Wood savings of new EPA stoves?

[KsWoodsMan]

I don't know that the weather had much to do with it. I started burning earlier this year than usual. I try to hold out till mid November before lighting the first fire. In Mid October I was burning regularly and by the first of November it was going 24/7 with shoulder wood. I close off as much of the air as I can and the heater will usually hold about 300° - 400° at the outlet for several hours with Mulbery , Red Oak or Eastern Red Bud. A Little less with Hackberry or Red Elm and up to 12 hours with Locust or Hedge (Osage Orange).

I wish it was a much better stove of newer design. Yeah, Yeah it is the cheapest Vogelzang deathbox uhh wood box heater. I bought it used 10 years ago to replace a "woodpig" that the (then) wife hated to see get dragged out every winter to save on the gas bill. I used a uni-bit on the deathbox to make 2 1" holes in the back. inserted a pair of 1" O.D. tubes with a series of 30 5/64" holes pointing to the center and top of the firebox in each tube. Capped the ends and called it good.

The heat from the fire warms the tubes and the air traveling through them so the cold air doesnt quench the flame.

Nothing fantastic about it just added heated air above the primary burn area. If I had thought it through a bit better I would have used smaller tubing on both sides and ran it all the way from front to back with both ends open. To give better support instead of letting it hang out in mid air.

When I make time to build a replacement I figure on it being a downdraft gassifier with secondary burn along the lines of what was mentioned in the "Let's build a superstove" thread started by Bassman. Tarm already is manufacturing one like I had in mind but that kind of scratch to buy one is hard to justify ATM.

 

[logbutcher]

AMC has a place up there.

That's the place. AMC has 3 north woods camps connected by short day skis.
The AMC has spiffed up Little Lyford with hot showers, water, and composting toilets. Before that the camps were a little more rustic: wood-fired sauna for showers and outhouses ( no long sit reads in winter ). The camps are a romantic getaway w meals and cabin for ~ $75/pp for AMC members. A 6 mile ski-in in winter from the parking on one of ppaper company roads. If you're flush with $$$$, charter a ski plane in Greenville.

Kansas is right about burning: this seems so far to be just about the coldest fall and early winter I recall up here. The stoves have been going near full bore since the first of November. Down just over 2 cords so far, and we're no where near the 1/2 way mark. Oak envy is setting in.

 

[coog]

I don't know that the weather had much to do with it. I started burning earlier this year than usual. I try to hold out till mid November before lighting the first fire. In Mid October I was burning regularly and by the first of November it was going 24/7 with shoulder wood. I close off as much of the air as I can and the heater will usually hold about 300° - 400° at the outlet for several hours with Mulbery , Red Oak or Eastern Red Bud. A Little less with Hackberry or Red Elm and up to 12 hours with Locust or Hedge (Osage Orange).

I wish it was a much better stove of newer design. Yeah, Yeah it is the cheapest Vogelzang deathbox uhh wood box heater. I bought it used 10 years ago to replace a "woodpig" that the (then) wife hated to see get dragged out every winter to save on the gas bill. I used a uni-bit on the deathbox to make 2 1" holes in the back. inserted a pair of 1" O.D. tubes with a series of 30 5/64" holes pointing to the center and top of the firebox in each tube. Capped the ends and called it good.

The heat from the fire warms the tubes and the air traveling through them so the cold air doesnt quench the flame.

Nothing fantastic about it just added heated air above the primary burn area. If I had thought it through a bit better I would have used smaller tubing on both sides and ran it all the way from front to back with both ends open. To give better support instead of letting it hang out in mid air.

When I make time to build a replacement I figure on it being a downdraft gassifier with secondary burn along the lines of what was mentioned in the "Let's build a superstove" thread started by Bassman. Tarm already is manufacturing one like I had in mind but that kind of scratch to buy one is hard to justify ATM.

Yeah we started early, but it's hard to call it "Winter" when it's 50-60 degrees and sunny.I'm used to a January thaw that reaches 32 or 33 degrees.Not that I'm complaining, but heating in Kansas seems almost optional compared to MN.I am burning plenty, if only to clear off my porch!

 

[sesmith]

I used a uni-bit on the deathbox to make 2 1" holes in the back. inserted a pair of 1" O.D. tubes with a series of 30 5/64" holes pointing to the center and top of the firebox in each tube. Capped the ends and called it good.

Great idea. Sounds like a simple solution to my original post without sinking a lot of cash into an experiment that might not work anyhow. I see a fabrication project this weekend or next coming my way. Did you do anything to regulate flow or just leave the tubes open outside. I was thinking of running the tubes out and then down the side of the stove for a little more preheating and then installing a couple of gate valves to regulate flow.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Yeah we started early, but it's hard to call it "Winter" when it's 50-60 degrees and sunny.I'm used to a January thaw that reaches 32 or 33 degrees.Not that I'm complaining, but heating in Kansas seems almost optional compared to MN.I am burning plenty, if only to clear off my porch!

Winter isnt over here till after March.
Late January and early Febuary hasnt gotten here. That's usually when I expect the worst to arrive. Daytime highs have been 10° with a nighttime low of -15° for nearly 2 weeks in the past. It's kindof hard to brag about how cold it gets here compared to up North. The 60 and 70 degree weather is a nice reprieve in mid-Winter so you can get out and make sure everything is ready before it hits again. As it warms up to the South and is still cold up North and gets pushed back and forth through this area.

I've seen 70 at Christmas one year and -10 in the daytime another while growing up here. Sorry to disappoint you if it hasn't really turned out as bad as hoped. Have your saws ready for the cleanup when the wind starts to blow in March. There are always the occasional windstorms of June and July if you miss out in March.

.............

The ends of the tubes are open so I'm not tempted to close them or forget to open them. The ends inside are capped. The holes are pointed up towards the 'cook surface' to radiate heat from the top back down towards the smoke/fuel. The firebox is small (12"W x 15"H x 25"D), loads from the front or top through either an 8"x12" door or an 8"x16" opening on top. The air tubes are about 20" long inside there, running from the front to the back. The holes are in the last 8" about 1/4" apart. They could have been just a bit bigger. Total surface area of the 60 holes are barely more that of a single 9/16" hole. The slow velocity through the tubes gives the air ample time to come up close to ignition temperatures.

It took a while to figure out that starting the fire in the front of the open firebox just used more wood. ALOT more wood than starting it in the back and letting it burn its way to the front. Standing the wood on end makes for the longest burn time but limits most of what I can fit to 12"-14" tall and about 3/4 that in width. It isnt a stove that you just pack full and light it in the front or one I would recommend to most people. But it works for me and will keep 1200 sq. ft. above 70° regardless of the temps outside.

 

[coog]

Sorry to disappoint you if it hasn't really turned out as bad as you hoped.

Oh, yeah, I'm real sad about it. I send a lot of e mails to the poor suckers I left behind to commiserate with them...Gee, only 75 degrees warmer here today.

 

[Jredsjeep]

KsWoodsman - got some pics of this beast?

i like my stove but also love tinkering and modifying stuff

 

[Zodiac45]

Weren't they built somewhere in Mass Steve ?
We've had a few of the Tempwoods: the full size and the baby one. A full sized Tempwood is now my shop heater--has been lent out a few times to friends needing quick, easy heat while building in winter here. It's a beast for quick fires, easy to light, and top oad burning. Unlike EPA non cat stoves, the Tempwood can be damped down to nothing to hold fires; be warned though for creosote.
great stove.
BTW: one of the north woods camps here in Maine we ski into, Little Lyford Pond, heats the 10'x15' cabins with the small Tempwoods.

Yep LB, they were made up in Adams, Mass. at Mohawk Industrys. (Long defunct.)

 

[coppermouse]

When I switched to my Englander cat about 10 years ago I reduced my wood usage by 30%
But the really nice thing about the cat is that there is almost no smoke at all when it gets up to operating temp, so there is hardly any creosote. It has really reduced the frequency of chimney cleaning a lot.
It is a little more effort to operate. I have a thermometer on the cat converter and don't shut the bypass till it is up to temperature. I get long 10 hour burn times and the firebox is small (like 20 x 12 x 17) or something like that

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Beast ! ? LOL more like crude box with a door, lid and flue. I'll see what I can do about pics.

 

[sesmith]

Thanks everyone for your input, and thanks KSWoodsMan for your retrofit idea. Yesterday, I put secondary burn tubes in my stove. I put up a couple of pics on a separate thread I started here,
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1333986#post1333986