

 

[PULLINmyPOULAN]

Man talk about the elitist club.
Gotta love craigslist .

Yeah really sometimes a 2 hour drive can be well worth it.

 

[chipper1]

I drove from the inlaws just west of toledo oh to about a mile from the Pa state line by Sharonville for mine.
I got a Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 from a dealer going out of business. He had it on ebay for a while and had just dropped the price. I saved over 800 from the next cheapest one I could find, that was the t4 and it was in Colorado . It's not often I buy new, but I couldn't do better at the time and I got the 30% tax credit.

 

[Whitespider]

Your stove with a forced induction is not a normal smoke dragon. I bet that thing burns wayyy cleaner than any others.

The draft blower doesn't run all that often, sometimes it don't kick on for days.

During mid-winter it runs about every morning at 5:30 AM for a little while. It's controlled by a programmable thermostat in the dinning room, at 10:00 PM the thermostat drops to 67° for over night (draft blower near never runs over night), and at 5:30 AM it jumps back to 71°. I roll out around 5:00 near every morning, use the bathroom, start the coffee, and walk downstairs to load the box... about the time I'm pouring the first cup the draft blower kicks on and brings the house temp up to 71°. Usually, unless it nasty friggin' cold outside, the draft blower has shut down well before the rest of the family rolls out. It was 68° in the house this morning when I got up, the draft blower only ran about 15 minutes to raise the temp to 71°... but it was relatively warm outside, 32°. The draft blower won't run all day... the idling firebox will easily maintain the temperature in the house. I get home each day 'round 5:30, walk downstairs and load the box again... the draft blower might come on just after dark for a few minutes if it's a cold-azz day, but that's the exception. Normally I don't load the box again until morning... but if it is a nasty cold, windy night I'll sometimes top-off the fuel load before bed.

I control the amount of heat the box makes at idle (draft blower not running) by how much wood I load in the box. Burn time stays pretty much the same no matter how much I load... around 12 hours (give or take)... only the amount of heat generated changes.
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[chipper1]

The draft blower doesn't run all that often, sometimes it don't kick on for days.

During mid-winter it runs about every morning at 5:30 AM for a little while. It's controlled by a programmable thermostat in the dinning room, at 10:00 PM the thermostat drops to 67° for over night (draft blower near never runs over night), and at 5:30 AM it jumps back to 71°. I roll out around 5:00 near every morning, use the bathroom, start the coffee, and walk downstairs to load the box... about the time I'm pouring the first cup the draft blower kicks on and brings the house temp up to 71°. Usually, unless it nasty friggin' cold outside, the draft blower has shut down well before the rest of the family rolls out. It was 68° in the house this morning when I got up, the draft blower only ran about 15 minutes to raise the temp to 71°... but it was relatively warm outside, 32°. The draft blower won't run all day... the idling firebox will easily maintain the temperature in the house. I get home each day 'round 5:30, walk downstairs and load the box again... the draft blower might come on just after dark for a few minutes if it's a cold-azz day, but that's the exception. Normally I don't load the box again until morning... but if it is a nasty cold, windy night I'll sometimes top-off the fuel load before bed.

I control the amount of heat the box makes at idle (draft blower not running) by how much wood I load in the box. Burn time stays pretty much the same no matter how much I load... around 12 hours (give or take)... only the amount of heat generated changes.
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Ok, stop telling us about it and tell us what it is already, you know the drill if anyone does.
Looking forward to seeing this piece of engineering. I love to learn.

 

[Whitespider]

Ok, stop telling us about it and tell us what it is already, you know the drill if anyone does
Looking forward to seeing this piece of engineering. I love to learn

Heck, it ain't anything special... just a DAKA 622FBT wood/coal furnace.
I did put a large 3-speed circulation blower on it, converted it to 240v, added a couple sensors and relays so the blower changes speed automatically according to heat demand, and built a top plenum to connect it into the existing duct work.

*

 

[chipper1]

Heck, it ain't anything special... just a DAKA 622FBT wood/coal furnace.
I did put a large 3-speed circulation blower on it, converted it to 240v, added a couple sensors and relays so the blower changes speed automatically according to heat demand, and built a top plenum to connect it into the existing duct work.

*

No disappointments here, I didn't expect anything less
I have the 3-speed blower on my propane furnace. I should probably hook it up some yr just in case. I haven't run ours in the 7yrs we've been here and don't plan on giving the propane guy any money. That furnace is there so i don't need to go look for a deal if we needed to sell this place. I got it for 250(new 2k+), like I said before, gotta love craigslist.