Trying to be efficient

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buddythehuman

buddythehuman

New Member
Jan 10, 2017
17
des moines
I have an older model stove that came with the house. I wouldn't buy a house without a stove. I'm trying to figure out how to get full efficiency out of this thing. Should I burn with the doors open or closed ( it puts out more heat open) to me it seems to use more wood closed. The doors are iron (no glass). I know to get better efficiency I need a new updated stove but I'm the cheapest of skates.
 

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buddythehuman said:
I have an older model stove that came with the house. I wouldn't buy a house without a stove. I'm trying to figure out how to get full efficiency out of this thing. Should I burn with the doors open or closed ( it puts out more heat open) to me it seems to use more wood closed. The doors are iron (no glass). I know to get better efficiency I need a new updated stove but I'm the cheapest of skates.
Click to expand...
That is an old franklin stove and you will never get any efficiency out of it. The stove was designed by benjamin franklin as a replacement for open fireplaces and it is slightly more efficient than an open fireplace simply because the firebox is open and free to radiate heat but they suck tons of air just like a fireplace. The design was reproduced by lots of companies in the 70s and early 80s. Also what is behind that brick wall? If it is just over top of framing you have some pretty serious clearance issues as well.
 
If you insist on keeping it burn it with doors closed. Running it with the doors open is borderline negative efficiency. Unless your wood is free and you don't value your time whatsoever, its false economy. Buy a used box stove or an new Englander and you will be far better off.
 
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I think the theory with the Franklin stove was that when the fire was dying out the doors could be closed which cut down the draft up the chimney. My dad used to try to heat with our fireplace and inevitably the cold draft all night cooled down the house. He built a wooden plug faced with asbestos cement board that fit in the fireplace opening so that we could close up the opening after the fire was dying out. It made a big difference.
 
You might not like hearing it but to be efficient a newer stove would make a world of difference. And to go off what maple is saying here's the skinny. They do still make some stoves that are 8 inch flue which would make a swap out easy blaze king king model for example. But I'm not sure if they have much at a lower price point. Begreen or one of the guys that deal with stoves almost daily will be able to give ya some more ideas. Now there are plenty of 6 inch that I know are at lower price points like englander that have six inch flue. So then you have the cost of stove and flue. But if you have a large selection of wood you can keep feeding it as long as it's in good condition. While I'm not a specialist at this. Seems like have doors closed and not drawing as much air. I.e sucking warmed air out would be the way to go. Just my 2 cents
 
Not exactly the responses I was wanting to hear. Could I get a stove with a 6" flue and put a reducer/adapter on it and still use the 8" that's already installed?
 
That may be possible. I'm not sure on the insert and outs of the regs. One of the guys that are a sweep will probably can't moment soon. It seems like I remember someone posting a certain stove manufacturer allowing either size.
 
Yeah what type of chimney is it how high is it ect.
 
buddythehuman said:
It's just a straight pipe through the ceiling. It only sticks like 3' out the roof up top. Single story house.
Click to expand...
Is it double wall triple wall stainless or galvanized? If it was installed the same time as that stove it may way past its expected life already and may also need replaced.
 
'Just a straight pipe through the ceiling' - that sounds bad.

You might not have meant to say what that sounds like though?

Insulated? Liner? Materials? Size?
 
It's stainless. I think the chimney above the ceiling is all newer. I'll check on whether it's double or triple insulated. How do I tell? I'm new to all this.
 
Pictures help also
 
We had the identical Atlanta Stove Works Franklin when I was a kid. It was in a family room addition. It worked well but ate up wood. That didn’t matter to us since a friend who installed fencing gave us an almost endless supply of old cedar fence rails and posts. We also had a lot of woods around the house. We burned around 50/50 with the doors open and closed. Use it with the doors closed, as long you feed it wood you’ll get heat out of it. Use it until you can install a newer stove, assuming the current setup is safe. These stoves will heat a room but not efficiently and only while there is a fire going. My father kept the heat off in the room our stove was in. In the morning the room was cool. We used it like a fireplace, letting the fire die down before going to bed. Be careful how much wood you put in especially with the doors closed, too much wood and it will fire like a blast furnace. There is almost no control of the combustion air.


We did install a modern stove after the Franklin and used it to heat the first floor of the house because it allowed us to burn overnight and control the air. Two stoves later my father now uses a small Jodul and can keep the room very warm on a cold day with 2 X scraps alone. Huge difference in efficiency. Me, I don’t have a stove yet. I feed maple, oak and locust into my masonry fireplace during the weekends mostly for fun but I do get the living room comfortable, I shut the furnace off. I have glass doors that I close at the end the burning session, my father’s little Jodul could easily heat my whole first floor and probably most of the upstairs.
 
Here's what it looks like from the ground. Not sure if this will help anyone or not. Didn't have a chance to get on the roof.
 

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How big an area are you trying to heat? There are a few modern stoves that use an 8" flue but they tend to be for heating large areas and/or will cost some bucks like the BK King.

If the chimney is in very good condition it may be one time where getting an old Fisher or Fisher clone off Craigslist would be the good choice. Those will out perform what you have. If the chimney is at all questionable I wouldn't replace it instead just go with 6" and new stove when you can swing it.
 
CheapBassTurd said:
There's a #2469 boxstove which will radiate a ridiculous amount of heat and it's
$350. I have the pre EPA forerunner, the #2421 boxstove. It's literally a cube with a chimney
and dirt cheap. The damper slows the burn, but the leaky manufacture will not. If you choose
to see the thing as a kit rather than a stove it'll work just fine. Take it apart and double seal
(both inside and outside of every joint) all 6 pieces while leaving the factory rope gaskets intact.
The ash drawer under the door needs plugged off completely also to make the unit safe.
Once sealed, it's controllable and won't kill your family with CO2, nor a runaway flareup.
I'm more than pleased with my rebuilt unit. It's not efficient by modern standards, but very
efficient by the standards of not paying a heat bill. We run 24/7, 4-6 splits at a time, 4-5 loads
per day, 1/2 load for the overnite burn. That's the inefficient part but our wood is free and unlimited.
A Google search will show a few companies selling the Chinese heap of cast-scrap.

IT MUST BE MADE SAFE FIRST !! !! !!

After that, it rocks, and the two circle burners atop make for some fine cookin' during a power outage.
It cooks us out of our ranch. LOL Many days we have a window cracked in the stoveroom even
when the temps are near zero.

900-1000 ft living space, chimney is also a straight shot thru the
ceiling w/ double wall stainless from the ceiling on up to the cap. With some heat and airflow there's
little to nothing but a fine layer of soot during a brushout of the chimney, which I do for safety and not
letting buildup happen to begin with. This happens monthly long before it needs it. Good indicator of
what's happening in the firebox too.

Just another angle,
CheapMark
Click to expand...
I don't recommend anything that you have to "modify" so you don't kill your family.
 
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CheapBassTurd said:
There's a #2469 boxstove which will radiate a ridiculous amount of heat and it's
$350. I have the pre EPA forerunner, the #2421 boxstove. It's literally a cube with a chimney
and dirt cheap. The damper slows the burn, but the leaky manufacture will not. If you choose
to see the thing as a kit rather than a stove it'll work just fine. Take it apart and double seal
(both inside and outside of every joint) all 6 pieces while leaving the factory rope gaskets intact.
The ash drawer under the door needs plugged off completely also to make the unit safe.
Once sealed, it's controllable and won't kill your family with CO2, nor a runaway flareup.
I'm more than pleased with my rebuilt unit. It's not efficient by modern standards, but very
efficient by the standards of not paying a heat bill. We run 24/7, 4-6 splits at a time, 4-5 loads
per day, 1/2 load for the overnite burn. That's the inefficient part but our wood is free and unlimited.
A Google search will show a few companies selling the Chinese heap of cast-scrap.

IT MUST BE MADE SAFE FIRST !! !! !!

After that, it rocks, and the two circle burners atop make for some fine cookin' during a power outage.
It cooks us out of our ranch. LOL Many days we have a window cracked in the stoveroom even
when the temps are near zero.

900-1000 ft living space, chimney is also a straight shot thru the
ceiling w/ double wall stainless from the ceiling on up to the cap. With some heat and airflow there's
little to nothing but a fine layer of soot during a brushout of the chimney, which I do for safety and not
letting buildup happen to begin with. This happens monthly long before it needs it. Good indicator of
what's happening in the firebox too.

Just another angle,
CheapMark
Click to expand...
While I really commend you for all of the work you did to your stove I would still not recommend that stove to anyone. Even after all of the work you did it is still made from thin low quality castings that from what I have seen are very prone to cracking. You have made it much safer by sealing it up but you have not changed the poor quality of the stove body.
 
Those franklins had a cast iron damper sitting on the cast iron transition piece at the connection to the pipe, ours did but the picture cuts it off.
 
buddythehuman said:
Not exactly the responses I was wanting to hear. Could I get a stove with a 6" flue and put a reducer/adapter on it and still use the 8" that's already installed?
Click to expand...
So buddy it sounds like your draft is good since you say your using more wood when the doors are closed.If so why isn't your pipe damper not slowing down the burn rate ? Maybe your pipe damper is shot and needs replacement.How about a picture of where the pipe damper is placed.
 
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