Good afternoon all. I'm new to this site and am currently running an Englander FP12 with good results .I did a search for posts regarding this model and found that it's taken a pretty hard beating here. I can't say that I disagree with a lot of what's been said, and though I've grown to love my FP12, this post will by no means be a way to endorse this model over the 13NC, which is a lot more stove for the $100 premium it carries over the FP. I'm just going to share my experiences with current owners of the FP12 and offer tips to make thier wood burning experience better with this unit.
My dad has burned wood since the late 70's. We had a big Nashua airtight in the main living space and a Merritt wood/coal combo upstairs. The Nasua threw tremndous heat once it was going in it had really long burn times. The Merritt had cast iron front, back, bottom and doors but the rest was relatively thin sheet metal. Didn't take much to get it REALLY HOT. Well long story short, I grabbed the Meritt last year to use recreationally in my living room, you know, to take the edge off while watching TV. I heated just like I remembered but I was getting up every1/2 hour to feed it as it was VERY loosely constructed and air got in all over the place. Then I got the idea to heat soley with this stove so I sealed it up with gaskets and Rutland cement which made it very efficient but the tiny fire box didn't hold enough wood and cutting peaces down to 14 inches was a pain, so it was off to Home Depot for a new stove. I knew nothing about EPA certified, exempt or 35 to 1, my house is only about 825 square feet, and $100 bucks is $100 bucks, so I went with the FP12.
First thing I noticed was that i was hard to get going sometimes. That turned out to be user error. I would put in some newspaper, a few strips of cardbaord and some pallet peices , set the air control to full open, light it, close the door and walk away. I'd come back expecting to find a nice kindling fire when in reality what I had was smoldering newspaper ashes and charred kindling.
TIP # 1. Follw the instructions in the manual. Leave the door slightly ajar when kindling the fire until it is going strongly then close the door. I have not had a single problem since using this technique.
Then, after rekindling the fire, I would load it with my still very green wood I had just split several months before, wait til it started to catch, and then close the air control all the way. I was low on wood, with no money to buy more, and I was trying to stretch it as much as possible. Bad idea. Sure, EVENTUALLY all the logs would catch and burn, but the stove never got REALLY hot, rarely above 400 degrees.
TIP # 2. USE SEASONED WOOD (it says that in the manual too). You do no one any favors with wet stuff, both you and the stove suffer. I think that's common knowlege here anyway. And again, FOLLOW the manual. It reccomends letting the loaded stove burn 30 to 40 minutes til all the wood is charred and then close it down if desired. This will heat up the stove nicely and is better for the enviroment.
Then I noticed that even with the air control shut all the way I wasn't getting the burn times I expected. I know the literature on the stove said "limited air adjustment" but upon studying the design it seemed like it should control the burn more than it did. Then I realized that the air control was loose in it's housing, allowing it to sit away from the front of the stove as much as 1/8". (Not just mine, other stoves at Lowes and HOme depot too.) This allowed A LOT of air to bypass the air control and really ate up the wood. I'm sure it was designed this way to fall under the "35 to 1" guidlines, but it wasn't good enough for me. After an air control adjustment I tried using my fire poker to make sure the air control unit was flat against the front surface of the stove and voila! I now had precise control over the incoming air. Prior to this I'd load the stove before bed and wake up to a luke warm unit 8 hours later with hardly an ember in site. Now eight hours later, the stove is hot to the touch, near 275 or so, and there are plenty of embers for a restart.
Tip # 3. Make sure the air control unit is flat aginst the front of the stove after your adjustment.
I no longer heat soley with wood as it's just another thing to do before work in the morning, but I am using this stove most nights and weekends and I couldn't be happier. It heats my small home nicely (from a starting house temp of 60 to a stove room in the mid 80's rest of the house 70's) even when it's in the high teens low 20's. I have no problem getting stovetop temps of 600 degrees (I haven't yet tried to see how much higher it'll go) and the overnight burn times are respectable in anyones book and are on par with what I've read in other posts. I'm still playing with air control settings to yield the most heat/longest burn time compromise. I think a 1/4 inch shy of fully closed might throw more heat but not effect burn times too dramatically. We'll see. Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there and also lifts the badge of scorn off this misunderstood model of stove.
Warm in RI
My dad has burned wood since the late 70's. We had a big Nashua airtight in the main living space and a Merritt wood/coal combo upstairs. The Nasua threw tremndous heat once it was going in it had really long burn times. The Merritt had cast iron front, back, bottom and doors but the rest was relatively thin sheet metal. Didn't take much to get it REALLY HOT. Well long story short, I grabbed the Meritt last year to use recreationally in my living room, you know, to take the edge off while watching TV. I heated just like I remembered but I was getting up every1/2 hour to feed it as it was VERY loosely constructed and air got in all over the place. Then I got the idea to heat soley with this stove so I sealed it up with gaskets and Rutland cement which made it very efficient but the tiny fire box didn't hold enough wood and cutting peaces down to 14 inches was a pain, so it was off to Home Depot for a new stove. I knew nothing about EPA certified, exempt or 35 to 1, my house is only about 825 square feet, and $100 bucks is $100 bucks, so I went with the FP12.
First thing I noticed was that i was hard to get going sometimes. That turned out to be user error. I would put in some newspaper, a few strips of cardbaord and some pallet peices , set the air control to full open, light it, close the door and walk away. I'd come back expecting to find a nice kindling fire when in reality what I had was smoldering newspaper ashes and charred kindling.
TIP # 1. Follw the instructions in the manual. Leave the door slightly ajar when kindling the fire until it is going strongly then close the door. I have not had a single problem since using this technique.
Then, after rekindling the fire, I would load it with my still very green wood I had just split several months before, wait til it started to catch, and then close the air control all the way. I was low on wood, with no money to buy more, and I was trying to stretch it as much as possible. Bad idea. Sure, EVENTUALLY all the logs would catch and burn, but the stove never got REALLY hot, rarely above 400 degrees.
TIP # 2. USE SEASONED WOOD (it says that in the manual too). You do no one any favors with wet stuff, both you and the stove suffer. I think that's common knowlege here anyway. And again, FOLLOW the manual. It reccomends letting the loaded stove burn 30 to 40 minutes til all the wood is charred and then close it down if desired. This will heat up the stove nicely and is better for the enviroment.
Then I noticed that even with the air control shut all the way I wasn't getting the burn times I expected. I know the literature on the stove said "limited air adjustment" but upon studying the design it seemed like it should control the burn more than it did. Then I realized that the air control was loose in it's housing, allowing it to sit away from the front of the stove as much as 1/8". (Not just mine, other stoves at Lowes and HOme depot too.) This allowed A LOT of air to bypass the air control and really ate up the wood. I'm sure it was designed this way to fall under the "35 to 1" guidlines, but it wasn't good enough for me. After an air control adjustment I tried using my fire poker to make sure the air control unit was flat against the front surface of the stove and voila! I now had precise control over the incoming air. Prior to this I'd load the stove before bed and wake up to a luke warm unit 8 hours later with hardly an ember in site. Now eight hours later, the stove is hot to the touch, near 275 or so, and there are plenty of embers for a restart.
Tip # 3. Make sure the air control unit is flat aginst the front of the stove after your adjustment.
I no longer heat soley with wood as it's just another thing to do before work in the morning, but I am using this stove most nights and weekends and I couldn't be happier. It heats my small home nicely (from a starting house temp of 60 to a stove room in the mid 80's rest of the house 70's) even when it's in the high teens low 20's. I have no problem getting stovetop temps of 600 degrees (I haven't yet tried to see how much higher it'll go) and the overnight burn times are respectable in anyones book and are on par with what I've read in other posts. I'm still playing with air control settings to yield the most heat/longest burn time compromise. I think a 1/4 inch shy of fully closed might throw more heat but not effect burn times too dramatically. We'll see. Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there and also lifts the badge of scorn off this misunderstood model of stove.
Warm in RI
