When I bought my stove I ordered the optional wood box, which replaces the coal grates and ash pan. I noticed the Esse is really holding the coals well. Was running the stove all day Tuesday, put the last three pieces of wood in at 10pm. Wednesday burned nothing and at 4 PM I went to shovel out the ashes only to find enough hot coals to just add wood. Can't complain about that.
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BrowningBAR
Minister of Fire
Do you use the stove all year for cooking? Or have I ventured into the land of Browning Asks A Dumb Question, again?
My Oslo heats my home
Minister of Fire
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
Here's a stove I was looking at while researching cook stoves. They do not import to the USA. Almost looks like the Esse. I asked the guy who's singing the Neil Young song. It's his wife Penelope in the video, nice voice. A very cool video. Stoves looked to be built heavy duty. Love the handles and the railing. A great way to live too! Enjoy!
The Esse can really pump out the heat if need be, and that's at 400 degrees. Usually run it at about 300-350, taking the surface temp on the cast iron top near the pipe. That's a big piece of stove going at 400. Lots of heat!Those stoves are so amazing. Right now It's about what we need, not what I want to heat with.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Just got done staining the boards that will wrap my hearth pad.Tomorrow I'll mount the boards, blue tape around the top edge and then get the mortar bag out to do the joints. Then I think I'll seal the all the masonry work . Have to get one double wall 45 for the Fireview. My Quad was a top exit stove. I'm getting there. Yes I think I'll be very pleased with the Fireview. Can't wait to have it all hooked up and start doing my break-in fires. Can I just leave my cat out for my first couple of break-in fires?
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Yes , they had a nice set up, self sufficient. I liked how they fed everyone at the end.
Monosperma
Member
Intriguing. Does the Esse employ reburn technology? Is it an airtight? Is it better than the old smoke dragons?
Yes, the Esse is airtight, well it is now, I added regular door glass gasketing this year, it just had fire proof strips around the glass from the factory , to isolate the the glass from the cast door and glass retaining clips. The stove has a primary air control at the bottom and a secondary air wash control at the top above the fire box door. No tubes at top . It does burn the gases once you close down the the primary draft. I run with the just the secondary air wash once the stove is going. It also has a pipe damper you close once the stove is going along with an oven control rod that regulates how much direct heat circulates around the stove oven itself. Like I posted before, looking up through my out side clean out tee, 3 months after burning, my outside chimney still had a shiny look to it inside. The stove is 81.8% as far as the efficiency . Nice thing is you can build a 5 inch bed of coals if you want , cook with it for hours along with some wood and the secondary draft barely open. No quick oven temp changes either. Nice to cook with. Woody at Obadiah's had the best price on the stove along with excellent service . He's even taking the time to take one of these Esse's all apart, showing you just about anything you need to know! No that's taking care of your customers! Check out his You Tube videos under Esse. He's even built a self contained heat shield for the back in case people don't want to do something themselves for close clearances.
I know some people asked about the firebox size on the Esse. Some pieces of wood the Esse will take. 16 inch pieces would have first sat down inside the wood box in the stove, then the pieces on top of that. You can put quite a load in mixing smaller and bigger splits.This was just a straight forward load. Silver Maple from last fall. All my wood will fit the Fireview and the Esse. The Esse can take wood up to 19 inches long.
Emailed Woody earlier at Obadiah's , whom I purchased the Esse from. Just had a few questions. One nice thing I just found out was I can run the Esse with the oven door open when not cooking anything , for extra heat... Woody said it will heat 3000 sq ft. with the oven door open verses 500 with the oven door closed. So that's what I tried ,,,,,, wow is that ever throwing out some heat! The FireView isn't going to have to do much work when that oven door is open. It's 43 out and windy and the coolest part of the farmhouse is 66 with the stove end of the house at 78. Have to set the small fan up and blow the cooler room into the heat.. Did that the other day,,, it worked great. Well some friends are coming over Tuesday to help carry the FireView to it's resting place. Have everything I need to hook it up. Had to get the appliance adapter and a 90. Mean while the Esse is holding down the fort, keeping us warm and cooking our food!
Woody is in Montana. Had it shipped right to my driveway. It's a certified stove for the US. If you want one call Woody. Please post back if you call him. Tell me he's not the nicest person you dealt with. A believer in the Lord and honest as the day is long! A great person to do business with.. He's even tore down stoves he sells, including the Esse and made video's on you tube, so his customers can service and understand their stoves that they now own. Tell me that isn't going above and beyond for customer service! Woody didn't steer me wrong with the Esse purchase. It's worked out great!
Olivesmom
New Member
- Nov 2, 2012
- 8
He sounds great! Though, I'm pretty sure WA state doesn't allow them which is the issue. We have some very unfortunate regulations concerning wood burning stoves. I don't think anyone can sell or ship at wood burning cook stove here
Best thing would be to ask Woody. He would know what's up with rules and regs concerning your state. Cook stoves might be exempt , being considered for just cooking, not heating your home.He sounds great! Though, I'm pretty sure WA state doesn't allow them which is the issue. We have some very unfortunate regulations concerning wood burning stoves. I don't think anyone can sell or ship at wood burning cook stove here
Obadiah
“Extinguishing Mediocrity”
Greetings Olivesmom, Heard the "Washington Cookstove" question and thought I'd pop in.....I'm Woody.
Welcome to the best place to find the truth (and lots of opinions) about various hearth products. As you have already found, folks here are friendly and willing to help you, just like Charly who exemplifies the reason we sell cookstove's.
The only cookstove we offer that you will have a problem with in Washington is the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker because the oven is not on the right side of the firebox. (Which is the regulation in WA) Or the Flameview special order cookstove with the firebox on the right, which is illegal in Washington as well. Anyone who sells a Cookstove that the oven is not on the right and the firebox on the left, is violating the law.
Oddly enough Bakers Oven/Bun Baker was qualified for the Federal Tax Credits because it is so clean burning and efficient. The only other cookstove we offered that qualified was the Ironheart. So with typical bureaucratic nonsense, it is total ridiculousness....No Offence. Other than that, just make sure it is properly installed. I recommend your local fire dept. for an installer. Most firefighters moonlight as contractors, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, so call your local FD and ask the Chief who can help you install the unit in your home if you’re unable. Another resource would be www.csia.org, (Chimney Safety Institute of America) type your zip code in the box and it will bring up a list of certified chimney pros near year that can also professionally install your new cookstove according to code in Washington. Unless you live in an area that does not allow any wood smoke at all, you should be ok.
Here is a little background on "cookstove's in Washington State" for those who are trying to sort this out...
We sell a ton of stoves in Washington, so I am very familiar with the problem because we received a phone call from them asking us not to ship the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker into their state......which we complied with........
We sell lots of Ironheart's to Washington, they seem to be able to afford the higher end stoves, like the Ironheart, compared to many other areas of the country who seem more cost conscience and choose one of the fine Anabaptist Cookstove's we offer.
The reasoning Washington State has behind this rule, which was explained to me by a Washington Bureaucrat; 'the EPA ruled that all cookstove's that have an oven on the right side of a firebox is exempt from any emission regulations that govern other solid fuel appliances. The state of Washington in their infinite wisdom, decided that they were going to keep the cheap imports that don't meet EPA Regs out of their state. So they adopted the EPA Regs verbatim and left no room for any discretion'.
So unless someone lobbies someone your legislators to change the laws to make more sense, you unfortunately will live with their decisions.
To me if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, its a duck. The Bakers Oven/Bun Baker is a fantastic Australian cooker that is heavy gauge welded steel and uses convection for heating and cooking just like the Ironheart. It is a very good cookstove that meets a very specific niche market. It is anything but cheap. It can bake bread in its oven; it has a cook-top. Add the Soapstone option and it becomes a high end cookstove with a high end price. It is a cookstove. It is far more of a cookstove than the EPA approved Napoleon 1150 Gourmet Cookstove, which you cannot bake anything in because it does not have an oven....but is totally legal in Washington and even California....
Don't get me wrong, I am also all about keeping the junk where it belongs. You wont find any on our websites...
Now for the rest of the story....
The reason behind the EPA's exception is the result of the efforts of my friend Ed, over at Antique Stoves in Michigan. Yeah Ed! Ed is very knowledgeable about cookstove's and is who I go to when I have questions about some of the older antique cookstove's as he is the expert. Ed was wise enough to know what to do to make sure that the EPA did not set their sights on cookstove's. The EPA had scheduled feedback secession at our annual HPBA meeting. (Hearth Products Barbeque Association) He rounded up the Amish and let them know that they needed to go to that meeting and explain what a cookstove means to their "Religious" way of life. As of right now there are very few cookstove's made that could meet EPA specs if there were any. The Ironheart and the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker are the only ones I know of currently available in North America that might pass.. My understanding is that Heartland is lobbying the EPA to introduce legislation requiring EPA Regs because they reportedly have a EPA certified stove ready in the wings. Esse has had the 990 ready to introduce if the EPA Regs hit us, but at $9k that would eliminate most cookstove buyers. So they have held back because it cost a small fortune to certify a stove with the EPA and UL/CSA testing that has to be done by an "approved testing facility". That cost will then be passed down to the consumer. Esse is not Lobbying for any additional Regs in the US as this is not their main market, Europe is and they already have Regs in place for clean burning stoves, which Esse meets and should count here, but doesn't.....
Don't get me wrong, I am not against cleaner burning stoves, I am against most folks not being able to afford them. Because the market is so small the price increase would be huge as there are not very many cookstove's sold each year that are brand new, less than 3% of total sales in US are cookstove's. Although we sell lots of cookstove's, they are only a small part of what we do in terms of Stove, Fireplace, Furnace and Boiler sales. Cookstove's are a very small niche market of folks that we seem to be able to relate really well to for some reason. Probably because we already took the "Self-sufficiency plunge" as I call it and did not die in the process. This ex Detroit Motor City Mad Man turned Montana Mountain-man who is willing to share what we learned along the journey.
Ed drove the owner of Kitchen Queen to the HPBA show and the owners of Pioneer Stove's also showed up. They caused quite a stir as they walked around all the displays and exhibits the big name manufactures like Napoleon put up for their dealers to come see what is new and meet with the owners and managers to share concerns about our industry. When the EPA held their meeting and these Amish men shared their testimony's, you could hear a pin drop. The EPA had not expected this......they listened and Ed presented the facts to them. Once they realized that cookstove's represent less than 3% of woodstove's sold, they reconsidered their efforts and decided there are bigger fish to fry without stepping on any "Religious Toes".....So they asked what makes an "Cookstove a Cookstove". All the Anabaptist cookstove's have the firebox on the left and the oven on the right, so the EPA ruled that any stove with an "Firebox on the Left and an Oven on the Right, is a Cookstove and is exempt". So us cookstove users have a lot to be thankful for, otherwise the selection would be pretty slim for those who live in areas where that stuff matters.
Welcome to the best place to find the truth (and lots of opinions) about various hearth products. As you have already found, folks here are friendly and willing to help you, just like Charly who exemplifies the reason we sell cookstove's.
The only cookstove we offer that you will have a problem with in Washington is the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker because the oven is not on the right side of the firebox. (Which is the regulation in WA) Or the Flameview special order cookstove with the firebox on the right, which is illegal in Washington as well. Anyone who sells a Cookstove that the oven is not on the right and the firebox on the left, is violating the law.
Oddly enough Bakers Oven/Bun Baker was qualified for the Federal Tax Credits because it is so clean burning and efficient. The only other cookstove we offered that qualified was the Ironheart. So with typical bureaucratic nonsense, it is total ridiculousness....No Offence. Other than that, just make sure it is properly installed. I recommend your local fire dept. for an installer. Most firefighters moonlight as contractors, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, so call your local FD and ask the Chief who can help you install the unit in your home if you’re unable. Another resource would be www.csia.org, (Chimney Safety Institute of America) type your zip code in the box and it will bring up a list of certified chimney pros near year that can also professionally install your new cookstove according to code in Washington. Unless you live in an area that does not allow any wood smoke at all, you should be ok.
Here is a little background on "cookstove's in Washington State" for those who are trying to sort this out...
We sell a ton of stoves in Washington, so I am very familiar with the problem because we received a phone call from them asking us not to ship the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker into their state......which we complied with........
We sell lots of Ironheart's to Washington, they seem to be able to afford the higher end stoves, like the Ironheart, compared to many other areas of the country who seem more cost conscience and choose one of the fine Anabaptist Cookstove's we offer.
The reasoning Washington State has behind this rule, which was explained to me by a Washington Bureaucrat; 'the EPA ruled that all cookstove's that have an oven on the right side of a firebox is exempt from any emission regulations that govern other solid fuel appliances. The state of Washington in their infinite wisdom, decided that they were going to keep the cheap imports that don't meet EPA Regs out of their state. So they adopted the EPA Regs verbatim and left no room for any discretion'.
So unless someone lobbies someone your legislators to change the laws to make more sense, you unfortunately will live with their decisions.
To me if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, its a duck. The Bakers Oven/Bun Baker is a fantastic Australian cooker that is heavy gauge welded steel and uses convection for heating and cooking just like the Ironheart. It is a very good cookstove that meets a very specific niche market. It is anything but cheap. It can bake bread in its oven; it has a cook-top. Add the Soapstone option and it becomes a high end cookstove with a high end price. It is a cookstove. It is far more of a cookstove than the EPA approved Napoleon 1150 Gourmet Cookstove, which you cannot bake anything in because it does not have an oven....but is totally legal in Washington and even California....
Don't get me wrong, I am also all about keeping the junk where it belongs. You wont find any on our websites...
Now for the rest of the story....
The reason behind the EPA's exception is the result of the efforts of my friend Ed, over at Antique Stoves in Michigan. Yeah Ed! Ed is very knowledgeable about cookstove's and is who I go to when I have questions about some of the older antique cookstove's as he is the expert. Ed was wise enough to know what to do to make sure that the EPA did not set their sights on cookstove's. The EPA had scheduled feedback secession at our annual HPBA meeting. (Hearth Products Barbeque Association) He rounded up the Amish and let them know that they needed to go to that meeting and explain what a cookstove means to their "Religious" way of life. As of right now there are very few cookstove's made that could meet EPA specs if there were any. The Ironheart and the Bakers Oven/Bun Baker are the only ones I know of currently available in North America that might pass.. My understanding is that Heartland is lobbying the EPA to introduce legislation requiring EPA Regs because they reportedly have a EPA certified stove ready in the wings. Esse has had the 990 ready to introduce if the EPA Regs hit us, but at $9k that would eliminate most cookstove buyers. So they have held back because it cost a small fortune to certify a stove with the EPA and UL/CSA testing that has to be done by an "approved testing facility". That cost will then be passed down to the consumer. Esse is not Lobbying for any additional Regs in the US as this is not their main market, Europe is and they already have Regs in place for clean burning stoves, which Esse meets and should count here, but doesn't.....
Don't get me wrong, I am not against cleaner burning stoves, I am against most folks not being able to afford them. Because the market is so small the price increase would be huge as there are not very many cookstove's sold each year that are brand new, less than 3% of total sales in US are cookstove's. Although we sell lots of cookstove's, they are only a small part of what we do in terms of Stove, Fireplace, Furnace and Boiler sales. Cookstove's are a very small niche market of folks that we seem to be able to relate really well to for some reason. Probably because we already took the "Self-sufficiency plunge" as I call it and did not die in the process. This ex Detroit Motor City Mad Man turned Montana Mountain-man who is willing to share what we learned along the journey.
Ed drove the owner of Kitchen Queen to the HPBA show and the owners of Pioneer Stove's also showed up. They caused quite a stir as they walked around all the displays and exhibits the big name manufactures like Napoleon put up for their dealers to come see what is new and meet with the owners and managers to share concerns about our industry. When the EPA held their meeting and these Amish men shared their testimony's, you could hear a pin drop. The EPA had not expected this......they listened and Ed presented the facts to them. Once they realized that cookstove's represent less than 3% of woodstove's sold, they reconsidered their efforts and decided there are bigger fish to fry without stepping on any "Religious Toes".....So they asked what makes an "Cookstove a Cookstove". All the Anabaptist cookstove's have the firebox on the left and the oven on the right, so the EPA ruled that any stove with an "Firebox on the Left and an Oven on the Right, is a Cookstove and is exempt". So us cookstove users have a lot to be thankful for, otherwise the selection would be pretty slim for those who live in areas where that stuff matters.
Olivesmom
New Member
- Nov 2, 2012
- 8
Thanks for your very thorough response Woody, it was very helpful! I'm excited to learn that I can get my hands on that Esse Ironheart I'm drooling over. It will be a couple of years before I'm ready, hopefully there won't be further regulations in the meantime. I really appreciate your response!
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