Fisher Momma bear BTU Rating

[peakbagger]

My friend has heated his house exclusively with wood for over 25 years in southern Maine and for the last 15 or so its been with a Fisher Momma Bear. He used to go through 6 to 8 cords until he installed a heat exchanger to circulate hot water around the house instead of just overheating the basement. I expect he is using 4 to 6 cords now. He has finally come to the conclusion that instead of cutting and splitting all this wood, he can move out of the stone age and get a more efficient stove. I am trying to come up with suggestions for a new stove but what is holding me up is what would a reasonable btu rating for his current Momma Bear that I could use to compare to current EPA stoves? Heck I expect just moving up to a rebuillt VC defiant would be a plus but he is really interested in buying a new stove.

He is aware that its going to be a learning curve to switch from his current stove to a new one and will have to change his seasoning habits.

 

[BrotherBart]

All I can tell ya is that I moved from an old 4.3 cubic foot firebox steel stove to a new 3.5 cf steel stove and heat the joint better and with half the wood.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[peakbagger]

Thanks, thats a good method, look at stove volume rather than BTUs

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

Good modern, efficient steel stoves to consider that owe their heritage to the Fishers and Timberlines would be Lopi, Avalon, Quadrafire and Regency, just to name a few that I like. Generally you can expect to use about half the wood for the same amount of heat with an EPA stove. BYU ratings are not reliable but the size of the firebox is for determining heating capacity.

 

[sebois]

I think I remember my father telling me that the Mama Bear was rated for 52,000 BTUs. I have been looking for the same information lately, as I may be in the market for an EPA-rated stove and don't want to replace a 52k-ish rating with a 80k-ish rating.

 

[Bone1099]

I have operated a several stoves in this range and can concurr the newer stoves will burn significantly less wood for the same heat.
Major determining factors will be area to be heated whether he will be 24-7 or part timer and home layout.
Also i think this man would be very upset with the results of replacing a Fisher Mama with a VC anything.
Remember form over function is very tempting
but the consequences may be less than desireable.