Matt,

“Soviet Canuckistan” (Lol) I hear ya, but you better not let your Prime Monster! (lol)

My fault if you thought the 12 oz was totally creosote. To me it appears as ash. The walls of the Metalbestos are grayish black. There are no flakes of creosote hanging off the pipe as I’ve seen in other chimneys.

But without dismantling & scrubbing the Metalbestos pipe, with a soft brush & soapy water, I cannot be certain that there are no pin leaks. Rather then go thru that work it is quicker to stuff the galvanized down the Metalbestos. Inserting such is merely a safety precaution to ensure that the Metalbestos pipe remains undamage.

(That picture that Elk posted is an excellent warning to those of why never run such pipe directly to a heater. Then there is also the matter of gas poisoning the inside house air.)

As for the general populace out here, you are right. Some of the clunkers that pass by probably emit more pollutants then our heater. (lol) I once read that 10% of the cars in the states make 90% of the car pollution. Rather then tightning standards the EPA needs to locate the owners, buy the junker, & then help them finance a decent car. It would be a lot cheaper. 

I want to do the right thing, especially for the wife. If I can resolve this now then she has no worry about being EPA compliant if I‘m dead. That is my goal. That stunt pulled by my former company with health insurance was a wake up call. What is good today may not be tomorrow. So I have a five year supply of wood under the shed & intend to increase that to 7 years this winter. 

What the civilized world needs is a “Manhattan Project” in converting water into fuel. Once that is achieved the fruit cakes can eat their sand & drink their oil, perhaps then they will realize that such is not a healthy diet?

Thanks for your concern.

Dave

MSG,

You make good points.

If I’m dead, Alzheimer afflicted, hospitalized, etc the wife knows the heater’s operation. That is why I want to install acat now, if EPA compliant, so that she can learn the drill.

We have no intention of selling, but then again could be forced due to circumstances beyond our control. So I will prepare heater operation instructions tonight which prospective owners will be required to sign that they have read & will follow the instructions, & that they relinquish all legal recourse against us in the event there is a fire accident. No sign, no buy. 

As for “carbonization”, my office sits directly behind one side of the brick veneered heater’s wall. I have an inside/outside thermometer for that wall. The outside probe is inside the 1” airspace cavity & measures the heat at the top of that wall. I have yet to see it reach 110 degrees. From what I’ve read, & please correct me if such is erroneous, 140-160 degrees is the maximum sustained tempeture that such heater brick walls with studs should be subjected to.

Sorry about the 20 degree variance in temp, but it seems that this is left to the author’s opinion since they never document where & how they got their figure(s).

Thanks for your insight, especially the suing part as the following loving daughter so perfectly illustrates.

“An Illinois woman is suing her Wisconsin parents for maintaining an icy driveway that she blamed for a fall that broke her ankle two winters ago. “

http://www.local6.com/family/9513070/detail.html

And after thinking about not being able to see my thermometer in the brick cavity, unless in the office, I went searching.

Sensored. This expandable wireless thermometer system provides both indoor and outdoor temperatures in one reading. Remote sensor sends signal to thermometer up to 100 feet away. Add up to two additional remote sensors (#63-1092). Set on desktop or mount on wall. Display readings in Fahrenheit or Celsius.

* Get both indoor and outdoor temperatures in one reading

* Remote sensor sends signal to thermometer up to 100 feet away

http://www.radioshack.com

Or try this $26 one that reads to 392 degrees

http://www.ambientweather.com/aworscwibbqt.html

These would allow people in the heater’s room to know what the temp was behind the wood heater’s brick wall.

Perhaps your customers would like to know about these units? I know I sure would have had they been available when I built my house.

Thanks again.

Dave

Dave,

can u send a pic of your stove. it sounds like my unidentified fisher. i have been looking around as to wat i should do for more efficiency id be interested to see how the baffle helps if you do get one fabricated.

thanks

cody

yetty734 - 11 May 2008 03:45 PM

can u send a pic of your stove. it sounds like my unidentified fisher. i have been looking around as to wat i should do for more efficiency id be interested to see how the baffle helps if you do get one fabricated.

Hi Cody,

Ok, does your stove look like my avatar?

The outside measurements are: 27 - 3/4” W x 22 - 1/2” D x 24” H (lower front) 30-½” H (back top)

Get a large cardboard box & use it as a pattern for your Fisher’s baffle.

Next check a junkyard for a piece of steel that is 3/16” or ¼” thick which can be cut to fit that pattern.

In my Fisher a baffle (26-3/4” w) will span the firebox sitting atop the highest firebrick on the sides. The stove’s flue exits the back & there is a small smoke shelf directly under it. From the back of the stove to the front is 22”. 

My baffle is 26-3/4” W x 12” D which reduces the amount of the wood the fire box can hold, so consider that before you cut steel. 

When in operation the baffle should be pushed back to butt against the rear of the stove & sit atop the smoke shelf in order get support on three sides. When it is it causes most of the fire to come forward 12 inches slowing the exit of heat out of the stove which increases the stove’s efficiency.

When starting a fire pull the baffle to the front using the heel of a poker or glove. That will allow the fire to exit the flue preventing smoke from being dumped into the room. Once the fire catches push the baffle back until it butts against the rear of the stove & sits upon the smoke shelf. 

Another thing that will increase any heater’s efficiency is lowering the moisture content of the wood. The following links should help.

Moisture meter use & wood storage

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/3558/P15/

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/4501/P15/#47684

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/3359/

BB,

The only fireplace insert I‘ve operated was a five 2” exhaust pipe configuration that I designed & had a muffler shop make. This was about a year before someone showed me a picture of a Heatolator (spelling?) equivalent with enclosed glass. Thus I cannot speak to your Sierra operation regarding air control. And what a pre-EPA heater, i.e. Buck, etc, will do is also beyond me.

I only know that MaMa operates very efficiently by the procedure I’ve given, as witness a 12 oz soda can accumulation for @ a 17 year run without my sweeping the chimney. I’ve had people comment, that since they didn’t see smoke they thought that I was heating with ng, as they were up wind to the chimney when they came in our house.
 
Anyone can get the mc down to 6% by laying down 6 mil plastic, landscape timbers on top, point the cut end to the un-shaded sun, protect the wood by glass, & store it under roof. Just try that experiment for kicks & let the forum know what you learn.

Have a good one,

Dave.