New Woodstock stove

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Texas Boy and Dennis need to compare the structures they are heating with a Fireview.
 
But the problem with burning pallet wood is quite the same as the cedar as it burns much faster and hotter. That is why guys throw out the caution about being careful to not overfire when using pallet lumber. Naturally, with a larger firebox, that very well is what you need for that wood. You would still have to be a bit careful to not overfire, but even if you could fill it 3/4 full and let it go that could be good.

The wood we burn is very dry. Most of what we burned this year has been 5 years since cut, split and stacked. We have to be careful to not overfire and we reached 700 for the first time this winter. Here is what we are doing for night fires, at least when it is cold outside. The temperatures we've had this week calls for a different tact.

I put one soft maple in front on the bottom. For the rear bottom I like to put a large split or round in. Then I fill in however. Usually at night I burn all ash except for that one. Sometimes it is all ash though. Most times we wait 10 minutes but we watch the temperature and the fire to make the decision. If the stove top is 250 or higher and the flue is around 500, the cat gets engaged. Sometimes this can be within 5 minutes because the wood is so dry.

Once the cat is engaged we are turning the draft to 1. Usually within 10 minutes I then set the draft to about .25 and all is well. I can go to bed and relax. However, depending on the wood, sometimes I have to watch it because it tries to get too hot. If that happens, I then bypass the cat for just a couple of minutes. The temperature of the stove top will start to go down slow but as soon as I see any drop, I can then engage the cat and usually all is well. If it still wants to go up, I bypass a couple more minutes. Also, once I see the temperature going up to 700, I shut the draft full and leave it there the rest of the night.

With the above method on the hot stove the temperature will quickly drop back to 600-650 and will hold there for a long time. So after doing this a few times now I know so just simply leave the draft shut off and I go to bed. The house stays nice and warm. If I do get up in the night (that usually happens) and the stove temperature is down to, say, 450, then I will open the draft to 1 or 2 and go back to bed.

During the daytime and with the weather we are having now we usually only put in 3 splits at a time and it gets plenty warm. Even during the dead of winter we usually stick to the 3 or sometimes 4 splits during the day else we roast ourselves out. If I have to put wood in a couple times during that day, that is okay. It also gives me a chance to burn those knotty pieces and what I call junk.
 
BrotherBart said:
Texas Boy and Dennis need to compare the structures they are heating with a Fireview.

Comparing structures is okay for some things BB. You are getting to the point of how many sq ft the stove will heat. I agree that Terry and I are heating 2 different size structures and we are also in 2 different areas of the country. There are many other variables to consider and the more important one here I think is the fuel.
 
I also think the problem for Tex is the fuel. It burns very hot and fast. Maybe he needs to burn 1/2 loads with more air and reload more often to keep the stove up to temp and reduce coaling? If he's burning full loads it probably peaks real fast and cools down and still holds the coals for a long time but isn't producing the BTU's normal hardwood cordwood does.
 
This can't be a Texas stove. Even a 3 CF stove is dinky in the realm of real cat stoves. Remember that the princess by BK is nearly 3 CF and the terms "princess" and "Texas sized" aren't usually used to describe the same thing. Get the stove up over 4.5 CF and we can start talking about Texas.

The fireview is only rated to heat 1600 SF, half-pint might be a good name for it. Pibsqueek for the keystone.

So you spoke with Ron about the new stove? Any other info?
 
Here's some more info from Tom.

Todd-
The new stove will have a reversible flue collar (top and rear) and also have a catalyst. We didn’t like the low burn characteristics without a cat, but with the catalyst the low burn is clean and long. It will have a number of new wrinkles in addition to the increased size and heat output. We plan to release more information about the stove in the next 3-4 weeks. Thanks for your patience!
Tom Morrissey
 
Todd said:
Here are a few soapstone stoves with ovens on top from across the pond. Look kind a familiar.

http://www.altechfireplaces.com/

That is either the strangest coincidence or something is going on here. Same name and the exact same looking stove?

But I REALLY like the Eclipse series. I'd put one of those in my house in a heartbeat!
 
Todd said:
Here's some more info from Tom.

Todd-
The new stove will have a reversible flue collar (top and rear) and also have a catalyst. We didn’t like the low burn characteristics without a cat, but with the catalyst the low burn is clean and long. It will have a number of new wrinkles in addition to the increased size and heat output. We plan to release more information about the stove in the next 3-4 weeks. Thanks for your patience!
Tom Morrissey

Music to my ears. Now if only they would come out with a thermostat.... I'm getting greedy but a guy can hope. Hard to believe that they would even consider a non-cat stove after reading how dedicated they are to cat technology.
 
Highbeam said:
Todd said:
Here's some more info from Tom.

Todd-
The new stove will have a reversible flue collar (top and rear) and also have a catalyst. We didn’t like the low burn characteristics without a cat, but with the catalyst the low burn is clean and long. It will have a number of new wrinkles in addition to the increased size and heat output. We plan to release more information about the stove in the next 3-4 weeks. Thanks for your patience!
Tom Morrissey

Music to my ears. Now if only they would come out with a thermostat.... I'm getting greedy but a guy can hope. Hard to believe that they would even consider a non-cat stove after reading how dedicated they are to cat technology.

I bet they were farting around with a noncat/cat hybrid to get a better looking flame show and it probably didn't work out as well for burn times. I bet they are getting a lot of inquiries about this new stove, I hope they come out with all the specs soon.
 
Todd said:
I also think the problem for Tex is the fuel. It burns very hot and fast. Maybe he needs to burn 1/2 loads with more air and reload more often to keep the stove up to temp and reduce coaling? If he's burning full loads it probably peaks real fast and cools down and still holds the coals for a long time but isn't producing the BTU's normal hardwood cordwood does.

Right Todd. The question here is not the size of area he is trying to heat, the issue is how long of a burn time he is not getting.


That 3-4 weeks sounds pretty good for more information on the new stove.
 
wendell said:
Todd said:
Here are a few soapstone stoves with ovens on top from across the pond. Look kind a familiar.

http://www.altechfireplaces.com/

That is either the strangest coincidence or something is going on here. Same name and the exact same looking stove?

But I REALLY like the Eclipse series. I'd put one of those in my house in a heartbeat!

I just noticed that they have both the Pallidian and the Fireview shown on the website under the traditional stoves....whats up with that??

EDIT** I just read Brownings thought to this....makes sense
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Todd said:
I also think the problem for Tex is the fuel. It burns very hot and fast. Maybe he needs to burn 1/2 loads with more air and reload more often to keep the stove up to temp and reduce coaling? If he's burning full loads it probably peaks real fast and cools down and still holds the coals for a long time but isn't producing the BTU's normal hardwood cordwood does.

Right Todd. The question here is not the size of area he is trying to heat, the issue is how long of a burn time he is not getting.


That 3-4 weeks sounds pretty good for more information on the new stove.

What y'all are saying makes sense. I thought mixing pallet wood and the cedar would lengthen the burn times, but I guess if both are really dry, that won't be happening. I had assumed that even the pallet wood might not be as dry as the cedar, but that was probably wrong, too. I'm guessing here, but the moisture content of y'all's hardwood is probably a major factor in controlling burn rates and lengthening the burn times. So, 80-year-old wood may not be all it's cracked up to be . . . except for the ease of starting and the virtually unlimited quanties. The periodic reload vs. completely cycling through one large load makes more sense to me and will shortly be tested. Of course, if I had access to cut oak that I could season to around 7% moisture content, mixing THAT with the cedar could be really great.

BTW, I have discovered that if I use my shovel and bank all the ashes up against the back of the stove, it will kill the coals faster OR it will allow refiring by clearing the air path at the front of the stove. Sure catches quick when you lay new wood on the bottom of the stove at the front and stack it up on the ash surface rather than just laying it on the ash bed. I think it also helps to reduce actual ash volume inside the stove.
 
Seems to me that with all that super dry wood there that Texas boy should be building himself a wood-fired electric power plant out in the back yard. Wouldn't have to worry about smoking up the place - dry enough to avoid that - then the electric power could be used all year for whatever.
 
Slow1 said:
Seems to me that with all that super dry wood there that Texas boy should be building himself a wood-fired electric power plant out in the back yard. Wouldn't have to worry about smoking up the place - dry enough to avoid that - then the electric power could be used all year for whatever.

Maybe a big OWB with some kind of conveyor belt to load it with all that dry wood.
 
Flatbedford said:
Slow1 said:
Seems to me that with all that super dry wood there that Texas boy should be building himself a wood-fired electric power plant out in the back yard. Wouldn't have to worry about smoking up the place - dry enough to avoid that - then the electric power could be used all year for whatever.

Maybe a big OWB with some kind of conveyor belt to load it with all that dry wood.

I'll consider most anything. One never knows when something will work out! What are y'all talking about and how do y'do it? I've got three acres out back, y'know!
 
Have any of you seen the new stove? I saw it in the lab back in August 2009 (thanks Mike!) and again at the open house in December 2009. It was in operation in December and the technician loaded it while I was there to give me a demonstration of secondary combustion. OMG! What an amazing light show followed by prodigious heat. I offered to put down a deposit in August and repeated my offer in December!
 
Did you get an idea what it's going to look like? I'm dying to know.
 
NOTE TO TODD:

Down boy! Down!
 
BrotherBart said:
NOTE TO TODD:

Down boy! Down!

Ha, yes it's killing me inside! I just might go camp out in their parking lot to be the first in line! :lol:
 
Todd said:
BrotherBart said:
NOTE TO TODD:

Down boy! Down!

Ha, yes it's killing me inside! I just might go camp out in their parking lot to be the first in line! :lol:

Do it! Bring a lap top so you can send us a pick of the first one they get on the lot! :)
 
i called woodstock last year,i told them this thing makes alot of heat...too bad its behind 2 inches of soapstone..i told them i wanted to make a steel top for it,and the guy on the phone went into the whole marvels of soapstone speech....the stove they make is a great design, the cat is right there easy to get at...the quality is unmatched...but if this stove was steel it would be much hotter....i hope the new stoves top fits the original fireview.
 
bjkjoseph said:
i called woodstock last year,i told them this thing makes alot of heat...too bad its behind 2 inches of soapstone..i told them i wanted to make a steel top for it,and the guy on the phone went into the whole marvels of soapstone speech....the stove they make is a great design, the cat is right there easy to get at...the quality is unmatched...but if this stove was steel it would be much hotter....i hope the new stoves top fits the original fireview.


So, let me get this straight, you called a soapstone stove manufacturer and asked them why they don't make a steel stove? Really?
 
bjkjoseph said:
i called woodstock last year,i told them this thing makes alot of heat...too bad its behind 2 inches of soapstone..i told them i wanted to make a steel top for it,and the guy on the phone went into the whole marvels of soapstone speech....the stove they make is a great design, the cat is right there easy to get at...the quality is unmatched...but if this stove was steel it would be much hotter....i hope the new stoves top fits the original fireview.

So did you make the top steel? Did it make any difference?
 
I'm quite curious as to why steel would give more heat than stone?

If the same amount of heat is in the same firebox, where exactly would that heat go? If steel perhaps it all goes into the room but where does it go if soapstone? It certainly can not go up the chimney with the flue temperatures we get with the soapstone stove. So where exactly could this heat go?
 
dreezon said:
Did you get an idea what it's going to look like? I'm dying to know.


The exterior design has not been completed yet but there is a team working on it now.
 
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