$300.00 Ashley

[Cath]

My husband was looking over my shoulder while I was skimming through Craig's list the other day and this caught his eye. (see link below) His mother has this stove and it's served her faithfully for a long time. He envisions this in our basement. It's not my first choice for a stove or location but I thought I'd ask about it.

Is there anything inherently wrong with this stove? I know that the recent "donor" stove went to replace one like this. I saw the pictures and I could see the problems with its condition. Assuming there are no apparent defects would this be a decent stove? Would it be EPA approved? How efficient is it likely to be?

One clear advantage is his familiarity with it. Are there any other advantages that anyone else here can think of?

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/for/388757709.html

As always, thanks for the input.
~Cath

 

[Harley]

I know that the recent "donor" stove went to replace one like this. I saw the pictures and I could see the problems with its condition. Assuming there are no apparent defects would this be a decent stove? Would it be EPA approved? How efficient is it likely to be?

One clear advantage is his familiarity with it. Are there any other advantages that anyone else here can think of?

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/for/388757709.html

As always, thanks for the input.
~Cath

Wow, Cath - you really do your homework - you probably had to dig a little bit to see that thread on the replaced Ashley. To be honest - I think I'd skip over that one for the price. My parents had pretty much the same one at the camp when I was a little younger, and yeah - I'm pretty familiar with it to - it did heat very well and was easy to regulate. I wouldn't put familiarity at the top of the list. I don't know if that model is EPA approved or not, but the pictures look like its in pretty decent shape. I did get to see the replaced Ashley kind of up close, and If you didn't get the impression from the pictures... it was in pretty rough shape.

I don't remember for sure, but I think someone pulled the tag off the stove after it was out of the house (well we talked about it anyway), so maybe Elk, GVA or Keyman may be able to tell if that's the same model or not.

 

[elkimmeg]

Cath this is a a very thin sheetmetal stove. It was not a very good stove to begin with. Basically a normal life time of 15 years. Which I can bet it is warped inside. I think you need to PM me and discuss things. I see you are in MA and I am working on a few things I might be able to help you. ..

All I can say you will be wasting that $300 on a stove I got $25 at the scrap yard. Boy do I wish I cleaned out stock at sale time to help many others.

Another thing I'm working on is I have a connection to the largest dealer in the area and I might come by a real good rebuild canidate.


That way at least you will not end up with junk

 

[BrotherBart]

They aren't EPA certified but are pretty good heaters. U.S. Stove makes them and you can order them from Tractor Supply stores for $599 brand new.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

i had one conveyed to me several years ago , looked exactly like theat one , but needed some reinforcing , i did some work to it (strengthening , lined it with brick) but never used it , ended up giving it away just to get it out of my way. would have been a decent heater, but i already had my 24-ac and didnt need to step backward. it would never have been the stove that my ac is but with the lining and stiffeners i put in it it should have lasted for quite a while.

 

[Cath]

Thanks again for the input. I wasn't particularly keen on this option but I felt in fairness to my husband that I should at least ask.

Elk,
We are very much in the browsing stages and we won't be making any hasty decisions. As you can probably tell, I'm not shy and I will certainly take you up on your offer to PM you.

The more I think about it the more I lean towards an insert. I think that's where I wound up the last time around. Unfortunately I feel like I'm covering old ground every step of the way here since the threads on the old Hearthnet are gone. I can't simply go back and see what my thought process was at that time.

If you come across any inserts suitable for a smaller fireplace please let me know. There is a Lopi Freedom on Craig's List. I did go through the reviews here and it seems to be well thought of. The owner claims it was used lightly for one season. He wants almost $2,000.00 but will include $600.00 in stove pipe. Is that re-usable or does it depend upon condition?

I'm hoping my husband can check the dimensions on our fireplace against the dimensions I found for the Freedom on their web site. Perhaps if it doesn't sell right away the owner might be willing to negotiate.

Ideally I think I would like a Hearthstone Morgan insert but I think the chances of finding a used one are pretty slim. I'm not in any hurry to buy. Do those ever go on sale out of season?

Thanks for your patience and feedback everyone.
~Cath

 

[elkimmeg]

Around this time of year the chimney sweep in shelburn Vt has a tent sale you can review his wood stoves on line that is where I bought my Resolute Accclaim

late now But I promise to include a link to their site tomorrow morning

 

[Cath]

Elk,
I took a quick look at the Chimney Sweep site. They do have a "Seconds" page that leads to a "Used" page. At the top it says it was last updated on 4/8/04!?!

Assuming the list is current, there is a Homestead "Starlet" that interests me. It's even smaller than the Keystone or Tribute but it is billed as "double walled" convection with smaller clearances than other stoves. It is described as 40,000 BTUs suitable for a 1200 sf house. I'm wondering if the convection feature would mean that more of the heat would actually move through our 1350 sf house. Not to mention that I didn't realistically expect much of that heat to reach the 80 sf breezeway on the other end of the house anyway.

Interestingly, it's not a soap stone stove per se. But the soap stone is available as a veneer. The stove in question does have this soap stone veneer. Any idea as to how that might affect the radiant versus convection quality of heat in a small double wall construction stove? Would this be the best of both worlds? The worst? Or do you think it would it be a wash?

I'll try to give them a call today. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have a steeply discounted Morgan.

Do you have any idea what the freight/shipping would be on a smaller wood stove or on the Morgan?

Thanks, ~Cath

 

[BrotherBart]

Since you aren't that far from the Hearthstone mfg. digs freight shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred for a 425 pound Morgan. It is too bad you aren't closer to Northern Virginia. The best local stove shop here has a brand new Morgan for sale for $1,495.

 

[Cath]

Elk,
I did call. The "Used" stove list does date back to 2004. Unbelievable. They did have a Tribute with minor savings that would have been offset by the cost of shipping.

BrotherBart,
Perhaps I need to approach this as I would a car purchase. I'll get the best price I can and then try to find a local dealer to match it. I don't know how motivated they'll be knowing that I would have to pay for shipping. I can try telling them we could pick it up --we have a full size truck-- but I don't know how believable that would be with the cost of gas.

I do have some vacation time. Maybe we could do a long weekend in Virginia and bring a big souvenir back? Perhaps if we didn't have two kids ... that would make for a very long weekend and not in a good way.

~Cath

 

[elkimmeg]

The owner's name is Roy Ask to speak with him and ask about his Aug tent sale. Also when I picked up my acclaim I had them load in into the back of a Subaru Forester.
They are about 2 to 2.5 hours from you Ideal woulf be a trailer or Small PK truck..

Ask roy If he can supply you withan updated inventory list of the tent sale. A year or tow back a friend on mine got a never used Encore for $1099.

We on the forum have a member close by that may be able to check it out They will sell factory seconds Jotuls Woodstocks VC ect Usually the best buys do not last long

 

[BrotherBart]

BrotherBart,
Perhaps I need to approach this as I would a car purchase. I'll get the best price I can and then try to find a local dealer to match it. I don't know how motivated they'll be knowing that I would have to pay for shipping. I can try telling them we could pick it up --we have a full size truck-- but I don't know how believable that would be with the cost of gas.

I do have some vacation time. Maybe we could do a long weekend in Virginia and bring a big souvenir back? Perhaps if we didn't have two kids ... that would make for a very long weekend and not in a good way.

~Cath

I would really discourge buying a new stove from a dealer very far away. In fact so would Chase and I bet he wouldn't want to sell that Morgan to someone out of the area due to warranty coverage concerns.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The old Ashley stoves aren't as bad as some make it out to be. We've used Ashley stoves (2) and absolutely the only problem with them is that you might have to clean your chimney more often, which we did regularly. Probably the biggest benefit is that it is very easy to regulate the heat as the draft opens and closes on it's own (that's why the creosote problem with the draft closing).

Our last Ashley stove was just removed as we are installing a new Woodstock Fireview stove at present. I'd bet a lot that our old Ashley stove is as good or better than the one you pictured on the craigslist. We thought someone was going to take the Ashley but they changed their mind. We plan on giving it to someone if they want it. Same offer to anyone on his forum. Come and get it and it is yours.

EDIT: That Ashley stove was purchased from a private party over 20 years ago. They had bought it new but the wife did not like the "mess" with the wood and ashes. We gave them $100 and took it home. That stove probably had not seen 24 hours of burn time! It served us well...and no warping problem ever.

 

[Cath]

Compared to the "stereotypical" wood stove the metal on my Mother In Law's is thin, which is consistent with what Elk described. Yet I'm sure hers is in comparable condition to yours because she runs it properly.

However, I would prefer something a little more attractive and EPA approved.
~Cath

 

[Harley]

Compared to the "stereotypical" wood stove the metal on my Mother In Law's is thin, which is consistent with what Elk described. Yet I'm sure hers is in comparable condition to yours because she runs it properly.

However, I would prefer something a little more attractive and EPA approved.
~Cath

Good thinking.

 

[elkimmeg]

Might I remind you ,all woodstocks are sold from the factory and not from dealers. If you go this way, the donor crew of hearth net ,may assist you in your instllation

 

[begreen]

Cath, what's your budget? Right now it seems like you've been looking at inexpensive used stoves. Of course it's only natural (and a worthy quest) to seek out a good bargain. But if one doesn't show up, what will the bottom line be? That will help a lot in avoiding giving you unnecessary advice.

Elk, I'm thinking a Woodstock may be out of their budget range, but maybe a Consolidated Dutchwest? What do you think? The other thought was a Napoleon or a PE Alderlea.

 

[Cath]

BeGreen,
The budget is up in the air. If it were our highest priority we could spend about $2,500 to $3,000. However, last year we put a new roof on (we'd deferred that for 5 years). We recently put in energy efficient replacement windows. We just replaced a fridge and kitchen stove. My husband is currently planning on building a circular driveway. Which is a borderline safety issue given how steep our current driveway is since the blind spot is huge when I'm backing up. Soon we will need a fence for the backyard since the babies are growing quickly (and we don't want them running into the driveway!). And we would also like to upgrade from the aluminum siding. That's mostly a cosmetic issue but we may be able to add some insulation. Not to mention that it may make sense to do do the siding before we put the fence in. Finally, with 2 kids in a 1350 sf house we would like to put a finished room in the basement.

So, my thinking is to take our time and browse and try to keep an open mind. I tend to find some pretty good deals when I take that approach.

My biggest problem is where to put it. My husband and I had another argu... er discussion about this the other night. I'm finally back where I was the first time I visited these boards (on the previous site). With Rhonemas' input I realized that a stove in an uninsulated basement is a waste. My dear husband (DH) vehemently disagrees.

He may be willing to humor me if I can find an insert at the right price. Of course, I'd be willing to humor him if we could find a stove at the right price.

So, we're flexible but on a tight budget. I'd be willing to spend as much as $750.00 on a good insert or stove. Possibly more depending upon age, condition, etc. I'm all about value for the money. I realize that it could easily cost another $1,000 or more for installation, including cleaning the chimney and putting a flue in.

Ideally, if we had more money we could insulate the basement, put the finished room in, and put a stove down there, in which case we would be using the stove as a primary heat source for the basement and as an incidental heat source for the upstairs. The restriction there is the cosmetic issue of what the flue would look like coming out the side of the house. DH pointed this out to me recently. I'm sure he's mentioned it before but it didn't quite sink in. It would be less of an issue if it went on the utility side of the basement since you could put it behind the chimney and not many people would see it. However, we'd rather put it in the intended living area; in which case the flue would be highly visible. I realize you can box them in but he seems to think that's unsightly. I'm inclined to agree.

So he seems to be leaning towards a utility stove in the utility area. In this scenario you could have an ugly but efficient stove, avoid the cost of cleaning the chimney, and of boxing the pipe in. But it has me leaning back to the insert because that seems like the best way to get the bulk of the heat to the first floor at least.

I realize that my budget is probably unrealistic. However, that's why I'm keeping my eyes open and not putting any time pressure on myself. Unfortunately now that I've brought it up again DH is becoming somewhat invested in the process and that creates some momentum. I just need to keep reminding myself that we don't have to have one this Winter, although it would be nice.

Sorry, I didn't realize this would be so long. Again, thanks for the input. I just hope no one loses their patience with me. But it's still early.

My guess is I'll be trolling Craig's List come Springtime (2008).
~Cath

 

[begreen]

Cath, take heart that the decisions you are dealing with are pretty common. When retrofitting a stove into a house there are usually some compromises. It sounds like you are doing your homework well and have a good handle on the options. I agree an exterior stack can look ugly attached to the house. An exterior chimney will likely be higher maintenance and may backdraft into the basement. However, it can be boxed and insulated to somewhat address these issues. Doing this while residing is fortunate. It can be clad to match the house and won't be an eyesore.

I think narrowing down the choices to the best fit is a good plan. That way you can focus on a few options instead of the whole range and you'll be prepared to jump on a good deal when one shows up. How open is the basement to the upstairs? Is there a narrow staircase with a door at the top, or is it wide open? What is the fireplace opening size and depth? How is the house heated now?

PS: I wouldn't worry about a fence to keep the kids out of the driveway. As soon as they have wagons, trikes or hotwheels, they are going to be playing in the driveway all the time. Best to educate them on the hazards and to drive carefully. Expect toys in the driveway to become part of life for awhile.

 

[Cath]

Cath, take heart that the decisions you are dealing with are pretty common. When retrofitting a stove into a house there are usually some compromises. It sounds like you are doing your homework well and have a good handle on the options. I agree an exterior stack can look ugly attached to the house. An exterior chimney will likely be higher maintenance and may backdraft into the basement. However, it can be boxed and insulated to somewhat address these issues. Doing this while residing is fortunate. It can be clad to match the house and won't be an eyesore.

I think narrowing down the choices to the best fit is a good plan. That way you can focus on a few options instead of the whole range. How open is the basement to the upstairs? Is there a narrow staircase with a door at the top, or is it wide open? What is the fireplace opening size and depth?

PS: I wouldn't worry about a fence to keep the kids out of the driveway. As soon as they have wagons, trikes or hotwheels, they are going to be playing in the driveway all the time. Best to educate them on the hazards and to drive carefully. Expect toys in the driveway to become part of life for awhile.

BeGreen,
Thanks for the encouragement. I think the hardest part in dealing with a spouse (not mine in particular or his for that matter) is that they may think and express things differently. Oftentimes I don't understand what DH's real issue until much later. So any important decisions tend to be a slow evolutionary process. It can be frustrating but we haven't made any big mistakes yet.

As far as the floor plans, they are mostly closed and both sets of stairs are narrow. The basement stairs are fully enclosed and the basement has a large closet in the midddle surrounding the stairs. The main floor stairs are slightly open towards the bottom on the dining room side (not the livingroom side where the chimney is).

Good to know about the exterior stack. I'll bet that's something DH has already thought of or would have thought of eventually.

As far as child safety. I understand what you're saying but there was another story in the news just a couple of days ago about a woman that backed over her child; and I believe this wasn't a toddler. I think he was five years old. And a couple of months ago there was a story about a boy that was standing beside one parent but broke away from them towards the parent that was backing in. I think the children in both stories died. And our driveway is about as steep as it gets. I'd say it's at a 25 to 30 degree angle. Besides, we live on a narrow street and need the offstreet parking anyway. As far as the fence we are also hoping to get a dog (yet another expense).

I did find a Hearthstone worth considering on Ebay. I'll do a separate post on that. It just occurred to me that I keep looking at attractive stoves since you have the flexibility of putting it in front of the fireplace and perhaps moving it later. I need to look into attractive ways to cover the fireplace opening, shielding the small wood mantle, and using fans to turn the radiant heat into convection. The first floor has a circular floor plan so if we could point the heat towards the kithchen and point the cold air from the foyer into the living room we may be able to get the heat moving around the first floor and possibly up the stairs.

Also, Elk has asked me about an Encore in his area. I'll discuss that with DH tonight.

Have a great weekend. Thanks again so much for your patience and input.
~Cath