What do you put on your stove to evaporate water?

[quote author="woodburn" date="1225168891"]The cast iron tea kettle I got from the dealer is a piece of crap. From the very first day I used it, it got all rusty and nasty on the inside. I scrubbed and seasoned several times and it keeps getting gross. ]

Some of the kettles & Steamers have the enamel coating on the inside as well as the outside. You'll pay more for these (should average about $40 to $50) but they will stay much nicer. Depending on your water mineral content you may still get residue in the pot, but it should clean out fairly easy. We use an enameled pot but also run a basic "walmart" humidifier.

woodburn said:

So what I am gathering here is that ANY material pot can be placed directly on the stovetop? Also, with whatever you are using, do most of you use a trivet, or place directly on the stove?

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Any container that can take the heat can be used. The thinner the metal the faster the water will boil out. A trivet is useful if the water is boiling out too quickly, [should slow it down. We've used regular cooking pots that worked fine. If you have an enamel finish on the stove or a soapstone stove you may want to get some small pieces of fiberglass gasket material to put under the pot. Keeps it from scratching the stove.

ilikewood said:

Anyone have a recommendation for what to place on top of a small insert with very little room to work with? I think my Lopi only protrudes about 3"...no jokes please

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several companies make "half kettles" just for that. one would be a company called John Wright

woodburn said:

I kind of figured that anything evaporating is pure water, but it still grosses me out for some reason. And yup......mine says "made in China" no surprise. It's probably got lead paint on it. So what I am gathering here is that ANY material pot can be placed directly on the stovetop? Also, with whatever you are using, do most of you use a trivet, or place directly on the stove?

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I use an enameled cast iron steamer with an open lattice type top, about $40 from any number of places. I have it directly on the top of my soapstone stove but since I never actually move it, there's no scratching problem.

It doesn't put a huge amount of moisture into the air, but it does make a difference. I know tihs because if I forget about it and it runs dry, my cats' fur starts sparking with electricity when I pet them! Never happens as long as I keep the steamer going.

Don't worry about the minerals and/or rust. Unless you're going to fill the thing with distilled water, you're going to get some unattractive mineral stuff building up in there over time from the tap water, but that's just the point, it's in the pot and not in the air.

ilikewood said:

Anyone have a recommendation for what to place on top of a small insert with very little room to work with? I think my Lopi only protrudes about 3"...no jokes please

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I use an aluminum coffee pot that I used to have for camping. It hangs over a bit but is stable. How does it look? I like to think "rustic" or maybe "vintage".

Them cast pots go in a hurry. they look pretty on the stove but they suck on the inside. My one and only is now being used for a butt bucket in my driveway.

Better off to use a stainless pan.

Doesn't matter. You're not going to significantly increase the relative humidity in your home by putting any sort of container of water on top of a woodstove or insert...unless you live in a really tiny home, or you burn your stove/insert to keep that thing at a constant rolling boil. The best idea I've seen here for a pot of something on the stovetop is to use it as a hot potpouri container to add a little pleasant scent to the house. If you really want to increase the humidity in your home in the winter, you need some sort of humidifier. A pot of water on the stove ain't gonna get that job done. Rick

Agreed, Rick, and well put. I also have a 12 gal. humidifier which has enough output to keep us from shocking the dog when we go to pet her. It just doesn't have the ambiance of the old camping stove coffee pot though.

fossil said:

Doesn't matter. You're not going to significantly increase the relative humidity in your home by putting any sort of container of water on top of a woodstove or insert...unless you live in a really tiny home, or you burn your stove/insert to keep that thing at a constant rolling boil. The best idea I've seen here for a pot of something on the stovetop is to use it as a hot potpouri container to add a little pleasant scent to the house. If you really want to increase the humidity in your home in the winter, you need some sort of humidifier. A pot of water on the stove ain't gonna get that job done. Rick

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I think it actually depends a bit on, as you suggest, the size of your home, the height of your ceilings, etc., the general humidity level of the climate you're starting with and how much difference you want to make. I'm tellin' ya, for the first time in my adult life, I don't have to worry about giving little electric shocks to the cats when I pet them since I got the stove and kept a steamer on it. Seriously. My first winter-and-a-half in this house before I started using the stove, it was a constant problem. Agreed, it doesn't make a big difference, but it seems to be just enough for that much objectively. My subjective sense of being more comfortable and having skin and nose and throat that aren't so bone dry in winter is, well, subjective. But the static electricity on the cats is just a fact.

So I say don't listen to any of us, try it out for yourself and see if it helps at all. It might or it might not, depending. If not, get a humidifier and spend the bucks on the elecricity to run it and deal with keeping it clean. I don't need to do that anymore to stay minimally comfortable in winter.

woodburn said:

The cast iron tea kettle I got from the dealer is a piece of crap. From the very first day I used it, it got all rusty and nasty on the inside. I scrubbed and seasoned several times and it keeps getting gross. I have a problem with evaporating dark brown water 24-7 into the air my two year old and new born breathe. For now I am keeping a regular kitchen pot on a trivet on the stove. My stovetop only gets to around 500 or so, but I am leary about putting nonstick cookware directly on the stove. Ideally, I want something black, but I am also considering stainless steel or brass. Any other suggestions? What is good? What can be put directly on the stove without worry of damage or rusty water?

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I wouldn't put any non-stick teflon cookware on a wood stove. At temperatures as low as 450 it has been know to off-gas potentially deadly chemicals. Unless you keep a canary near by to let you know when to evacuate the room if you know what I mean.

par38lamp said:

It evaporates about 12 gallons a day

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Blimey! It takes 10,000 BTU's / 2.9 kWh to evaporate one gallon. If you ran this at 12 gallons per day for 120 days (a heating season) you are looking at 4176 kWh, or about $500, and that's if the thing were 100% efficient. To me this sounds like a good argument in favour of an OAK so you don't lose all that nicely humidified air straight up the stack.