Bigger stove with small fire or small stove with bigger fire?

I own three stoves. One is a smaller stove. Of the three stoves, which do I like the least? That's right, the smaller stove. Far less flexible. Reload time is far too short. Go with the bigger stove it will cause a lot less second guessing.

spirilis said:

I will say in my Jotul 8 downstairs, when I added thin firebricks to the perimeter of the firebox the overall performance was *much* more consistent. However the secondary air paths for that firebox were plugged up with ash (it goes around the steel plates that compose the main firebox), so this year I'm going to start the shoulder season without them and see how it goes. In that stove putting firebrick around the perimeter reduces the fire's ability to heat the steel plates which are responsible for preheating the secondary air.

Click to expand...

I think that's the consideration, how will the bricks change the dynamics of the system with any insulating effects and changes in air supply, exhuast, thermal mass, etc. Is that #8 a pre-EPA stove?

Seems like adding bricks to only the floor of a firebox would serve to make a hotter box with smaller fires, in general, without losing anything. Fun to speculate about the possible effects of putting in bricks, but I suppose the proof is in the putting.

branchburner said:

Seems like adding bricks to only the floor of a firebox would serve to make a hotter box with smaller fires, in general, without losing anything. Fun to speculate about the possible effects of putting in bricks, but I suppose the proof is in the putting.

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This makes sense to me. Putting down split bricks just on the bottom should reduce the cu. ft. without affecting the operation of the stove. Cheap, too.

branchburner said:

spirilis said:

I will say in my Jotul 8 downstairs, when I added thin firebricks to the perimeter of the firebox the overall performance was *much* more consistent. However the secondary air paths for that firebox were plugged up with ash (it goes around the steel plates that compose the main firebox), so this year I'm going to start the shoulder season without them and see how it goes. In that stove putting firebrick around the perimeter reduces the fire's ability to heat the steel plates which are responsible for preheating the secondary air.

Click to expand...

I think that's the consideration, how will the bricks change the dynamics of the system with any insulating effects and changes in air supply, exhuast, thermal mass, etc. Is that #8 a pre-EPA stove?

Seems like adding bricks to only the floor of a firebox would serve to make a hotter box with smaller fires, in general, without losing anything. Fun to speculate about the possible effects of putting in bricks, but I suppose the proof is in the putting.

Click to expand...

The #8 is pre-EPA yeah, no catalyst. When I have firebricks on the side, the top of the side castings get hot (i.e. 300-400F) but the bottom half can be... 100-120F, seriously. Don't think it was designed to work quite like that.

Firebricks on the bottom though, that is a good idea, if you pile them too high you may have the same problem as I just described with lower sides staying too cool but OTOH it should burn more efficiently as the small firemass will be closer to the baffle, which will make the baffle hotter and ignite secondaries quicker. In my Jotul #8 it might work that way too since the upper baffle will get hotter and help the secondary air coming up around the sides mix with hotter smoke.

I have the Buck Stove 21 model. Nice stove, but no way it will heat that size house. It's good for heating a part of the house, as auxiliary heat.

I wanted to get the 74, but couldn't for budget reasons. Someone else here on the forum claims to heat his home of similar size to yours with the 74.

I jumped from smaller stove/bigger fire and constant reloading two sizes up and I have no complaints. Although I am certainly almost always under-utilizing my stove, there are those deep winter dips below zero when I effortlessly keep the house warm. It's during those times when I can sleep undisturbed knowing that the house will stay comfortable through the night that the choice was a good one. I don't mind so much having to get up for a re-load, but the less effort heating the house is the more I can enjoy winter.